Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 PlayStation 3
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2667 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,595 out of 2667
  2. Mixed: 422 out of 2667
  3. Negative: 650 out of 2667
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  1. MarkR
    Feb 3, 2010
    4
    Introduction I really wanted to give a good review, I really did want too, but this game is quite rubbish, to be honest. Modern Warfare 2 is (Obviously) the sequel to Modern Warfare, A game I've never played, come to think of it, I've never played any Call of Duty, so I hoped, at least, this game would be friendly to new people to the series, unfortunately it isn't after Introduction I really wanted to give a good review, I really did want too, but this game is quite rubbish, to be honest. Modern Warfare 2 is (Obviously) the sequel to Modern Warfare, A game I've never played, come to think of it, I've never played any Call of Duty, so I hoped, at least, this game would be friendly to new people to the series, unfortunately it isn't after the first 5 minutes of the Campaign. Gameplay This is the only place this game shines, it's game play is nice and simple, very easy to slip into it and I fount it really easy to grasp the controls, it was also very responsive and really, the best part of the game. The game has good controls, which pretty much every game needs to have to be a good one, having an amazingly complex controls won't get you very far. Unfortuantly, the rest of the gameplay falls short. In multi-player, some weapons are useless, some are extremely overpowered, for example, the most well known flaw, Model 1887 Shotguns. These guns can outpower every weapon on the game from short to midrange, if this wasn't bad enough they can also be dual wielded (Akimbo), the fact that they outpower Assault Rifles and Machine Guns at Midrange is absouloutly stupid, there was a patch for this, but it didn't really do anything, I'd still be shot by Akimbo 1887's and be dead at midrange, after putting 3 or 4 Assault Rifle bullets in my opponent. More about the multi-player flaws later on. Story Unfortunately.. the story is pretty boring and unimaginative and according to some of my friends, very similar to Modern Warfare 1. Like I said earlier, I'm new to Call of Duty, which means the campaign should be difficult on the Normal difficulty, or at least challenging unfortunately, it isn't, I started on Hardened, recommended after The Pitt, and shortly found myself knocking that up to veteran, where it finally got mildly challenging. Even so, the game took me a short 10 hours on veteran, and my brother has beaten it in 6 hours on the Regular difficulty... for a game with so much hype and expectations, and my £45 it really isn't good enough, I had started to wish I rented the game instead. Re playable? Not really, unless you did the game on the Super Easy Regular difficulty and want the veteran trophies, then you might send out another 10 hours getting them. Oh... and people wanting the Co-Op story mode from World at War... It's gone so... yeah. This is without even mentioning the huge quantity of plot holes in the story, No spoilers, So I can't say anything, but just google it, and you'll find a list of them. Special Ops My favorite part of the game and it even has it's flaws.. Dear oh Dear. Specials Op's are basically short 1 or 2 player missions, and by 2 player, the person HAS to be on your friend-list and can't be a random person from the internet for some weird reason, which means people with no friends that have a copy of Modern Warfare 2, will never be able to get the Platinum trophy or the 69 Stars trophy or the Honor Roll trophy, this is because some of the missions have to be 2 players which makes me question again why we can't be teamed up with a random person from the internet or even an AI.. Anyway has a whole, special ops is good fun, even more with a friend, but still is good fun without 1, and seems to be a replacement for Nazi Zombies (Which I've played 1 game of round a friends house, it was awesome) from World at War, unfortunately there aren't any zombies on this one and instead there's a load of missions asking you do different things, sneak through a forest, collect some Intel and escape the gulag, kill a bunch of Juggernaughts on an oilrig, and mostly slightly edited stuff from the story but now is timed. This does however make up for the simpleness of the Story mode slightly, because, the Echo missions are rather difficult, though both have there own tricks to getting them done, such as High Explosive, which I did with my brother, it took us all day, then we find out there's a way to do the mission easily on co-op, using a cheap trick to block the Juggernaughts. Multi player This mode is really fun... if you are a veteran to Call of Duty online, us newbies will find ourselves thrown into a game with a bunch of players a lot more experiences than ourselves and shortly finding us basically being absolutely battered this is because the game doesn't seem to make games around people of your own 'level' or Kill/Death ration but more of random people, no matter how good they are and you find yourself, like I said, being battered by the other players which have a lot more experience. if you're a veteran however, you should find this mode fun, and (Apparently) the same as always with a few new modes, I really like the customizable weapons though that's one of my favorite parts. The largest problem I have with being against much higher levels is that they have much better guns, perks, and attachments, I'm used to games normally giving the new people a slight advantage which this game doesn't, let's face it, someone with Pro Perks and the all the Attachments for their gun is easily going to destroy a Level 1 with the basics. Like I mentioned earlier, IW haven't done a good job at balancing the guns (Model 1887 versus Everything) and some things just annoy you, Knife, for example, a basic tool, turned God-like on MW2, there's a setup which turns you into a running unstoppable knifing machine on this game (Marathon, Lightweight, Commando Perks) which lets you knife people from about, 2 meters away, and isn't slowed down by bullets and kills you in 1 hit, you would think if you are shooting someone running straight towards you a few bullets from an Assault Rifle would slow them down just a little bit, but it doesn't. On top of this, some maps are extremely poorly made, "Estate" for example, 1 side of the map has a house (Another thing I have a problem with, undamageable scenery, a rocket from an AC130 would surely destroy the roof of a house, yet it remains unscarred) on 1 side, giving the team that spawns there a huge advantage if they can defend the house and I'm sure you know, defending is a lot easier than attacking, the more you play multiplayer, the more frustrating it becomes, and the more addicted you become, deep down you know you're not having fun, but you're addicted, so you keep going. As a whole the game honestly feels Rushed and Unfinished which is because I believe they want to release a new game every year, I'd rather have a brilliant game, that's taken 10 years to make and has been perfected, than a broken game that has been rushed to finished. I advise you to rent the game, then if you like it, but it if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it, the more I play this game, the worse and worse it gets, in contrast to some other games,which seem to get better and better the more I play them. The hardest part of this review is giving it an honest rating, with the descriptions I'd give it a 2, "Severe Problems prevent any Real Fun" but that's only for Story and Multiplayer, Spec Ops has problems but is still fun. So, I'd go with 4, "Game is unremarkable and flawed" completely sums up my feelings for the majority of the game, and it gets an entire 2 points for Spec Op's missions.… Expand
