Spring 2009 - Issue 5

The Silversword: Home > Arts and Entertainment > Game Review: Modern Warfare 2

Game Review: Modern Warfare 2

Darren Wong, Staff Writer

The critically acclaimed “Modern Warfare” sub-series of the “Call of Duty” franchise, made by developer Infinity Ward, is brought back to the video-game world. The sequel gives gamers a new reason to not go to school — or a reason to be up till 4 a.m.

Modern Warfare 2 continues the mission where we left off five years ago, led by your superior officer, Captain Soap Mactavish. The first edition was released in November 2007.

The plot in the campaign mode is a little confusing; this might have been because I was playing the game at 2 a.m. What added to the confusion was playing through different soldiers’ missions as the war progresses. Although Infinity Ward brought this role-playing aspect back from the previous game, they did not explain the story well.

The sequel has moments that leave the gamer feeling a little left out. The campaign mode is extremely short; it took me about five hours to get through regular and veteran difficulties of the game. The game did not feel too long because there was a lot of drama — twists and turns that, I found once a big mission was finished, I kept saying to myself, “Please don’t let it be over.”

The campaign mode doesn’t always necessarily transition well into the next mission, however; you just get thrown into the action after an “intel” scene that provides only a little preview of the mission. The game feels similar to the previous Modern Warfare game, so don’t expect anything too different. There isn’t a cooperative campaign mode as the past World at War game that came out between Modern Warfare 1 and 2.

The game’s graphics are good throughout. However, while the background scenery is effective, when you look at something closely, it’s not always the best quality. There are some minor players and objects that “clip,” meaning there are visual screen errors. That said, you won’t always be looking or caring about graphics when the bullets start flying your way. The frame rate is okay, too, but the game does lag a little when the bombs start going off from the AC 130 gunner.

Sound is another thing that needs to be addressed. Infinity Ward could have done stronger gun sounds, and the voice-overs during the loading screen could have been improved upon. For example, the M4, an assault rifle, sounds here like a submachine gun from Halo. And the characters’ voices sound a bit mumbled throughout the load screen.

There are many new things implemented in the game that will leave the gamer wanting more, including a new co-operative campaign called Special Ops.

The multiplayer mode brings more to the table with new perks, weapons, and more things to help you blow up and create a load of havoc. The depth in the multiplayer mode has given you more strategy and technicality. A nifty change the game developers implemented is that instead of just using the previous game’s default UAV, Airstrike, and Helicopter strike, there is a new addition: killstreaks. They provoke the gamer to kill to get “package drops” such as a sentry gun, or random package drops like manning a helicopter gunner, an AC 130, and even a tactical nuke.

With action there comes a bunch of cheesy moments in the game. I felt I was James Bond in some parts of the game. Over the top moments seemed to help lighten up the mood of war, since we do have a war going on in reality.  The interesting thing is that the game came out on Veterans Day, and the game took heat from the media.

All in all, I have mixed feelings about the game. Gamers will feel cut short if they do not have online access to play the famous multiplayer mode. But if gamers do have online access, the game is definitely worth 60 bucks.

The Modern Warfare 2 is definitely worth it if you access all the assets the game has to offer. Since there are events that started a whole new war on American turf, there will be a third to come.