Infinity Ward returns to their marquee series with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the direct sequel to the hugely popular contemporary spin-off that took 2007 by storm. Taking place five years after the events in Modern Warfare, the newly formed multinational antiterrorist unit Task Force 141 has been given the charge of dealing with emerging threats in this new world. Its sights are set on Vladimir Makarov, a Russian terrorist and former comrade of ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev, who is wreaking havoc across the globe. You will take on the role of a soldier within Task Force 141 as they hunt down Makarov, as well as soldiers within other units as they deal with the repercussions of the manhunt.

Fans of Modern Warfare will be happy to know that not a whole lot has changed the second time around. Infinity Ward appears uninterested in recreating the wheel, so instead of going for any drastic changes or evolutionary leaps, they were content to refine the mechanics, beef up multiplayer, and go even more over the top to create what is essentially a six-hour long action movie.

It’s difficult to mention any particulars of the story without giving anything away. Suffice to say, there are several twists and turns along the way, as well as the type of shocking moments that made the original so memorable; nothing quite matches the nuking of the United States, mind you, but several scenes do come close. Your tour of duty as one of several members of the armed forces will send you all over the world, from the slums of Brazil to the frigid wastes of Siberia. Along the way you will be commanded by some of the best voice actors in the business, including Lance Henriksen as General Shepherd and, a personal favorite of mine, Keith David as Sergeant Foley. Unlike most games where actors are more of a novelty, the talents of Henriksen and company do a great job in solidifying the cinematic experience that is delivered so well by the pace and presentation. There are numerous references to action films as well, including one area in particular that seemed to have been more than a little inspired by Michael Bay.

In an effort to be more grandiose than realistic, many non-combative action elements have been added along with several vehicle-based portions. The vehicle-based segments, some more successful than others, include the snowmobiles as seen in early trailers, the use of predator drones, and a high-speed chase between armed boats in addition to ice-climbing, slides down slopes, and a camera that is in general more reactive to the player’s movements. Everything done is to heighten the sense of tension, keep the momentum up and the player on their toes. For the most part, as with the original, Infinity Ward succeeds.

As enjoyable as the campaign is, however, it doesn’t manage to surpass the original. At just under six hours on hardened difficulty, the story will be wrapping up just as it kicks into high gear. That’s a really busy six hours, but a bit more could have done wonders to flesh out the characters’ motivations and provide a greater balance between body count and locale. Although there has been a stated focus to move away from the room spawning of past Call of Duty titles, I still experienced numerous instances where immersion was stretched to the breaking point by near omnipresent gangs of thugs, mercenaries, and terrorists popping out of every building and corner, no matter the size. It is encouraging that there has been some progress, because things are much improved over World at War – for one, it no longer rains grenades. Despite the controversial “No Russian” level, the game is actually pretty tame and on par with Modern Warfare; it’s much more like a late 1990’s action movie with a touch of modern sensibilities – think The Rock with a touch of 24. In addition, there are two messages that warn of possibly offensive content, allowing you to view a warning prior to each instance or forego future warnings. I still had a good time with the campaign and highly recommend playing through it, but unlike the original, I don’t foresee myself playing through it again.

Playing through the story unlocks the new Special Ops mode. Comprised of a five-mission set of time trials that score based on a chosen difficulty level, you will defend areas, hunt fugitives, and take on hordes of militia. Each of the three difficulty levels add a new twist, and better yet, the feature offers cooperative play with a friend, which comes in handy when tackling the tougher objectives. Successfully completing a level will award you with the star of the chosen difficulty level (one to three stars for regular, hardened, and veteran) for up to a total of 69 stars, with new missions becoming unlocked as you progress. The 23 missions will take a while to get through, much less complete on veteran, and offer some great replay value.

Special Ops might occupy you for a while, but the real longevity is in the traditional multiplayer mode. Similar to the campaign, little has changed this time around, but what’s there is even more intense and addictive than before. New to the series, and a huge plus for those with poor Internet connections, is the ability to multiplay via splitscreen and local area networks and still be able to gain experience and rewards. The only downside to playing locally is that whatever is earned does not carry over whenever you do go online. For those who head online straightaway, you will soon run across another new feature, host migration, which allows games to continue whenever the host leaves by selecting another player to carry the torch. The traditional experience-based system has been carried over from Modern Warfare and is largely the same, just much, much more of it.

Killing and completing objectives, as well as how they are done, earn experience that goes towards unlocking new weapons, perks, ranks, emblems, and callsigns. Unlocked emblems appear next to your name while callsigns appear whenever you complete an objective or take someone else down, which consists of a pop-up box displaying a kitschy background and title; this can be anything from the tag “rainmaker” with money falling in the background to the incredibly pandering “blunt trauma” and its marijuana themed backdrop. Earning new ranks unlocks additional features, the biggest being the popular create-a-class ability. Customization for created classes has also been increased with new weapons and equipment, including additional secondary weapon and equipment choices – replace your pistol with a shotgun and grenade with some C4. Both success and failure now have their own perks with kill and death streaks. Kill streak rewards dominating your enemy by doling out new equipment and abilities at different counts, with some becoming available at three kills and others at nine. While it depends on your style of play, the general rule of thumb is that the perks that require more kills to unlock are the ones you’ll want to use, but they all offer a little something extra - toss down a sentry gun, man an AC130 gunship, or launch a freaking nuke.

Being rewarded for dying might seem unfair, but there are far fewer of them compared to kill streak perks, four for dying and fifteen for stomping heads, and I found they actually added a lot to the game. Not only do both sets of perks help balance things out and keep combat livelier, but death streaks also give newcomers a chance to catch up and even get a little payback. Those who find themselves unable to score a kill before dying (again and again) will be able to copy their killer’s class, double their health for ten seconds after respawning, crawl around with a weapon and a chance to fully recover, or drop a grenade when killed. Perks have also been beefed up as well, with ‘pro’ versions that are unlocked through use which add abilities in addition to the base perk. Each addition has numerous options that go on and on, with each working together to create a really engrossing system. Infinity Ward somehow made Modern Warfare’s multiplayer even more addictive.

Overall: 9.5/10
Fans of Modern Warfare are going to love Modern Warfare 2; however, if you weren’t sold on the series before, then you won’t be sold on it now, because Infinity Ward largely stuck with their winning formula, tweaking things here and there. The story might not be quite as strong as the original, but the Special Ops mode and expanded multiplayer more than do the job of picking up the slack. The story is still a great ride, though, filled with spectacular encounters and some really amazing moments. Plus, Keith David telling me to “stay frosty” is probably the coolest thing I’ve experienced in a long time.

(This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.)