Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Wow. Over five million sales in 24 hours, $310 million in revenue, creating the biggest launch of any form of media since records began. How does anything fill that calibre of hype? By creating Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 exactly the way Infinity Ward did. With over two million simultaneous users currently on Xbox Live, chances are you are already well aware of the package Modern Warfare 2 delivers, but for the people who just emerged from under a large sound-proof boulder or the students who are undecided over whether or not to sell a kidney to afford it; allow me to break it down for you.

The single player is pure, heart-pounding, fast-paced first person shooter gold; you will likely not experience anything even close to this until Modern Warfare 3. The depth of the characters, the beauty of the varied locations, and heart-stopping set pieces and storyline create a truly inspired single player experience. Though it may be short lived, the five to six hours are so masterfully crafted you’re likely to play it several times over, and now there’s even a co-op mode available! Granted it isn’t the full campaign, but it does borrow heavily from it for scenarios for you and a buddy to power through together. Split screen or Live are both supported, so to be sitting in the same room with a friend frantically racing down a snowy gauntlet of enemies on a snowmobile with no brakes has never been so controller-grippingly tense. As a tough customer to please when it comes to launch day prices, I can flat out confess that these modes really could sell the game on their own…

…but of course we all know there’s so much more to Modern Warfare 2! Gamers were still fragging away in multiplayer on Call of Duty 4 in their tens of thousands right up until Modern Warfare 2’s launch day, so to find ways of improving it was a tall order for Infinity Ward. How did they do it? To list a mere percentage of new additions: game reconnections if the host is lost, more XP challenges, more weapon customisation, more perks, more rank levels, more modes, more killstreak awards (with customisable streaks), more profile customisation, just… more! The only thing it has less of is party chat, which is limited to a small handful of modes.

A real downer because it’s honestly the only gripe I have about Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer. To allow party chat in the ‘Ground War’ playlist (a combination of both Team Deathmatch and Domination matches), but ban it in Team Deathmatch and Domination’s individual playlists is a rather glaring mistake in my book. Don’t misunderstand me, this game provided what is without a doubt my favourite Live experience out there, but as a gamer I can’t ignore that one tiny stain on Modern Warfare 2’s well polished golden throne.