From the vault: What I Think of Modern Warfare 2

While in the Call of duty swing I thought I'd share with you all my thoughts of Modern Warfare 2. Also it was the first review I ever wrote so it has sentimental value. That and this is the only article left that OzBoxLive has decided to credit me for.



Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (or just modern warfare 2) was the most hotly anticipated game of 2009. Its creators Infinity Ward and Activision said it was to deliver us the best first-person action game since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. But it wasn’t.

I don’t hate the game, but it could have been better. The story was a disappointment. The plot itself is good but it’s a major anti-climax. Very little actually happened. The story asks tons of questions and answers very little. It’s that I’m annoyed about. I was ticked off when I finished the campaign. Without going into detail, Modern Warfare 2 takes place five years after Call Of Duty 4 and it’s up to Soap and Task force 141 to fight a new bad guy called Makarov. If you can’t remember what happened in Call Of Duty 4 the first cut scene gives you a quick recap.

Game play is awesome! It’s classic Call of Duty 4 game play with a few additions. Modern Warfare 2 has new weapons like the ACR and the AUG HBAR. Attachments make a comeback and show up on all the weapons in a variety of combinations. Some of the new ones include a thermal sight and a heartbeat sensor.

The Vehicles are not just cover in Modern Warfare 2, in some missions you get to drive or be driven about the map. The rest of the missions are fun and are set in locations throughout the world including a shantytown in Brazil, the deserts of Afghanistan and Washington D.C.

The attention to detail in Modern Warfare 2 is insane. Modern Warfare 2 spares nothing, right down to the paintings in the White house. It’s that kind of detail that just makes the game so beautiful to play. The guns look good and the small shockwave that is made after firing a round is a nice touch.

The sound is now more realistic than any game made before it. The AK’s sound like AK’s and the voice acting is fantastic. The Russians sound like Russians and the British are British. Normally in American games the accents let them down because Americans can’t tell them apart but in Modern Warfare 2 they’ve nailed it. The whole game is given a musical score that rivals any Hollywood production. It’s amazing; I wish I could get it on my iPod.

The game is given a longer playtime by adding a total game completion bar. This means to get 100% completion you must finish the game on all difficulties, find all pieces of enemy intelligence that look like laptops, finish the Special ops challenges and achieve the highest rank in multiplayer which is a new feature for Modern Warfare 2.

It should be noted that there is a level where it asks if you want to skip the level due to the “disturbing content.” You are not penalized in achievements or game completion for skipping the mission but you do miss out on a part of the story. What you do in this level is shoot innocent civilians in a Russian airport.

Modern Warfare 2 has fantastic graphics and sound along with the classic Call of Duty game play we all love. It’s the story that lets the whole game down but if you take it with a pinch of salt you’ll have fun. Modern Warfare 2 is a game best played with friends over Xbox Live or in split screen.

6 out of 10

Modern Warfare 3 achievement list revealed.

Modern Warfare 3 is out November 8 and for those of you itching to see what you need to do to get that gamerscore below is the complete list of achievements. Reading through the list there are achievements for both the single player campaign and Spec Ops mode but no multiplayer ones. Maybe Infinity ward are confident that players need no further encouragement to play online and I don't blame them.

*WARNING: SPOILER ALERT* The single player achievements go into quite a bit of detail about the games story line so if you want a spoiler free experience then just skip past the first 20 odd achievements on the list and read the rest.

