Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)

Rated by D. Low on 23rd November 2009

Its been two weeks now since I picked up Modern Warfare 2 and my opinion of the game has definately changed from my first week of play. Had I reviewed the game days after I got it my review would be filled with gushing praise for the incredibly exciting action packed campaign and the subtle alterations to the already classic multiplayer. However a little more time with it and the cracks are definately beginning to show. The single player campaign is great fun and although a little short at 6 hours every second is packed with edge of the seat action and it never drags. Having completed the previous COD4 on Veteran I decided to try the same with MW2. Its incredibly easy and nowhere near the challenge of its predecessor and definitley a dissapointment in this respect. As good as the single player is the storyline and some of the situations are ridiculous. Now I'm not saying COD4 was realistic (I've never fought in a war I wont pretend to know), but it was believable, sometimes scarily so as in the Death From Above and All Ghillied Up missions. There is nothing here that ever touches the stark drama of those levels. If COD4 could be compared to a film like Black Hawk Down then MW2 is more akin to Michael Bay directing James Bond. These are minor complaints though of an overall fantastic campaign. The biggest problem I have is with the multiplayer. The new killstreak rewards, the incredibly large maps and the new overpowering weapons and attachments have ruined the perfect balance of COD4. The levels favour long range weapons and have made running and gunning almost impossible. Each map has hundreds of hiding places that favour snipers(who I dont mind) and campers(who shall have a special place in hell just for them). Where once the game was simply about learning the maps, being cunning, second guessing the ememy and generally being a good shot, the Killstreak Rewards have turned it into a near constant parade of choppers, jets and crouching in corners with briefcase laptops. The simple pleasure of the hunt and being hunted is gone. In general the game is geared towards the newcomer as much as the veteran and has simply taken away the need for the kind of skill that used to win matches. I've played it for a total of 24 hours so its not just a case of me not being used to the changes. The frustration it causes has ended that need for "just one more match". Overall I think taken on its own merits Modern Warfare 2 is a great game, but it definately sits in the shadow of its predecessor.

Rated by A. Hussain on 8th June 2010

Like the title suggests, this game is very good however the on line component is so unbalanced it makes it almost not worth bothering with, even though the on line play is what the games hook is. Honestly I think new buyers would be better off purchasing modern warfare 1 which is far better and if they like that then they should try this. Overall this is a good game in all but there are better on line shooters like the original modern warfare and battlefield bad company 2.

Rated by Mrs. D. Carr, Liverpool on 28th December 2009

I bought this for my son, he's a games programmer and said it was good.

Rated by Mr. B. G. Rundell, scotland on 15th December 2009

you don't know my son is their when he plays it he is up stairs for hours

Rated by Mr. Cameron G. Phillips, England on 10th March 2010

I geuss it is time i reviewed this game, with 20 days of playtime, i think i have most likely enough experiance to come to a judgement on the most anticipated game of all time. To begin with, any chance for serious competetive play has been absolutely destroyed, Infinity Ward noticed the community hated things like martyrdom and last stand, so what did they do? they brought them back, and made them obligatory, now with the option of having both last stand and martyrdom, joy of joys. The only problem with COD4 was the spawn system...did they fix it? no, and combined with the deathstreaks system, it can completely destroy games. Killstreaks are massively overpowered, and assault rifles have a far too fast kill time, with too little recoil. Hit detection is pathetic, and the game deals with lag by balancing it for all players, so a player with a 10ms ping can be killed unfairly due to a player with a 1000ms ping, a ping as high as 1000ms is infact quite common due to the lack of local search, which will make the game almost impossible to play if you come from a country such as Australia. Weapons which were slammed by the community return, and the game feels poorly made. The game is horrifically weak when it comes to security, IW refused to pay attention to virusses in cod4, and as a result, hacked games are common, these hacks work by exploiting the peer to peer system, infecting all players within the game with the virus, which remains on the console until powered off. Leaderboards are shoddy and completely hacked, players at the top have over 100,000,000 days of playtime, which is rather impossible. The perk system from COD4 has been destroyed by perks such as lightweight which give the player super speed, and commando, increasing the already ridiculous knife range. It is clear as day this game went through no testing whatsoever, why no beta like cod4? Do you want to know why? COD4 left this game so massively hyped up, that infinity ward didn't want to run a beta, because it would put people off, and cut the buying rush at realease. If this wasn't enough, they increased the price from that which standard nex-gen games cost...does this mean more money went into the game? NO, it went to Hans Zimmer for his crappy soundtrack to the clichéd single player. They calculated that people were willing to pay for such a hyped game, buying it is conferming their thoughts, which will lead no doubt to a price boost in the next game. COD4 was successful because it was completely new, in MW2, they have failed to fix the previous title, neither have they made a new game...it still has the same sucky matchmaking and interface, same lack of proper physics. I could go on and on and on, but thats enough slating of this rip off...Infinity ward thought it was plain sailing, they saw their grasp on the market, and strong community...they spat in its face, and drained it of every last penny until their fanbase predictably collapsed under their failing rule over the market, as a hardcore gamer and call of duty fan...this game is a disgrace, they have no care for the players, only their own profit, wealth has corrupt this corporate machine, and I along with many others stand broken and bewildered. This is the last investment i will ever make into Infinity Wards rotten bowels. You have lost a fan, I shall be stabbed in the back no more.

