Global Thermonuclear Greatness.

User Rating: 9 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PS3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 brings a ridiculously addictive multiplayer title to console users. With an invigorating single-player and tons of fun side missions called Spec Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will keep you playing for days on end.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 takes place in a very near future. Taking place right after Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2's story picks itself straight up. The campaign is based off of a war between the American and Russian forces. A believed American terrorist attack on a Russian air-port sparks the start of the war. One of the most surprising missions in this game is in fact the terrorist missions called "No Russian". The mission has is by far one of the most intense missions in video game Campaign history. You take the role of one of said terrorist and mow down innocent civilians in an airport. Such mission is so intense that you have an option to skip the mission entirely, besides the fact that it plays a major role in the actual Campaign story.

You first take the role of an American military solider that goes by the name of "Roach". You immediately start the game off in a military base training camp in a desert. Right away you get a very brief informative tutorial that will tell you everything you need to know. Once you are finished running through the tutorial, you'll be ready for battle. In the first mission you get a taste of what you'll be dealing with for the entire Campaign. Similar to the Call of Duty 4's Campaign, you spend most of your time reaching objectives, planting an explosive, and defending it. Although every now and then the missions get mixed up, they ultimately end up feeling the same. Whilst playing each mission, you'll experience a wide variety of different locations around the world. You'll travel from every to Afghanistan, to Brazil. This wide variety really helps the missions feel unique, even when in reality, they are just remodeled or changed by the slightest bit.

What the Campaign lacks in missions, it makes up for riveting story-telling and exciting cut-scenes. After the terrorist attack mission, Russia declares war on American soil. Right after "No Russian" the Russians invade a small town in Virgina. It's your job to follow your squad through the streets of Virgina and attempt to save whats left of the small township. It's a new twist to how war game missions, because usually the battle takes place on enemy soil. Throughout the Campaign you learn the main plot of the game, and that is to hunt down and kill the Russian terrorist leader, Makarov. The Campaign will keep throwing out twists like crazy however, you may be trusting one person at one point, and the next you are trying to defend yourself from them. Your alliances seem to jump around quite a bit and it can be sort of hard to follow who are in fact the "good guys and bad guys". Unfortunately, the Campaign ends with a cliff-hanger and leaves much to be desired from the player.

Special Ops is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's version of a Co-op mode. Spec Ops consist of a variety of missions from both the Campaign from Modern Warfare and from Modern Warfare 2. The missions have no relation to the solo Campaign, but add a very nice touch to the game. Although you can play the Special Ops missions alone, it is highly recommended to play them with a buddy. -- Spec Ops has a variety of different missions that are organized in five different sections. Ranging form easiest to hardest, the missions groups are named Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Along with the capability to choose the missions in groups, you can select the difficulty of the missions. Both players can choose which difficulty is best suited for them. However there is a downfall to this, both players must be playing on the same difficulty to aquire the achievement. Like most games, when your partner is hurt/killed you must revive them. This rule is no exception to Modern Warfare 2. When your teammate is downed, you have a specific time to get to him/her and revive them. This can become annoying if A. you have a teammate who lacks skill, or B. your teammate and yourself are spread far across the map. This feature sadly makes you and your teammate work together even when it would be easiest to split-up.

The famous multiplayer from Call of Duty 4 returns to Modern Warfare 2. But this time around, there are brand new weapons, perks, and killstreaks. Modern Warfare 2 takes great variety of weapons and adds them to the game. There are tons of different weapons, secondary weapons, and weapon types to pick from. There is the Assault Riffle group, which is best for the well-rounded player. The Sniper variants, for the players who like to stay back and pick people off. The Light-machine guns, which are for the players who like power behind their guns. Sub machine guns, for running and gunning. And last but by far not least, the Riot Shield. The Riot Shield is a ballistics shield that allows the player to bash their foes to death from the comfort of their safe shield. Along with the weapons, there are tons of different gun attachments that you unlock by simply completing challenges.

Perks are a major key for the players success. Perks are a sort of upgrade that allow the player to have a slight advantage depending on the Perk they picked. There are tons of Perks to choose from ranging from more bullet damage, to no fall damage. Newly introduced to Call of Duty are Pro Perks. Once you complete the specific requirements for the challlenge you'll unlock a fully upgraded Perk. Sadly, most of the Perks are rather useless or completely overpowered, there is almost no medium if any at all.

Killstreaks play a major role in the online experience. Unlike all the other Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare 2 allows you to fully customize which killstreaks you want and when you unlock them. There are over ten different killstreaks to pick from ranging from three kills, to twenty-five. Reaching twenty-five kills is the ultimate goal for the player. Once and if you have the Tactical Nuke equipped, you can call it in the second you aquire twenty-five kills in a row without dying. Calling in the nuke is an automatic win for the nuking team and stops the score the second it is called, guaranteeing the nukes effectiveness. Unfortunately, this pulls boosters out of the heard and every now and then you'll run into a group of boosters attempting to get a nuke. When and if they acquire it, it can ruin the game and the gaming experience.

Last but not least is the leveling system. The cap level for online is now a General level 70. You gain EXP by doing pretty much anything. If you kill someone, you get Exp. If you win a round, you get Exp, if you complete a challenge you get Exp. So pretty much even if you are playing your absolute worst, you can still level up. This can be either a fantastic thing or a bad thing depending on your view points. Along the way of leveling, you'll earn things called "titles and emblems". These are little pictures that are displayed over your profile name and are a majority of the time hilarious. The titles and emblems add a nice touch to feeling unique when playing a horde of players.

Overall, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is by far one of the best first person shooter titles for console gamers. With excellent single player, entertaining co-op, and highly addictive multiplayer Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 really climbs the charts. Although there are slight problems, they are easily over looked throughout your incredible gameplay experience.

Positives:
+ Very interesting story.
+ Loads of different settings and new features.
+ Addicting Multiplayer.
+ Interesting Co-op.

Negatives:
- Certain combination's of perks and weapons can become cheap and overwhelming.
- Solo-Campaign missions start to become too familiar.