Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Xbox 360 review

A worthy successor to the original?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Xbox 360 . Gaming, Action, Xbox 360, Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty, Activision 0

Reviewer: Chris Pickering
Review Date: 12 November 2009
Manufacturer: Activision
Price as reviewed: £54.99
Latest price: compare

Our score

9/10

Full Review

After Infinity Ward’s sublime Call of Duty: Modern Warfare astounded all with its representation of up-to-date combat, expectations have continuously soared for the always inevitable sequel. With predictions of multi-millions day one sales (which incidentally proved to be perfectly correct) a raised RRP, and a mass of gamers desperate to get their grubby mitts on the final game, these talented developers have had a lot to ponder.

The single player campaign unsurprisingly fails to deviate too far from the path trodden by its elder sibling. The campaign lasts a mere 6-8 hours; the breakneck speed that the majority of this time flashes past, due to the hectic action on screen, leaves it feeling much less than half that.

Once again you flit between two intertwined stories, one involving US Army privates fighting in their own backyard, with the other starring the group of British favourites you’ll remember from the last Modern Warfare. In terms of an overall story it’s certainly affecting and brutal. But it does force you to take a few liberties with what’s actually possible in the real world.

It plays from the same first person perspective as before, and retains the obsession with cover from the last game. The pace is almost universally set to absolutely frantic, and even on the Normal difficulty settings you’ll regularly find yourself in an area where you suddenly seem completely surrounded, the screen a horrible red blur (with what appears to be strawberry jam smeared on screen in an awful design decision) as you take hits, and achieving an untimely death in order to give it another try. If you tired of the previous game's addiction with urging you to learn enemy routines a few times before passing through with life intact, then you’ll suffer the same fate here.

Though things may not sound as stellar as we’d expected, they’re no better or worse than the original Modern Warfare. With the rose tinted specs removed, even the last game packed a certainly solid single player campaign with some stunning set pieces (which are multiplied tenfold in Modern Warfare 2) but didn’t offer enough to let that offering sell a game all on its own. That was left to the multiplayer component.

Safe to say that Modern Warfare 2 is an absolute joy online, at least on the Xbox 360. The PC version is, by all accounts, obliterated by the lack of dedicated server support, and the PS3 iteration is already approaching its third patch. But for Xbox 360 owners, we’ve had an absolute riot.

Not much has changed but instead multiplied to offer more depth, more customisation, and a whole new level of fun. A large number of your favourite perks from the last game remain, to be added to be a whole new fresh batch looking to spice up the battlefield. Kill Streaks remain with included new flavours, but new Death Streaks, allowing the frequently killed a chance to immediately bite back, really do add a lot to proceedings for both newcomers and rubbish gamers alike.

The 16 new maps are unsurprisingly a mixed bag, with early favourites already obvious with those who’ve already settled in for the long play. All, however, seem to pack much more in than the counterparts. Even for us, who have spent a quite unhealthy amount of time with the multiplayer component already, we still keep finding new nooks and crannies to hide, exploit, and be killed from.

One major new addition is the Spec Ops missions. Played in either single player or two player cooperative, well over 20 short missions are offered up to play through. These are all wildly different, ranging from holding a tower against waves of enemies, through to slowly and methodically sniping your way through great snowy landscapes, and award you stars after completion. This isn’t a last minute gimmick, as it could certainly keep a whole lot of people away from multiplayer for quite a while as they attempt to bag every last star.

As for the mission that’s been so heavily publicised in the mainstream press, we’ve little to add to the debate that hasn’t already been said. Playing through that particular 5 minutes did become a touch difficult, and it’s certainly not something you’ll come back to once you’ve had a go yourself. But the sheer fury levelled towards the game itself and its developers has been on such a ridiculous level, that you’d believe that violent games/films/music/books hadn’t ever existed before. More violent things have appeared in the past, and they will in the future.

Verdict

While the multiplayer component does deserve a full score (on the Xbox 360 at the moment, anyway) the single player campaign is a step below that level.

It’s a rip-roaring ride while it lasts, but it’s a touch too short, too hectic, and overly reliant on forcing you to learn enemy routines in order to bag the best piece of cover right away. But the multiplayer is by far the best in the business, and it’ll keep you hooked until well into next year.