  2. ChrisVanK
    Jan 7, 2010
    4
    This game was made for shareholders, not gamers. If you get all warm and fuzzy knowing that Boby Kotick is laughing his ass off all the way to the bank, then perhaps you might disagree. Give it 10 like all the so called "reviewers" who are all in on the asskissing daisy chain. Oh and dont be to suprised IF and most like when the the all controlling IWNet pulls the plug on MW2 multiplay, This game was made for shareholders, not gamers. If you get all warm and fuzzy knowing that Boby Kotick is laughing his ass off all the way to the bank, then perhaps you might disagree. Give it 10 like all the so called "reviewers" who are all in on the asskissing daisy chain. Oh and dont be to suprised IF and most like when the the all controlling IWNet pulls the plug on MW2 multiplay, cause they want you to buy MW3 in 2010.… Expand
  3. [Anonymous]
    Nov 10, 2009
    4
    This game improves on the original in every way. New killstreak rewards, weapons and even the levels seem much more balanced. Oh and less grenade noobfests. Some may complain the single player is too short, but lets be honest, people are buying this for multiplayer. And even though the single player is short, its intense. I opened it up after gamestop sold it to me early and came home and This game improves on the original in every way. New killstreak rewards, weapons and even the levels seem much more balanced. Oh and less grenade noobfests. Some may complain the single player is too short, but lets be honest, people are buying this for multiplayer. And even though the single player is short, its intense. I opened it up after gamestop sold it to me early and came home and played it for 7 hrs to beat it on hardened. I didn't take any breaks for bathroom or a drink. Although i did pause to see how many trophies I had gotten but thats about it. Ive been playing games since the original nintendo and I dont think Ive ever played a game like that in one sitdown. Oh then there is the addition of co-op, the graphics have been updated slightly and also include breaking glass and more explosions in multiplayer. Please don't give this game a bad score because its too frustrating for you or you are just some pissed off PC gamer. Buy it on a console and be happy.… Expand
  4. NathanielT
    Jan 23, 2010
    4
    If you loved CoD4 then you`re in luck, this is an automatic 10 for you. For everyone else, you should just rent it first. Single player is short and you`ll be done with it quickly. Spec-ops is designed for two players but the only way to play co-op is splitscreen or inviting someone to join you. There is no matchmaking. Multiplayer makes this the most unbalanced game in existence. If you loved CoD4 then you`re in luck, this is an automatic 10 for you. For everyone else, you should just rent it first. Single player is short and you`ll be done with it quickly. Spec-ops is designed for two players but the only way to play co-op is splitscreen or inviting someone to join you. There is no matchmaking. Multiplayer makes this the most unbalanced game in existence. Matchmaking does not match you with similar skilled players, so starting from level 1 you will regularly be forced forced into games dominated by clans made up of lv40+ players, which in terms of equipment and perks, have an unfair advantage over you. Last, but not least, there are the killstreak rewards, and they take the meaning of unbalance to a whole new level. A player with 7 kills in a row without dieing has the ability to call in a helicopter that spawn camps the enemy for about 30 to 60 seconds, for example. And when matches last no longer than five minutes, that's a lot of time!… Expand
  5. Erics
    Feb 28, 2010
    4
    This is the first COD game I have EVER played. That being said, I enjoyed the single player campaign immensely. It was a lot of fun. The graphics, story, mechanics, all seemed spot on. It wasn't terribly difficult, but sometimes that's a-ok. The Multiplayer. Oooh, the mp. You can call in a carpet bombing for getting a certain number of consecutive kills? Really!? You better hope This is the first COD game I have EVER played. That being said, I enjoyed the single player campaign immensely. It was a lot of fun. The graphics, story, mechanics, all seemed spot on. It wasn't terribly difficult, but sometimes that's a-ok. The Multiplayer. Oooh, the mp. You can call in a carpet bombing for getting a certain number of consecutive kills? Really!? You better hope you don't die during this bombing or you could spawn under another bomb and die 4 times in a row in like 5 seconds. This happened to me. The mp is waaay to easy. I love how there is a 'perk' that allows you to knife someone from 10 feet away. Logical. I like how there is around 5 maps in circulation for online play. Killzone 2 mp was far more difficult. This game sucks overall. I find it amusing when people say 'just be patient, you have to upgrade your guy' for mp. That makes no sense. An assault rifle is more likely to kill you with one bullet than knifing someone while you are sprinting. Oh, radar sucks in this game. You have to use a perk to make it so you cannot be seen on radar. But wait, you can when you are shooting. pathetic.… Expand
  6. JeffZ
    Nov 11, 2009
    4
    I honestly don't understand why the gaming sites gave this such high reviews. I have no issues over the lack of dedicated servers. What I HAVE issues over is the fact that this game is by no means a great improvement over MW1. This single player campaign is short, makes no sense, (I've played through twice and still have no clue wtf the plot is) and is completely linear. Crytek I honestly don't understand why the gaming sites gave this such high reviews. I have no issues over the lack of dedicated servers. What I HAVE issues over is the fact that this game is by no means a great improvement over MW1. This single player campaign is short, makes no sense, (I've played through twice and still have no clue wtf the plot is) and is completely linear. Crytek revolutionized the genre with its open ended play and it seems that every other developer is still intent on giving us guided by rails FPS. Even ignoring the linear nature, the graphics are not noticeably improved over MW1 and the new multiplayer modes and killstreak points buys are basiclly the same as MW1. Honestly, this game feels like they took MW1, added 3 hrs of campaign and tweaked MP a little. Hardly revolutionary, and maybe worth the money if it was a $20 expansion to MW1. Feels like EA and IW are going the way of the Command and Conquer series with MW2, simply milking as much money out of the name as they can before it dies.… Expand
