Modern Warfare 2

By Christian Donlan Published 15 October, 2009

Do us a favela?

Pleasant surprise: Modern Warfare 2 makes a pretty decent arcade racer. That's what it feels like anyway, when you're blasting through the tundra on a jouncing skidoo, driven on by the constant barrage of time extends as you zip past one checkpoint after another, with the cartoony three-tone starting buzzer still sounding in your ears. There are jumps to chain together, a racing line to unearth, and trees to dodge as you rush towards the finish flag, and when the camera shakes and the audio roars, it's all pretty exciting stuff.

Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward's creative strategist, gets so drawn in that he throws himself from side-to-side in his seat as he plays (of course, that's possibly just a brilliantly calculated piece of Derren Brown-styled mind trickery, designed to provoke any nearby preview writers into scribbling down, "You know, Modern Warfare 2 really is a visceral slice of action gaming!"), and if you start to lag behind, you can even shoot your rival racer in the face so they get blood in their eyes and steer themselves off a cliff. I think they borrowed that move from Mario Kart on the Wii.

All of which is to say that I'd stupidly assumed I understood Modern Warfare 2's new Special Ops mode: I assumed it would be a polished, but rather predictable arrangement of discrete mini-missions tailored for two-player co-op. What I hadn't guessed, though - and what Tom didn't manage to uncover with his, ooh, two minutes with the game back at Cologne - was that, individually, each of those mini-missions would be so inventive in breaking Infinity Ward's latest down into chunks, until parts of it start to feel like... well, like an arcade racer, for example.

Meanwhile, other parts of it feel like Left 4 Dead. Racing over, Bowling takes us into another Spec Ops gametype called Elimination. We're on the edge of a lake: scrubby trees clump together in artful thickets, mountains turn the horizon into a craggy squiggle, and a cluster of wooden cabins lurks by the shoreline. It's all rather pretty, really - if it wasn't for the bullets whizzing through the air, I'd probably be thinking about filling a thermos with latte and nipping off for a hike.

'Modern Warfare 2' Screenshot 1

Higher difficulties in Spec Ops will result in slightly different mission agendas as well as longer health bars.

But hiking's not the order of the day. With Elimination, shooting exactly 40 Russian terrorists dead is the order of the day, in a game mode that randomises spawns and pacing, and pads out the regular grunts you'll be taking down with a range of special classes, including Ghillie-suited snipers who will try and keep their distance unless successfully flanked. And Juggernauts. They're tanks, essentially, who stagger towards you sucking up clip after clip wearing thick, rounded armour which, to me at least, looks like the kind of thing a boiled egg might wear while heading off for his first spacewalk.

Elimination's a brilliantly panicky inclusion: a brutal challenge for one player, and a riot of ad-libbed strategy for two, and, on this occasion, the bulk of the fighting quickly centres on one split-level cabin in the middle of the map, where some nasty terrorist types have been making explosives, by the looks of it, although the building's occupants have also been busy impaling teddy bears on a bedroom doorknob, and leaving a sex doll floating about in the dirty bathtub, so maybe they're actually arts post-grads.

'Modern Warfare 2' Screenshot 2

24-style split-screen for local co-op means that, although you'll be squinting if you play on small tellies, you'll at least be squinting at something stylish.

Throw in other treats like Stealth modes, which see you picking your way through a gauntlet of baddies unseen as you head for an extraction point, and Spec Ops promises to be dazzling. It's a blast of quick-fire unpredictability and leaderboard-chasing in a package you could have assumed was happy to simply build on established foundations.

None of which is to say that, after COD4, such an approach would have been too much of a problem. In fact, a brief look at the game's more traditional inclusions is enough to remind you why so many of Infinity Ward's competitors have retreated to January and February next year to huddle together for safety. Multiplayer - with its kill streaks, death streaks, and dazzling rooftop mazes - looks like a smart evolution of the original, although as the HUD fills up and the game gets ever more chatty regarding Achievements and unlocks, it's possible the whole thing will be even more overwhelming for newcomers.

A fresh glimpse at the single-player campaign suggests the team is bringing a new level of skill to its work. "There's a hundred little changes you might notice, and a hundred you won't," says Bowling, as he loads up a mission set inside a favela - a slum, I had to look it up - in Rio De Janeiro. "This stuff ranges from lighting effects and things like blood-splattering patterns, to little details involving how much more responsive the environment is and how much more is moving around at any time."

