Modern Warfare Article/In Depth

It clearly seeks to emulate its predecessor as well, which succeeded in a piecemeal but driven narrative. But nothing in the sequel quite lives up to the audacity of Modern Warfare's public execution or mid-game mushroom cloud, nor do we get anything as eerily game-defining as the Chernobyl sequence.

The new game's infamous "No Russian" level, involving a terrorist attack at an airport, comes closest to being a disturbing showpiece, but even there the deliberate killing of civilians seems a limited attempt at controversy. And the level sets up a villain only to shove him aside in favor of confusing betrayals and an obligatory cliffhanger as the game hits the eight-hour mark.

Underscoring the brevity of the single-player mode, most of the big action scenes are available in a "Special Ops" mode that lets you replay with a friend. It's a smart way to revisit the best parts of the game in five-minute chunks.

But it's in the full multiplayer mode where people will get the most mileage anyway. While it's still tough to break into, the game does offer some incentives to try, try again. For example, pull off a kill after a long streak of deaths and get an extra 200 points.

Even a few rounds of play lets you level up, and there's a slew of new ways to customize special abilities or weapon classes to your liking. You'll still end up dying, but there's plenty of time to try different strategies as we march toward the inevitable release of Modern Warfare 3.

The sequel to the best-selling first-person action game of all time, Modern Warfare 2 continues the gripping and heart-racing action as players face off against a new threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse. The newest installment in the groundbreaking Call of Duty® series, Modern Warfare 2 features for the first time in video games, the musical soundtrack of legendary Academy Award®, Golden Globe® Award, Grammy® Award and Tony winning composer Hans Zimmer. The title picks up immediately following the historic events of Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare®, the blockbuster title that earned worldwide critical acclaim, including 14 million copies sold worldwide; "Most Played Online Video Game" in history, 2009 Guinness World Records; more than 50 Game of the Year awards, including the Console Game of the Year and Overall Game of the Year, 2007, from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.