It is finally here. Infinity Ward’s follow up to one of the most highly regarded shooters of the current gaming generation, Modern Warfare 2, is now loaded cozily in millions of consoles around the world. As of this writing many news sources are reporting that this title has broken release day sales records, selling an estimated 4.7 million copies. With all of the hype and controversy one question remains: Is MW2 worthy of the attention it has received? As a courtesy to others, this review is spoiler free.

Single Player:

The single player campaign picks up five years after the events of Call of Duty 4 and sees the return of formerly player-controlled, now Captain, Soap Mactavish. Once again players will take on the roles of several characters, each belonging to different military forces such as the U.S. Rangers and U.S. Navy Seals. Players will go back and forth between these divisions as the story unfolds from the perspectives of each protagonist.

Veterans to the series will be able to pick up the game and play without missing a beat as the gameplay and most missions are well crafted. Infinity Ward has easily topped the volume of “oh s**t!” moments found in their previous title.

When the game is first loaded, players are warned of a scene that some may find disturbing, and without any indication as to what this scene is, are twice given the option to skip it entirely. While the depictions of war torn suburban towns, capitol cities, and acts of terrorism found in Modern Warfare 2 can be quite disturbing, they easily make the single player that much more compelling. One jaw-dropping moment after another is laid before players through an entertaining, although brief, campaign. This brings up an issue which many will be dissatisfied with. The single player mode is short, taking only 4-6 hours for an average player to complete.

Also, players will find that a Co-Op campaign option is strangely absent, which was sacrificed in order to ensure the single player campaign was as polished as possible. Thankfully, the story is crafted well enough to dismiss any complaints. Each step of the way is reminiscent of a high-octane Hollywood blockbuster. Very rarely does the pace of the story become slow and uninteresting. I’m sure that most would agree that 5 hours of compelling story telling is better than 10 hours of mediocrity. Once you pick it up, it’s hard to put down and, with only a short time needed to complete it, the game can be finished in one or two exciting sittings and probably should be played that way.

Multiplayer:

Let’s tell it like it is, multiplayer is the reason for this franchise’s success and the community’s longevity. Yes, Infinity Ward can craft a damn fine single player experience but the multiplayer gives these games their legs and popularity.

Like the gameplay of the single player campaign, that of the multiplayer is again unchanged. Players are given 16 maps and 14 games modes out of the box. Most of the game modes are taken from the playlists of predecessors. Many however, will enjoy the return of Capture the Flag, which was oddly absent from Call of Duty 4. Two entirely new game modes are to be found which use only a third person perspective, a first for the series. The mechanics are the same as first person but players are presented with a crosshair, rather than a view down the sights of a gun, when aiming.

So what’s different this time around? There is so much more added to the totality of the weapons and attachments one can acquire with moving up in the ranks. Even the best players will be hard pressed to collect every attachment for every weapon. While this large collection adds great flexibility to layouts players can create, even veteran players may find it all very daunting and even more so for those that are new to the series…all five of them.

As if all of these new items weren’t enough, Infinity Ward added trivial “call sign titles” and “call sign emblems” that are awarded to players for completing certain tasks in addition to the Challenges that have returned as part of the leveling system. There comes a point if one wonders if they are playing an FPS or Pokémon. For the most hardcore of players and fans this means hundreds of more hours of playing before you have collected everything.

The gameplay is a bit faster than the original, which is probably to allow those with faster reflexes to rise above the masses. As a result, the overall pace of certain game types feel much more frantic. Also, many of the maps are much more intricate than anything seen in prior iterations of this series. Still, the maps run the gamut from open with light cover to cramped and seemingly mazelike layouts. The latter of which will have players wondering which nook the next enemy will appear from.

The bottom line is Infinity Ward has crammed as much more upgrading and collecting into MW2’s gameplay system while maintaining the same feel and balance of its predecessor. Some may find the slight changes unsettling but they will probably be a minority. Since the core gameplay and “dangling carrot” elements remain unchanged most players will welcome this successor with open arms. The learning curve for new players is high but preset weapon payloads will ensure that they can compete with everyone without having to worry about the daunting custom class system.

Special Ops:

New to this year’s installment is SpecOps, a series of single and two player scenarios which can be played online or off at varying degrees of difficulty. Many of the settings are taken directly from the single player missions but offer new objectives to complete. One offers a mini horde mode where several waves of increasingly larger enemy forces approach to eliminate you, while another is a stealth mission tasking players to reach an objective without alerting overwhelming forces. Races, time trials, and simple “get there without dying” missions also pepper this mode, giving players a nice alternative from the campaign and multiplayer modes.

When playing Co-Op with a friend, players are given the option to choose their individual difficulty. More stars are awarded based on the difficulty at which the mission is completed and new missions are unlocked as players collect more stars.

This really is a fun addition to the game, as it takes key elements from both Modern Warfare 2 and COD4 and makes for some really fun scenarios. It is definitely not a mode that should be overlooked by players.

In conclusion:

Even though the gameplay hasn’t changed and the campaign is short, the edge-of-your-seat story and expansion of the multiplayer upgrade system make Modern Warfare 2 a must have for fans. If you are not fond of the online component found in previous games in the series then you’ll want to pass once again but, you at least owe it to yourself to play the campaign and perhaps dabble in Spec Ops mode. How will Infinity Ward top this?