GameSpot: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review

The inelegant campaign plot may make you feel like you're just along for the ride, but it is such an intense, roaringly great ride that you will be glad just to have played it. The cooperative missions provide a uniquely fun angle on the action that rounds out the package superbly, making Modern Warfare 2 thoroughly entertaining, thoroughly rewarding, and thoroughly worth the wait.

[Digitaldude]

Good review. Alot more accurate than IGN and GT IMO.
Down to earth score with great reasons.
Gamespot takes the time to review their games, kudos to them.

[Saaking]

9 is MUCH better than 9.5. I'm glad GameSpot didn't once again go with what IGN says. Pretty good review imo.

[iron_sheik]

a 9.5 or a 10 is fit for uncharted 2

and a 9 or 9.5 is fit for forza3 --no GT5 but great racer

[Timesplitter14]

Suddenly Gamespot became true bros

[pangitkqb]

Honest and relatable. I'm still not gonna get this game. Until IW treats the PC community as they deserve, I will have to conscienciously object.

[Celeras]

They will earn my trust by ranking the PC version lower, unlike all these other payed off sites who gave all 3 versions the same score.

Hope is alive for this, as only the ps3/360 reviews are currently up.

[jjohan35]

There was an article that compared review scores by different major gaming sites. Supposedly IGN always overrates their scores compared to the flock, while Gamespot tends to agree the most with the other reviews. Edge and Eurogamer tend to underrate PS3 exclusives while overrates 360 exclusives.

[nix]

unlike the IGN which used the binoculars from the Prestige Edition of MW2 to review and gave 10/10 for graphics.

kudos Gamespot for this one. i'm guessing Giant Bomb will be reviewing with the same vigor.

i knew IGN's review style was a joke when they gave 10/10 to GTA IV and how underrated Heavenly Sword was. soon people will realise the same for MW2 when they see it with their own eyes.

what this industry needs right now is gamers who are not blind otherwise, we'll continue to get shafted throughout this generation and next.

[Dutch Boogie]

It seems the firing and layoffs have benefited us (the gamers) for the better. No more xbutt extremist to overrate such minuscule innovations.

[evrfighter]

I'm sure they knew all eyes were on them after that kane and lynch fiasco and decided to go with an honest review rather than a hype review.

that restores a little tiny bit of trust for them.

[nix]

ok.. i just found out that Giant Bomb gave 10/10. so, my earlier comment has been shattered.

[vhero]

I thought the campaign was frustrating and annoying. You can get shot through your cover no matter what it is (even a brick wall or steel fence!) and with no ability to attach onto walls like other similar games it should have really been in this one. Not to mention you NEVER run out of ammo you can carry an insane amount (over 1000 bullets at a time for some weapons) and over 12 grenades per weapon. The realism is just not there the game really doesn't deserve a 9.0 but 8.5 as the realism is simply not there you feel more like a terminator than a soldier and the world simply doesn't feel real.

Of course reviewers ignore this and wet their pants instead.

[ShadowCK]

Excuse but how is this review accurate? This is perhaps the most imprecise review out of them all. I found Modern Warfare 2 to be a very nice sequel to one of my favorite games, Modern Warfare. It expands enough on its predecessor to appeal to new gamers, but also retains its old gameplay and style for "original" Modern Warfare players to keep with the game. It's a very fun game, and I could easily see it becoming GOTY.

I personally ____ Uncharted 2. It deserves more of an _/10.

[Saaking]

Good review.

[Alcohog]

Good review, but the game is more of an 8-8.5. Most will agree when the hype smoke clears.

[iron_sheik]

The graphics of this game along with the Sp mode was a total letdown.
MP is great though

[Vecta]

The funny thing is the review was originally posted as an 8.5 earlier today and then taken down shortly after...

[Sircolby45]

The sales tend to point otherwise. COD didn't become this popular by being an 8.5. It is not all about the graphics(even though MW2 graphics are pretty damn good I think). It is more about the gameplay. No game out there can match it.

[DonCorneo]

my set up right now is predator missile, heli, pave low.. i just camp until my teammate uses a uav then i try to get the 5 streak.. then i just let do the helicopters do the job.. it's almost like cheating..

[-Mezzo-]

At last a review by GS that i agree with, this game is marvelous but anything above 9 is like crediting the Hype surrounding it.

I'd give it around 8.5/87 Max.,

[Rio-Hustla-Inc]

Credibility slowly coming back! Good job GS

[crazyturkey]

that this game didn't get as many perfect scores as I expected.I guess most reviewers didn't see it as much of an improvement from the first.

