More evolution then revolution but Modern Warfare 2 is still an action-packed, thrilling game
+Action packed campaign
+Intense, addictive multiplayer
+Excellent presentation
+Spec Ops mode is great fun
Negative
-Gameplay seems a little to similar to CoD 4
-Campaign is way to short
Modern Warfare 2 has been one of the most hyped games of 2009 and theres been plenty of high expectations since Infinaty Ward anounced it.
MW2's campaign takes place 5 years after CoD 4, after the death of Vladimir Makarov in Call of Duty 4 one of Makarov's lieutenants begins a campaign against europe commiting plenty of different acts of terroism, in one mission you actually play as a terroist in a airport massacure, the game even gives you the option to skip this level completely. The story takes plenty of twists to stay interesting throughout the campaign and players will deffinatly have a great time playing through it.
The set peice battles in the campaign are incredible, at times you will find yourself battling in Afghanistan to infilitrating a base in Siberia. Players will find themselves in some clostraphobic and intense fire fights which are very exciting, the enitre single player experience is fantastic however the campaign once again is rather dissapointingly short so don't expect it to last for very long.
That being said the multiplayer options are huge. Spec Ops is the a co-op based mode which 2 players take on a different types of missions which last about 10 minutes each, they are quite fun to play through but it does get extreamly hard during the later missions.
However the main reason why people are still playing CoD 4 2 years after its release is the compettative multiplayer, MW2's MP doesn't dissapoint, it bascially takes the same formula that was used is CoD 4's and put into this with a much more deep and rewarding. There's about 50 different weapons in total, obviously being assult rifle's, SMG's, light machine gun's, sinper rifles, shotguns, grenades and even a riot sheild, plenty more weapons and attachments have been put into MW2. All of the perks used in CoD 4 have returned including a few new ones and this time theres even death streaks when you die a few times in a row you will get a slight advantage including a extra health boost or dropping a live grenade when you die, this helps balance out the game. Theirs now a customisable kill streak option, this means that you don't have to have the standered 3,5 and 7 kill streak like in the previous games, this there are 15 different kill streaks although some are fairly similar to you and other, these range from the standered UAV, Attack helicopter which can even be mounted, the preditor missile which is quite satisifying to use (and my personal favorate!:)) you control a missle dropping from the sky and can land it anywere you want on the map, you can even use a tactical nuke, however this requires a 25 kill streak so their quite rare to be used in a game. To be honest, you actually feel spoilt for choice, there are so many different options and you don't know which one to pick.
All this being said, MW2 still feels quite similar to CoD 4, there really is no major leap between the 2 games in terms of gameplay. It seems as though they stayed safe and used the same formula but have built on it.
The presentation is top notch, the graphics and lighting are stunningly realistic and the sound is even better. Voice acting, sound effects and music are all brilliant, you will actually feel as though your fighting in a real war.
Modern Warfare should be recomended for everyone who owns an Xbox, while it does stay safe by staying the same roots and CoD 4 and 5 you wont find a more entertaning and thrilling game anywere else.