Full tags

Gaming, Action, Xbox 360, Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty, Activision

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game.co.uk, gamestation.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk, play.com, ebay.co.uk

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Comments

This game is awesome, from start to finish its a cinematic epic. Every detail has been given full attention and everything has been thought out. I personally feel the new blood effect looks awesome, unlike the reviewer who is trippin balls.

Multiplayer is awesome and Spec Ops is awesome, this game rules from start to finish, 65 bucks well spent, you will not be dissapointed. Posted by Chillen McCool, United States
the game was parry good Posted by felipe sepulveda , az
After the so-so CoD World at War, this release has raised the bar yet again. Like many gamers I suspect, I can't comment on the single player mode as I haven't touched it yet.

The multiplayer online mode however is a Godsend for all gamers. The pace, the visual feast on offer at ALL times and even the astonishing audio (turn your speakers up to hear footsteps 'crumping' in the snow) never fail to make your jaw drop.

However, it needs to be said that Infinity Ward failed the community on two small but very irritating points:

1. The names above freindly players are not displayed when viewed from certain spots, or when those players are in certain spots, on a lot of the maps. This was a major irritation in COD4 and seems to have been ignored. Team kills aplenty in Hardcore game modes arise from this problem! I don't know a thing about modern programming, but surely to goodness it can't be that hard to make a players name appear at all times?

2. The spawn-kill situation is still unacceptable. Spawning you back in the action is one thing, but spawning under an airstrike, or right in front (or behind, for that matter) an enemy spoils the round for players when it happens time and again. The maps in this game are much larger than in COD4 - there really is no need for it!

They'll need to launch a new console now, surely, just to enable a developer (even IW) to better this.

Buy it!

PS - I'm with the reviewer on the blood on the screen - WTF? Thats really quite rubish... Posted by p0ngo , England
I have been waiting for Modern Warfare 2 every since it was annonced that I.W would be taking the reigns for the next C.O.D installment after the dismal W.A.W,
I was outside my local GAME store Monday evening ready to grab my copy at Midnight bought it, got it home and played the single player mission from start to finish non stop 6 hours with out a break and the time flew by I loved every second absolutely fantastic especially the snow moblies I thought that was a great Idea to break up the shooting action.

The only problem I have found is the new server system they are using. On C.O.D 4 I usually get in a online match within 30 seconds with Modern Warfare 2 I have waited and waited sometimes up to five minuites to get a game but it's worth the wait.....

Infinity Ward you are Game Gods. Posted by Steve.J, England
Best bit about it for me was getting it for £26 quid from Sainsburys. YES, the game of the year for £26 quid!! Posted by Bluem000n, uk
im having trouble getting mp online aswell ,takes ages ,never did on cod4, its better if i jump in2 a game from someone on my friends list , i live out in the staicks so have just ordered a broadband accelerator , hope this works , anyone else experiencing this. Posted by xvi LEGENDivx, United Kingdom
hi i live in ireland and have an xbox. my friend has a ps3 and i cant join a game on xbox it just cycles through the testing matches and finds games but wont join me in. using my same modem on the ps3 both with a strict nat it can get a game no prob within minutes.am i the only one.any suggestions to this problem greatly appreciated as i dont want to hav buy a ps3 and second copy of game i already baught. email me at swiftmod@yahoo.co.uk if you can help pz Posted by swiftmod, ireland
Surprisingly, the multiplayer side of the game is the bit thats a big let down on the PC format of the game, though as console players dont tend to have more than 30 players in a game (if that many even?) then this probably isnt an issue, certainly the lack of support for multiplayer on PC is dissapointing, and is probably the most contributive factor to the lack of take up on PC where the game failed to meet expectations. Posted by Steve, UK
Two words (no not those two...!)

Absolutely Brilliant

This game in multiplayer mode on the 360 is so good I played 9 hours straight on the day my son got it (he'd gone to bed!). So good is this game that I've ended up going out and buying my own 360 and a copy of the game.

Spawning is a nightmare sometimes, I don't remember COD4 being as bad as this actually, but hey, a small price to pay for so much entertainment.

Just one problem now, balancing my COD addiction and spending time with my gorgeous fiancee, she knows I love her but in the end boyz will be boyz!
Posted by DaddyFX, United Kingdom