[DiffusionE]

That's because there are no improvements from the first. It sold well because of the hype created by the success of the first game. You'll see when the hype dies down.

[iron_sheik]

and is the highest rated game of 2009
In order to get perfect scores all around you have to be uncharted 2 or something close to that
MW2 would have got 8s from all had it not been multiplat or a cod game

[roybatty]

I'll soon be in there! (PC version)

**edit**

2 disagrees at a statement LOL....fkn losers.

[The Great Melon]

Hey, you made laugh. Here's an agree.

[jp_footy2]

another one, LOL

[evrfighter]

ah yes my download is slowly wrapping up itself. The best MW2 is a free MW2.

:D

[life doomer]

wow, gamespot actually got something right for once.

[DiffusionE]

That's a fair score for the console versions. But they're gonna lose credibility if they give anything more than 8.0 for the PC version.

[OhMyGandhi]

good review!

Man, the graphics in the game are are really bad.
the multiplayer levels are just so ugly to look at.
Low quality texture work and odd shading/colors.
I dont like how certain rooms look to clean, sparse even.
I talked with my friend online about some examples of laziness such as simple objects should of been 3d, yet were simply added as a bitmap, and plastered on a wall. some of the reflections in the windows in single player were so low quality that my body made up 4 blocks.

I could go on, and I may sound like I'm nitpicking, but this game has gotten huge in scale, with a rather large budget, you'd think they would work harder on these things.

Then again, after playing uncharted 2 until this game's release, I must feel spoiled by that games jaw dropping gorgeous graphics and texture work, I probably needed to be brought down to earth with the "competition".

9 seems like a good score.
But personally, with the short campaign, and the one-hit-kill multiplayer (which obviously makes up 99.9 percent of the game's overall value), I'd probably give it around an 8.4 or so.

[iron_sheik]

the graphics of MW2 are worse than that of MW1
I cant believe that this game got a free pass
Hopefully more reviewers will give it 8s and 9s to bring the meta down to around 90%

[i3eyond the Circle]

Are you guys high?

How can you even say You've played MW2 if you think MW1 looks better?

Are you just talking for attention?

[ikkokucrisis]

And I think it has to do with the lighting. MW 1 seemed to have much better light casting on objects and the coloring overall had a much more natural hue to it i think.

But I think it was a game design issue, where they wanted to have bigger levels, more smoke, better lens flare effects, and faster gameplay, but ended up sacrificing the shadows, textures, and coloring.

I understand that these sacrifices in graphical fidelity were for the multiplayer aspects of the game, which makes sense because that's where majority of the people that buy this game will be spending their time playing.

But when IW talked up such a storm about their new game engine supporting high-res textures and the like, I think we all expected the game to look much better than it does!

[raztad]

I find refreshing to see gamespot using the PS3 version in their reviews for a change. Game looks interesting, but 9vs9 is really underwhelming and the SP campaign is not more than a rent. Looking forward to MAG/BC2.

[iistuii]

9v9 is perfect. Been on and seen the size of the maps have you ? NO thought not. Why clutter up the perfect maps with too many players and make it where you die every 10 seconds, it would make no sense.

[raztad]

IMO is the other way around, maps are small to fit the small number of players. I'm not dissing the game, but I would expect more from a modern fps.

[SupaPlaya]

Kudos to you in responding in a very civil manner.

[bjornbear]

Is reason why i'm not rly getting it...

I'm still Hooked on KZ2 and its 16vs16 gameplay....dno 9v9 feels like a downgrade. it'll still be fun but, dno i love the whole MASSIVE battle vibe =D

Howeever i didn't enjoy MAG that much, but I can apreciate it as a good game, js not for me.
I'll be waiting t check out BF:BC2 to see if it works =D

Good review i guess gamespot are getting back up on their feet

[DigitalAnalog]

Focusing on the strengths of this game: Gameplay and Multi-player. Score should've been at least an 8.5 but because the review was straight to the point I'll let this one slide.

Unlike IGN giving 10 for "graphics".

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

Interesting score

[JJOR64]

It was actually an 8.5 but, they pulled it down and made it a 9. /facepalm

[Digitaldude]

Oh god if only!

[maniacf40]

.

[iistuii]

Your sad. It's a great game. I finished it last night and enjoyed EVERY part of it. NO dull moments, perfect MP which will be played for the next year without doubt. I was on U2 MP , but as soon as i got MW2 i knew it would take over from now on as did COD4. Every proper site reviewed it and gave it 9 or above, it's on the ps3 too so just stop crying. People are happy it only got a 9 hehe only a 9 Editors choice.But because it's 1/2 point less than U2 your all happy, amazing game they say,I know you want U2 to win GOTY but its becoming an obsession.

