Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review

Earlier this year, the Nobel Foundation preemptively gave Barack Obama a Nobel Peace Prize. We followed suit and gave Modern Warfare 2 our coveted “Game of the Month” title purely based on all the hype surrounding it, only to wait in wonder to see if our actions will make us look equally foolish. To our delight, Modern Warfare 2 has finally arrived and we can safely say, unlike Barack Obama’s Nobel peace prize gaffe, this game deserves to be Game of the Year.

We could tell you about how wonderful the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was but instead we’ll take a look at how this game fares on its own. MW2 is split into three modes –Spec Ops, Single Player Campaign and Multiplayer.

Special Ops are short, strategic missions that can be played solo or multiplayer – online and offline (split screen). They’re split into five parts, which are sequentially made available to you as you progress through the missions. The beginning levels include gunning down gangs and using stealth to make your way through the mission. As you progress, missions start becoming more challenging and include snowmobile races to fighting through blizzards and battling enemies on an oilrig. A the end of each mission you’re rewarded one to three stars depending on the number of kills and how many innocent people you’ve gunned down (the lesser the better, obviously). Getting through the missions is fairly easy, finishing a mission with three stars is what will get you pulling your hair out.

While special ops are fun and challenging, it’s the Single Player mission that’s the heart of this game. A good video game is often like a good movie – the secret to winning over your audience lays purely in your ability to provide a captivating experience. Modern Warfare 2 does this so very well. Each level in the game pans out like an episode of 24. It’s intense, dramatic and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The plot’s a little far fetched, but the gorgeous levels and captivating gameplay easily makes up for any holes in the plot.

The campaign kicks off in Afghanistan where you run through a short training session to get familiar with the controls and the use of weapons. The controls are fairly easy to master and as soon as you do, you’re in the thick of it all. The levels are incredibly well designed and well paced too. You’re fighting an intense battle one minute in one level and in the next you’re treated to a slower-paced stealth missions.

Speaking of varied action in levels, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the controversial airport level in which you play an undercover agent impersonating a terrorist, who has to kill civilians in an airport in order to gain the trust of his terrorist cell. So, you storm through an airport, armed with a machine gun and gun down a group of petrified innocents who try to flee the swarm of bullets coming their way. It’s intense and definitely not for the faint of heart. If there’s one reason the game might get banned in the Middle East, this is going to be it. The game does manage to keep sensitivities in mind and does give you a warning and an option to skip this level should you wish to.

The graphics in the game are simply gorgeous. Infinity Ward’s genius clearly lies in its level designs and attention to detail. The game is by all means an aural and visual treat. There’s enough eye candy in the game to keep you excited and onlookers jealous. There are also plenty of weapons and attachments to keep FPS fans happy. We also love how clever the AI is. Enemies take cover, run and hide when they are shot at rather than standing around in the same location. Definitely an improvement over the original Modern Warfare game.

We tried our hand at the multiplayer mode and were surprised to see people from the UAE already on there days before the game had actually released. What’s even more surprising is that many of them had formed clans and had already leveled up to absurd amounts. Let’s hope that everyone gets reset back to level one when the game is officially launched. The multiplayer levels are just about perfect in size – not too big and not too small. There’s also a 9v9 limit in multiplayer mode but given the size of the levels, it actually makes a good fit. There are a good number of multiplayer levels and we were quite happy to see a level set in Karachi (although the level does contain a lot of Arabic text rather than Urdu). Other multiplayer levels include “Estate” where you have to fight for control of a cabin in the woods, Favela where you battle in the alleyways of Brazil, “Highrise” which is set on top of a skyscraper, “Terminal” which is set in the airport and “Chernobyl” which is great for sniper battles and long range combat. The game also features a plethora of multiplayer modes. Apart from standard fares such as Team Death Matches and Capture the Flag modes, you also have “Search and Destroy”, where teams take turns defending or destroying an objective; “Sabotage” where one bomb is placed at the center of the map and you have to grab it and destroy the enemy’s objective; “Domination” where you capture and hold a position; “Headquarters” where you have to capture the HQ and defend it from the other team; and “Demolition” where teams alternate in attacking and defending two bomb sites, both of which must be destroyed by attacking teams equipped with bombs.

It’s not surprising that a lot of gamers from the Middle East are already playing the game. If you’ve been checking out our website for the past few days (of course you have), you’d know that we managed to get our hands on an early copy of the game, thanks to Dubai’s flourishing gray market scene. The good news though, is that the game has officially got the green signal from the ministry and should be available in the UAE and the rest of the Middle East on 10th November. Despite certain controversial elements, this game is an FPS fan’s dream. Game of the Year? Hell, yeah!

About Hitesh Uchil

Hitesh is a games journalist and Business Development Manager for the Tbreak Network.