A few weeks ago, I promised an article on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Not a review, as such. The time has long passed for that, given that the game was released nearly six months ago. I wanted to give an honest opinion on the game that has had its praises sung by many, many people and even won awards. I wanted to get an idea what the hype and fuss was all about. Discover what makes people enjoy it so much that, even in a relatively small town like Cwmbrân (in S. Wales, town of my birth and all that…), it caused a huge number of people to arrive at the town’s ASDA store at midnight on its day of release to purchase their copy. I would estimate the number at somewhere in the region of 200 people, if not more. Back then, I just couldn’t fathom why they would have so much passion for a game about war.
The Gulag... *shudders*
It turns out, at least in the case of the two ‘Modern Warfare’ titles that I couldn’t have been more wrong. As stated previously, my issue with the standard Call of duty titles is that I don’t feel that it’s right to be dropped into the middle of what is essentially a very sensitive conflict in the world’s recent history and fight and shoot as though it was a fun thing to do. Same with the online multiplayer modes… You can fight as the Axis? You can be a Nazi? Why would you want to do that? Why would you willingly choose to represent the Third Reich and fight for one of the most genocidal political movements in history? I’ve aired this view before though, so that’s enough of that.
(Also… Zombie Nazis?! What in the fresh hell is that all about?!)
I think that the misconception I made about the MW games is that because of the ‘modern’ part of the title, I had assumed that they were going to be set directly in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East at the moment and, again, I couldn’t help but feel this to be inappropriate due to the fact that these conflicts were still happening and issues arising about the actual legality of them. However, I am pleased that I managed to get past this, to actually play the games.
'Soap' - One cool mo'fo.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 opens during a conflict in the middle of an Afghan city, where your character is helping to prevent local militia from destroying a bridge-laying armoured vehicle from making the bridge over the city’s river passable again. A short SUV-ride through the city follows and an attack is launched by the militia, resulting in the US forces storming a school and taking out the militia. I must admit that at this point, I wasn’t holding out much hope for any sort of enjoyment of the game occurring. It felt like it was going to become exactly what I had been expecting it to.
This feeling was quickly quashed, however, when our main character was plucked out of service in the Middle East, thanks to being exactly the sort of person that the elite unit ‘Task Force 141’ were looking for, to be involved in a particular undercover assignment. This sudden change in both pace and storyline allowed my concept of the game to evolve in to something more accepting and open-minded. From here on in, Modern Warfare 2 did not disappoint. One particularly interesting aspect of the game is that you do not remain tethered to a single character throughout. Several times, you will switch between characters; you will mostly flit between ‘Roach’, a member of Task Force 141 and Private Ramirez, a member of the Ranger’s regiment (that is based on US soil). There are other characters that you will play, but I’ll avoid mentioning them for the sake of this article remaining mostly spoiler-free.
'Burger Town', part of an extremely interesting mission...
The second mission of the game opens in a Russian snow-scape. This mission has a couple of unique game-play elements that make it an utter joy to play. It was this mission that really grabbed my attention and made me understand that I was truly going to enjoy this game. It is fair to say that the mission entitled ‘No Russian’ is extremely harrowing and may be quite disturbing to some, to such a degree that the game warns you about it and offers you the option to be given a choice as to whether you would prefer to choose not to play it. This is understandable. For anyone who is interested, the video below shows the ‘No Russian’ mission in its entirety. As such, it is not recommend for anyone who is easily disturbed. Also, due to being the entire level, it will contain game spoilers, so please avoid if you wish to not have a storyline element given away.
The game continues at unrelenting pace until its final conclusion. Even on a medium difficulty level, the game is challenging enough to push you and keep you on your toes. From time-to-time, you will have to develop your own tactic for breaking through enemy defences. The story takes a turn that could be considered an equivalent to a first-person Command and Conquer: Red Alert (/RA2/RA3), just with considerably less hammy acting skills! It really picks up as the game moves on too. I looked forward to each and every mission that I got to play. The fact is that, whereas the other Call of Duty games are firmly rooted in historical fact, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (and its prequel, for that matter) is entirely a flight of fictional fantasy. Completely plausible scenarios, granted… but so different from the original series that it’s hard to believe that it shares half its title with them.
Cpt. John Price - To call him unhinged would be an understatement.
Aside from an extremely good campaign mode, there are two additional game modes that come as part of MW2: Special Ops and the essential multiplayer mode (itself comprising of split-screen, system link and online). Personally, I have yet to play the Special Ops mode, but here is what Modern Warfare 2’s Wikipedia entry has to say about it:
“Special Ops is divided into five separate groups of missions: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Each mission may be played at three difficulty levels: regular, hardened, or veteran. Successfully completing a mission earns the players stars; there are up to three stars available for each mission: one star for completing the mission on regular difficulty, two for hardened, and three for veteran. Once enough stars are earned, more missions are unlocked. There are a total of 23 missions with their respective 69 stars…”
It seems like a great way of continuing that game-play experience and even allows for online or split screen co-operative play, which is an interesting addition in itself.
The aforementioned online multiplayer mode was far, far better than what I had expected from it too (sadly, I cannot comment on the split-screen/system link having not had the opportunity to play them). The levels that I have been playing on have varied from run-down ghetto areas of cities to afghan hillsides and plane wreckage. The ranked levelling system seems comprehensive, competitive but accessible. You are rewarded via customisable classes of soldier and additional weapons as your progress in rank. It is unique enough that it even holds the attention of a MW-sceptic like me for several consecutive hours.
I’ve previously mentioned how narrow minded I can sometimes be, building ideas of what a game with be like without actually giving them proper chances to prove otherwise to me. Luckily this is something that I’m learning to combat and enriching my gaming experience as a result. I regret that I lacked the motivation to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at its time of release, realising now that it would have actually been quite enjoyable to review it for Brake for Frogger. If, like me, you’ve been put off by the previous Call of Duty titles and are just expecting more of the same from MW2, take it from me: it’s more than worth the effort to open your mind to this game. I can guarantee that you’ll get more than you bargained for.