He's not kidding: the level of detailing in the campaign missions can be a little overwhelming. As new protagonist Sanderson lurches through the traffic jams of downtown Rio to spy on some kind of underworld meeting, he can soak up atmospheric touches like a plastic Hula girl model on the dashboard of the car he's in. Later, he can admire lumpy chunks of brain that splatter the windshield when the meeting goes haywire, some of which belong, rather disconcertingly, to Sanderson's driver.

After that, it's down to business: out of the car, and into the grim alleyways of the shanty to pursue the fleeing baddies on foot. Trashcans and tenements, chicken wire and old tyres: it's hardly a first for a videogame, but the sense of activity going on around Sanderson is unsurpassed. Good old Soap is on the radio, barking orders and providing a nice layer of cockney backchat, while enemies scatter away from gunfire and take up positions on overhead walkways.

Throughout, Infinity Ward lays on the claustrophobia with a series of great false scares, one of which, featuring a barking dog snapping away beyond a chain link fence, provides such a shock that I almost spit coffee all over my notepad, which would have been something of a tragedy, as it was the last one in my secret stash, and Paperchase has stopped bloody making the only kind I like.

In amongst the chaos, the frantic chase, and Soap's impossible orders to capture the target alive, there's always just enough time to spot the various things Infinity Ward is getting right - the space within each encounter to tackle every enemy a variety of ways, or animation details like the underhanded grenade fling, or the way Sanderson's hands casually knock one clip out of the gun as they replace it with the next - and when it's all over and the mission's run its course, I look down to discover that what felt like 30 seconds of single-player has actually been five or 10 minutes.

'Modern Warfare 2' Screenshot 3

Bleeding out in co-op is a bit like Gears, except Marcus Fenix never used the phrase, "I need some 'elp, Geezah!"

For most of us, the wait to find out what happens next is nearly over. For Bowling and the rest of Infinity Ward, however, this is a much-needed lull in the schedule: with release approaching, the team that went from COD4 straight into Modern Warfare 2 without skipping a beat is getting something of a holiday.

It will all be fairly short-lived, however. "When the game does get out to the public, it all starts up again," smiles Bowling. "We'll be playing every night, watching the lobbies, checking Twitter and hearing the feedback, as well as going directly to our community and just asking: what do you think? What do you want?

"Based on that feedback, the entire team will go back and start creating post-launch content: the things people want more of. In our heads we might think we'll just be releasing more stuff for standard multiplayer, but the Spec Ops could turn into something no-one expected it to be, and people could be saying, 'We love this stuff: we want more Stealth missions, we want more Elimination missions!' You can be sure we'll be focusing our attention on what people actually want."

All of which means that, in some small way, this Christmas, a nice little chunk of one of gaming's biggest franchises rests in your hands.

Modern Warfare 2 is due out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 10th November.

Picture of Christian.

About Christian Donlan

Chris Donlan writes about games for Eurogamer and some magazines. His heroes include Eugene Jarvis, Errol Morris, and Linus Van Pelt.

Read more articles from Christian by visiting the Christian Donlan archive page.

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Comments (69) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • muscleblade #1 2 years ago

    Nice! Borderlands first though.

  • INSOMANiAC #2 2 years ago

    The amont of hours Im going to put into this game will be frightening.

  • Golgo #3 2 years ago

    "Good old Soap is on the radio, barking orders and providing a nice layer of cockney backchat."

    'Soap' is a cockney? 'Soap' McTavish ?!
    Edited by 3 at 15/10/09 @ 15:15

  • linea #4 2 years ago

    Thanks to the subtitle of this article I now have a strong urge to plug myself into a SEGA

  • Hypercube #5 2 years ago

    Great, this sounds like a fitting succesor to the previous one.

    I'd pretty much stopped playing online shooters, and COD:MW got me on the internet for hours at a time, shooting people (and, more usually, getting shot in return).

    Time to hone my aging reflexes!

    Edit: I'll almost certainly go for the PC version - I'm much more comfortable with the ol' mouse n keyboard for shooters.
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 15:20

  • rutter #6 2 years ago

    Wow - sounds good. The spec-ops mode inparticular sounds intriguing.
    Exciting stuff!

  • cianchristopher #7 2 years ago

    I'm looking forward to this, probably more than I've ever looked forward to any other game in my life....

    This will be epic....

  • Cpt_McOneball #8 2 years ago

    Some great reading. But this tells us what we already know. COD:MW2 is going to be bloody amazing!