  7. RadarE33
    Sep 8, 2010
    4
    A game that somehow takes Gears 2's excellence in craptastic multiplayer, skullf*cks it, pour lime all over the body, and submerges it in the Pacific ocean. While having a playable SP (if you ignore the awful story) and awesome Spec-Ops, the multiplayer component of MW2 is utter crap. Anything that could have went wrong with the MP did go wrong, from horrible matchmaking to horrendousA game that somehow takes Gears 2's excellence in craptastic multiplayer, skullf*cks it, pour lime all over the body, and submerges it in the Pacific ocean. While having a playable SP (if you ignore the awful story) and awesome Spec-Ops, the multiplayer component of MW2 is utter crap. Anything that could have went wrong with the MP did go wrong, from horrible matchmaking to horrendous balance issues. Matchmaking is a joke, as you will often be paired up with complete morons, whereas the other team is stacked with Clans or users who have no life. The maps are all camper friendly, latency is horrific, often to the point where you will die before you realize you are being shot at. Perks are unbalanced, with some being useless and others (like the Big Three: Stopping Power, Danger Close and Marathon-Lightweight-Commando combo) allowing players to trump any kind of strategy or tactics that one can employ. Most Assault Rifles are way too accurate, allowing for sniper like precision that you can't even get with the actual snipers in the game. Other weapons are too inaccurate to compete with AR's, or are horribly limited in range (i.e. Shotguns). Explosives are used more often than bullets, and are coupled with Danger Close about 75% of the time. Blast Shield is useless against DC users, and Riot Shield users are somehow at a severe disadvantage against knife users in CQC (Two bashes with a shield vs one slash). MLC'er are able to run through gunfire and kill you in one stab. There are no equipment allowances to prevent noob-tube/RPG spamming, and One Man Army allows for users to have infinite tube grenades. Almost everyone spams the Big Three to no end, and Snipers rely on a Stopping Power shot to your kneecap to kill you in one shot, rather than a headshot. Glitches are rampant, and so is cheating. Overall, it's Baby's first FPS, where no skill is required to get a kill and to win the game.… Expand
  8. Beg4Mersee
    Sep 20, 2010
    4
    The biggest follow-up fail EVER. The campaign is solid, but not nearly as good as CoD4's campaign and the multiplayers is atrocious. OMA dangerclose noobtubes flying everywhere, people literally teleporting 80 feet with commando, it is all for the scrubs, and nothing for the experienced players. Things like painkiller which TRIPLE your health make it impossible to spawn trap in dominationThe biggest follow-up fail EVER. The campaign is solid, but not nearly as good as CoD4's campaign and the multiplayers is atrocious. OMA dangerclose noobtubes flying everywhere, people literally teleporting 80 feet with commando, it is all for the scrubs, and nothing for the experienced players. Things like painkiller which TRIPLE your health make it impossible to spawn trap in domination or sabotage anymore. Marathon lightweight makes it ridiculously easy to run around the map in a a second. The The maps are terrible they encourage camping looking out windows., the assault rifles are overpowered, the boosting in Free-for-all is completely out of control and makes winning FFA's now almost impossible. The care package lets people get 11 killstreaks out of a 4 killstreak. Gamebattles have been ruined because of the extremely aggravating "join in session" BS. Sniper shotgun secondaries map camping even more encouraged along with unlimited claymores. Thermals allow people to literally be told where people are. You will be screaming at the TV constantly with this game. Anyone who is not a douche-bag who abuses these things in the game, and did not make the review before Christmas, has down syndrome, if they gave ti above a 6. Infinity Ward made tons of mistakes with annoying glitches like getting under the map in ranked lobbies. It earned the nickname Modern Warfail 2… Expand
  9. Milan
    Oct 12, 2010
    4
    A horrible, sloppy mess of a game filled to the brim with unbalanced weapons and perks, horrible maps, and glitchers. Modern Warfare 2 is a definitive spit in the face to long-time Call of Duty fans, opting to appeal to the masses with graphics and rookie-friendly gameplay rather than to the core fanbase with balanced gameplay and maps. Even the graphics are only decent at best inA horrible, sloppy mess of a game filled to the brim with unbalanced weapons and perks, horrible maps, and glitchers. Modern Warfare 2 is a definitive spit in the face to long-time Call of Duty fans, opting to appeal to the masses with graphics and rookie-friendly gameplay rather than to the core fanbase with balanced gameplay and maps. Even the graphics are only decent at best in comparison to other 2009 titles. There is little to no replayability offline, and online is an unbalanced lag-fest where shootouts are determined by connection speed/who hides more.… Expand
  10. aSsh0le
    Dec 22, 2010
    4
    I got this game only because I have some cousins who play it all the time and I thought it would be nice to play online with them, but after a few online matches getting my butt kicked I decided I needed to play single player campaign to get the hang of it faster without too much humiliation but even when I finished the campaign (it was really short by the way, took me 2 days) I keptI got this game only because I have some cousins who play it all the time and I thought it would be nice to play online with them, but after a few online matches getting my butt kicked I decided I needed to play single player campaign to get the hang of it faster without too much humiliation but even when I finished the campaign (it was really short by the way, took me 2 days) I kept sucking at mp, so I stopped playing this game and got killzone 2, I liked kz2 multiplayer more than mw2 even when I hated the stupid campaign (I hate science fiction that involves alien invasions) and I wasn't getting my butt kicked too badly so i asked myself wtf was wrong with me when I played mw2? and after a while I figured it was the unbalanced difficulty specially with the freaking perks and killstreaks. so after two months I sold it and never regretted.… Expand
  11. Moviebuffreview
    Jan 21, 2011
    4
    Thanks to the mindless and downgraded story, a short campaign, a disappointing spec-ops mode, and broken multiplayer, Modern Warfare 2 is one of the biggest disappointments ever in gaming. On top of that, it is just a bad game, and does not live up to the quality that Infinity Ward has given us before. Modern Warfare 2 is a game that even Call of Duty fans should rebel against!
  12. Makaveli
    Apr 14, 2011
    4
    I have had this game for awhile, but never reviewed it. It doesn't even deserve to be reviewed. I do not know how this game got high reviews, personally I do not even look at "professional" reviews, because they are all lieing scum. I'm pretty sure that reviewers would of gave super man 64 a good review aswell if they paid them.
