Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009 Video Game) User Reviews

Wow...

[DVman245 · 10/10 · 17 November 2009]

Where to begin? well, the plot, with twists and all, is brilliant and enjoyable. I found myself shocked and surprised at what i thought were the key moments to be shocked and surprised, which was a definite plus.

I also enjoyed the idea of a different attachment with each weapon and had fun playing around with this for hours on end! What i was stunned by were the graphics. A great improvement from a great previous game! I couldn't believe what i was seeing half the time! Multiplayer is excellent, with more incentive to play and try out different mixes of equipment in each match.

Overall, a great sequel, hats off to infinity ward, well done guys!

I was addicted to this!

[faisalfaves · 10/10 · 16 November 2018]

I remember when I was in college I used to play this game whole day. Wow Thanks to the creators of this game. Call of Duty franchise is died after this game. Till BO4 no game compete this Call of Duty game.

Prepare to be exhilarated....

[el_burro_1999 · 10/10 · 7 November 2009]

Modern Warfare 2.....Where to begin? If you have played and enjoyed CoD4, then no doubt you have been anticipating this game as much as I have. Having received my copy today, I immediately installed it to my xbox and got stuck in to the campaign.

First things first: This is as well scripted and as wonderfully acted as the first Modern Warfare. The characterisations and the feeling of immersion are at a level far beyond most video games, and you will feel the gut-punching twist's in plot as if it were you in the game.

The adult nature of the story-telling is also amplified in the story, and you are given the choice of experiencing it as IW intended, or if you'd rather not risk offending yourself. Take my advice, and play EVERY level. Yes there are some very disturbing moments, and you may well be profoundly shocked (as I was) by one mission in particular. But IW are masters of plot, character and emotional involvement, and you must ride the highs and lows to fully appreciate the achievement of Modern Warfare 2.

It is a masterpiece of level design, and will frustrate and amaze in equal measure. The sheer spectacle that is delivered by this game is beyond words. More times than I can count, butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and my mouth grew dry in anticipation of what was about to happen....and I was never left wanting. From remote piloting a UAV, jumping chasm's on a snowmobile, using heartbeat detectors in blizzards to find your pursuers, and using amazingly realised military hardware.

Without question, IW are the masters of military FPS's, and this shows how far ahead of the competition they currently are. Adult game-making comes no better, be in no doubt.

The BEST FPS I have ever played - no exaggeration.

[liam-austen · 10/10 · 7 November 2009]

This morning, my heart stopped. My mum walked in to my room while I was laying in bed, and brought out a game from behind her back. Guess what arrived three days early? Yes, I have already completed the campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and it is phenomenal. The amount of action, guns and gore will keep you satisfied. Every level is as good as the next, with settings from airports to Afghanistan. OK, there is one controversial level that you have probably already heard of, but you have the opportunity to skip it - I wouldn't, because it plays a vital part in the storyline. Just try and stomach the bloodshed.

Talking of gore, the amount of it has been notched up from its predecessor. Blood splatters over your HUD when shot, and a large puddle of blood spreads under your dead enemies, depending on where you shot/stabbed them. It is extremely realistic - hence the UK's 18 rating.

I won't give away much about the ending - all I will say is there is a huge twist, a boat and a throwing knife.

I am amazed at the quality of this fantastic CoD - it will keep the rest of this year filled. A definite 10 out of 10.

Excellent gaming sequel

[freemantle_uk · 10/10 · 6 January 2010]

We gamers trend to be a conservative bunch. The most popular games tend to be sequels to already established series like Grand Theft Auto, Pro Evolution Soccer, Uncharted 2, the Football Manager series, the Total War series etc... One of the most popular is the Call of Duty series. Call of Duty games were often set in the Second World War, but the series found great critical and commercial success with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare set in the near future. A sequel was inevitable and it has become the fastest selling game in history.

Set 5 years after the previous game the Ultra-Nationalists have taken control of Russia and Zakhaev had been made into a national hero. General Shepherd (Lance Henriksen) forms a new counter-terrorism force, including "Soap" MacTavish (Kevin McKidd), the playable character in the previous game. Early on in the game Russian terrorists attack an airport in Russia, and kill a CIA undercover agent to frame America for it. This gives Russia international sympathy and they invade the East Coast of America. Shepherd and his team have to stop the Russian before the war goes nuclear and the action takes the player to Brazil, Russia and Afghanstan. As well you end up fighting on the frontline in the war against Russia as Private Ramirez in the US Rangers.

The plot is entertaining enough. But what makes games great is whether they are playable, and this one is. The controls are simple and the game itself is more playable then it's predecessor. It is highly addictive to and very enjoy. It is sadly a little short but you could always raise the difficulty level. It is simple fun playing soldier.

There was controversy with one of the games missions set in a Russia airport where it you play the CIA operative undercover with a Russian terrorist group. You have to help kill innocent people, which the controversial nature of the mission. I can understand the victim of terrorism concerns, but I don't mind violence in computer games. The same agreements were used against violence films, but I'm of the view that if someone is influence to commit a violence act because of something in the media then they were not right in the head in the first place.

Overall, very enjoyable for die-hard gamers.

A great single player and addicting as hell online multiplayer.