  • Nephirion #9 2 years ago

    What I have never understood about the Call of Duty series (on the 360) is the inablitiy to lean around a corner? I am assuming this will be part of Cod 6? i mean after all even GRAW 2 had not only the ablitiy to lean but a gun that could be scoped to fire around obstacles ffs

    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 15:22

  • HuggyAtHome #10 2 years ago

    UC2 on the PS3 and this on the box - my social life is over until Easter. Good to hear that the Spec Ops is more than just reruns of the SP levels.

    Now is there any way to block/mute the 14 year old kids from spouting off stuff about my mum when we play?

  • MiniAmin #11 2 years ago

    Was anyone else hoping to read something negative about this game?

    I wanted to ignore this game because of its price point, but the sad fact is I know that my bitter conviction to boycott this game will die a quick, miserable death as soon as it is released.

    *dotingly strokes one 50 pound note and one 5 pound note* We'll part soon friends

  • smernicki #12 2 years ago

    this crackdown 2, and SSFIV are going to ruin my life next year....

    can't wait!

  • Nephirion #13 2 years ago

    @ MiniAmin

    Why not wait till Christmas and get a girlfriend or relative to buy it for you for then? you dont HAVE to play a game on day one of its release unless you want to feel part of the IN crowd

  • bodypopper #14 2 years ago

    @Nephiron
    If it ain't broke...
    CoD has always been more of a playable gung-ho blockbuster action movie than realistic like GRAW et al. Why try and immitate other games anyway?

  • Bealsy #15 2 years ago

    What's this game then? First I've heard of it. Possible competition for Medal of Honour?




    arf arf arf.

  • MiniAmin #16 2 years ago

    @ Nephirion

    That's a great suggestion but it isn't actually the price that's bothering me... It's more to do with the fact that I don't want to help set a precedent for higher priced games.

  • smernicki #17 2 years ago

    @MiniAmin

    you can pre-order for £45 from game/amazon, and there's a lively debate on the forums of the possibility of ASDA selling it for sub £30

  • Golgo #18 2 years ago

    @Nephirion.

    You can lean around corners in COD:MW. Was doing it just yesterday on PC by pressing Q and E, nanoseconds prior to getting head blown off. Again and again. And again.

  • FWB #19 2 years ago

    I know you have the release date at the end of the article, but I reckon you should place it in the Game info panel (where you link to it on Shopto) on the right too.

  • dbranchevans #20 2 years ago

    Sounds like they've improved it but am a little worried about the killstreak system. On the larger maps you can already start to get some fairly endless kill streaks and there's every horrible possibility with all the new addons all its going to do is encourage either camping or suicide missions. Oh and please tell me they've put an option in for servers to ban the blasted noob tube!

  • wizlon #21 2 years ago

    I would buy this if it was sensibly priced

  • Nephirion #22 2 years ago

    @ Golgo

    If you read my post you will see i mention no leaning on the 360 version its in brackets :o

    @ MiniAmin

    I have the PC version preorderd for 29.99 which I feel is reasonable for the game. I feel sorry for 360 owners (myself included) that M$ and publishers feel they can push on us a considerable price hike in a recession, it just shows how out of touch the greedy yanks really are with the real world. I agree with you that its setting a price precident but Forza 2 price is considerably higher also. In some ways I would like it to flop because the decision is based on greed and nothing else.

  • 8bitMofo #23 2 years ago

    £55... Im going into the shop with 1p and 2p coins. REVENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 15:54

  • kipper #24 2 years ago

    @ Golgo Nephiron was bemoaning the inability to lean around corners in COD on Xbox 360. I know you can do it on PC, but you can't on the console. Probably due to a shortage of buttons on the controller. Still, I think since the playing field is level and nobody can lean around corners on the console in COD, it's not that big a deal.

    edit: I see Nephiron has already replied. Curse my slow typing. >_
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 15:56

  • ZuluHero #25 2 years ago

    I have this on pre-order for £35 and on the 360. Don't I feel smug right now! }:)

    Great price. Great sounding game!

    EDIT: haha the neg rep was to be expected i suppose. But i don't care - i got the game for £35!
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 15:53

  • guernican #26 2 years ago

    'Soap' is a cockney? 'Soap' McTavish ?!

    Well, his previous incarnation was hardly an avalanche of Glaswegian spit, now was it?

  • JACK_BURTON #27 2 years ago

    It is possible to have a Scottish surname and be raised in the East End of London and aquire an accent...No?

  • Golgo #28 2 years ago

    Well he's being voiced by some bloke out of Trainspotting, so let's wait and see...
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 15:54

  • smoothpete #29 2 years ago

    I can't remember Soap speaking in MW. In fact, I'm 99% sure he doesn't

    Anyway, this sounds frigging awesome and I cannot wait. CANNOT WAIT! DAMN IT.