    The game is ugly, the sound is terrible, and the single    I have had this game for awhile, but never reviewed it. It doesn't even deserve to be reviewed. I do not know how this game got high reviews, personally I do not even look at "professional" reviews, because they are all lieing scum. I'm pretty sure that reviewers would of gave super man 64 a good review aswell if they paid them.
    The game is ugly, the sound is terrible, and the single player was crap, even the multiplayer is garbage. The people who made this game didn't care that hard working people would waste their money on this crap, they were just in it rush it and make money.    … Expand
  13. xfamas
    Jul 8, 2011
    4
    I loved COD4. It had a great story and a multi player than was the one other shooters looked up to. Sadly Modern Warfare 2 does not do this. I am one of the few players who enjoyed the story of MW2 however. I thought the campaign was excellent. It was fast paced and gave the emotion that a video game plots needs. Spec Ops is also a fun mode, where you take on missions based on aI loved COD4. It had a great story and a multi player than was the one other shooters looked up to. Sadly Modern Warfare 2 does not do this. I am one of the few players who enjoyed the story of MW2 however. I thought the campaign was excellent. It was fast paced and gave the emotion that a video game plots needs. Spec Ops is also a fun mode, where you take on missions based on a campaign. These modes are the only reasons that MW2 gets a 4. The multi player is a complete disaster. With unbalanced perks that are more powerful than they are supposed to be. (ex Commando which, in theory gives you longer knifing distances but in use; can allow you to kill a player that is halfway on the other side of the map.) The kill streaks promote camping, due to the kill streaks going towards your next one.(ex. if you get a harrier and that gets 4 kills you can get a chopper gunner which is a very overpowered kill streak that can be used to get the nuke.) This creates players in corners camping with shotguns and tactical insertions. Not to mention the grenade launchers, RPG, and quick scoping; which in all ruin the experience. Overall the only thing MW2 is worth purchasing for is the single player and spec ops. Rent it before you buy.… Expand
  14. Fozzy
    Jul 3, 2012
    4
    I am not going to lie to you, because you should pick this up if you are a fan of the franchise, or otherwise do not have a brain. But, if you are here on planet sensible, you will know that you should instead go out and buy CoD4: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare 2 is an insulting, hopeless cash in on an alreattdy brilliant game, with an appauling single player, average multiplayer and soI am not going to lie to you, because you should pick this up if you are a fan of the franchise, or otherwise do not have a brain. But, if you are here on planet sensible, you will know that you should instead go out and buy CoD4: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare 2 is an insulting, hopeless cash in on an alreattdy brilliant game, with an appauling single player, average multiplayer and so full of plot loops that it gives the **** developers more reason to release rediculously overpriced DLC to expand the "story". Couple that abominable experience with the fact that Call of Duty is designed for you to give $80 a year to Activision so they can produce more stuff for you to buy and you have the mess that you got yourself into by buying this rubbish of a game, and the fact that you will have seen everything in the first hour and you will experience more helicopter crashed (with you inside, of course) than Michael Bay on an acid trip. This game really doesn't have any redeeming features except for the barely on par graphics allowing for a steady frame rate, and the fact that the killcams (which you will probably skip anyway) give you something to laugh at. I would even reccommend Black Ops over thi, even though that doesn't even deserve any acclaim. When you buy this and finish the abysmal four hour campaign, you will wonder why you bothered to spend so much money on it in the first place. But, if you DO live in the land of insanity (otherwise known as my brother's mind) then you will enjoy this game until the day you die, probably name it GotY for 2009 and campaign to change the law so that yo can marry it. Of course, if you have five minutes, you just wanna kill **** and you find this game in the shops for $3 then it is also a vaguely interesting experience, until GameStop rings up and asks why you returned it when you were finished with it. Buy Killzone, or Medal of Honor, or maybe a brain, because if you consider buying this, that's what you'll be needing the most.… Expand
  15. JasonE
    Feb 22, 2010
    3
    This may be the most hyped game of all time! Even surpassing the hype surrounding Halo 2! NONE of it deserved (for either of them). Do critics play these games til the end? Are they being paid off? WTH!? Single Player: What the hell was going on!? The pathetic attempt at an over the top storyline was so incredibly disjointed that I didn't know what was going on 2/3rds of the time. This may be the most hyped game of all time! Even surpassing the hype surrounding Halo 2! NONE of it deserved (for either of them). Do critics play these games til the end? Are they being paid off? WTH!? Single Player: What the hell was going on!? The pathetic attempt at an over the top storyline was so incredibly disjointed that I didn't know what was going on 2/3rds of the time. "Why I am I this character, in this part of the world now!?", "Why did I massacre those civilians when I coulda/shoulda just popped Makarov in the head!?", etc., etc... The action was to busy. I found myself running past certain sections when I realised I didn't realy need to engage anyone... Not that I cared enough to be bothered. Especially when I felt no connection towards the underdeveloped characters and situations anyways. Luckily, I didn't need to be drawn in and sold on the story because it ended after a measly 4 1/2 hours anyways!!! $70 for a campaign that last for 5 %$*%^ hours?!?!? That's insulting at best and blindingly selfish at worst. I guess they intended this overwrought beast to sell on it's multiplayer experience. Multi-Player: I won't lie to you. I have had some fun playing MP. HOWEVER, these moments have been few and far between the controller smashing ones! The lag frustrates: I've gotten the drop on people with their backs to me, only to have them turn around and one hit knife me! ... the imbalance issues are mindboggling( did they even bother to playtest multiplayer?): Dualwield shotguns LMAO!!! Hell, I unloaded half a clip from a Scar assault rifle into someone's chest only for them to run up and knife me! From 20 feet away! ... hit detection follows indiscernible rules: I watch the killcam to learn when I'm offed and some of my death are coming from crosshairs not ever being near me! (have they found a way to sneak aimbots onto the ps3?) ... From the crazed killstreak rewards, to the oneman army using nube toobers, this MP needs HELP! BAD! Unfortunately, with the gaming industries critics being hype machine feeding prostitutes Infinity Ward will think they've done a good enough job torepeat the same mistakes next time around. To bad.… Expand
  16. RyC
    Mar 4, 2010
    3
    This game represents the raping of your wallet. Overdone, unrealistic to the point where it bugs me. When a game is too realistic it can be frustrating and not fun, but this game is goofy and i can't get into the action because it doesn't seem like it would ever take place in real life. it looks prettier, but it's still the same feel as the previous game, and the sound is shit.
