Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Reviews

With the best multiplayer shooting that money can buy, an incredibly action-packed campaign and plenty of superb two-player co-op levels, this is without a doubt a real contender for game of the year.

It’s developer Infinity Ward’s turn in the Call of Duty hotseat for 2022. After finding success with 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot, the team has focused its efforts on a sequel, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 exploring an “unprecedented global conflict” with “state-of-the-art gameplay.” Armed with a story campaign, competitive multiplayer, and co-op PvE, MW2 looks good on paper. However, when you start playing, the multitude of missing or half-baked features and inexplicable gameplay mechanics start to pile up and drag it down.

It’s that time of year again. It’s cold, the sun starts to go down sooner and sooner every night, pumpkin spice lattes start being sold in caf´s, and there’s a new Call Of Duty on storeshelves. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, not to be mistaken with the similarly named title that released in 2009, is the much anticipated follow up to the 2019 reboot of the beloved series. After the lukewarm response to Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, it was time for the series to really nail its annua...

Call of Duty is the world's premier first-person shooter franchise and Modern Warfare 2 is a solid reminder of why that is. As the world's premier FPS franchise though, it needs to do better.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 packs one of the best multiplayer suites in the franchise’s history. That’s no small feat when you consider that this Modern Warfare (2019) sequel is the 19th mainline Call of Duty game. However, a lackluster campaign and bland co-op diminish the overall package.

Like the dubious heroes at the centre of its story, Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is murky, methodical, and effective. It features everything you’d expect from a Modern Warfare campaign: globetrotting adventures, spectacular set-pieces, and an uneasy relationship with real-world military affairs. But there’s something else here we don’t typically expect from gaming’s biggest shooter series. Restraint.

As it did with its reimagining of Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward has used the past as a point-of-reference rather than a blueprint, and the result is thrilling. The MW2 campaign is reliably unrevolutionary, and the multiplayer is bold enough to press against expectations – even if it isn't successful in everything that it tries. Call of Duty is slowly wading outside of its comfort zone, and it's all the better because of it.

While there are some new game modes and maps for players to master in multiplayer, there isn’t anything truly groundbreaking there, either. However, there are still a few new multiplayer features on the horizon, such as Tier 1 Hardcore playlists, that may amp up the multiplayer experience in the future.

Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most baffling Call of Duty games in years. It caters to newcomers, punishes veterans, and alienates everyone with overcomplicated menus. The campaign and Ground War are worthwhile. But Modern Warfare 2 still needs a lot of work to live up to its predecessors, and may not be worth your money just yet.

Good foundations mean Modern Warfare 2 can still deliver thrills and satisfying gameplay across its campaign and multiplayer, but missing features, a dull story, and an overcomplicated progression system leave a sour taste in the mouth.

With Warzone 2.0 and the first season of content on pace to release on Nov. 16 that will most likely address many issues, this feels like a title that launched knowing all the issues could be ironed out over the course of two years. While I think this is better than 2019's entry, charging $70-$100 for a game that'll be good in a few months is not a gesture that I appreciate at all. If you can, I'd recommend waiting until massive changes come to flesh out this experience and iron out all the bugs. Right now, 2022's version of Modern Warfare is bigger and slightly better, but going big without proper execution doesn't translate to a winning formula.

There’s some rough edges to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II that keep it from hitting the heights of the 2019 Modern Warfare, though most of its flaws can and will be fixed or improved through patches. Still, there’s an action-packed story to play through, plenty of multiplayer and a light co-op mode, and the promise of more in future. With Warzone 2.0 just around the corner, the future is certainly bright for Modern Warfare 2.