• Back in the Fight - 5G: Start the Single Player Campaign on any difficulty.
• Too Big to Fail - 10G: Destroy the Jamming Tower. Complete "Black Tuesday" on any difficulty. 
• Wet Work - 10G: Take back New York Harbor. Complete "Hunter Killer" on any difficulty. 
• Carpe Diem- 10G: Escape the mountain safe house. Complete "Persona Non Grata" on any difficulty. 
• Frequent Flyer - 10G: Defend the Russian President. Complete "Turbulence" on any difficulty.
• Up to No Good - 10G: Infiltrate the village. Complete "Back on the Grid" on any difficulty. 
• One Way Ticket - 10G: Make it to Westminster. Complete "Mind the Gap" on any difficulty. 
• Welcome to WW3 - 10G: Save the US Vice President. Complete "Goalpost" on any difficulty. 
• Sandstorm! - 10G: Assault the shipping company. Complete "Return to Sender" on any difficulty. 
• Back Seat Driver - 10G: Track down Volk. Complete "Bag and Drag" on any difficulty. 
• We'll Always Have Paris - 10G: Escape Paris with Volk. Complete "Iron Lady" on any difficulty. 
• Vive la Révolution! - 10G: Reach the church. Complete "Eye of the Storm" on any difficulty. 
• Requiem - 10G: Escape the city. Complete "Blood Brothers" on any difficulty. 
• Storm the Castle - 10G: Discover Makarov's next move. Complete "Stronghold" on any difficulty. 
• Bad First Date - 10G: Find the girl. Complete "Scorched Earth" on any difficulty.
• Diamond in the Rough - 10G: Rescue the Russian President. Complete "Down the Rabbit Hole" on any difficulty.
• The Big Apple - 25G: Complete "Black Tuesday" and "Hunter Killer" on Veteran difficulty. 
• Out of the Frying Pan... - 25G: Complete "Persona Non Grata", "Turbulence", and "Back on the Grid" on Veteran difficulty. 
• Payback - 25G: Complete "Mind the Gap", "Goalpost", and "Return to Sender" on Veteran difficulty. 
• City of Lights - 25G: Complete "Bag and Drag" and "Iron Lady" on Veteran difficulty. 
• The Darkest Hour - 25G: Complete "Eye of the Storm", "Blood Brothers", and "Stronghold" on Veteran difficulty. 
• This is the End - 25G: Complete "Scorched Earth", "Down the Rabbit Hole", and "Dust to Dust" on Veteran difficulty. 
• Who Dares Wins - 40G: Complete the campaign on any difficulty.
• The Best of the Best - 100G: Complete the campaign on Hardened or Veteran difficulty.
• Strike! - 20G: Kill 5 enemies with a single grenade in Single Player or Special Ops. 
• Jack the Ripper - 20G: Melee 5 enemies in a row in Single Player or Special Ops.
• Informant - 20G: Collect 22 Intel Items. 
• Scout Leader - 35G: Collect 46 Intel Items.
• This Is My Boomstick - 20G: Kill 30 enemies with the XM25 in "Black Tuesday."
• What Goes Up... - 20G: Destroy all the choppers with only the UGV's grenade launcher in "Persona Non Grata."
• For Whom the Shell Tolls - 20G: Destroy all targets during the mortar sequence with only 4 shells in "Back on the Grid."
• Kill Box - 20G: Kill 20 enemies with the Chopper Gunner in a single run in "Return to Sender."
• Danger Close - 20G: Take down a chopper with an AC-130 smoke grenade in "Bag and Drag."
• Ménage à Trois - 20G: Destroy 3 tanks with a single 105mm shot in "Iron Lady.") 
• Nein - 20G: Kill 9 enemies with A-10 strafing runs in "Scorched Earth."
• 50/50 - 20G: Complete a Special Ops Mission Mode game with the same number of kills as your partner. 
• Birdie - 20G: Kill 2 enemy helicopters without getting hit in a Special Ops Survival game.
• Serrated Edge - 15: Finish a Juggernaut with a knife in Special Ops.
• Arms Dealer - 20G: Buy all items from the Survival Weapon Armory. 
• Danger Zone - 20G: Buy all items from the Survival Air Support Armory. 
• Defense Spending - 20G: Buy all items from the Survival Equipment Armory.
• Get Rich or Die Trying - 25G: Have $50,000 current balance in a Special Ops Survival game. 
• I Live - 10G: Survive 1 wave in a Special Ops Survival game.
• Survivor - 20G: Reach Wave 10 in each mission of Special Ops Survival mode.
• Unstoppable - 40G: Reach Wave 15 in each mission of Special Ops Survival mode.
• No Assistance Required - 20G: Complete a Special Ops Mission Mode game on Hardened or Veteran with no player getting downed.
• Brag Rags - 10G: Earn 1 star in Special Ops Mission Mode.
• Tactician - 20G: Earn 1 star in each mission of Special Ops Mission Mode.
• Overachiever - 40G: Earn 48 stars in Special Ops Mission Mode.
• Secret Achievement - 20G: Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

The modern warfare games (as much as I have bitched about them in the past ) I reckon are the best in the Call of Duty series. Then again the Modern Warfare games have had to compete with World at War and Black Ops. Which are good in the same way you praise a toddler for using the potty. So I'm really looking forward to MW3.