  17. seanj
    Jan 4, 2010
    3
    im am truely disapointe din this title. i am baffled by all the of the 100 reveiws by big magazines and such but the true game is revealed in the user reveiws. after falling in love with the first modern warfare i was expecting an epic title with more addicting multiplayer and a realistic but cinematic single player campaign. infinityward met my expectations with the oposite. i cant stand im am truely disapointe din this title. i am baffled by all the of the 100 reveiws by big magazines and such but the true game is revealed in the user reveiws. after falling in love with the first modern warfare i was expecting an epic title with more addicting multiplayer and a realistic but cinematic single player campaign. infinityward met my expectations with the oposite. i cant stand the multiplayers random maps with no "front line" of sorts so i aimlessly wander around being shot from everyside. there is no point whatso ever in "moving up" and they simply took on more they could handle to create such an epic campaign. it was not possible as shown in the unbeleivable storyline and drag on gameplay.… Expand
  18. Aegis
    Jan 4, 2010
    3
    First of all, I'm trying to be generous here, and I'm only writing this in hopes that other people who enjoy FPS games like I do won't make the same mistake I did in buying this. I really don't know how this game scored so high with how many flaws it's riddled with. First of all let's start with campaign mode... It's a mess. If maybe IW decided to just First of all, I'm trying to be generous here, and I'm only writing this in hopes that other people who enjoy FPS games like I do won't make the same mistake I did in buying this. I really don't know how this game scored so high with how many flaws it's riddled with. First of all let's start with campaign mode... It's a mess. If maybe IW decided to just turn me loose into a level by myself, it would have been fine. And yes, I firmly believe I could take on the entire opposing army myself. Mainly because that's what it usually comes down to anyway... Your NPC mates are useless to the point of absurdity. They'll "clear" a room by running in, soaking up bullets like there's no tomorrow, shooting maybe 75% of the enemy units in a non-lethal fashion, then move on. Leaving the enemies with just enough health to ruin you when you try to make it through. Also, in the missions where you have to "follow" someone; don't... Just don't. It WILL get you killed. Assuming you still play it after reading this and all the other low reviews, just hang back and take enemies out from behind cover, from a distance. Like a sane person would. The "follow" target cannot die -nor run out of ammo- so let them dig themselves out of the messes they run headlong into. There are a couple places you'll be forced to run, but you'll know when that happens. The only exception to this rule is when you're with Pierce. It's almost as though IW specifically programed him to be the only intelligent ally. But that's just my opinion from playing. Poor ally AI normally wouldn't be a killing blow, and after all these years of developers coming off like they're diametrically opposed to the idea of you having a helpful teammate, I'm actually used to compensating for it. But in the final couple missions, particularly when you have to protect a computer while it transfers data at a lower downstream speed than a dial-up connection (Seriously? From 1.2mbps, to 0.04, to 30mbps... Ever hear of USB 2.0? Heck, ever hear of USB? At least then it's consistent...) you rely so heavily on the actions of your NPC squad that it is almost impossible even on normal difficulties. I'm a veteran of FPS games and I died 15 times. 15. Even setting traps and following the warnings I was getting over the com, I was still getting my head popped left and right. Or I would hang back a bit to recover or watch the door I was told to watch while some enemy materialized in front of my target and took it out with a couple shots. All the while my backup sat in some back room staring out the window. Even after I flushed him out with a flashbang once and he killed three enemies, he ran right back into that room to look out the window more... I don't even want to get into anything past that. That point is exactly when I realized the campaign was damaged beyond repair. I finished it anyway, but it was just a chore from then on... I'd also like to throw in that while other call of duty games made me feel like I was part of an actual military unit (even up to the original Modern Warfare), this entire campaign felt like any other mindless shooter. It didn't feel like any strategy was involved at all... Just hide while my team stirred up a hornet nets due to their complete lack of stealth, then clean up the mess after they move on. I could go on about Campaign mode's faults all day, but there real draw to any CoD game is the multiplayer right? Well, it's almost non-existent here. I'm sorry if that offends, but it just isn't any fun. The perks and "streaks" are both just so overpowered that they rob online play of any and all fun when playing with random/new people. Like to camp and snipe? Pick coldblooded and become invisible to UAV, air support, sentries, and thermal. Go pro and having a crosshair over you won't show your name nor turn red. Put the icing on the cake with Ninja and move silently too. Just want to run around like a lunatic and wipe the floor with people using only a shotgun? Use marathon and get unlimited sprint. Then pick lightweight to move even faster. Rack up 25 kills without dying and you even get a tactical nuke.... I wish I was making this all up. The worst part is that if you have the PS3 version, you don't have access to XBL's matchmaker ability to set you up with people around your skill level. Meaning that if you aren't playing with friends people are generally either Godlike and will annihilate you, or are so poor at the game you start to feel bad for earning that tactical nuke within ten minutes of match start. Overall: It's a decent game to play online with friends, but it certainly isn't the end-all be-all of shooters most critics are hailing it as.… Expand
  19. mikeg
    Apr 24, 2010
    3
    This game is garbage, so many more engaging fps out there, I don't know how my friends could spend hours playing it. i got up to level 50 and decided there's nothing more to see here. The whole "killstreak to unlock" special choices is ultra cheap, and why did they creat a way for a team to win by camping til a 25 kill streak means you call in a nuke? really? in war you're This game is garbage, so many more engaging fps out there, I don't know how my friends could spend hours playing it. i got up to level 50 and decided there's nothing more to see here. The whole "killstreak to unlock" special choices is ultra cheap, and why did they creat a way for a team to win by camping til a 25 kill streak means you call in a nuke? really? in war you're gonna call a nuke and take your team out just to take theirs out? stupid. if you just want gunplay, socom did that better, if you want to work as a team, mag does that better, but if you want the best experience of teamwork, gunplay, realism, and vehicle warfare, battlefield bad company 2 beats them all, hands down.… Expand
  20. LeonidasS
    Apr 4, 2010
    3
    Every year developer seem to realease a generic FPS with big hype and an even bigger budget, And how do these end. Mostly they end badly. MW2 is no exeption. Gameplay in nearly all areas is extreamly cheap and shallow, the single player feels old after the first massive explosion and doesnt last very long either) thankfully. The multiplayer is utter shiet with bland map design back up Every year developer seem to realease a generic FPS with big hype and an even bigger budget, And how do these end. Mostly they end badly. MW2 is no exeption. Gameplay in nearly all areas is extreamly cheap and shallow, the single player feels old after the first massive explosion and doesnt last very long either) thankfully. The multiplayer is utter shiet with bland map design back up with weak guns and yes there is alot to work up to BUT the game is so generic and boring that it is hard to work your way up to the 5th rank. Gameplay in multiplayer consists of mindless camping, killing dieing then boasting to your friends. Finally the spec ops mode is really quite to be honest. The graphics arent very good at all. The textures are the most ugly textures i saw on ps3 in the whole of 2009 so i really have no idea what all the praise was about. In conclusion if you are a fan of modern warfare 2 you are insulting the whole cominity of harcore gammers as MW2 is but an illusion of fun and when taken down to its core is nothing but a lazily designed campain on top of one of the cheapist multiplayer experiences ever.… Expand
