When people think of first person shooters, they often start with Call of Duty.  It has a been a long-running series full of many games that get high scores.  The new Modern Warfare 2 plays like any typical first person shooter fan would expect.  There is a wide variety of guns in both single and multiplayer.  Pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, sniper rifles, and assault rifles allow you to dominate the game. 

Perhaps the best part of this game is the single player.  The story itself isn't spectacular, it's the typical Russian scenario that FPS games seem to adore nowadays.  The graphics look great, there are many locations to explore and fight in, and each scene feels great even if the storyline as a whole is a bit bland.  The campaign is relatively short however, about 10 hours or less even on the highest difficulty.  That is one of the main disappointments of MW2.

Another addition to this game is Spec Ops.  This mode features many small 3-10 minute long missions that can be played solo or with a friend.  As you complete levels you earn stars to unlock new levels.  The Spec Ops mode is really enjoyable and it's great to play cooperatively.  Nearly every mission is based on some location from the campaign but the scenarios are new and sometimes very creative.

Most people who buy Call of Duty games come for the multiplayer.  With the first Modern Warfare came a great and thrilling multiplayer mode.  However, the multiplayer of MW2 on the PC is very disappointing.  Instead of a typical dedicated server setup, games are hosted off of other players' computers in real-time, leading to laggy and choppy gameplay.  The PC version is also full of hackers who gain a huge advantage over other players.  One good thing found in the multiplayer is the wide selection of modes to play and fun perks and weapons.  However, it appears as though Infinity Ward could have a done a much better job in terms of balance.  Many weapons are obviously better than others.  MW2 adds new killstreaks, or rewards for getting consecutive frags without dying, that benefit players who do good.  Many times these are fun to use, but they seem a bit overpowered.  They can ruin the teamwork aspect of the game by encouraging players to camp to unlock these killstreaks and then the opposing team is forced to hide inside buildings for protection instead of going for objectives.

Overall, MW2 provides an excellent single player although one that is too short.  The multiplayer portion of the game feels really disappointing and in general just plays choppily.  Perhaps with new patches the errors of multiplayer can be fixed and the game improved upon.

Recommended: No