Modern Warfare 2

Modern Warefare 2

Just finished the game last night, so I thought I'd drop in my review...

Rating- 8/10

First, the story: Like its predecessor, MW2 is based somewhere around the present era. The world is being terrorized by another Russian ultra-nationalist. Somehow the US gets accused of terrorism on Russian soil and soon enough Russia invades the US. The game follows the story of both soldiers fighting against the Russian invasion and a group of task force agents who are trying gather evidence against the ultra-nationalists.

The Good: MW2 takes a solid chunk out of its predecessor's books and features solid, tight gameplay. The controls are excellent and although MW2 features completely linear gameplay, it is scripted so well, you can't take offense to that. Like many other reviewers have done before me, I can't help but compare it to a Hollywood action thriller. There might be people who will find fault with what Infinity Ward have done with respect to linear gameplay but really, who cares about it as long as the game keeps you engrossed throughout.

The graphics look great even on a mid-range PC like mine (AMD X2 5000+ 2.6GHz processor, 2GB RAM and an ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card; not the most powerful as you can see) and frame-rates stick to the satisfying 40s. The sound is beyond excellent and on a 5.1 rig, the sounds of the battlefield ring true.

Of course, there is the much debated 'No Russian' mission which makes you a part of a terrorist squad that goes on a rampage killing civilians in a Russian airport. Yes, it is shocking the first time around and when I engaged in my first serious attempt at the game, I couldn't bring it upon myself to pull the trigger. Not only because I wanted to see what the game would do in response (which is nothing; you can just walk around looking at the terrorists do their thing without any penalties) but I also had made up my mind to see how the entire scenario was scripted without any player input. You can skip the entire scene as the game allows you to do so, but it does add its bit to the overall plot. The neat twist at the end of the scenario took me by surprise but I really believe that how many ever times I choose to replay that scene, it won't lose any of its shock quotient. And that, at least in my books, is a worthy endeavor by any game.

The Bad: The plot is convoluted at best and just plain asinine at worst. The enemy AI is pretty good but it takes a lot out of the immersion when friendly AI expect you to do most of the work. That is perhaps a downside to scripted gameplay. The campaign gets over very fast and is unfairly easy even at 'Hardened' difficulty. In fact a lot of times while playing, I found myself comparing the game to its predecessor and it always fell short. This difficulty does, however take a steep rise when you are playing the Special Ops mode and aiming for stars and obviously when you are playing multi-player. Then again, I've never been that great at multi-player.

The Verdict: Forget the linear gameplay; if you want a game to take you by the collar and run you through pretty awesome gameplay, then MW2 is the game for you. It might not make you change your mind about FPSs in general, but it does a hell of a good job keeping you gravitated towards what's happening on screen.

Definitely, one of the better games of the year.

(Read more of my reviews at postwar-reviews.blogspot.com)