  • geeza2020 #30 2 years ago

    What is it, just over three weeks now till this? And a week after its L4D2. I am going to be one pale malnourished shell of a man come next spring!! :D

  • ronuds #31 2 years ago

    "I feel sorry for 360 owners (myself included) that M$ and publishers feel they can push on us a considerable price hike in a recession, it just shows how out of touch the greedy yanks really are with the real world."

    How is Microsoft at all involved with the pricing of a game they've neither published nor developed? Isn't the PS3 version the same price?

  • Benno #32 2 years ago

    this game

    will be ace

  • metalangel #33 2 years ago

    Borderlands and the rest will be popular until this comes out, at which point their servers will empty. Shame.

  • smoothpete #34 2 years ago

    Oh I do have a question for the knowledgeable people.

    MW wasn't full HD, is this?

  • bioreit #35 2 years ago

    @ dbranchevans

    Not sure if you play on 360, PS3 or PC, but I've never seen anyone get more than a 30 kill streak when playing. And most of those are because people don't switch tactics and approach and just keep going the same way into the meat grinder.

    And there's nowt wrong with noob-tubing, neither - damn thing has a blast radius of a mouse's fart even with Sonic Boom, plus that minimum firing distance is a pain. Of more concern are the people who no-scope the Barrett or M40A3 with impunity - not talking about the obvious hacks, but the ability to use Steady Aim to turn a sniper rifle into a super-accurate shotgun-cum-rail gun!

  • skillian #36 2 years ago

    @smoothpete

    No, it runs at 1024x600.

    edit: Downvotes for answering someone's question? Nice.
    Edited by 3 at 15/10/09 @ 17:30

  • daz_john_smith #37 2 years ago

    Yet another Hand-on/Preview. FFS

  • BOFH_UK #38 2 years ago

    Okay, I'm know I'm probably going to get grief for this but.... I'm just not excited over MW2. I know it's going to be an excellent game (played the first one and liked it even if I did loose interest after a few missions), it looks great and seems to be offering a lot of content it's just... I'm bored with FPS games, especially real world ones. Now, granted, I started with Doom when it was first released on the PC so I've played probably more FPS's than is really good for you but there just doesn't seem to be anything new with MW2 to justify the investment. I'll probably stick it in my Lovefilm queue but as a purchase? I think I'll pass, at least for the time being.

  • autogunner #39 2 years ago

    yeah i agree I will probably 'rent' this on PC too, cant be bothered with the multiplayer

  • Turrican #40 2 years ago

    Admittedly I haven't been on the game forums, but does anyone know if the tired old constantly-spawning-enemies-unless-you-push-on trick will be recycled for this? Seems like the only question any journalist should be asking Infinity Ward when they get within earshot of them, yet no one has...

  • smoothpete #41 2 years ago

    Cheers skillian. Shouldn't make any difference really, the frame rate is the key

  • Raziel #42 2 years ago

    Misread the top of the page as Modem Warfare 2 >.>

  • Natversion1 #43 2 years ago

    @Turrican

    I've read elsewhere that infinite spawning enemies has been removed.

  • Lukree #44 2 years ago

    But... are the enemies spawning indefinitely???

  • miiiguel #45 2 years ago

    ^ Don't play it on easy and it will be longer than 4 hours.

  • Nephirion #46 2 years ago

    How about a borderlands hands on or starcraft 2?

  • john_silence #47 2 years ago

    Pre-ordered this for the PC through CDWow, for 28 euros (25 pounds). PC gaming's got to win sometimes, hey?
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 17:42

  • metalangel #48 2 years ago

    (insert mindless fanboy love here)

    *awaits big stack of upvotes from other mindless fanboys*

    EDIT: It's working! Huzzah!
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 19:38

  • f00b_inc #49 2 years ago

    So was Soap in MW1 or something... I don't remember the 'story' to be honest. Great game though, will still wait for MW2 to come down in price.

  • Errol #50 2 years ago

    Where is BF3 ffs?

  • Les #51 2 years ago

    Can't be bothered to read the article but did they fix the fucking hand grenades?

  • theiceman #52 2 years ago

    Looks and sounds amazing.I've already booked a week off work for it's release.I feel sorry for my poor wife as i do the multiplayer....

