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Return to today’s war front with the second chapter in the Modern Warfare series. Modern Warfare 2 continues the gripping and heart-racing action as players face off against a new threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse. Playing as as Sgt. Gary “Roach” Sanderson, your international squad of elite soldiers battle through harrowing combat scenarios that range from snowy mountaintops in Siberia to the crowded streets of Rio de Janiero, Brazil and beyond, facing a terrorist force hellbent on redefining the boundary lines of today’s modern warfare. Players can face the threat alone or with other players in cooperative SpecOps mode. For even more intense combat, take up arms against online foes in enhanced deathmatch warfare on a host of Modern Warfare 2 maps.

This Premium Collector’s Edition puts extra payload in the package with a host of extra features, including a fully functioning pair of night vision goggles (with alternate vision modes and a Modern Warfare 2-branded, sculpted head stand), a collector’s tin case, an artbook, and a token to download Call of Duty Classic (a reissue of the original game that started off the franchise.)

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward

Online Play: 2 Co-op

Local Play:

November 10, 2009 –
Over the years the Call of Duty series has set the bar for immersive, action-packed, cinematic FPS gaming, and no matter what camp you’re from there’s no denying the franchise’s influence on the industry. When Infinity Ward moved from the classic World War II setting and blazed new ground with Modern Warfare we saw the first obvious split within the world of Call of Duty. The series dropped its historic focus, created a new cast of characters, and began treading on new ground by taking the first-person shooter genre to new locales, and pushing the boundaries of what military games are willing to show. With Modern Warfare 2, the sheer amount of hype has been practically inescapable, with preorders alone setting it up as one of the biggest selling games of all time, the addition of even more multiplayer modes and features, and the game’s new Special Operations mode has set Infinity Ward’s lastest up as the game to beat this year.

The real question: has it been worth the wait, and can Modern Warfare 2 live up to the precedent set by over half a decade of Call of Duty tradition?

Modern Warfare 2 is by far the least traditional of the series, with the core package broken up into three main pillars of gameplay. Single-player fans have their main campaign, if you’re down for more co-op gameplay either locally or via online connection you’ve got the new Spec Ops mode, and Modern Warfare’s groundbreaking multiplayer is back, and truly better than ever. There’s an overwhelming amount of content to experience, but with each mode being 100% standalone in nature, you’re getting three completely different experiences all in one. That, however, also plays a huge factor into how your final opinion of Modern Warfare 2 as a whole turns out.

First and foremost is the single-player experience. As the anchor of the Call of Duty world, campaign mode is back, and it’s intense. You’ll instantly get a sense of just how far the improved engine has come when you’re thrown into the bustling streets of Rio de Janeiro’s favela, the ice-capped mountains of Kazakhstan, the dusty roads of Afghanistan, and other unexpected locales. On the visual side of things, Modern Warfare 2 is an obvious step up over Call of Duty 4 and World at War, with a stronger emphasis on complex terrain in the environments, weather effects, destructible objects, and the overall sense of action and chaos that comes with so many visual improvements. This is only complemented further by the increased attention to sound design, with the effects of many returning weapons being re-recorded,even more in-level chatter amongst your allies, and a truly captivating score by Hans Zimmer which builds based on specific in-game moments. Modern Warfare 2 feels like an action movie through and through, with the production values alone dating Infinity Ward’s last game, Call of Duty 4, quite a bit.

At the same time, the single-player campaign has its issues. For starters, it’s short. I’ve been playing Call of Duty 4 steadily since its release, and my first completion of the Modern Warfare 2 campaign came in at just under five hours on regular difficulty. Playing through on hardened will add another hour and a half onto that. Modern Warfare 2 is definitely more chaotic this time around