  21. SteveJ.
    Nov 10, 2009
    3
    You can obviously tell Activison and Infinity Ward paid for the reviews there getting. This is no where near a solid game as they all claim. Campain is a meger 3hrs and is completely ridiculous, linear, and you have no options to do anything but what they tell you. Graphics are sub par. Multiplayer is unbalanced, small, and a lack of total players allowed when other games are at least at You can obviously tell Activison and Infinity Ward paid for the reviews there getting. This is no where near a solid game as they all claim. Campain is a meger 3hrs and is completely ridiculous, linear, and you have no options to do anything but what they tell you. Graphics are sub par. Multiplayer is unbalanced, small, and a lack of total players allowed when other games are at least at 32 players, if not more. Total disappointment, im forcing gamestop to give me my money back. Seeing as there all buddy buddy in this whole 'marketing scheme'. This wasn't a game release, they was just a money release, and they probably got alot of peoples $.… Expand
  22. AndrewE
    Jan 25, 2010
    3
    never before have i played a game with sooooooo many problems. first of all the all of the call of duty games i have played have an insane amount of glitches in them and the developers do nothing to fix. it got so bad tha i had to stop playing call of duth 4 because every game had some cheater in a place on the map that was impossible to get to by normal means. this game is not as bad BUT never before have i played a game with sooooooo many problems. first of all the all of the call of duty games i have played have an insane amount of glitches in them and the developers do nothing to fix. it got so bad tha i had to stop playing call of duth 4 because every game had some cheater in a place on the map that was impossible to get to by normal means. this game is not as bad BUT it still happens and one time is too much. the connection quality when playing this game online is horrible. there is so much lag. i cannot play for an hour without getting disconnected from the host or the game ending due to poor connection. it is not my internet because every other game i play online is just fine, it's just this one that gives me problems. the spawning system in this game is by far the worst i have ever experienced. in most game you respawn in your team base or away from all the other players in the game, but this one is way too random. you can spawn in the middle of a gun fight and i have been killed instantly. sometimes the hit detection system is off. i die from a head shot and when i watch the kill cam the preson didnt shoot any where near my head, and i have shot players with controlled bursts in the head who are standing perfectly still and i dont get a head shot. killstreaks can be overpowered. the match making doesnt even put you with people of a similar level. i have played as a level 20 and i get mached with some people who are level 70 and im at a huge disadvantage with weapons and perks.… Expand
  23. RossRoss
    Mar 21, 2010
    3
    Well, I pre ordered this game and got it at the midnight release, and was all like "this is going to be a great game". This game sucks majorly. The campaign is very short and lacks the slog it out feel of earlier Call of Duties as you race through a very easy campaign full of easily predictable non sense. I moved on to multiplayer hoping it would be great. When released it was glitchy Well, I pre ordered this game and got it at the midnight release, and was all like "this is going to be a great game". This game sucks majorly. The campaign is very short and lacks the slog it out feel of earlier Call of Duties as you race through a very easy campaign full of easily predictable non sense. I moved on to multiplayer hoping it would be great. When released it was glitchy witch bothered me. Plus you have retarded perks like Commando and Marathon. These completely void out MW2's claims of this game being realistic. And then you have all these retarded killstreaks. I went and got a "Tactical Nuke" three games in a row and instead of cheering was quite annoyed at the lack of thought put into this game.I continued playing this game for awhile hoping a patch would make it more realistic (no jumping off buildings, massive knife distances or unlimited sprint) but once Christmas came and little kids clogged the mics, I took this game to GameStop and gave them this piece of shit known as CoD MW2.… Expand
  24. TylerH
    Dec 3, 2009
    3
    Let me quote Meristations review from Roguewarrior - "overall, it's just an average game, with nothing we hadn't seen before, and it's extremely short". There MW2 review - "Infinity Ward raises the bar again with Modern Warfare 2. Its new campaign keeps delivering a cinematic, inmersive, and visually spectacular experience, while polishing AI and respawn issues, and Let me quote Meristations review from Roguewarrior - "overall, it's just an average game, with nothing we hadn't seen before, and it's extremely short". There MW2 review - "Infinity Ward raises the bar again with Modern Warfare 2. Its new campaign keeps delivering a cinematic, inmersive, and visually spectacular experience, while polishing AI and respawn issues, and offering a minimum of 8 hours of gameplay". Really? Do you see the hypocracy in the gaming world from the critics... laughable double standards. MW2 does not take 8hrs, closer to 4-5... and even if it did, thats ok? But Rogue Warrior is too short? Wow... did I miss something? Why does the Call of Duty series get free passes for unoriginality/short/linear/copy and paste work by so many Critics and 13 year olds who have never played any other games to know whats good/bad? My actual review now - Extremely average gameplay, over the top in every way, obviously Michael Bay inspired (so if you complained about Transformers 2, you better hate this game too, otherwise, again... more hypocracy.), plot makes little sense, and all the while you wonder what the point of single player was, same with the 'airport' level. The level serves 0 purpose. I actually laughed. The characters you shoot just fall to the ground, zero body/blood damage. The bodies clip into each other on the floor. Graphics are simply not that good for a 'next gen' title, or something billed to what this was. All they did was turn up the bloom and brightness. Characters and guns looks nice, but the environments are static and do not move, look dull, and add no immersion. Reused textures, sounds, voices, and text from previous cod titles. The background music (which you can't turn off, because options and customization dont exsist with Infinity Ward) is overbearing and completely annoying... I dont need dramatic, life altering music playing non-stop, while im doing nothing or while im walking in a straight line, waiting for the enemies to begin there inevitable respawn (something that they have not fixed, simply improved 'slightly'). A millitary game that leaves realism at the door; probably being used as a recruiting trial. Guns have zero recoil, and your character can take 37 