Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 [XBOX 360]

This has to be one of the best 'Call of Duty' games they've ever made! Only one drawback though... no Zombies maps... oh how I miss it! :) Easy controls to get used to though and as realistic as you can get! Online is difficult though, as your playing up against professionals. The campaign is great fun! On all difficulty ratings! -1 Star for lack of Zombies! Great game.. better than 'Black Ops' in my opinion!!

Buy it. Simple as, everything that follows, for better or worse, this game provides a great experience, fun, varied, engaging and just all rounds awesome.

The story follows on seven years after CoD 4, Soap is now head of Task Force 141, an international special forces unit. After a terrorist attack on Zakhaev international airport Russia invades America as retaliation, but there are underlying motives. As Roach you help Soap and the mysterious Ghost in the task force as you try to uncover the truth, meanwhile your Ranger character tries to defend Washington.

I could go on about controls and level design and such but by now you should know that CoD maintains its high standard, if anything the modifications to the HUD and the increased variety in weapons and objectives means it's even better. On the level design front I have one example. There's one level (no spoilers) where you enter a room before being hit by some rocks. When you have the rocks pulled off you appear in a set place in the room. On my first run through, the run that really counts, I stood naturally in exactly the same spot I woke up in. only after many reruns, where I mucked about and pestered the NPCs, did I realise I always awoke in the same place. Whilst there are set pieces like the aforementioned the levels are still relatively uninterrupted. A number of them provide multiple routes or an open area with many objectives yet you always know where to go. The addition of a marker on your objective helps to maintain direction and flow as do the crisp, clean graphics. All in all just what you'd expect by now.

A point worth mentioning is that where CoD 4 had you in just a handful of different environments this one has a vast range that keep every moment fresh. They range from the snowy mountains and downtown Washington to an oil rig and the favelas in Rio.

So now the downsides, which sadly there are a few of. Many won't care but those that like a good story with believable characters may be disappointed. Whereas CoD 4 had me caring for each NPC and Soap (the playable character) in this game you don't spend enough time with anyone to truly have them grow on you, not even the main playable character Roach. The characters that you do come to love are those that were in CoD 4, hell to finally see Soap fight alongside me was frankly badass. The other issue is that the story is basically bananas. It falls into that trap that so many succumb to, the twist. If CoD 4 showed anything it's that games don't need to rely on the twist, strong well-paced narrative can be simply revealed, you know like in all other Medias. So there's a sudden revelation but it soon wears off and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. This is all forgivable though as the presence of Soap and the shear variety kept me engaged throughout, never knowing where I was going next or what I'd be doing. The narrative still does a reasonable job of connecting the levels just in a more ridiculous story arc than I'm used to for the series. This leads onto the final issue that sits less well. This is a series that prided itself on realism and respect for what soldiers really go through but somehow amongst the new tech and high adrenaline gameplay it has somewhat lost its way.

Anyway, I still feel none of this is a deal breaker. You love FPS', you'll love this. You love CoD, you'll love this. You love multiplayer, you get the picture.
Oh one last thing, though the campaign is short it does come with a great single-player/co-op experience in Spec Ops where you can tackle specific variants on scenarios in the modern warfare series alone or with a friend. This may have the most long lasting appeal; it has a variety of scenarios, different difficulties and achievements tied to it. So just to reiterate, buy this game.

The hardened edition as well as providing a nice steel book case and art booklet comes with the complete call of duty classic free to download in glorious high def onto your xbox or ps3 and is worth the extra price.

The Final Word: More fun than Disney and Christmas ... Combined! Shame about the story.