[wwe7961 · 10/10 · 11 October 2010]

Modern Warfare 2 is a massive game that has built a following as big as even the Halo franchise, and there is a lot of reasons why. First thing to go over is the singleplayer campaign. There is 18 missions in the game which is much more than the first Modern Warfare. Although this leads to some missions being a little short. One mission near the end actually took me like 5 minutes to finish. That in many ways can be ignored due to the great story, and brilliant visuals. There is also a lot of cool new addictions to the campaign also. Now there is times where you will drive a vehicle, and these moments produce some of the most adrenalin rushing moments in the game. The story telling for this game is much larger than the first game. While the first game had a huge HOLY SH*T with the nuke this game has several of these OH MY GOD moments. The plot twists are not seen coming, and they are very effective. Although there is some weak character development at times. In the first game you became attached to the characters, and hoped that they would be alive by the time the credits rolled. Here you don't get attached to characters as much as you did the first game. Then there is the thing we all know about. This game is simply gorgeous in the visual department. There is huge epic moments that will amaze you, and little things like an enemy not dead yet with his blood smearing on the ground he is crawling on that just show the expert crafting of this game. So that's the singleplayer, but we all know what we are here for. We want the multiplayer. To calls movie as addicting as coke and heroine combined is an understatement. There is and endless amount of hours than can be spilled into this game playing just Team Deathmatches alone. There is a great upgrade system. You can unlock different attachments and camouflage to your guns, unlock other guns, upgrade and unlock different perks, unlock different kill streak awards, unlock titles, unlock emblems, there is so much more than just leveling up when it comes to this game. Also I love kill streak awards here. You can get UAVs, care packages, predator missiles, even a nuke. You will spend hours playing this game, and you will only stop when you get the next Call of Duty game.

Solo and co-op are great but the multiplayer suffers a bit from bad changes, some horrid maps and focus on one style of play

[bob the moo · 22 November 2009]

So like millions others I have been playing this game over the last few weeks, having played COD4 for many years. I was very excited to get this game and I'll deal with it bit by bit. The solo game came first for me. It looks great, plays great and the only real fault it has is how big the story is. By bringing in an invasion of the US that seems to happen rapidly and in force it does get quite overblown at times and indeed the levels that you play in suburban America, while cool in a novelty way, are probably the ones that work least in a narrative sense – even if it does give you the "wow" moment where you exit a bunker on one level to find you are below Washington and it is burning! Speaking of "wow" moments the game does have plenty of epic battles that feel massive but don't lose your character amongst hundreds others like what happened in COD5. Also the narrative twists and turns are engaging and even once made the hairs on my arms stand up as I got chills! OK it is short if you get good at it and I can understand why those who buy it for this story alone will be annoyed with that, but I was happy with it and loved the majority of the levels.

The co-op missions are a good addition. The ability to play most of them solo helps but the online link-up is very welcome and makes them a lot more fun and manageable. I have not yet done them all yet but I still enjoy going back and doing some that I find easier for the fun of it. Of course the main selling point of the game is the hope that Infinity Ward can repeat their winning formula for the multiplayer. This is where, unfortunately, I have my reservations across several aspects. On the plus side, the perks, weapons and classes are all good – OK some weapons are useless while some are a bit too strong but mostly I like them, while the perks and weapon add-ons allow you to tailor your class to suit your play really well. Sadly this is not the same with the maps, which are mostly weak.

Ignore the fact that some game modes will never give you many maps, the problem I have is the style of play that the maps support. On COD4 the maps mostly allowed for a range of styles, from the still and silent "long-range" player to the runner-gunner. Some maps favoured one over the other a bit but generally the balance was there. On MW2 the balance is overwhelmingly on those who prefer to stay in one or two places, watching and waiting. This is true of almost all the maps and, as a domination player, it is quite frustrating to play against a team happy to let you take the flags (and the win) in exchange for kills. Price said "watch your corners" and in COD4 it was good advice but on MW2 there are simply too many corners on every corner – moving in any given area requires you to check the rock, the three windows, two doorways, the top of the truck and the 3 rooftops; simply put there are too many places to be aware of which is why most players do the waiting game – which I sort of understand when the win is based on kills (death match) but not when it needs you to move (capture the flag, sabotage, HQ, domination etc etc). There are just too many places for people to be in every single corner or area and it means that only once or twice have I enjoyed the frantic, intense battles that used to be commonplace in COD4. Given that on COD4 the majority of people love shipment (small, frantic map) and hate creek (big open map), I'm not sure why MW2 has tended more towards the bigger, more open map.

I support making martyrdom a death perk rather than something to be used on every death, and I know people moan about grenades in COD4, but here they are useless – which makes it even harder to get people out of rooms once they are embedded in there. I guess IW did this to remove the frustration effect associated with explosives but then why did they introduce so many things falling from the sky. I find the AC130 and the many different air strikes and helicopters to be a lot more frustrating and harder to deal with that remembering to stay back from a kill in case he has martyrdom! The Tactical Nuke may be a cool nod to PC modders but to lose domination because of someone staying in a room when you have had all three flags for the majority of the game is cheap and unappreciated – it rewards campers who ignore the flags for kills and punishes those who move around the map taking flags for the win.

