Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is an excellent opus, which offers breathtaking visuals but which also confirms that the campaigns are still as breathtaking and enjoyable as ever! The game imposes a crazy rhythm through varied and intense missions where the feeling of the weapons and the thrills are still and always at the RDV. [Campaign Review Score = 90]

Modern Warfare 2's gameplay really feels like a refreshing return to old times again for Call of Duty, but unfortunately, the package as a whole feels lacking and gun customization is overly complex. [Multiplayer Review Score = 70; Campaign Score = 80]

With plenty more to test in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, we’ll update this review to include a breakdown of its multiplayer, but as far as the campaign goes, Infinity Ward has put out a solid effort that surpasses most Call of Duty campaigns we’ve seen over the last five years. It’s a good sequel to 2019’s reboot, but still follows some all too familiar tropes, with some of the characters not getting the spotlight they deserve. [Review in progress]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is a lackluster follow-up to its refined predecessor, saved by its best-in-class shooting. [Single-Player review score = 60]

With very solid foundations that do honor to the 2019 opus, the series innovates, bringing new gameplay, new equipment clearly welcome. Above all, the progression is much smoother - with a nice job on the system to unlock weapons! Somewhere, everything is done to welcome new players and this is a very good point. Even the third-person mode is surprisingly successful. Overall, this opus will undoubtedly lose the purists accustomed to faster gameplay. For the rest, if you want to indulge yourself with frenetic action, this is ideal. [Multiplayer Review Score = 80]

After finishing the campaign, I found myself itching for more of the game’s combat. But sadly, all I was left with was a boring-as-hell opening set of levels that are only loosely made up for with level structures lifted from other AAA games later on. And I have little desire to play through the sequences where I’m shooting people who don’t feel like a threat. I guess there’s the multiplayer to look forward to, but this campaign is a wildly missed opportunity for those who enjoy military-themed first-person shooters. [Campaign Impressions]

As enjoyable as Modern Warfare II is — and it is certainly enjoyable on the whole — the moments when the story prompts uncomfortable real-world questions about the game’s intentions shatter its illusion of immersive entertainment. In those moments, I forget about whatever it is that Capt. Price and Co. are tasked with doing and just wonder what people were thinking when they made the decision to include whatever cringeworthy moment I just witnessed. As Infinity Ward plunges ahead with this story — teasing an upcoming Russian attack during a mid-credits cutscene that includes a nod to the airport massacre from the original Modern Warfare 2 — they’d do well to devote a little more scrutiny to such decisions. [Campaign Review]

A mild disappointment compared to the first Modern Warfare reboot, that relies too much on nostalgia and old ideas, but the core action and multiplayer modes are as irresistible as ever. [Review in Progress; Provisional score = 70]

If you're eager to get started with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, then the campaign will serve you well until the multiplayer and online co-op mode unlocks on Friday. With many missions that break away from the status quo, it's not always just about shooting the bad guys. From high-speed car chases and crafting systems to the turrets of an AC-130, Modern Warfare 2 thoroughly entertains when it's offline. [Campaign review]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2‘s campaign is an impressive reminder that when the franchise is firing on all cylinders, it’s still a force to be reckoned with... even if its politics remain a bit muddled. [Campaign review score = 80]

There is value to Modern Warfare 2’s campaign. It is art. It’s also just intense fun throughout, because it is ultimately a video game. To say anything else is to take away from the years of hard work that has gone into producing this spectacle. But we can’t forget about the context: millions of people, a lot of them very young and impressionable, will play this campaign. This is why it’s important to have these sorts of conversations. The campaign constantly dances a wobbling tightrope between being too fantastical and exposing the realities of modern war. Sometimes it slips too far into the realistic horrors, and it’s unable to commit, so it has to pull you back with just one more big budget explosion. [Campaign impressions]