Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

That 'No Russian' mission is dumb as hell. Don't get me wrong, not because it's boundary pushing and controversial. It's dumb because the character you play in the mass shooting is an undercover CIA good guy who's playing along with the terrorists so he has a chance to stop a (vague) threat further down the line. No under cover dude would let THAT happen, gunning down 100 unarmed civilians and police officers. If there's any event he should be trying to stop, it's that.

the crown jewel of failsons in the aftermath of the recession. lightweight + knife baby

A relatively fun thing to play, but it felt a little like a DLC to the first Modern Warfare, rather than a new game that deserves to be bought for €60. Plus, it's the first step in the descent of the once awesome Call of Duty franchise into the wretched remains of its former self that it is now.

This was Call of Duty at it’s peak. Modern Warfare 2 kinda took this franchise to another level in the gaming industry. Between a very good campaign, great multiplayer with updates, new maps, deeper weapon customization, and even weird game modes like a 3rd person version, MW2 just did a lot of things that left this game iconic, and that’s not even including the Spec Ops (IW’s 3rd game mode since Treyarcg did zombies) providing once again, a great overall package to the franchise.

(As always with me, I don’t care about FPS multiplayer - review is for campaign only.) 99% of all dialogue about this game at the time seemed to be about “No Russian,” but actually the highlight is the missions where you get to battle your way through American suburbs instead of the rural/military base Russian & Middle East locales like the last game. Wayyyy too much “follow your squad leader” as the objective though. Occasional last time; seemed almost constant here.

There's a reason Cod can't make new maps and plugs this games maps into every following game. This was the original (number 2 of a 5 game naming streak capitalizing on their past performance), and 10 years later it's finally past it's prime. A decade of the same game with new faces but the same name has really soured this former classic. What a nauseating turn this franchise took.

I am not too big of a fan of the newer Call of Dutys, but I have lots of very fond memories of playing the campaign and playing online with friends. I was 12 when I played this game for the first time. Looking back, I definitely shouldn't have been playing this game, but this is what a lot of suburban kids in 2010 would play behind their parent's backs.

Ok game.

Another solid outing from Infinity Ward. Everything in this game feels very polished including a better story than this needs. The star here is still the multiplayer which benefits greatly from the 60 fps even on consoles. It plays flawlessly as it is bolstered by the great sound, visuals, and tight controls.

Played through the remastered. The ending seemed to have brighter visuals, less grit. Audio was changed resulting in less tension. Campaign overall feels kind of on the short side. Multiplayer has been removed. There are no health packs, just hide for a sec and you heal up. The "jam", or blood, across the eyes affect is the most annoying thing from any game I've ever played. I hate it with a seething passion. I'm about to die and now I'm definitely going to die because I can't see.

Weaker Campaign than MW1, but a multiplayer that improved upon it in every way (except for the game-breaking nukes)

Damn, this game was good. This was the game that reinvigorated my love of online FPS. It was deeply flawed, and we can see that now, but from the infamous campaign (No Russian) to the brutal multiplayer (so easy to string together a 25 kill streak), this game is a modern classic.

This game was ok. Multiplayer ok. Campaign ok. The achievements were very hard. I gave up on most of them.

Overrated.

The game plays pretty well, I think, and multiplayer is its biggest strength. I'd sunk many hours into it. As a story, though, it's so silly, way more silly than the first Modern Warfare (but not as silly as MW3). It's a game I could still pick up and play if I wanted, but I kinda don't?

Day at the SPA(s-12)

CoD campaigns were never that impressive to me aside from the cool setpieces, but here the series goes full retard. The call to war between America and Russia is laughably absurd with some eyerolling attempts at shock value. Even worse is how the gameplay doesn't even employ any of the lame cheese that made the campaign of past games difficult. In terms of multiplayer, the UI has improved but the stacking killstreaks made snowballing more egregious leading to often one-sided games.

Up there with my favorite FPS multiplayers. The balance of the different weapons and load outs was just really good.