It is all still a very good game across the board but I'll be honest and say that, while COD4 ate my free time for years, MW2 is already something I'll do for an hour before easily putting it down and within two weeks I was starting to mix it in with frequent returns to COD4 multiplayer. Love the new game but some of the changes and new things have made it a lot less fun to play than the total COD4 experience.

Amazing!!!!

[cheesymctaggert · 10/10 · 24 December 2009]

This has everything the old call of duty had and more the battles are more intense and on a epic scale.

Your put right back into the action as the marines or the sas the story is epic putting you in to a global war..

The characters are really believable and you feel really close to them by the end of the story especially ghost who for some reason was my favourite even though he didn't really say much he was just cool.

The game play is intense with bullets whizzing passed your head and your comrades fighting back against the onslaught of Russians.There is nothing wrong with the game play its perfect even though the story may have been a bit short.

The graphics are amazing playing on a Sony bravia on hd blew me away such rich colours and intense sound.

The multiplayer is addictive as usual playing hours without noticing and the new perks are brilliant which add a whole new depth to the game play making it more interesting..

Its also nice to see that that captain mactavish is back and fighting leading the British forces to victory.

Truly Amazing a must buy!!!!!!

Easily four or five times more disturbing and frightening than Call of Duty 4

[phenomynouss · 10/10 · 11 December 2009]

Call of Duty 4 was like a good game that was given a powerful shot of energy to make a great and compelling campaign that had one special moment that came to a viewer like a hard smack in the face, the one thing that turns a great game into a classic game--- the mission "Shock and Awe", from start to end. This needs no explanation here.

The sequel aims heavily for upping its predecessor as much as possible, with a story far more complex and action-adventure laden, going bigger and faster as well as darker and edgier.

Where Call of Duty 4 was a gritty smack to the face, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is like a kick to the back of the head. And a curb stomp.

Call of Duty 4 stuck out to me for its "stinger" moment---which not only succeeded beautifully in being shockingly realistic, but in playing off my very real and the very real fears of billions of people---nuclear destruction. "Shock and Awe" gave us all of that, and turned an average campaign into a monstrous creature that blew us away (much the way Paul Jackson was?) Modern Warfare 2 doesn't use these moments very sparingly, and in fact indulges in them at a brisk, satisfying pace. The opening mission is a very realistic journey into a war in Afghanistan, where your force has to hunt and kill many OpFor terrorists, and has an early sequence in which the Marines are riding in their big armored vehicles down completely barren and deserted streets. An occasional civilian comes out and runs away in fear. At one point, you see three men glaring nastily at you from a balcony, all but screaming "bad guy" about them, and yet you can do nothing. Some time later, you're attacked.

The rest of the story leaps immediately after this "cold open", and where it took half the campaign to kill off the American character in COD4, the American character is dead by the third mission here, in a mission called "No Russian", which itself is the most terrifying, gutwrenching, brutally offensive missions ever. Just ever.

Without spoiling it, there is a very good, and very mindblowing reason the terrorist Makarov tells his fellow terrorists "No Russian" in the mission's start. The first half of the mission then involves you---an American spy, forced to go to any means to maintain your masquerade with Makarov---and the rest, murdering HUNDREDS of innocent civilians in a Russian airport.

That was something I simply couldn't take in and register, and had to restart the level some time later to get over it. I then realized then that they were very, very serious about the pre-game warning about the game's very extremely graphic content, and giving me a one-time only offer to turn off the graphic portions of the game.

From there, the game keeps delivering "HOLY SH!!" moments again and again, but without spoiling you into expecting them every level. However, a very similar ending to "Shock and Awe" appears this time around, spread across three whole missions and a cutscene (IN SPACE!) And yes, the game DOES give us more of the same---more stuff and junk. More multiplayer options, more single player options, more weapons, etcetera. It keeps the multiplayer system intact with great new options and fun.

Another big improvement: the graphics. These are by far some of the most realistic graphics I've seen in any game ever. People's faces actually look human (though obviously 3D), and their mouths move correctly to their speech. Details everywhere are given great attention, as random computer systems have every crease, button, hole, and screw in clear detail. A box of mints shows in clear detail on the dashboard of a military vehicle. Wads of gore stick to where they land, and boxes of paper for printing are in perfect detail and fully labeled all around.

Then, the drawbacks. None of these are enough to bring down the game even half a star: - The blood-on-the-screen look is probably more realistic than just shades of red, but it's incredibly distracting, and fills up far too much of the screen that it becomes almost impossible to see anything.

• The story indulges a lot more in a fantastical action-packed nature of real, open war not just on terrorist organizations, but on an equal footing. Part of what made Call of Duty 4 so great and shocking was that it essentially was based on reality and stuck to that---Americans were waging a "war on terror", surgically striking OpFor locations while hunting down the OpFor leader Al-Asad, the Bin Laden of this world, while SAS agents sneak around working against Russian (and perhaps Chechnyian) terrorists, in which both story lines overlap and become one towards the end.

This time around, it stays to that storyline universe, while taking greater and greater departures from reality. For me, there seems to be a genuine concern that the game that was so appealing for its realism may end up going just a bit too far into the fantastical, and while still be a great experience, not be as impactful as COD4 because it went beyond the realm of speculative realistic fiction, and into the realm of fantasy war stories, like "Turning Point", "Command & Conquer/Red Alert", "Rainbow Six", "24", and all the other modern-ish war stories that become fantasy on their own terms.