Rated by Adair on 20th July 2010

I finally got this game along with an xbox360 and it's the best game ever. I love the graphics even on a crappy t.v. GET THIS GAME!

Rated by Keyboard Warrior on 4th September 2010

Good game but way overrated, not as groundbreaking as COD4, and not as good as Battlefield Bad Company 2 in my opinion....and the multiplayer is plagued by annoying little brats and spoilt pre-pubescent angry little teenagers which can seriously affect your enjoyment of the game, C'mon I mean shouldn't they be playing on their Space Hoppers, reading Harry Potter or doing their homework or something, .. its an 18 certificate game so where are the parents for goodnes sakes..!!

Rated by Jena Malone on 3rd September 2010

The graphics in this game are awesome. Some of the best I have seen in a game. If you are a big online multiplayer (XBOX Live), they still have some of the same issues as they had before that make it frustrating to play. (ie. respawning near or in front of enemy units, guns that take too many shots at close range to kill, and more.) The campaing is fun. But, I think once I am finished, I'll be back to playing the multiplayer on COD:WAW.

Rated by Mr. J. F. Clarke, England on 30th August 2010

This comes from someone who played Halo franchise first. - I understand why this is the alternative. Yes, there is good reason as to why the Call of duty series is a competitor to Halo, many reasons in fact. Its just the 'fan boy' camaraderie that wee's a little bit on the image of both titles. Both eager to detest the other. COD:MW2 is realistic. At least, compared to other 1st person shooters, featuring a wide array of actual weapons used today in warfare and no doubt sound like the real deal (probably). The campaign is not your average story due to its switching of characters, various landscapes and areas, something overlooked by most games today glamorising an invincible warrior capable of taking not just several bullets and explosions to the face but being lucky enough to avoid the eventual truth that people kill and get killed. Make the connections where you like, my point is that this game genuinely is far more realistic than some of the games on the market. Do we play games for realism? not necessarily, some try to escape it but others rely on it. Sure you'd have to be wearing a butt load of Kevlar and be one lucky s.o.b to take several rounds from an AK47 and live, sure not all troops get the insane amount of air support shown nor the weapons and funding, but its those kitsch additions that can make this game special, enjoyable to say the least. That and the plot is basically USA vs. USSR. Sounds pretty awful when you hear that you have to be Americans and fight the Russians. Lucky for us all, that's hardly the case considering the U.S is pretty much getting rinsed throughout the game. That and there is a nice touch (if rare) of hearing the odd accent of the British. We get enough of the bold & brash American commando linguistics in films, thank you very much. Special Ops is a very welcome game mode, replaying some of the games high points with the option to play with friends. There is some real fun to be had sniping countless enemies with the cover of a snowy forest, atop a well equipped tower or wherever the hell you like really. Snow mobile races are usually a laugh too, hurtling down a mountain weaving in and out of forested wilderness. However, if you'd rather just burn through countless clips of ammo, fighting your way through hordes of soldiers then no fear, this game caters. The downsides are of course, online multiplayer with numerous screaming/swearing children from the U.S - mute them - then its as addictive as halo3. Another is the campaign is too short with roughly 10-15 hours of a first time play through on regular difficulty. If you're going to be a bit harsh, you could say the fighting is bias considering the enemies can cover efficiently, merely raise a gun to fire without exposing themselves to gunfire, whereas you must hope you didn't overdo it on the ol' analogue stick. A minimal negative but still questionable. So, top notch action - check quality multiplayer modes - check over the top weaponry and slow mo - double check perfection? - "close, but no cigar" (Don Corneo, perverted fat man, wall market)

Rated by Robert Hall on 12th July 2010

This game is amazing and one of the best video games of all time. It is really realistic and never a dull moment. You get to control the SAS and the U.S Rangers. during the rangers you get to fight the war against the Russians and the Taliban. As the SAS you get to do infiltration missions and your Captain is Soap Mactavish as you will remember from Call Of Duty 4 if you have played it. You also get to team up with Captain Price who was also in Call Of Duty 4. The multiplayer is amazing especially online. It is great when you get to rank up and when you get to General (rank 70) you can even prestige which means you can go through the ranks all over again. There are also special Kill streaks to unlock where you can get a Stealth Bomber and even a Nuclear Bomb and much more. There is also a Special Operations mode where you can do special missions which you can do with friends on multiplayer. Overall this game has a lot to offer and to keep you busy for a very long time.