Review: Modern Warfare 2

This is a mixed bag: it's a PC game that is made with the console version's limitations in view.

There are no dedicated servers for multiplayer, the gameplay has been dumbed down somewhat.

But still - the game runs smoothly on even older hardware (no FPS complains with a AMD X2 4500+ and GeForce 8800GTS, only *heavy* smoke causes FPS to drop). It's easy to play and the combat has a realistic "WTF!? Duck! Shoot! Did I just kill someone" -feeling to it at best. It gives you the feeling of being a bona-fide US soldier in a warzone.

Even voice acting is top notch, with easily recognizable big-screen stars like Keith David (The Thing and the Riddick movies) and Bill Murray, among others, doing a great job...


Missions have an urgent feel - it feels like you're *there* and fighting for your *life*. Bullets whizz past, and through walls, satisfyingly. Enemies fall down, sometimes only wounded and shooting back at you after the initial shock. If I had to find a pet-peeve, I'd probably say that riot shields are too powerful (nothing short of a grenade can't affect then, unless you can flank the guy holding it - which can be a pain in the ass in tight corridors). Oh, and grenades are a little too whimpy (except flash-bangs, which work wonderfully).

Graphics range from top notch (90% of the time) to "so-so" (10% of the time), with night vision and lighting being very good, but infra scopes on some rifles being a little... well, "icky". ;)

Cheesy, but still epic, movie score accompanies everything and you truly feel like you're playing a movie, instead of a game.

Heck, even the ending is like it's ripped off straight from a Bruckenheimer movie.

I'll leave the multiplayer to younger people - I got my ticket's worth with the, admittedly short-ish, single player campaign and the special ops missions.

More like this, please.

Score 9/10