[SupaPlaya]

your opinion is sad?

[nycredude]

Grow up dude. Just like you have your opinion we have ours. IMHO opinion this game is at best COD4.5. It's the same Mp with some new perks, only mp is broken at the moment. Same crap engine, same crap gameplay, worst story, shorter, same cheap deaths left and right. Same BS one enemy sees you every knows where you are BS. Cod4 was better. This one is pretty much COD:WAW set in present time.

Good game not great, great is reserved for games like Uncharted 2.

BTW for people who claim the gameplay to be the best and you can't get it anywhere else, don't be a fool. So run here, shoot people, a couple of explosions, and then run to this checkpoint and shoot more people, a couple of explosions, then run to the next checkpoint and shoot more people... you get the point repeat this 100s of time adn you get every single COD game!

[Figboy]

disappointed with the SP in Modern Warfare 2.

i'm not a big MP player (i pretty much only play Resistance 2, Uncharted 2 co-op, and occassionally Killzone 2; i just don't have the time to devote to full on MP player), and i didn't really care much for CoD4's MP (just not my style of MP, my roommate loved it though, and it certainly wasn't bad, just not my cup o' tea).

since i'd primarily be getting the game for the SP (my roommate rented MW2 from Gamefly), there's no way i'd recommend it for the SP alone.

i find it funny that games on the PS3 get docked points for a "weak" SP (ie, Resistance 2, which actually had a REALLY good SP, but i digress), but great MP (again, like Resistance 2's AWESOME MP), but Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3 get passes on their SP campaigns, because the MP is so good.

it's just ultimately confusing the HELL out of gamers with these double standards.

[baodeus]

@figboy,

I'm thinking maybe co-op, playing against real people instead of AI, replay value and a feeling of connection with others might have something to do with it. SP just doesn't cut it anymore. People still play Halo, COD, Star Craft,Diablo 2 etc.....heck there are people that still play the first Halo. There are many reasons why certain games are so popular. Connection is the future my friend.

[Blow Out Your Brains]

I don't know how any reviewer that played MW as much as I did can actually think it's better than MW2. The multiplayer in MW2 is amazing and better than its predecessor, which I didn't think would be possible. The game deserves a perfect ten, it's a total package for any shooter fan.

[KingKionic]

I love the vector gun .

Know one can kill me win i use that gun .

lol

[Sizzon]

GameSpot > IGN.

[SupaPlaya]

remember the Kane & Lynch incident though...

However the graphics 10 for MW2 from IGN is definitely off IMO.

[Dead_Cell]

The online seems to lean towards more open pitched battles and it's better for it.
My only gripe is that the UAV is alot less precise than it used to be,I'm one of those people who plays with one eye on the screen and one on the UAV pulse.

[nycredude]

Anyone who thinks this can be GOTY over Uncharted 2 clearly either is a fanboy or haven't played Uncharted 2. This is a solid 8.5 to 9. No way it is 9.1-10. COD4 was better.

[djreplay]

You damn right im sad because i blazed through the campaign in 6 hours on hardened on monday evening.

By tuesday i was on mp and it seems like they took 1 step forward and 2 steps back, there is the flawed invite system, it can take up to 3 minutes to find a game which is 3/4 full and there is more lag than COD4 (100 ping) so to say im disappointed is a huge understatement.

And to think they spent 2 years creating this horrible mess, im COD4's biggest fan (35 days online) but IW created a seriously flawed shooter in my opinion.

[Gago]

Gamespot doesn't over rate games, and gives them the exact score it deserves

they take there time with the game and give the best reviews

[edge_xxx]

who else is having online invite problems? i cant join any parties or invite people.

[SportsFan]

MODERN WARFARE 2 IS DESERVING OF A 9.5 SOCRE...IN MY OPINION.
personally, i will allow a 2 game maximun for "milking", as long as it is done great, which COD: Modern Warfare has done. I have the PS3 version..(As I only have the PS3 system) and it jsut as good as COD4, which is also BETTER than Halo.

So, there is a little embelishment with the MW 2 graphics...OK. BUT, the game does look outstanding for a FPS...or any game for that matter. PS3 fanboys/girls hate as if this is a Xbox 360 exclusive! We have it too...so show some luv! Uncharted 2 is my GOTY, but I would not be mad if this game won. I will say (In my opinion) that GTA games are overrated and GTA 4 should NOT have won GOTY last year.