Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is like a car: Doesn't need to much updating, just a tuning here and there. To use that simile about MW2 makes sense when you compare it to the first Modern Warfare game, not much updates, but with the first game being so good, what needed updating? The guys at IW answered that.

STORY

You start the game as PFC Joseph Allen, a member of the US Army Rangers 1st Battalion, 75th Regiment. After impressing General Sheperd, he recruits Allen into the elite, multi national counter terrorism team Task Force 141, "the best handpicked group of warriors on the planet" with Sheperd as their commander, Captain "Soap" MacTavish as the field commander who reprises his role of main character, Lt. Simon "Ghost" Riley and player character Sgt. Gary "Roach" Sanderson. Allen's first mission as the member of the team goes awry during an undercover op when game atagonist Vladimir Makarov shoots and kills him to frame America for a controversial, skippable mission, leading the rest of the team to track down the former Zakhaev Lt. and bring him down. The stones the 141 turn over in their search for Makarov coincides with surprise US east coast invasion by Russia, playable through the eyes of new Ranger recruit Pvt. James Ramirez.

GRAPHICS

Absolutely incredible and cut above the first game, detailed character models, excellent weather effects, almost unmatched particle and smoke effects.You'll feel like you're right there in the middle of the action.

CONTROLS

Unchanged from the first game, but thats actually a compliment because the controls are impeccable, moving around, reloading, aiming shooting all become second nature, as second nature as breathing.

SOUND

The sound of gunfire, explosions, screaming and clinking of greandes will burn into your eardrums and almost never escape you. Listening to everything around you is just as important as looking at everything around you, hearing a Russian soldier in time to take him out before he takes you out will spare you at least 15 deaths for the game, hearing a grenade come at you will spare you 5.

GAMEPLAY

Fantastic. Fast paced gunfights, danger around every corner (Remember, CHECK THOSE CORNERS!), unrelenting soldiers who can kill you as easily as you can kill them, immersive atmosphere that will pull you and not let go until the mission is complete. In this game, you try to go Rambo and you WILL die, don't take your comrades as NPCs' just there to take up space, these guys will save you from certain death more times than you'll expect. With a vast array of guns to use, you'll have implement all your skills to survive the game.

The only thing really wrong with this game is that the story is short and pretty confusing, especially towards the end, and the lack of an in game map to reveal where enemies are really irritates you when a soldier kills you from behind (The radar is only present on the pause menu), but with everything is so good, its hard to really bring the value of this game down cause trivial things like that.

Get this game if you're an FPS fan and get it now.