Perhaps that's a good thing for this game, though it has more than enough features to make it an epic experience.

Get Some...

[IndyMan_88 · 10/10 · 10 November 2009]

We have waited long for this game, and that comes to no surprise to those who play it one off or those who are heavily invested in this stunning graphical, FPS. Getting this game in the early hours of the morning and now almost at full completion, this game doesn't hit any corner of dull or lack of suspense, in fact it breaks through into more narrative and now more blood, violence and action that goes well.

Any COD, Black, MGS (Metal Gear Solid) series fan will enjoy this, whether or not a fan of the previous, the games stories take us to new places and missions we have dreamed of, to the slums of Rio, to the harsh Arctic landscapes of "Mother Russia".

The standards included from the previous games are ONLINE, new bonus co- op play known as "SPEC-OPS" and Campaigns. The single player campaign is nothing short of well rounded and excellent fun, with some tremendous scripted sequences and choreography like that of a well budgeted movie.

Like COD 4: Modern Warfare, the single player game is timely short but no less interesting then the game. If that does upset you, there is PLENTY to do in the extras and Multiplayer facilities where the game gets most credit. Hundreds of unlockables to keep you replaying a mission to get every ounce of fun, as well as a plethora of new classes and new weapons. Provided you were a fan of MW's multi player.

"SPEC-OPS" campaign, specifically designed for co-operative play, makes a welcoming change from other two. A collection of "mini" games that get increasingly harder based on your experience of the previous mini-game.

Smack, Bang and Volly all the way. 10/10

The squad is back, but it's currently under fire

[loua94 · 8/10 · 18 February 2010]

Hard to tell, but this may contain spoilers.

Let me start out by telling what foot I am on by giving a brief impression of the prequel. I loved Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. There were so many things great about it; there was the graphics, the shooter mechanics, the campaign, the cinematic experiences, a nice well explained story, and an outstanding multi-player mode.

In Modern Warfare 2, there have been some improvements, but also some losses as well. The campaign is rich with action. The cinematic experiences are even better, the voice acting is still great, and it is still rich with action. However, there are drawbacks too. The campaign's completion time is reduced from 10-15 hours to 4-5 hours. In MW1, the formula they used was great for the mix of action, stealth, cinematic, etc. When I went through this campaign, I couldn't help but have a feeling in my mind "wait, haven't I seen all of this stuff before?" It seemed like Infinity Ward was saying "Hey, the formula for MW1 was great, let's use the exact same thing in this game!" I'm not saying it hasn't changed, but if you think about it, the core of it all hasn't changed at all. Lastly, the story is not explained in the least bit. I could ask at least 5 basic questions about the storyline that would be impossible to answer without me saying "wait, what?" One more thing: when playing the campaign, play at the difficulty that you're sure you can play at, as in don't try pushing yourself. It's not fun in this game when you do so. The game was designed in a way that it will just get more frustrating when you play at higher difficulty levels, and you will find yourself inevitably memorizing where enemies are and different routes on the map to get past a certain part. In most games it feels good to push beyond your limits. Not here.

Multiplayer seems to have the same effect on me with its improvements and losses. I have the PC version, so I'm just going to get it over with and say "Really, Infinity Ward? No dedicated servers? And replace it with a faulty matchmaking system?! Comon!" Multiplayer has the addition of about 15 kill-streak rewards. Some may think this is great and that it brings out the fun, but really, it just seems to make me hate the idea that these kill-streaks are specifically designed to keep the losers down, and the winners getting ridiculous amounts of kills because he has an AC-130 and no one could take it down without firing at least 3 rockets at it, which by the time you do, it will have killed you at least 4 times, and all your other teammates the same amount. Also, the tactical nuke is specifically made to make you automatically win and get another 10 kills if you get a 25 kill-streak, which just seems like a buzzkill to the other 10 players. All in all, the new kill-streaks just seem to irritate me more than not. The actual multi-player maps also have their flaws. Other call of duty multi-player games were supposed to simulate war, with a whole lot of people on the battlefield fighting it out. You didn't have to camp out or hide in the shadows to win. In MW2, the maps are specifically designed to be eye candy, and as a consequence to most of the maps, the campers cannot be stopped, and at any moment a guy could come up behind you stabbing you with a knife.It lost its war-like feel to me.

Spec ops mode is a nice addition to MW2, by the way. You replay certain moments from the campaign, MW1's campaign, and also just random awesome moments, where you must overcome a given challenge. A very fulfilling addition. There's also co-op mode, so if you have friends on XBox Live or on Steam, you can work together to complete a certain spec ops mission.

All in all, Modern Warfare 2 seems about average to me. It loses its straightforward campaign feel, a freshness in its formula, and suffers from a lack of dedicated servers on the PC version, an excessive amount of kill-streak rewards, and too much eye candy in the multi-player maps, etc etc etc. It does, however, keep good mechanics of a shooter, and has the nice addition of spec-ops mode. All I know is that with most shooters, even without a multi-player addition, I will play them for months and months without getting bored of them. With Modern Warfare 2, even with its multi-player and spec-ops additions, I got out of playing MW2 in less than two months. For a quarter of that time, it was because I was in the mood to play MW1 a lot more.