  • metalangel #53 2 years ago

    @foob: for most of the game, you were Soap! That he's become a cockney is... really disappointing, people were hoping for a proper Scot actor after the so-called Captain MacMillan in the first one. Oh well. Maybe in Modern Warfare 3 we can have a booming voice from the South Wales valleys, butt!
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 19:43

  • TONYgr #54 2 years ago

    the spec ops mode sounds like the terrorist hunt mode from rainbow six vegas.which is perfect!!

  • TriggerHippie #55 2 years ago

    Kevin McKidd is voicing Soap. I can't imagine that they'd hire a Scottish actor to voice a Scottish character and then ask him to do a Cockney accent.
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/09 @ 21:27

  • man.the.king #56 2 years ago

    Hopefully they will also have incorporated taking cover and leaning a la Killzone 2. That would be nice, and would mean I would not have to take damage each time I wanted to peek out from the relative safety of my cover :) .
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/09 @ 17:25

  • ronuds #57 2 years ago

    I doubt there's taking cover or peaking out.

    Modern Warfare is made to be a more fast-paced experience - and taking cover or peaking out stops that from happening.

  • mr.smeg #58 2 years ago

    @foob again: if you're going to wait for MW2 to come down in price, you'll be waiting a long time. The first one is still £30 odd!

  • stryker1121 #59 2 years ago

    Any word on campaign length yet? Or does it even matter to Infinity? MW1 was criminally short single-player experience...there are a happy few of us that are not on LIVE. I'll be playing Borderlands and Dragon Age before MW2 anyway, but damn...how about a 12-hour campaign this time fellas?

  • mattigan #60 2 years ago

    If I'm honest I would probably pay £100 for this, although this is the ONLY game I would pay over the odds for. Played the last one regularly for well over a year.

  • morgothemighty #61 2 years ago

    Well, I can tell you what I want right now, before the game has even been released

    How about proper clan support. Not just a clan tag that anybody can use or create.

    How about a lobby system that actually works - got so fucked off with COD4 and W@W shitty lobby system never letting me or my nmates get together it completely killed the game for our whole clan - FAIL

    if the devs support this game like they say they will then fine, but I feel they will just look at the stats and say everything is fine - it's not - sort it

  • metalangel #62 2 years ago

    Seconding that. I wasted hours fruitlessly trying to clear the TV studio (the big room full of desks) on Veteran before realizing all I had to do was charge through ignoring all the enemies and suddenly they'd all disappear and my squad would arrive to boot the next door.

  • Shadders #63 2 years ago

    Sounds shit.

  • metallicorphan #64 2 years ago

    @Stryker1121 i think i read that the single player campaign is the same length as the first one,which on Normal took me about 6 hrs i think which isn't that great TBH,but thankfully its the MP i play for...however this time around added to the 20 single player missions it has 20 different 2 player co-op missions as well as the Multiplayer...so if anything it has more content than the first game...shame if true that you are not online

  • superdelphinus #65 2 years ago

    I've never really seen the fuss for xbl multiplayer for modern warfare. It just seems to be people running around on suicide missions all the time. There is never any thought to anything :o(. that said, i used to love cod 3 multiplayer, but i think the environments were more conducive to the way I like to play

  • superdelphinus #66 2 years ago

    also if they haven't stopped the inifinite troops thing that magically disappear when you get to the yellow dot, it's a massive no-buy for me. Has anyone ever tried to get through the game without firing a single shot (other than where you have to to progress the game)?

  • TitusCrow #67 2 years ago

    try coolshop guys for great cod mw2 prices on all formats!

    25£ on PC 38£ on 360 and ps3

    [link url=http://www.coolshop.co.uk/catalog/product/58074 -modern-warfare-2-(call-of-duty)--for-pc
    ]http://ww w.coolshop.co.uk/catalog/produc...[/link]

  • NorfolkNClue #68 2 years ago

    Turns out there will be no dedicated servers for the PC version and they will be using the Live method. Order cancelled :(
    Edited by 1 at 18/10/09 @ 09:28

  • rochyroch #69 2 years ago

    yup IW have royally ****** the pc community in the ***

    a quick rundown here of what Bowling said on the webcast.

    • IW has control of the game
    • IWnet servers will host multiplayer
    • DLC will be a charged item for PC (probably, good chance it will happen tho')
    • No dedicated servers
    • Matchmaking system used to play with similarly ranked players
    • No server lists
    • VAC instead of PB
    • Semi-capable password servers
    • Semi-capable ad-hoc servers
    • Competitive play is dead
    • MW2 mods would not be possible
    • Full integration into Steam
    Edited by 2 at 18/10/09 @ 16:11