PS3 Review – Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is easily the biggest title of the year. Is it deserving of the hype? Or does it need more time in training before it join the ranks of this year’s other major titles? Find out in our full review…
Five years after the events of Modern Warfare, we find ourselves back in the middle of a bad situation. Imran Zakhaev’s defeat brought about some unforseen consequences; the ultranationalists seize control of Russia and paint Zakhaev as a Russian hero and martyr. One of his former lieutenants, Vladimir Makarov, swoops in to fill the void with his own brand of terrorism.
Throughout the single player campaign, you will find yourself hopping across the globe in traditional Call of Duty narrative style, playing as either an Army Ranger, or as a member of an elite squad called Task Force 141. Makarov is up to something, and your job is to stop him.
By the end of your journey through this cinematic gauntlet that Infinity Ward has crafted, you will be bloody, dazed, and more than a little confused. While the core gameplay is possibly the best first person action experience known to man, the plot does not give much time to take in what you’re experiencing before being dragged through one plot twist after another. Then again, there is no time to talk about feelings when you are constantly being assaulted by soldiers, helicopters and the occasional caged chicken.
Speaking of gameplay, take what you faced in Modern Warfare and turn it to eleven. You won’t be manning any AC-130 gunner seats this time, but don’t worry: Spec Ops and Multiplayer have your AC-130 needs covered and more, but more about that later. Instead you will find yourself nervously scanning buildings manning a Humvee Minigun, controlling Predator drones, sniping from helicopters, dodging glaciers, walking through space(!), crawling through the snow, and all sorts of other “Oscar Mike” activities. That’s “On the Move” for you civilians.
Not every mission is enjoyable, however. Unless you have been stuck in a Russian prison somewhere, you have heard about some of the events early on in the game involving violence towards non-combatants. It is understandable how many might see this part of the game as unnecessary. However, every opportunity is given to the player to avoid it. If you do decide to give it a try, it is possible to get through it without firing a single bullet at a civilian. The scene is, however, an integral part of the story and is no more violent or gratuitous than similar scenes in any number of recent movies. War is ugly. You will see this emphasized more and more as you progress through the story.
Once you survive the single player campaign and have caught your breath, the fun has only just begun. Before you inevitably make your way into the multiplayer action, don’t miss out on the Special Ops mode. If you have enjoyed any recent games with cooperative gameplay, this is where you will find yourself coming back to. There are five sets of “Spec Ops” challenges, starting with Alpha. As you complete missions and earn up to three stars per mission, you start to unlock more and more difficult missions in Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo. Each mission falls into a “classification”, such as “Assault” where you just blast your way through an enemy force to reach the end, or “Wave Defense” where you must survive several waves of various enemy threats.
One of the most insane mission types are the “Timed Escort” missions that require two players. While many of the missions will allow you to play them solo, the timed escort missions require a partner. For instance, the “Big Brother” mission in the “Bravo” missions puts one player in the gunner seat of a Blackhawk helicopter, clearing the path ahead for the other player to advance through a horde of enemies. Teamwork is essential, and you will see why when you get there.
After you have completed each of the Spec Ops missions, not only will you earn stars for unlocking more missions, you will also see your completion times in comparison to the “estimated completion time.” Then Infinity Ward mocks your pitiful time by posting their own best time for you to try to beat. Good luck with that.
Are we done yet? Hell no, soldier, turn around and complete your mission!
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26 Responses to “PS3 Review – Modern Warfare 2”
Great Review!!!!!!!!!!
I like the level called “The only good day….was yesterday” They re-created the shower scene in the move “The Rock” with Sean Connorey and Nicholas Cage. I couldn’t stop laughing when I popped up out of the ground into the showers.
Awesome review. I haven’t picked this up yet, but hopefully will have it by christmas
the story is actually awesome, l could care less for the story of the 1st MW. Excellent review
I’m loving this game. I’ll be keeping it for years to come. I must say though that I disagree with the contention that Infinity Ward knows how to tell a good story. They are actually known for not telling stories very well but having great action moments. I personally thought the delivery and presentation of the story in MW2 was the worst I have seen in any game to date. With that said, the Co-Op and Multiplayer more than makes up for it.
5/5…sounds about right!