What? ....What?!

[theinternetiscrazy · 8/10 · 30 March 2010]

Get your copy of the original Modern Warfare. Transfer over all the excellent, finely polished game mechanics, improve them a bit, and then trade out the depth, pacing and subtlety of the original and replace them with large doses of stupidity and an increased emphasis on fancy explosion graphics.

Congratulations, you might as well have Modern Warfare 2! The original modern warfare, in summary, was a seemingly straight-out bang-bang shooter. It had all this brilliant gameplay, and get this: a brilliant story! Seriously, I was surprised as well! The story of the original was omnipresent, you could really see the effects of what went on unfolding as you progressed. It drove the game along with the right amount of grip - it didn't conspicuously vanish from time to time (As stories so often do in these games), and was used for a hell of a lot more than simply stringing shootouts together. What's more, it had some true poignancy to it. The original contained some very harrowing scenes and some very disturbing behaviour on the part of both sides, which formed an interesting commentary on the nature of war WITHOUT being clichéd, forced, or over sincere. (it's just a shame that a million hyperactive FPS fans interpreted it all as "YEAH KILL THE TERRORISTS WIV MAH GUN LOL"). Throw in some excellent characters, that you genuinely care about and there you go!

What an awful shame then, that Modern Warfare 2 goes completely overboard, with a serious, brooding grimace, while it's older brother looks on ashamed. It tries to force a shocked reaction with all the subtlety of flashing a big "YOU ARE SHOCKED NOW" sign in front of your face, while you actually just stroll around joyfully wasting civilians in an airport (a disturbingly satisfying section) wondering when the shock will set in. The second level has you ramp a jet-ski over a chasm. The story makes not a single bit of sense. Russia INVADES America. So much for that interesting Russian civil war idea, then! let's just turn them into generic Big Bads! I WOULD bang on about some of the most mind-numbingly stupid, overblown, embarrassingly overwrought and contrived reasons for more dramatic set pieces, but then I'd be spoiling the fun too much for those who haven't yet played it. The really striking thing about this game is that IT STILL TRIES TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. It's like some hardened General, standing on the battle lines saluting his fallen soldiers, while wearing a pink frilly dress. It doesn't just dive off the deep end, it does it with an anchor tied round it's feet and a heroic face on. You do owe it to yourself to play this game if you are REMOTELY into FPS games - the aforementioned set pieces to keep a tight hold on you as you fight through the game - in fact, only after you take a step back do you realise how laughable the whole thing was. At least the story is by no means bad - it certainly holds your interest, and it most definitely keeps the excellent gameplay going in a really smooth way. It's an astoundingly thrilling experience playing this, and when you're finished, you'll realise what an astoundingly idiotic one it was too. (ESPECIALLY compared to the very mature and meaningful tone of the previous instalment). I suppose that counts for something, right?

Could Be Better... *May Contain Mild Spoilers*

[djdaners · 7/10 · 16 December 2009]

Okay, I'm going to start by saying this is a good game. The Campaign is awesome, and Spec Ops is a nice addition for when you have finished the campaign. Multiplayer is a completely different story, however I will bring this up again later.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the sequel to one of the greatest shooters ever made - Call of Duty 4. I myself was highly anticipating it's release for several months now as I was a huge fan of Call of Duty 4 and was looking forward to playing the sequel.

The Campaign is simply stunning. The effects are amazing and the graphics too are a great improvement from its predecessor. The game itself is set 5-6 years after Call of Duty 4 and the campaign is divided into two parts - one as a member of Task force 141 trying to take down a terrorist named Vladimir Makarov, and the other a member of the Army Rangers in America fighting against the Russian invasion of USA. Some of the missions and storyline will shock most people in a negative way, and there was one mission that was very disturbing to me in particular. The story is pretty unrealistic and offensive. Overall the campaign is awesome and has some great twists and turns that will keep you playing and playing to the end.

Spec Ops is a new addition to the game which consists of 23 non-story related missions. You can either play through these missions yourself or you can grab one buddy online or split screen which is cool. Note that the online Spec Ops is extremely laggy and frequently disconnects which is fairly annoying but hopefully IW will address this with a patch soon. There are five separate parts to Spec Ops: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Each section is unlocked after a certain number of stars are earned. You can earn up to 3 stars each mission: 1 for completing it on Regular, 2 for Hardened, and 3 for Veteran. Overall this mode is difficult to complete but it's very fun.

Multiplayer is similar in ways that you earn XP to level up (lvl 70 each prestige) except there are a number of new perks and features, I will not list them all but you can find out about them all online. The new customizable kill streak feature is a cool one, and you choose which kill streak reward you get each kill. New ones include "Care Packages" which drop random kill streaks or ammo. Overall, the new multi-player features are awesome, except for one thing: it is too "noob friendly" in that almost everyone camps with shotguns on corners and it is extremely frustrating! Too many people run around with the extra health perks and stab people... I hate it! I was actually very good at CoD4 yet on here I play as if I am bad! Getting used to the new weaponry and which classes are best takes time but note that there are many people who do not play the game properly or as good as CoD4.

