Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is two separate games. The single player game is a relic that's missing a light gun and a quarter slot. The other game is a best in class FPS multiplayer game. Only one of these games is worth playing.
The single player game is a spectacle filled ride that plays best when you don't think about it too much. Like a movie trailer, the single player campaign is comprised of some controversial moments and nice visuals. Just don't try to string it all together into a coherent whole. It's like trying to compose Rush Limbaugh soundbites into an essay - it doesn't work.
Modern Warfare 2 has some aspirations towards telling a story, although what that story is I'll never know. There's the usual hodge podge of scene setting satellite photos, tactical mumbo jumbo and hostile foreigners. In practice though, the protagonist is effectively the barrel of your character's gun. Nothing in this game is humanized, it's all cannon fodder. Which is why, despite what you may have heard from the usual cadre of media pansies, shooting civilians in an airport ends up being somewhere between boring and fun. If Modern Warfare 2 has any theme it's simply that the Russians are back. The biggest problem is that there are no females in this game, which caused me to wonder what exactly I was fighting for, if not a hot girl.
The gameplay in the campaign mode is just as shallow. On harder difficulties the bullets are more numerous, but the enemies no more wily. The overwhelming number of enemies coming at the player at any one time make this almost strictly a run and gun affair. About thirty minutes into the game, I realized that the game's pacing, explosions, and endless streams of enemies are akin to a magician's stage patter; it's misdirection that keeps the illusion real. Perhaps the greatest indictment, I can level on the single player gameplay, is that the multiplayer feels a fair bit slower and even meditative by comparison.
The multiplayer stands in sharp relief to the single player portion of the game. It's only in this part of the game that the great control scheme, carefully balanced weapons and thoughtfully designed maps are fully realized. The improvisational strategies, brief but fierce fire fights and unexpected outcomes that define the modern FPS experience can all be found in Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer.
The rewards offered to players who stick with the game, including new equipment and perks like running faster, serve to personalize the player's experience in a way the story mode cannot. The game allows the player to define his style of play and evolve it as he gains experience. It's all very well executed and at least as much fun as playing with toy guns amongst pillow forts. To be fair, Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer is just a refinement of the original's, but if you think of Modern Warfare 2 as an iterative sports game, which is what the multiplayer most closely resembles, it's a resounding success.
It's easy to love the multiplayer portion of Modern Warfare 2 well into the wee hours of the morning. But I had a harder time loving the whole package. The single player campaign almost seems like a marketing ploy to drum up some media attention. Given the massive changes in single player FPS's represented by games like Far Cry 2 and STALKER, there's really no reason anyone should waste their time with Modern Warfare 2's story mode. Bravo Infinity Ward for keeping the headshots relevant, but shame on you for repeatedly shoveling the same old single player experience on us.
Rating: 60% - It's only half the game it advertises itself as, but that half is so good it would be unfair not to weight it a little more heavily.
