Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Its been two weeks now since I picked up Modern Warfare 2 and my opinion of the game has definately changed from my first week of play. Had I reviewed the game days after I got it my review would be filled with gushing praise for the incredibly exciting action packed campaign and the subtle alterations to the already classic multiplayer.
However a little more time with it and the cracks are definately beginning to show.

The single player campaign is great fun and although a little short at 6 hours every second is packed with edge of the seat action and it never drags. Having completed the previous COD4 on Veteran I decided to try the same with MW2. Its incredibly easy and nowhere near the challenge of its predecessor and definitley a dissapointment in this respect.

As good as the single player is the storyline and some of the situations are ridiculous. Now I'm not saying COD4 was realistic (I've never fought in a war I wont pretend to know), but it was believable, sometimes scarily so as in the Death From Above and All Ghillied Up missions. There is nothing here that ever touches the stark drama of those levels. If COD4 could be compared to a film like Black Hawk Down then MW2 is more akin to Michael Bay directing James Bond. These are minor complaints though of an overall fantastic campaign.

The biggest problem I have is with the multiplayer. The new killstreak rewards, the incredibly large maps and the new overpowering weapons and attachments have ruined the perfect balance of COD4. The levels favour long range weapons and have made running and gunning almost impossible. Each map has hundreds of hiding places that favour snipers(who I dont mind) and campers(who shall have a special place in hell just for them). Where once the game was simply about learning the maps, being cunning, second guessing the ememy and generally being a good shot, the Killstreak Rewards have turned it into a near constant parade of choppers, jets and crouching in corners with briefcase laptops.

The simple pleasure of the hunt and being hunted is gone. In general the game is geared towards the newcomer as much as the veteran and has simply taken away the need for the kind of skill that used to win matches. I've played it for a total of 24 hours so its not just a case of me not being used to the changes. The frustration it causes has ended that need for "just one more match".

Overall I think taken on its own merits Modern Warfare 2 is a great game, but it definately sits in the shadow of its predecessor.

First off, people who say that this game is prone to millions of hackers and an impossible amount of people not playing properly clearly can't play this game very well. It's not without its faults - campers, noob tubes and other nuissances BUT they're just ways of playing the game - tactics which can be beaten without too much hassle. People who winge about them are just not very good at it

Now yes it is slightly unbalanced at times, with glitches on a few of the weapons that Infinity Ward works to patch, and rewards for killstreaks can get annoying but there is a counter for almost everything in the form of perks. You can pick holes in nearly every argument that people use to say that this game is bad

Except the campaign. Weak story but pretty fun to play. Veteran mode is very difficult but beatable and the Spec-Ops is a huge challenge without a friend to help...and aren't much fun anyway. The main hook is the online and despite what people say (and I'll be the first to admit it's the most frustrating online games I've ever played), it is a fantastic multiplayer

I am a relative new commer to the Xbox world (34yrs old) & after buying Call of duty 4 (Modern warfare) i was badgered by mates to get this as everyone & his dog has this game.
I really loved COD4 & was enjoying the online gaming this game offers, after getting to a point where i could hold my own online, I got this one & straight away i have to warn people like me who is a casual gamer that the online thing is not for the laid back gamer.
First off the one player game is only short so not too hard to complete, there are some really fun sections but overall not too taxing, be careful of the "No Russian" mission it's not really for the easily shocked or children for that matter.

Now i come to the online experience, erm well it kind of goes like this, start-run-die-start-run-shoot(If your lucky)-die-start-run-get blown up by a helicopter-start-......well you get the picture. it's definatley for people with some paitence, i have Persevered but because people have been playing this for so long you dont have much of a shelf life before you get killed. As a second heads up, learn to mute people who are playing online it gets very old very quick listening to squeeky american children babble on shouting insults while blowing each other up. it is an 18 rated game but mainly inhabited by children.

I still prefer COD4 online it's a lot easier to play, beginners seem to be more welcome & the overall game seems to be inhabited by friendlier gamers.