@The Queef Sisters
definitely felt the same way about the shower scene. i always really liked the movie “the rock”.
but my favorite part is after you take out the guard at the begining of ‘the only easy day… was yesterday’… you take him into the water and then when you get back to the surface two of your soldiers are waiting to pull you up… it got me super hype and made me feel like i we were about to go in there deep and lay boys down.
this is a great game. the online is even more addicting than the first and this game is easily deserving of the editors choice platinum trophy.
so I just played the level where you end up going into the airport and shooting at civilians and I guess I didn’t have a problem with it…it’s just a game, I would never do it in real life…People just need to relax and take video games for exactly what they are…VIDEO GAMES! Actually if I was in that situation in real life I would drop back behind the Russian dudes and then just rip a bunch of bullets into all of them…but then I guess the game would be over and it wouldn’t be as dramatic…
Anyway, great game I just wish the single player campaign was much longer. I understand a lot of people seem to believe that they only sacrifice single-player length to put all the extra time into the multiplayer portion, and I also understand that a lot of people would rather just play the multiplayer, but my question is this…why do they have to sacrifice a lengthy single player for multiplayer? If I did something great, like Infinity Ward does multiplayer, I wouldn’t just put most of my focus in that area. I would want to work twice as hard and make a single player campaign, which is absolutely amazing anyway, and give that experience to the player for at least 12 hours so that there is no way the consumer has anything to complain about and I receive praise all around. I think it just comes down to Activision telling Infinity Ward, “If you keep the story short in all the games then you can save some of your ideas for sequels and we can keep the franchise going twice as long or just charge the customer more for it later as DLC.”
It’s all I played for a week and it will be the only game I play for a while … Love COD MW2!
[...] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released only about a week ago, and so far it has become one of the most popular online titles of all time. With an average of around 400,000 Modern Warfare 2 players online, the competition to rank up has been fierce on the PlayStation Network. While Modern Warfare 2 features dozens of unlockables ranging from weapons to equipment, there have been a few additions from both of the previous Call of Duty titles. Callsigns and emblems have been a great addition to the series and have helped the millions of online players worldwide distinguish themselves from one another. There are dozens upon dozens of each, and thankfully below we have images of every single callsign and emblem within the game. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } [...]
[...] Modern Warfare 2 has been a very popular game the past few weeks, and rightfully so. Although the multiplayer has gotten the most attention, the cooperative experience is considered to be equally as good. The cooperative mode also allows for singleplayer play within the challenge maps, and many players try to achieve high records within these maps. According to a recent account, one player has actually managed to beat the record of the development team at Infinity Ward. Within the special ops mode of Modern Warfare 2 there is the popular speedrun map titled “The Pit” which many players use to gauge how much skill they have in the game. The record set by Infinity Ward on the map has been a challenge for many and was set at a mere 22:60. However, a player has managed to clock in a time of only 22:10, which many fans thought was unreachable. [...]
[...] before its release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was expected to break sales records which proved to be true after it hit store shelves. And while [...]
Hey by “intervention” do u mean the Cheytac M200 “Intervention”???
Dont know what im talking about, search it on Youtube.
[...] Ward’s very own Modern Warfare 2 was released only weeks ago, and while a few issues existed in the original release, most of them [...]
ilove it my best game cod1,2,3,4,5,6
[...] to console. Games like Killzone 2, inFamous, Uncharted 2: Among Theives, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. With 2009 coming to a close, it’s time to set our sights on 2010, a year filled with the [...]
[...] Modern Warfare 2 was released nearly two months ago, it smashed almost every sales record in gaming history. With [...]
mw2 sucks. 1943 is better and bc2 will most likely be better.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is much better. I can only recommend this game to the casual market. The single-player is undoubtedly the worst I have personally experienced in an FPS. The multi-player is ridden with glitches and exploits, and the worst part is that there is no incentive for teamwork.
Hands down this game is the game of ’09. BUT! Its 2010 now, mw2 is still the biggest hit. JUST LOOK AT IT. Estimate 105,000 just in TDM. WOW!.
JOIN OUR PS3 CLAN. “QUIK” thats QUIK. Its a Quik Scope/ No Scope clan. MUST USE INTERVENTION WITH NO ATTACHMENTS, ONLY FMJ AND SCILENCER.
OH AND YA BEST USE “SLIGHT OF HAND”. NO OTHER WEAPONS allowed. NO side arems. NO knifing. (Throwing knives acceptable)
this game was HORRIBLE
This game is too addicting
[...] Modern Warfare 2 was a smash hit both in sales and reception when it released nearly a year ago. While the game was impressive on almost all fronts, exploits seemingly hampered an otherwise amazing multiplayer experience. Judging by the latest information from Treyarch, the team seems to be taking exploit prevention more seriously than Infinity Ward. [...]
[...] play or skill. However, this might not be the permanent resting place for the multi-million selling Modern Warfare 2, as Infinity Ward plans to fix the issues before they become even [...]