 "Photo: courtesy of Activision")
Unlike millions of fans who've followed the franchise's development, I didn't understand all the hype surrounding "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" when I picked up the controller. But after what seemed like a short amount of time, I realized it was suddenly 2:30 a.m.
The first-person shooter game, developed by Infinity Ward and released Nov. 10 for Xbox 360 (reviewed), Playstation 3 and PC by Activision, is set five years after their 2007 game, "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare."
Players assume the role of various characters during a war between Russia and the United States set off by a terrorist group led by Dimitri Makarov, an enemy lieutenant from the first game.
Newcomers and CoD die-hards alike will enjoy the sequel's plot, which builds on the original but stands as a separate entity.
For the majority of the game, the story unfolds through the viewpoints of two characters: one fighting with a company in the U.S. and one fighting in Russia.
The storytelling is top-notch, using the character switches effectively to create cliffhangers between missions and create scenarios that start out separate but eventually intertwine themselves.
The supporting characters, however, fall flat as anything more than storytelling vehicles.
Most characters have poorly-defined personalities or are action media archetypes. Capt. MacTavish is a gung-ho, no-nonsense mentor. Ghost is a masked guy who just wants to shoot things. Makarov is a deranged mastermind.
The strong points of "Modern Warfare 2" are in its varied missions and scenes, which make emotionally effective use of the game's stock characters.
In the mission "No Russian," the player is a CIA operative forced to assist Makarov in an attack on civilians in an airport. The genuinely disturbing scenario establishes Makarov as someone the player can hate, rather than just another bad guy to defeat.
Another intense character relationship, this one more positive, develops during missions involving Capt. MacTavish.
Near the beginning of the game, the player must scale an ice cliff alongside MacTavish.
Icepicks mapped to the game pad's shoulder buttons make the player actually feel like they are holding onto the cliff, so when MacTavish manages to save the player's life, the moment is sudden and meaningful.
The story does an excellent job of playing off the resulting bond later on.
Single-player game play is not without its frustrations: namely, the checkpoint system.
Although it usually works well, players will occasionally die and respawn to find that they are getting shot as soon as the game reloads.
One mission, which involves defending a computer, can actually force a player to restart the mission due to a potential bad checkpoint that results in the player getting cornered, making it almost impossible to succeed.
Moments like this are rare, fortunately, and the game doesn't suffer significantly from the issue.
While the single-player component is fantastic, it is far overshadowed by the game's multiplayer mode.
The competitive multiplayer in "Modern Warfare 2" is based on a role-playing leveling system, where players start at level one and gain experience for a wide variety of accomplishments and actions. As players gain levels, they get access to more guns, attachments and abilities, making them stronger in battle.
Remarkably, starting out at level one and going up against a number of level 50 players is never frustrating. Since players gain experience for kills, killing people that killed them a lot, getting kills after a string of deaths, winning games, losing games and completing "challenges," rising through the ranks is fairly easy and enjoyable.
"Death streak" rewards also help make the experience for new players less frustrating, as they are granted boons whenever they die a set number of times in a row without getting a kill.
Gaining levels also gives the player access to new game modes and customization opportunities, so the player is able to see new content after every two or three multiplayer games.
The cooperative missions in "Special Ops" mode, which have players running through courses and fighting waves of enemies, are also fun to go through with a friend, but they aren't quite as effective or fun as competitive multiplayer.
With a compelling single-player mode and an addicting multiplayer mode, "Modern Warfare 2" is definitely worth its weight in hype. If you enjoy first-person shooters, Modern Warfare 2 is definitely worth your attention.
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