Overall, The game is OK, as the campaign took me about 8 hours to complete on veteran difficulty, and Spec Ops another 10-12 hours on Veteran. This is a short period of time to spend on a game, and the multi-player is what lets this game down so much as I have finished the single player stuff and I want to have fun online, but I cannot do this. I would recommend RENTING this game before you buy, as the campaign is breathtaking. Spec Ops is fantastic yet challenging, and online is atrocious and frustrating. Thanks for reading.

sends FPS back 20 years (pc version)

[grewelgrewel · 3/10 · 2 December 2009]

well i played this, i am currently boycotting so i played a friends copy, heres what i think of this direct console port of a game.

single player is fun.. very very short about 5 hours of gameplay, but its fun, lots of action, basically its like modern warfare 1 with a few tweaks and such. the gameplay generally wasn't too groundbreaking, lot like any other cod game nothing fantastically unique or amazing to warrant the game being 5 hours, but ya single player was generally not worth the price of 60-90$ depending on region of sale, not even close, $29.99 at best.

online play.. where do i begin, terrible.. host advantage means the equivalent to a cheater being in every game, no dedicated servers which means every match is usually in most cases 6vs6 players MAX on someones little home line+box instead of the large 32+ players were used to playing with on dedicated linux boxes build and run for the purpose of running online games stably and well. no maps or mods allowed unless you wanna BUY them from IW which is a first in gaming history due to the gaming companies greed so otherwise u buy the maps and mods which makes the game eventually cost well over 100$ or you play the same maps and game types that came with the game over and over. very little hack protection since they ported it so quickly from console they didn't even bother to add much hack protection. no server moderation or rules since there are no longer servers lol.

but ya, i think you all get the point, and believe it or not I've just scratched the surface, hope I've saved you a few dollars, and if you want to fight to protect the quality of games and the value of your purchase then boycott MW2 with all the gamers and all the clans, and tell your friends because if we allow them to do this then this will just be the beginning.

Arguably a classic

[Pepe-arbiter · 9/10 · 17 January 2022]

This game was truly one of the defining shooters of the 360/ps3 era and for good reason. Story may have been dumb and borderline incompetent, but it was such a fun ride, the multiplayer was tuned to perfection, and the spec ops mode was tons of fun to sink your teeth into. Truly a phenomenal sequel.

Masterpiece

[selenafansahin · 10/10 · 3 September 2019]

Masterpiece games Series Call of Duty Modern Warefare.

Best Call of Duty game and one of the best games of all time

[ghostrecon-tingey · 10/10 · 16 June 2014]

I rarely give out 10 stars for anything. If I do, it means I really like it. Needless to say, I really like this game. When I first got it, I didn't really want to play it. I was not interested and wanted nothing to do with it. I was only playing it so that I could see what the big deal was about. Then I actually played it and discovered it to be one of the best games of all time. I realized why everyone liked this game so much.

Everything about this game is amazing, from the campaign to the multi player, to the special ops, to the soundtrack--everything about this game is done to perfection.

Campaign

There is not a single dull moment in the campaign, unlike Modern Warfare 3 or Ghosts. Some levels are more exciting than others, but that is not to say that some levels are unexciting. Each mission has a purpose that relates to the ultimate objective of finding Makarov and each moment of every mission is relevant. Each level is exciting in its own unique way, whether you're fighting the Taliban for control of a school in the deserts of Afghanistan, or locating a downed Russian satellite in a snowstorm in Russia, or clearing the Russians out of a neighborhood in Virginia, each mission gives the player a new experience unlike any they have had before.

Modern Warfare 1 set the foundation not just for Call of Duty, but for first person shooters. Infinity Ward took that success and the foundation set by MW1 and raised the bar for Call of Duty, shooters, and most other video games with Modern Warfare 2. This is the first time in a video game that I can think of where the continental United States was attacked like it was in this game. The Russians attack the United States because the main terrorist Makarov killed an undercover CIA agent at a massacre in Moscow, putting the blame on the Americans. As a result, restaurants are destroyed, neighborhoods are invaded, and worst of all Washington D.C. is attacked. The White House is under siege, the Washington Monument is being destroyed, and entire buildings are in ruins. There has never been a game to portray concepts and ideas like this.

All the while, recurring characters from MW1 like Captain Price and Captain Soap MacTavish are part of a Task Force sent to find Makarov. They find out where he's hiding and when they tell the head of the Task Force, General Shepherd, he takes the Intel and kills 2 of the members, sending Soap and Price on the run. Up until this point the entire game has been different and a step up from MW1 with new characters and new ideas. Instead of playing as Soap, you play as Roach who is under the command of Soap. Once Shepherd kills Roach, you take over the role of Soap who is under the command of Price. This is an homage to MW1 while still retaining the elements to MW2--Soap and Price working together again for 2 final missions. They take down an entire base of traitorous American soldiers and then go after Shepherd. Soap is stabbed, but pulls the knife out of his stomach and throws it at Shepherd, which kills him and leaves Soap critically injured. Nikolai picks up Soap and Price, stating that the Americans will be looking for them, which sets the stage for Modern Warfare 3. This game gave the players the Call of Duty they had been waiting for and the ending left them wanting more.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer for Modern Warfare 2 has shaped multiplayer for many games to come. This is the first time that I'm aware where you can create a class, which includes primary weapons, secondary weapons, 2 types of grenades, and perks. You personalize the class to your needs and you unlock more weapons and sights as you level up. The ability to customize not only your weapons, but your character with special perks was groundbreaking and is now being used in other Call of Duty games and in games like Halo. The only downside is when you're playing with friends who have unlocked everything and you're just starting, they slaughter you when you're trying to level up.