Infinity Ward has delivered its best Call of Duty game since the original Modern Warfare 2 (from way back in 2009) with this year's release. The game's campaign mixes things up rather nicely, delivering a more tactical outing this time around, and the game's multiplayer caters to almost every type of Call of Duty player out there. While the non-Zombies co-op mode is an expected low point, MW2's multiplayer component is jam-packed and well-balanced, creating a compelling reason to keep returning to its huge online sandbox. Modern Warfare 2 won't convince the CoD haters out there, but this year's release is a return to form after one of the franchise's major lows in 2021's Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Activision and Infinity Ward have big plans for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and the game should see plenty of support in the weeks and months ahead. The big Season 1 update is scheduled to arrive in November, while Season 1 Reloaded will come in December with even more content. These updates will likely address fan feedback about the game and bring back missing features as well. Eventually, Modern Warfare 2 should get to a point where it becomes an easy recommendation for shooter fans, but it's undercooked and underwhelming in its current state.

Picking up the epic arc of events in Infinity Ward's blockbuster Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the much-hyped continuation of the near-future storyline. Modern Warfare 2 crafts a darker, grittier plot than Call of Duty 4, but it's also less grounded. Set roughly ten years in the future, you'll play as a host of American and British troops, with some familiar faces re-emerging along the way.

World at War had 4 player co-op in its campaign and with its Nazi zombie horde mode. Infinity Ward adds its own flair on co-op by taking it back to two players and taking areas from the campaign but changing the objectives. Examples of this are with the snowmobile mission from the campaign that is turned into a hectic race against your friend as you try to reach the finish line first and in the Brazil favela you and a friend will have to clear the area of all hostiles while making sure to not kill the civilians or else it’s game over for you. This mode will definitely keep you coming back even after you’ve obtained all the stars which are given by completing a mission on a certain difficulty level. New missions are unlocked by getting stars but you can easily unlock all the missions by just playing each mission on normal and getting a single star. My favorite missions are the ones where one of you stays on the ground to fight enemy forces while the other takes to the air and pilots either an ACT130 or a chopper. Running around a farm firing at enemies while you friend is firing from the ACT130 is an exhilarating feeling especially on the higher difficulty modes.

Everything about Modern Warfare 2 screams larger than life. Over 10,000 retail outlets across the US held midnight releases to meet demand, and Activision announced first-day sales of approximately 4.7 million units in North America and the UK alone, with an opening of $310 million. Riding in on a massive hype train, Modern Warfare 2 is a mega-blockbuster of the likes the gaming industry has never seen before. Developed by the wizards at Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2 can brag about more tha...

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 doesn't revolutionize online gaming like it's predecessor did. In fact, it really doesn't introduce any new ideas to the First-Person Shooter genre. However, it's still a better game than most and it's just plain fun. If you're buying Modern Warfare 2 mainly for the campaign be warned, because while it delivers many thrills, it's short and has little replay value. The new co-op mode “Spec Ops” is a great addition to give some depth to the game, but competitive multiplayer is the main focus here. If you're becoming tired of online FPS games, you might not miss much by skipping out on this game, but for those who want more First-person action or still are looking for their first should look no further. It has it's far share of flaws, but at the end of the day, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is one of the best shooters around.

As a whole, MW2 is spectacular in all the right areas; building and refining on the most solid of bases. And although its political heart might not be in the ‘right’ place, at the very least it might make a few people think rather than skim through on muscle memory and twitch reactions. That’s a rarity in itself, and something to be respected in an age of apathy.

When you look at the total package, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is hands-down one of the best first-person shooters out there, and a truly amazing offering across any system. With that being said, our score comes with a disclaimer. For those planning to check out everything Modern Warefare 2 has to offer – online competition, full co-op Spec Ops mode, as well as the campaign – you’re looking at a no-brainer purchase. For the strictly single player crowd, however, Modern Warfare 2 is surprisingly short, and doesn’t live up to the standard set by previous Call of Duty games. The campaign can be completed in as little as four and a half hours, and the missions make better scenarios and moment-to-moment adrenaline rushes than they do a cohesive, well-told story. If you’re going solo, you’ve officially been warned. Look at the complete Modern Warfare 2 experience though, and there’s no denying its rightful place at the top.