Campaign: A- ; Co- Op: B+ ; Multiplayer: A-
Campaign:
The Call of Duty series has continuously been one of my favorite FPS series. Even when screaming endless obscenities at the Veteran Campaigns, the truth of the matter is it pulled me in each time. Modern Warfare 2 is no exception, and like its predecessor has advanced the gameplay exponentially.
One of the greatest aspects of this is the advance of their AI system, both enemy AI and friendly. While the enemies generally follow the same idea of where they’ll be, there reactions to the players choice of movement have been noticable, offering enough of a variant where it isn’t 100 percent always going to go the way you remembered last life. The enemies will shoot and pay attention to your allies, and your allies will shoot them- contrary to my previous experiences. And while it isn’t perfect, anyone who’s played both can tell you the AI is a hell of a lot better.
The real aspect about the game that stands out, though, is the story. Infinity ward has pushed the limits of what the games can do and can’t do, as far as story goes. A CIA agent who has to go undercover and kill civilians. Battles on Modern American soil, and an obliterated capitol. While a lot of the elements follow a previous pattern, the fact of the matter is this game has the kind balls you’re rarely going to find in other FPS campaigns.
The real downside to this in comparison to W@W is the lack of a co-op campaign, and while I realize there is a Co-op mode, it isn’t the same thing. Going in with 3 other people was a great time, and I miss having that function in MW2. The campaign takes about 6-7 hours to complete, shaving off a couple hours it took me in the previous games, and while I think a lot of people might find that too short, I find it works better. I would guess that about 60 percent of the people out there got this game for the achievements, and multiplayer- not to spend 10-12 hours playing by themselves.
The story and the plot could have been stretched out, but it would have felt dull, in my opinion. The beauty of the game came from the sheer shock of the story being told and the fluidity of the game play- both of which could easily lose it’s magic if it went on too long. All in all, a solid single player campaign, who’s only real fault is a lack of playing through with friends. Which brings in the next point:
Special Ops
I had the oppurtunity to play a few with my brother, so I haven’t completed all of them. They are quite a bit of fun, actually, but again, I don’t see why all of them were designed around only 2 people when the previous game gave us 4. In a game string of sequels, if you give a gamer a cookie in one game, he’s going to expect that cookie in the next. If it’s not there, he’s going to feel jaded. Which, quite frankly, I do. It’s not enough to hate the game, and for what it is, it works find. If W@W didn’t have co-op campaign and Nazi Zombies, I wouldn’t have a problem at all with them. I like the variety of the challenges it gives you. I just think it could have been more.
Multiplayer-
This is, quite possibly, one of the best multiplayer systems available. There I said it, and damn me for it- I love it. With one exception: the party chat restrictions. This is what is ultimately going to kill it for people who aren’t hard core fans. One of the simple truths about XBL is that there are a good deal of assholes on it. The party chat is a fantastic tool for people who just want to hang out with their friends, not talk shit, and not feel like shit, and requiring that people go it and either have to mute every single person that’s not their friend, or wait for someone to make you feel like shit is ridiculous. But that’s my 2 cents.
As far as with the multiplayer systems- the maps are awesomely balanced, one single perk doesn’t make someone dominate people who don’t have it, and the introduction of deathperks is inspired. The weapon variants, the challenges, the killstreak customization- this is a great system people. Totally enjoy it.