Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II - Review

Modern Warfare 2 is the second in the rebooted Modern Warfare series. Aiming to give new life to a series of games that have long felt like mindless cash grabs, that are devoid of focus on the single player element. Modern Warfare 2 is a direct sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare, does it offer up something fun for all, or was the intel wrong on this one?

Infinity Ward has put a lot of time into making sure Modern Warfare 2 appeals to a wide range of gamers. It offers a finely crafted and serious single player campaign, incredibly fun and well-tuned multiplayer game modes and a co-operative experience for you to play with friends that doesn’t involve the generic death match mode. Unlike other titles, Infinity Ward’s approach to Modern Warfare 2 seems to be far more focused on enjoyable and long-term gameplay, than just easy money making from battle passes and paid advantages.

Modern Warfare in 2019 took a new approach to the style of storytelling that the Call of Duty series was beginning to severely lack. Whilst never the main focus, most of the previous entries had somewhat acceptable if not incredibly short single player campaigns. For the non-competitive person, or someone without reliable internet access, the Call of Duty series was lacking the pull for a full price buy and despite being an incredibly successful series, was subject to much disdain. Modern Warfare 2 takes the groundwork laid by the more fleshed out and curated experience of the 2019 reboot and adds even more lasting elements.

Modern Warfare 2 aims to make a connection between different game entries. We’re introduced to new characters in the Mexican Special Forces, particularly with Alejandro. Captain Price and Soap MacTavish are back as absolute series staples, Gaz comes in from the original Modern Warfare timeline and Ghost is introduced as a consistent main character which adds a diversity to the line-up. There is a focused effort on ensuring that every main character has a unique personality and adds something different to the story. Ghost adds a spark of dark humour and a cold-hearted approach, Soap is the typical army bro, Alejandro seems a little fast and loose, but has his heart in the right place. Wanting to fight for a better Las Almas. Gaz and Price are consummate professionals, and despite having some inward bickering, get the job done.

The story itself holds a number of twists and turns. From a betrayal from within, that leads to a double turn to the reveal of a greater overarching power. There is always something more lurking beneath the surface, that doesn’t rely as much on typical tropes. Instead of relying upon ideas of terrorists being exclusively ‘Russian and Middle Eastern’ it shows that there is dangers in every corner and nothing is as clear cut as black and white in war. There is a better nuance to the story telling than in previous titles, and despite the fetishisation of war it is far less obscene and offensive than earlier titles had been. There is also a big push for the idea that ‘one bad apples doesn’t spoil the soup’, particularly with the juxtaposition between El Sin Nombre and Alejandro as Mexican army affiliates. There is a varied style of missions as well as many different locations. Ranging from harbours and city streets to deserts and even the side of a building.

Whilst I don’t believe the eight-to-ten-hour experience will be enough to justify buying the game at full price, there is definitely a beginning set in place here and a stronger idea on tying in the original Modern Warfare timeline, with the new reboot one. A twist at the final scene reveals that there is intentions on a future game. And despite there being no “No Russian” scene in this game, a reveal at the end of the game hints that those longing for a modern day super controversial scene may have that in their future. There is a fair few loose ends at the end of the campaign, but these are not by forgetfulness, but much more by design. Modern Warfare 2’s campaign lacks a mission like “Going Dark” but has a few missions that attempt to illicit some level of that chilling sensation.

Something needs to be said for how incredibly nice the game looks, feels and sounds. Gameplay itself is incredibly sleek as there were never any moments where I felt myself fighting against the controls of the environment. There were undeniably times where I felt punished by the game for not being particularly good at FPS genre, but that was a choice of playing at a higher difficulty, and not the game being unfair. The environments are full, fleshed out and don’t have a washed-out palette like a lot of war focused games tend to have. Audibly, the guns sound great. The explosions sound great. The general chatter by enemies sounds great. I don’t know how much of the callsigns and terminology used are accurate, but for someone who wanted to feel immersed in the experience it tickle that part of the brain.

As someone who does not typically play multiplayer in FPS games, I was very hesitant to give the multiplayer in Modern Warfare 2 a go. I was intrigued by the co-op missions, but though there were options available in the multiplayer, that seemed the most interesting. Ground War is a super-sized version of Domination. Two teams of 32 players fight over five control points to a total of 250 points. Ground War is chaotic, fast-paced and incredibly fun. Ground War encourages you to play a more exciting and fun style of game. The maps are large, there are tanks, ATVs, helicopters, APCs and even gunboats on some maps to add an element of excitement. After the first tentative minutes there will be UAVS, Fighter Pilots, cruise missiles and more as people begin racking up killstreaks. There is less focus on preserving yourself, and more focus on just enjoying the game. Ground War is the perfect game mode for people who just want to get into the game and have fun.

There are daily missions to get XP for levelling up your own level, as well as your guns which in turn grant you additional attachments and even better guns. So if you want to focus on that, it is a welcome option, of course you can increase the difficulty, in order to earn even more rewards, if you want to risk it. There are other interesting game modes available, from the usual standard multiplayer playlist, one particular mode is called the ‘3rd person moshpit’. It takes the typical gameplay, but as you might expect lets you play the game modes in a 3rd person perspective. The feeling I got with the multiplayer was that it never felt the unfair, with the multiplayer itself definitely feeling more like a match of smart play and skill, rather than certain guns just being overpowered. The offerings in the games multiplayer are fun and while some players will likely prefer the Warzone experience, which is still a few weeks away, what is included here is enjoyable.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 offers an entertaining and weighty campaign. It also offers up some incredibly fun multiplayer game modes, for both the competitive and co-operative player, resulting in one incredibly fleshed out experience. While I couldn’t advised you to get the game for the campaign alone, or the multiplayer alone, if you can find it on sale, then either mode would be worth. If you’re looking at picking up a fun shooter to play with friends, Modern Warfare 2 is one to you should pay attention to.

The Score

8.5

Review code provided by Activision Blizzard

The Pros

+Enjoyable campaign story

+Multiplayer game modes that appeal to even average players

+Great visuals and sounds

The Cons

-Campaign is still somewhat short

-Las Almas conflict feels unresolved without a future solution

-One-off concept missions make up bulk of campaign