christiangamer

Modern Warfare 2 is here.  And here’s what I think: 

ABOUT THE SINGLE-PLAYER STORY MODE

The bottom line: Amazing (in that summer blockbuster movie sort of way).  The action is way over the top and the plot is just a touch outside of the realm of the possible (I hope so anyway) - but the characters drive it so well.  The explosions and the settings were shock and awe moments for sure; but the emotional attachment to the characters you meet, play as, and really learn to love (and hate) makes this one of the best media about war ever.  Soap, Roach, Ghost, Foley, Ramirez and more will get under your skin.  These capture you as if they are real human heroes that couldn’t have been done better.

This is going to be a five star game; for adults.

Content: Well, aside from the “No Russian” level that is mentioned specifically below; the game is slightly more violent than COD4 Modern Warfare (1) was.  It’s MUCH less violent than Call of Duty World At War, and I’m glad for it.  I remember saying that the intensity level was the thing that concerened me about letting kids play the first Modern Warfare – and here it is the same issue; except that the intensity level has been upped considerably.  Many of the scenes and set pieces will leave you holding your breath and dodging the incoming fire in your chair.  I think it may be too intense, rather than too violent, for young ones.  Much like the first game; main characters are not invincible, and some of the plot twists are very, very emotional. 

“No Russian” 

Much has been said and debated about the “terrorist” level.  As horrible as it was, it does capture the nightmarish spirit of this new world war on terrorism we are in.  The game allows you to play as a covert agent committing an atrocity in order to infiltrate a terror cell.  You can pull the trigger or back off and watch as the real bad guys do all the work; or you can opt out of it altogether – the game warns you twice.  I advise that you heavily weigh the options and don’t just charge in without thinking.  It does set up the rest of the plot, but you really won’t miss anything that isn’t explained.  I watched – did not pull the trigger – and was satisfied that the scene was not simply there to push the envelope of content in games.  Don’t get me wrong – it was horrible – but it was not unrealistic, unfortunately.  We live in a day and age where evil men fly airplanes as bombs and IED’s and suicide-bombings are frequently heard news.  Infinity Ward handled with maturity; but I wonder why they decided to make it playable.  It could have been a cut scene and still been just as powerful and heart-wrenching.  making it playable was unnecessary and I think it will cause issues with those who aren’t mature enough to handle it.  

They said that they wanted the player to experience the atrocities of terror – but I contend that no video game or movie could really ever do that.  The Ft. Hood shooting was very recent and I kept thinking – the real thing was there, not here in my Xbox.  The best it could do is make me think deeply about terrorism and about myself.  It is interesting that although in my mind I knew that these innocent people were just animated 3-d characters I still had no desire whatsoever to participate.  This level and the decision to make it playable are very good reasons not to blindly allow your young children to see or play Modern Warfare 2.  The game is not for kids.  Some will not be able to handle or process the scene; adults included. 

The game is rated M for Mature for Blood, Drug reference, Intense Violence, and Language.  I’ll pipe in later with Multiplayer impressions as well as Spec-Ops mode.  I played and beat the single player campaign on regular difficulty, and have played to level 19 in multiplayer mode as of this writing.  I haven’t even tried Spec-Ops.