Special Ops

The special ops section is a new feature that creates co-op missions. Some of them are related to missions of the campaign but have the player doing different objectives, some are in the same locations as missions from MW1, and others are in completely different and never-before-seen locations. There are 23 missions, which gives the players a variety of missions to choose from. And since each mission is in a different location, and gives the player a different objective, and does so under varying circumstances (quiet stealth missions or all out fighting missions), it doesn't allow room for a dull moment.

This games is flawless. The campaign raised the bar and has yet to be exceeded, the multiplayer revolutionized multiplayers as we know them today, the special ops were amazing, the musical score was fantastic, and the characters were likable. Not just the best Call of Duty, but one of the best games of all time.

Pure cocaine-fueled modern-shooter

[magnusjhallan · 9/10 · 24 May 2019]

The Single-player

The story continues from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In the opening sequence you get a flash from the past, filling you in with some key elements from the previous game. Modern Warfare 2 is set in multiple locations, which makes it full of twist and turns. Similar to the previous game you follow along on two different campaigns with the same goal; defeating the Russians. U.S Army Rangers battling invading Russians on American soil, and S.A.S who has more varied locations and high-profile tasks and targets. If you want the real challenge, play on Veteran Difficulty. Fantastic single-player with both memorable and unpredictable moments.

The multiplayer

Although in it's prime it still had some flaws. Even more now with hackers and "noob-tubers" taking over, the multiplayer on Modern Warfare 2 is still absolutely the best part of the game. Every map design is perfect. All the various spots and "hidden places" on maps are incredible. There's so many approaches to the maps. There isn't a single map that is boring. Honest! All the weapons has a purpose and you have a large selection to choose from. The various challenges to unlock pro perks, to unlock cameos and various attachment on weapons, doing challenges to boost your rank and get awesome emblems and titles. You can also have 1v1 on Rust if you have reputation to keep. You'll keep coming back for more and more. Best multiplayer I've ever played. P.S Intervention is the best sniper is Call of Duty history!

Special Ops

The special ops is mostly meant to be played with a friend via split-screen or via online matchmaking. You can choose to go at it alone but it will be quite difficult, especially the more missions you unlock. Note that some of the missions actually requires you to play with another player. The levels are unlocked after acquiring stars from completion of levels. 3 stars is the maximum per level. The operations are Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo. All with various missions. Alpha being the easiest stage and Echo being the last stage and the toughest. The great thing about Special Ops is the various levels and challenges. Everything from being a AC-130 gun-man to defusing bombs in the streets of Brazil. It really gives you variation. Some of these levels are so tough, you'll be spending hours on them. Also worth noting is the level "Hidden" which is in level Charlie. If you've played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare it's a real trip down memory lane.

The single-player: 8/10

The multiplayer: 10/10

Special Ops: 8/10

This game might be a little old but if you love FPS games this is a must have! Great graphics, story, multiplayer and special ops.

Cheers from Norway

Very fun FPS

[reeveendres · 9/10 · 10 October 2021]

MW2 has many enjoyable moments. First off, the campaign is amazing; The hunt for Makarov and the war between the US and Russia is great, but the campaign gets really interesting at the end when general Shepard betrays you and kills your comrades which motivates your character to hunt and kill him.

The Spec ops addition to the game is very fun as well and adds a twist to the campaign, but it can also be very hard at times, but nonetheless enjoyable.

Multiplayer is probably the most fun portion of the game. Such a variety of game modes along with hella fun military gameplay that keeps you on the edge of your seat; my favorite one of the bunch have definitely got to be the nuke, which a high scoring player can drop when given the chance. AMAZING!

So all in all, awesome FPS and sequel to the very popular cod 4. Too bad it was ruined by a bunch annoying hackers.

Amazing

[subzerorainboe · 10/10 · 24 August 2022]

This is one of the best first person shooters ever made, in my opinion. The graphics hold up today, the gameplay is enthralling, and the story is almost perfect. The controls also feel very good on the PS3 controller and even with the different controls from modern COD games it feels natural. During the game you play as 4 characters and when you switch between them it doesn't feel jarring or disorienting and the game gets you invested in all the different storylines. The multiplayer was also very good but now the servers aren't as active but that is expected because the game came out in 2009. Overall I recommend this game heavily to anyone with a PS3 or anyone with a newer gen console to get the remastered version.

Probably the Fastest Paced Game Ever = Great. minus Noobtubes

[robot954 · 9/10 · 15 April 2012]

SinglePlayer - extremely short (~6 hours), even on Veteran. Missions are extremely linear, as expected (not for people that like exploring). Gameplays extremely fast paced.

Multiplayer - this is where the game is. So don't don't play online, don't even bother getting MW2 Almost any weapon is usable and can kill. Some people say guns are overpowered, but pretty much all guns are overpowered. Sniping is fun, especially QuickScoping, but can get many people frustrated.

Maps - most are quite good and well balanced. Spawntraps may be a problem in Domination.