bullets to what i assume the face and be fine, the splatter screen is rediculous, even if you get shot in the foot, its everywhere, and you continuously have it occuring. Killzone 2 did a much better job in that reguard. Punishes teamwork or any real strategy in Multiplayer; it simply feels dated, while being horribly unbalanced and the capital sin of gaming = not fun or rewarding. A game that does not innovate, instead is stuck in 2006. Other games are more realistic and have done many things better. Supposidly took 2 years to make, yet Left 4 Dead 2 was made in less than 1; contains a lot more content than MW2 could ever wish, and beats its own predecessor in almost everyway. The marketing campain, and critic reviews should be all the evidence you need to dismiss them entirely. Truely a disappointing purchase, I have already sold it. The local gamestops around here are getting flooded with copies, mostly 360, but a good amount of ps3's too, so I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this was a waste. Just because something sells alot, doesnt mean its good. Use your own judgement, not a friend who plays nothing else, or rabid cod fans who have never played another game, or the critics who are either paid off; or scared to upset Infinity Ward or break from the status quo. This has to be the most overrated game of all time. Rent first or get used... now you can all wait for the inevitably overpriced while lacking-content DLC...… Expand
  25. Peter
    Aug 11, 2010
    3
    ill admit that i liked the levels where i could kill the people we are actually at war with, then when it shifted to the russia and an american as bad guys, i hated it. do we really want to start a real war with russia!!!!!! the single player wasnt even close to as amazing as uncharted 2! well, the part where D C was under attack was also cool, but it was ruined by the fact that theill admit that i liked the levels where i could kill the people we are actually at war with, then when it shifted to the russia and an american as bad guys, i hated it. do we really want to start a real war with russia!!!!!! the single player wasnt even close to as amazing as uncharted 2! well, the part where D C was under attack was also cool, but it was ruined by the fact that the russians were attacking and not the the tuscan raiders we are actually fighting. as for the multiplayer, it was fun but got boring really quickly. plus you dont even make multiplayer trophies like you do in uncharted 2. im still waiting for a military game to satisfy my warrior spirit, maybe medal of honor will. hell yea!!!!!… Expand
  26. CalumS
    Jul 22, 2011
    3
    A really generic, terrible, and easy game that was fun for the first half hour. So to start off, I'll talk about the single-player 'campaign'. The graphics are actually pretty good but are only above average compared to title such as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (which came out in 2007 I must add), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Killzone 2 and 3, and the list goes on. Call of Duty 4: ModernA really generic, terrible, and easy game that was fun for the first half hour. So to start off, I'll talk about the single-player 'campaign'. The graphics are actually pretty good but are only above average compared to title such as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (which came out in 2007 I must add), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Killzone 2 and 3, and the list goes on. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (which also came out in 2007) is still a much better game, with a story grounded in reality making it believable, immersive and just downright amazing. In Modern Warfare 2 the story follows a fictional team of renegade military combatants who somehow manage to gain access to elite weaponry despite being hunted down by the US military. This game took the amazing, compelling and non-gimmicky storyline from the first Modern Warfare and stuck it's mataphorical fingers up at it. The game's story focuses on crappy set-peices and stupid, overused moments of action that get to be boring after the first five times you do them. The story is horribly clichéd and patchily put together making this game a chore to play after the initial exitement has packed it's bags and left. As for length, the game will last at the very most, about 7 hours which is nothing compared to the much better Mass Effect 3, and that's on the highest difficulty, whilst finding all the intel, getting every single single-player trophy and taking you're time to doddle about in the pathetic mission design. It took me three hours to complete the game on regular difficulty the second time I played through it. To be honest, this game is like that high budget, badly acted, heavily clichéd action packed movie that you thought you wanted to see but were left disappointed and had that feeling of 'wow, what a waste of my hard earned money' at the end. This taking into consideration that this game was priced at £55 instead of the standard £40 that PS3 games are today. And for those of you who bought the £120 Prestige Edition of the game expecting an even better, more thrilling story than CoD4 like me, I know how you feel. Sick to the stomach. However the story isn't all that bad. There are extremely good levels to play (the snow airbase stealth mission for example), but they are plagued by disasterous AI and bad particle effects (is there even any?) in the enviroment. If you want a truly story driven masterpeice worthy of a bit of stealth and epic shoot-outs, and you want a game which will last about 20 hours which is a smart and tactical shooter buy Metal Gear Solid 4 brand new for abou £15 from play.com, it's one of the best games out there and trumps MW2 in almost every single way in terms of single-player. None of this is helped by the fact that 40+ members of the great Infinity Ward walked out during developement due to low payment and barely any freedom of developement due to the publishing company, infamous Activision, basically giving them an outline of exactly what the game should be like, with infinity ward just colouring between the lines. Vince Zampella and Jason West, original creators of the Call of Duty series and head developers at the former true Infinity Ward, publicly displayed thier anger at Activision after being fired by them as they tried to escape Activision's stranglehold on thier devolopement of thier game. On to the multiplayer element of this absurd game then. At first the multiplayer was extremely sattisfying and fun but a few weeks in and the main fanbase of brainless 8-16 year old monkeys and idiots flooded in spewing abuse over the mic. in every game you play. suddenly people start glitching the poorly designed maps and exploited them to get cheap wins and kills. Alot of these have now been patched but alot equally still exist, and the ones that have been patched are stupid negative pushing barriers or invisible walls. Just plain lazy. People start using all the unbalanced weapons like the now infamous UMP45 and 'noobtubing' incesantly everywhere. Another thing that cropped up in the CoD multiplayer is a thing called 'quickscoping'. Some fanboys of the series (who will completely disagree with this review, making MW2 out to be the best game that has ever existed) will say that quickscoping is amazing, but it really isn't. you go in a game and you're guaranteed that over 75% of people in the game will be playing with a sniper using it in the completely wrong way. This is an issue. As a long running Call of Duty player and fan of the series
