Oh so Modern

Well I'm late to the party on this one but I think it's time to talk a little about the behemoth that is Call Of Duty : Modern Warfare 2.



Now it has to be said the guys building this game have clearly spent a lot of time studying the films of Micheal Bay and Tony Scott since the game's single player campaign replicates that kind of brand of ADD wham, bang, wallop action.
It bounds breathlessly from set to set piece (snowmobile chases, helicopter crashes, fights in the White House, prison breaks, space stations!) taking little time to lay down the story or context of what is going on in.

Mind when you do think about for a second or two the story (of as far as I can tell what the story is) makes about as much sense as using a jam jar to bail out Cumbria. Seriously Bad Boys II actually makes more sense.

In amongst all of this of course is the notorious 'No Russian' airport terminal level of terrorism. Now, I can see what developers Infinity Ward are trying to achieve here in terms of illustrating the nature of terrorism but they just don't pull it off and it comes over rather crassly. And for my money goes on for far too long.

It's certainly fair to say that nothing matches the tension and artistry of the previous game's Ghillies In The Mist or Aftermath levels. The jail break of 'Gulag' comes closet to really reacreating that sense of excitment in a time place that feels vivdly real plus it is like playing through 'The Rock' complete with shower room gun fights. Those two levels in the first game made it the first video game where I genuinely didn't what to spoil those levels for other people

Don't get me wrong the game is still thrilling to play with action as fast and compelling as before but for it just lacks that something that it makes it special, its just not as a cohesive experience as the first game's campaign.

But the online play has taken a number of steps forwards with more options than ever before to customise your load out and rewards. Each match no is full of dynamic changing twists and turns with Harriers, Sentry Guns, Predator missiles, Air Drops and even Tactical Nukes unleashed in the name of besting the other team.

It is as addictive as ever, not since Counter Strike's heydey have I had so much fun running around and shooting at total strangers.

So it's a blockbuster (taking in over £48m in it's first two days on release) and is a good, good game. But it's not game of the year, not this year. The likes of Batman : Arkham Asylum, Mirror's Edge, Empire : Total War lead the way and I've only just started it but it seems Assassin's Creed II is going to be everything the first game promised it might be one day - more on that soon but check out the trailer below...