Prestige System - pretty much everyone gets into a hacked 10th prestige lobby. If you don't, most players either regularly prestige (since MW2 is still fun with the weapons from the lower levels) or just stick to a certain prestige at level 70.

Perks - quite a few, but there are only a few that people use. And Stopping Power is needed in the 2nd slot.

Faults: Overpowered killstreaks, but they're also quite easy to get, if you're a decent player. Final stand, painkiller etc. annoying, but chances are you'll use them too, since Final stand can often get you an extra kill or even save your life. Commando - range of the knife is annoying, but many people use it, except snipers and stealth people who use Steady Aim and Ninja respectively.

OMA Noobtubes - are the absolute worst in this game, so many people use them, especially in Ground War. It is fun to use, although extremely annoying. Good players snipe instead. Whether or not you can put up with Noobtubes determines whether or not you'll like the game. If you don't worry about high streaks and a high K/D ratio, you'll have fun. Otherwise, NoobTubers will ruin your game.

Boosters are an annoyance in FFA, which makes FFA very hard to play. Host migrations are very irritating, as the game often quits after a LONG migration.

SpecOps - honestly, most people don't even play it. But if you do, its pretty fun. The maps are right out of singleplayer, with objective based missions. Some missions can be incredibly annoying. Getting 69stars is pretty hard, but possible.

Overall, the game is extremely fast paced. Pretty much everything in Multiplayer is overpowered. You die really easily, but then again, you can kill very easily too. Any player, good or bad can have fun in this game. If you can put up with Noobtubers, you'll have a lot of fun, if you can't, you'll most likely get quite annoyed with the game.

Modern Warfare 2 is simply well, MIND-BLOWING!

[byroninjeeli · 10/10 · 17 November 2010]

Having been part of the Call of Duty games since the very first Call of Duty, which was a big disappointment, I was excited to see whether the franchise could grow or then just remain as a plateau with no improvements. I was disappointed again with Call of Duty 2 and 3 which I just felt were not the standard of first person shooter gaming. However, things completely changed with Call of Duty Modern Warfare, which pushed the limits of first person shooter gaming to new heights, which only the Call of Duty franchise has been able to maintain and expand since then. Combining the most realistic first person shooter game-play with intense warfare sequences and stunning locations, Modern Warfare 1 literally had me holding my breath at many times throughout the game. But that was only a taste of what Call of Duty had in store for us. The release of Modern Warfare 2 saw history in the making, as the game became the highest selling game of all time, with combined sales of PS3 and XBOX 360. Modern Warfare 2 made the Call of Duty franchise literally, "Untouchable". The fan-base of the game expanded rapidly and the game was all over the place. Combining the most intense warfare sequences with the most realistic and authentic first person shooter game-play Modern Warfare 2 became the most talked about and recognized game of its genre, receiving ratings of no less than 90% by critics.

Byron Shelley Injeeli

The only company that should be making COD games is Treyarch!

[marioarp1995 · 7/10 · 29 July 2011]

One thing is for certain, COD MW2 is not the worst of the series but nowhere near the best! Personally my favorite COD is World at War, before everyone started hacking it. Personally think that Treyarch should be the only company making the series. I am not saying this because only Treyarch puts nazi zombies in their games, I'm saying they should cause of what they did with the multiplayer on Black Ops. Giving the player the chance to customize! Modern Warfare 2 lacks multiplayer, the only part i liked was some of the weapons, but the campaign I can give a thumbs up to. Probably the only thing making Me give this game a 5/10 is the campaign. Worst multiplayer experience I've had in a while. The first game I've ever want to take back to the store.

crap, crap, crap

[cawley-millward · 3/10 · 30 August 2010]

the worst Call Of Duty game to date. Since Call Of Duty 2 + 3, these games have gotten worse. Not to mention the astonishing lags on xbox + ps3 and horrible controls + gameplay make this game VERY disappointing to me and a lot of other people. It didn't have the same atmosphere as the previous games. Like other reviews, Multiplayer is choppy,bad maps and annoying glitches. For the money you pay for this game, it really isn't worth it. Buy the first 2 games with the same money you can buy this game for. Activision is really getting lower with each Call Of Duty game being released. I suggest you try Call Of Duty 5 World At War before you try this game. World At War has better graphics,gameplay and weapons. It follows 2 people: Dimitri (a red army sargeant) and Miller (an American private) who embark into famous battles and meet new people along the way.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Game Review

[WhiteFire404 · 9/10 · 8 June 2018]

Even though it wasn't as grounded and well crafted as the previous game, MW2 was definitely a solid sequel to the first Modern Warfare game. While the first game in the trilogy was more grounded and required you to play smart in order to overcome certain challenges, MW2 is a more linear and simplistic, but still very entertaining game, just like almost every CoD game the production value is very high and the game looks great, gameplay doesn't feel as satisfying as the first game but is still a lot of fun, the score by Hans Zimmer an Lorne Balfe is fantastic, my favorite score from the MW trilogy, the story is once again pretty simple but works well for this game, is also a more fast paced game, with action scenes happening almost constantly and just like the first game, there are a lot of memorable set pieces, although they are more over-the-top this time around. Overall I still think that MW2 is a more than solid FPS and a game I really recommend to fans of the genre.