    , I am deeply sorrowed to see the game take the same route as the Guitar Hero series did. It's sad to see what used to be my favourite multiplayer game get gradually worse and worse because of a lack of innovation as the multiplayer is just re-skinned year after year. Call of Duty must evolve or die, especially with upcoming Modern Warfare 3 looking almost identical to MW2. It's for these reasons I will be moving on to the smart gamer's FPS with Battlefield 3.    … Expand
  27. PotaetoSak
    Feb 21, 2013
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Althought it haves a lot of innovation, MW2's innovation is negative. You can be winning 199-0 in a Domination game but if someone in the other team kills 25 dudes without dying, is an instant loss. Perks like Commando (getting knifed from a 10-feet distance really freaks me out), terrible spawns, people that shoot their's grenade launchers throught the map and kill the entire team and the fact that you get rewards for dying makes this game a really broken one, and in my opinion does NOT live up the hype of the incredible prequel it has.… Expand
  28. cheeseburger
    Nov 10, 2009
    2
    This game really sucks, i did enjoy cod 4, but this is just the same but with much less actaull play time, my first play through was under 5 hours on the hardest difficulty, so if you like to get your moneys worth, this is not for you. GFx are ok, a slight improvement on cod 4, not not as good as some other games we have seen recently.
  29. DavidD
    Dec 17, 2009
    2
    So, I went ahead and bought it. I played it for about 2 hours (as to give it a fair review). Now I totally regret the purchase. I haven't played the single player but the multilayer is totally hosed. For starters, the no server browser is a big issue for me. I don't understand why developers are dumbing down the game experience. Everything is bubble wrapped so that tards So, I went ahead and bought it. I played it for about 2 hours (as to give it a fair review). Now I totally regret the purchase. I haven't played the single player but the multilayer is totally hosed. For starters, the no server browser is a big issue for me. I don't understand why developers are dumbing down the game experience. Everything is bubble wrapped so that tards can't get confused and screw stuff up. I don't want an expressline gaming experience. They might as well remove all video and keybinding options while they're at it. If these kids can't figure out how a server browser works, they are going to be up **** creek when it comes to changing resolution. So anyway... Now I have to wait for it to link me up with 12 random players only for #12 to dropout right before match start, making the 'searching for 1 more player' kick in. So after waiting for 4 to 5 minutes for it to get a group of people together for some macho machinegunning. I get in the game only to find out that it is easier to knife someone to death than shoot them. Okay, whatever, maybe it just takes getting used to. An hour passes, my hate for the game grows. Why you ask? Well, not only does the whole knifing thing annoy the ever living piss out of me, the matches only last a measly 5 minutes. That's right, just as you are getting into the flow of things, the match ends, only to kick you back to the lobby where more players leave the game and the 'waiting for more players' starts all over again. So, to sum up this over-hyped gaming experience; you join a lobby, wait 5 minutes for the game to start, play for 5 minutes, back to the lobby to wait another 5 minutes for another game to start. So, half the time is spent waiting in a lobby with a bunch of kids asking if anyone can hear them on mic. I have lost respect in InfinityWard. They have turned their shoulder to us PC gamers that made them. At least the new Medal of Honor looks promising.… Expand
  30. KyleB
    Jan 28, 2010
    2
    I wasn't going to buy this game, as I am more of a PC FPS guy, but my friends convinced me to drop 60 dollars to play with them on my PS3. Suffice to say, I am not overly impressed with the game and I think my first instinct to skip COD:MW2 was correct. The good: The game looks amazing. It truly is quite a graphics step up as compared to previous FPS's I've played. The perk I wasn't going to buy this game, as I am more of a PC FPS guy, but my friends convinced me to drop 60 dollars to play with them on my PS3. Suffice to say, I am not overly impressed with the game and I think my first instinct to skip COD:MW2 was correct. The good: The game looks amazing. It truly is quite a graphics step up as compared to previous FPS's I've played. The perk system has been fleshed out and there is quite a bit of gun choice, as well as quite a few choices for outfitting those guns. The title and emblem system gives everyone the ability to create a callsign to their liking. The bad: If you like FPS's on PC, skip this game. If you like working as a team, even if you just met the group, skip this game, at least skip the console version(strangely enough that include PC now!). If you like a large gun selection that are usable, skip this game. The maps a nice, but there are not enough. The main problem with this game is they've taken increasing power of guns overtime to a level that I find unplayable. It's more like a paint ball game than what most FPS fans are used to. If you expect to have to aim, I wouldn't worry to much. In fact the game aims so much for you it becomes incredibly difficult to get head shots. The bottom line: If you expect a counter strike experience, or even MWF on PC experience, don't get MWF2. I would suggest checking out bad company 2, or sticking with the old standards.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PS3 Game of 2009
3
#3 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2009
4
#4 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 67 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 67
  3. Negative: 0 out of 67
  1. Telegraph
    100
    Modern Warfare 2 crosses into the must-have category of video games effortlessly. It offers an unmatched shooter experience, a compelling story mode, a slick package of mini missions and a multiplayer which is pretty much unparalleled in depth.
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  2. Cynamite
    100
    Modern Warfare 2 offers epic gameplay, a stunning Spec-Ops mode and a huge amount of adrenaline.
    Read full review
  3. MEGamers
    99
    Despite certain controversial elements, this game is an FPS fan’s dream. Game of the Year? Hell, yeah!
    Read full review
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