Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person-shooter developed by Infinity Ward studios and published by Activision. It is a sequel to its massively popular Modern Warfare, which was released in 2007.
My favourite genre would be shooter games, especially one that relates to warfare. I have played every single Call of Duty franchise (a total of 6 games if MW2 is included). Without hesitation, it is without doubt that games that focus on World War II have saturated the shooter market for the past decade. These include the COD series, Brothers in Arms series, and the Medal of Honor series, Battlefield series, etc. I am sick of always wielding Thompsons, M4A1 carbines, Springfields, Kar91, etc. There was a brief break in this when Battlefield 2142, a futuristic shooter, was released but the WWII trend continued.
As it's name suggests, Modern Warfare 2 is a game that deals specifically with middle-eastern terrorism. Players will definitely lose out if they did not play Modern Warfare first as there are references, along with a surprise twist in the middle of the game. In the first, the game ended on a cliffhanger. The extraction team was ambushed and everyone was presumed to be dead. The player was severely wounded but was thought to have survived. The sequel continues 5 years after this event took place.
Players ultimately control 5 different players at different points in the game, giving the player a different perspective of the war each time. I really like this idea as I was impressed as this was the same flow that the movie 'Vantage Point' took. It is also a smart thing to do: if the game designer feels that one character cannot fully encompass the war, then the logical thing to do is to add more. Players primarily play 2 different characters, a Sgt Gary 'Roach' Anderson, and Private James Ramirez. However, they also briefly assume the role of an astronaut during mid EVA at the ISS station.
Graphics are fantastic. However, the graphics from the first game impressed me a lot more because of how they showed it off in the gameplay. In this sequel, there is little showing off. However, everything still looks beautiful and great.
What is interesting is how the developers manage to pack so many emotions into the game. They twist the plot of this game over itself. There is always a scene of betrayal and of sacrifice. In one particular scene, the top general who is in charge of issuing commands is realised to be the ultimate betrayer and so becomes the ultimate bad guy. In one always-spoken controversial level, the player plays a secret agent who is pretending to be Russian. They commit acts of terrorism in the Russian airport by killing lots of innocent and unarmed civilians. At the end of that particular level, the player himself is killed by one of his 'friendlies', which is assumed to have found out his true identity. This level generated so much hype that the game designers put a disclaimer before the level starts, stating that the player can skip that level if he wants to. However, he will miss out on a major plot development if he does.
Players play the role of SGT Gary 'Roach' Sanderson, who is part of an elite force called Force 141. It is an infiltration team that is on the hunt for Imran Zakhaev, who is the main antagonist in the first game as well. The game alternates between him and Private James Ramirez, a soldier that defends United States of America from Russian forces in the later half of the game. What I do not like about this setup is that by focusing on these two as chief protagonists, the player will feel that that they have an equal share to play in the plot. However, about 90% of the plot revolves around the exploits of Roach. This gives an uneasy feeling of how James Ramirez is able to have so much screen time even though he plays only a minor role in the game.
Throughout the game, there are non-stop adrenaline pumping moments. The developers have done a really good job in evoking such feelings not only in fast action scenes, but also very slow, tense, confrontational moments. An example of such is when the player invades an airfield to destroy it, only to realise halfway throughout the level that they were suddenly surrounded in a bunker. A brief confrontational moment occurs and the player is quietly instructed to detonate a bomb placed elsewhere earlier on in the level. The bomb is detonated and in the distraction, the enemy soldiers are quickly despatched off. Fast action scenes include a REALLY tense snowmobile scene where the players are pursued in a snow-covered level. The sense of speed as he flies over ridges and gaps is really insane. There is also a scene where at the end of the level, the player is seen grabbing on to a grappling hook attached to a helicopter and he is pulled up at an extremely fast speed up a chimney to emerge from darkness almost 50 metres above ground level. These are truly breath-taking moments.
Another is how the developers tried to expand as much as they could on game mechanics. One scene would be how the player is required to use both mouse buttons to control his ice picks to scale a mountain. The user is required to hold on to the left button, then hold on the right while releasing the left, and then holding on to the left while releasing the right, and so on. To me, it is not entirely epic because other games have done this before, but it is truly a commendable job on the part of the developers to try out something new.
Again, the game ends on a truly epic fight scene and also a cliffhanger. It is quite obvious that the developers left it like that and we can expect Modern Warfare 3 to be in production now. Most people have complained on how the first and its sequel is so short. This game is indeed shorter than most games: I managed to complete it in two sittings. However, I am a firm believer of quality over quantity, so I am satisfied to play a game like that.
What I really like also is how the developers teased the gaming world with its teaser. It is a brilliant, brilliant, short clip on an intro scene for the controversial level. However, instead of a usual video, the only visuals are that of soundwaves. However, if one plays REALLY close attention, the soundwaves are not real: they are created visuals and at some parts of the teaser, a person can actually make out some scenes in the game which are wel hidden in the soundwaves. There was a whole bunch of findings and collection of rumours in game forums which spanned almost 30 odd pages long.
This game is really epic, and is a fitting end to this review blog as well. I recommend everyone to try it.
Rating: 9.9/10
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