It looks like I hopped in the middle of an already waging war, but that doesn't stop me from reviewing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to the critically acclaimed 2007 shooter.

First off, I want to make it clear that I purchased this game solely for the exclusive XBOX 360 console bundle, which comes with (aside the game) a detailed Elite console, 2 controllers and... a 250GB hard drive. That's right, a drive that doesn't yet exist on its own can be found in this limited edition bundle. Granted that the entire package is only $400 (compared to the Elite alone at $300), it's really not a bad investment for anyone with an original launch-day console like me who needs to upgrade from the 20GB drive, not to mention having HDMI now. The game is inconsequential to me, but I played it anyway while waiting for Assassin's Creed II and New Super Mario Bros Wii (reviews coming soon). Luckily, the single player experience was short enough to finish and write a review in time.

As stated earlier, Modern Warfare 2 is the sequel to 2007's CoD4: Modern Warfare, a game that teenagers across the world have been playing for 2 years now. It's not completely unexpected, as the online multiplayer deathmatch-style gameplay is similar to the Halo series. What separates Halo from the Modern Warfare games is that there's actually a lengthy and continuous story involved. I admit, understanding the context of Halo requires a history with all games just as much as MW, but there's one thing that you can always depend upon in Halo - you play as Master Chief and you fight the Covenant.

In MW2, you play as several characters, making this game an anthology of their experiences during the war (which basically started in the previous game). The experiences alternate, giving a chronological presentation of the events, as opposed to contiguous character experiences. That in itself isn't so bad, but there's very little character exposition that gets the player to care about the characters. The bulk of the dialogue comes from major characters from the first game, some that were the playable characters. Apparently, their military promotions come with a side of dialogue. Hell, if they're compelling enough, they'll even get their own game! Who's Ghost, you ask? He's... that guy, in the skull ski mask. I think he also shoots bad guys. The mission briefings describe the op with a character's personal postulations. It's not, "This is your mission. You will do this, then this, then this." It's more like, "War is hell, and we're the angels. Time for the bad guys to die." That doesn't help me know what is going on. When every playable character is the "silent character/protagonist" that doesn't participate in the story (just the action), this game is clearly not designed for people new to the series.

The single player campaign is only about 8-10 hours long and extended when adding in death/respawn time. There are parts of this game that are difficult, even to the point of frustration. I always talk about the philosophy of difficulty, and MW2 subscribes to the heat-seeking bullets side. For those looking for co-op campaign for a team experience, have fun with the limited selection of "Special Ops" scenario missions, which fall into the categories of: timed , wave survival, ground/air assault, and race. RACE. You race snowmobiles! Why would people interested in shooting things want to race snowmobiles on a 30 second track? Infinity Ward, you are morons. You've alienated everyone who plays games for the single player experience, those who want to be told a story, those who want to be able to return to the game long after the multiplayer servers are down.

That said, I can't say much about the online multiplayer experience since I won't play it. I've seen it played, and by that, I mean in this game and every game before it. The mechanics and gameplay are no different than Counter Strike or Unreal Tournament, they're just skinned and the kill streak rewards get more elaborate. The surprise reward for a 25 kill streak is a briefcase nuke that kills everyone, including yourself. That's a bit over the top when a true "reward" for such a "good" player would be a score multiplier, perhaps adding a... wait for it... challenge by reducing their health. This gameplay, much like with the Halo series, will live on for (a few) years to come, giving teenage boys a place to vent their anger because their mom's took away their girlfriend rights privileges. After all, the whole point of voice masking on the headsets were to make pre-pubescent voices deeper and more mature while they tell you how much of a poophead you are for killing them without giving you a chance. Maybe I've been in the wrong matches, but if a game is going to emphasize the coordination of online multiplayer sessions, it should be an exclusively online multiplayer game (ie, TF2 and L4D).

Let's talk controversy. The most discussed part of this game is the third "level", where you assume the role of an undercover American operative, infiltrating a Russian terrorist cell. That part's not so alarming, since we see a lot of that in Tom Clancy material. However, the purpose of the level is to mow down civilians in an airport. They give you a machine gun, and you literally kill everyone you see. You technically don't have to and you won't get penalized, but you definitely need to shoot your way out of the building to escape. Following the events of Ft. Hood, Virginia Tech, Columbine, oh, and EVERY OTHER SHOOTING IN WORLD HISTORY, people feel offended by it. Don't play it. 'Nuff said.

Overall, I did not enjoy this game. It lacks sufficient material for single player action and is obviously tailored at the folks who will be playing online until the next game comes out. More over, it's tailored exclusively to those who played the first Modern Warfare. Granted, they definitely know how to get the bang for their buck (/pun). FPS gaming seems to be aiming (no pun intended) at the Team Fortress 2 crowd and less games are being made the style of Brothers in Arms and Battlefield: Bad Company. I honestly feel sorry for anyone who spent money on the Hardened or Prestige edition, since most of that supplemental material usually goes to waste (coming from personal experience) and the night-vision goggles could easily be purchased from ThinkGeek. A longer single player campaign would just be more of the same boring/difficult shooting of people. Stay tuned for reviews of better games.