Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

I'm about to make a shocking confession.  I have never played through a Call of Duty game at all.  In fact, prior to this game I owned only one, Call of Duty 2, but have yet to get around to playing it.  Too many games, never enough time.  Well that all changed recently when I got COD: Modern Warfare 2.  Does the game live up to it's hype?  Can Infinity Ward improve on what they started?

NOTE:  This is a mature rated title. How mature?  When you start the game it tells you there are scenes that graphic and disturbing and asks if you wish to play on with the game as is or skip the disturbing part.  If you click to continue as is it asks you a second time, "Are you sure?"  If you select to continue it will never ask you again, but if you have second thoughts you can change the setting in options.  Also if you selected to not play through the disturbing parts at the start, when you reach the a chapter in question it will ask if you wish play it or skip it.  Again it will ask "Are you sure?" if you click to play it.  This game is rated M for Mature for a reason. 

Story:

Basically, you could say it's World War III unfolding.  The game picks up 5 years after the events of COD: MW.  You start out as U.S. Army Ranger Private Joseph Allen in Afghanistan where you help retake a city.  General Sheppard, impressed by you, recruits you into his special ops.  And that's as much story as I'm gonna give you.  I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.  Suffice to say the story is well told through cut scenes and in-game acting.  You will play several characters in this game, since the story unfolds very movie like.  Moving from one part of the world to another.  I like the story enough that I have gone out and purchased "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" so I can learn the whole story.

I will say the story is short.  I finished it off around 10-11 hours, but I died a lot too (Rambo tactics don't always work).  I'm hearing a good player can do it around 5-7 hours.  This does not take away from the game though.  A game like this doesn't need an epic 30 hour story.  To me it felt to be just the right length.

Besides, a majority of the game will be played in multiplayer battles online. More on that later.

Gameplay:

COD: MW2 is planted firmly in one of my favorite genres, the first-person shooter.  It's very well done.  While I sort of miss the days of the "pack-mule" hero that could carry 20 weapons and 1000's of rounds, they are long past and the rule of the day is realism.  Well realism to a point.  I mean where else are you gonna get shot up multiple times and just "walk it off" by hiding behind some cover for a few moments.

Still everything else does play well and realistic.You have a limit of two weapons, a rifle and a pistol, plus some hand grenades and flash/bang grenades.  Infinity Ward keeps things things simple and supplies you with everything you need to finish each chapter.  They start you in each chapter with a set up that you can use through the whole chapter.  But they also litter the battlefields with various weapons, so you can pick and choose as you go along.  If one weapon doesn't seem to work well for you, pick up a different one.  Eventually you'll find a set to your liking.

Online multiplayer is kind of limiting at first.  You have to work your way up to unlock various loadouts, gametypes, and other perks such as custom loads, various looks for your character, titles, ranks, etc.  All this come from just spending time in multiplayer.  As you play you earn experience points depending on how well you do in the battles. The better you do the more points you get.  Be prepared to die a lot, it all just takes time and practice.

Controls:

Controls on the console were very smooth and very easy to pick up.  Your first couple missions are basically tutorials.  Anything new thrown in along the way is taught quickly.  Over all you can kind of think of the whole storyline as a tutorial for the online multiplayer.  Left stick for movement, right stick for camera.  Left trigger aim, right for firing your weapon in hand.  Left and right bumpers were for flash/bang and frag grenades respectively. A jump, B crouch, Y switch weapons, and X reload/use.  Similar layout for the PS3.

Graphics and Sound: 

Graphics were smooth, at no time online of off, did I have any slowdown.  They were crisp and clean.  The only complaint is looking at some of the M1A1 tanks they are missing details, but then again I spent 8 years on tanks in the Army, they probably got a day on them and a stack of Army approved pictures.

Sound was top notch also.  At no point did any sound effect sound odd.  Voice acting talent was very A-class.

Overall:

To me this game lives up to the hype around it and then some.  I enjoyed the game and will be playing through first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to compare the progress Infinity Ward made.  I could not find any fault.  The game gets a 5 out of 5.  If you like good war movies or good FPS games then this is one for you.  Considering it sold a bazillion copies on it's launch, you should have not problem finding people to play online.  We might even cross paths.....just give me a few moments before you shoot me.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is rated M for Mature for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Language