Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review

I’ve never understood hype. Sure, sometimes a game is really good and deserves accolades, but even then, there is an even larger group of people ready to tear it apart. Russ Pitts wrote a great article on this, and I won’t go into the psychology of this phenomenon (even if I was qualified to), but it always reminds me of those Indy rock snobs nobody likes.

Sorry. I know the whole “Did you hear about this ‘Modern Warfare 2’ thing? It’s splendid!” analysis has been done and nobody gives a flying frak about how popular it is at this point. We’ll just talk about the actual game from now on. I promise.

I had always thought myself too impressionable to hold a honest opinion about games, but I’m making an effort, so bear with me.

MW2 is good. So was COD4. So was (nearly) every game where you run about mindlessly killing things. We humans are sadistic little d-bags that way. This made me think. What sets MW2 apart?

Not much. The graphics are shiny (shiny as in cool, not actually shiny. Unless the object is supposed to be shiny. Then, well, it is. You know what I mean.). The multiplayer involves multiple players. The guns have an end you point towards the bad guys. The E3 trailer was a bit lackluster compared to some *cough*ODST*cough*, but nobody besides me cares.

Despite this apparent lack of creativity, the game is still one of my new favorites. Here’s why:

1. Solo campaign. It’s not the best story. The gameplay hasn’t changed much since Call of Duty 1. It has its strong points, which I feel make it stand apart. The missions are all slightly different. Little things, like a mission with a blizzard which ads a pseudo-stealth mechanic or a fun little breaching quicktime event where everything goes slo-mo so you can pwn the baddies like in the movies. One cool mission involves using thermal optics to fight in an area completely obscured with smoke. It’s these little variations on the basic FPS framework that make me keep playing and really set this game apart.

2. Compatibility. At least among who I’ve talked to, MW2 is becoming the new metric for a multiplayer FPS. Wanna’ have a party? Everyone knows how to play Call of Duty. This game is a close second to Halo as the definition of what multiplayer should be. Just look at what everyone is playing on Xbox Live and on PC.

3. The little things. This barley made its own paragraph but I think it is worthy. The things nobody had thought of before, like kill streak bonuses, death streaks, the cool side arms and attachments, icons and titles. Killcam. All of the different builds you can create with various perks. Some of these may be preexisting ideas, but Modern Warfare combines them so smoothly that it deserves praise.

These points lead me to draw a metaphor with Apple computers. They’re cool looking. Intuitive if you have a basic understanding of the software. They contain all the little things that just make sense. Additionally, like a Mac, Modern Warfare 2 is not for everyone and will always have opponents. Despite that, love it or hate it, you have got to respect it.

*Linux FTW*

4.5…out of 5

-TheThirdPerson