Well, its finally here. One of the single most anticipated games ever released. The question is, does it live up to the hype? I may as well answer it now with a resounding yes! In fact, you should probably stop reading now & go & buy it. If you need a bit more info on why its so great though, I’ll try my best without revealing any spoilers.

First of all the shooting mechanics…. Perfect. There’s no other word I can use to describe them. It’s a difficult thing to put into words but the ‘feel’ of the game is just so right. If you’ve played the original Modern Warfare you’ll know what I mean. Everything has just the right weight to it, its incredibly smooth, fluid & fast. The feedback from the weapons is hugely satisfying & makes shooting bad guys an absolute joy. Its not really any different to the feel of the original, but you don’t try fixing something that’s already perfected. It is slightly faster & has been tweaked to make it smoother but that’s all. I really see no way this can be improved & it makes even the best shooters feel somewhat lacking, sublime.

Obviously this already makes the gameplay brilliant, but what about everything else? Well, I'm happy to report that the entire game just reeks of quality. The pacing in particular is absolutely fantastic. It constantly pushes you forward, throws incredible set piece after incredible set-piece at you as well as taking you through many varied & incredible looking locations. It never lets up for one second & provides a constant thrill.

To start with you’ll basically just be fighting through streets. Somehow even this alone manages to be thrilling, it really places you in the hostile environment. You’ll get shot from every direction, constantly. Whereas in the original most enemies stayed on the same plane in front of you, now enemies are everywhere – littering the rooftops as well as the ground at all sides of you. Its can be almost too hectic & chaotic to begin with but as a way of immersing you in the war zone it works perfectly.

The sound compliments it brilliantly too. The gun fire sounds spot on with the gun turrets being especially brutal on your ear drums, people are shouting & screaming all around you in their native tongues & explosions will shake your own room with their ferocity (if you have surround sound anyway).

The set-pieces are nothing short of incredible & will rival any Hollywood blockbuster. Funnily enough though it doesn’t really have any until the infamous “No Russian” airport level. This seems to be the turning point in the game where everything suddenly goes directly to hell & the game throws everything its got at you. The set-pieces come thick & fast & are stunning to behold. Although none quite match the ‘blast’ or the Ghillie section in Modern Warfare. A couple come very close though & apart from those 2 scenes in the original, everything else in MW2 is more intense, bigger & more stunning.

The imagery is also breathtaking. There were a couple of levels in the game that literally gave me goose bumps & were quite disturbing to see. For me they had as much of an impact as the airport scene. I wont go into them though as you really don’t want them spoiling for you, its much better to discover them yourself.

I suppose I better delve into the airport scene too while on the subject. Does it work in context & is it better than it just being a cut-scene? Absolutely. Yes, it could have been a cut-scene instead but that defeats the purpose of it & the purpose of games as a whole. Why shouldn’t games make you feel this kind of horror or self loathing? Why take the control away from players when it’s a game & is meant to be interactive? This is exactly what gaming has over other medias & to remove it would be doing gaming a disservice as another valid way of telling mature stories. You were meant to feel horror, disgust, confusion etc. & that’s exactly what this scene makes you feel. In my opinion it’s a real step forward in what games can do.

I will admit it’s a bit jarring, amateur & feels a bit ‘shoved in’ rather than the story flowing to it properly. But it is a new thing for gaming & its going to be a learning process before its handled with proper skill.

Unfortunately the story as whole is a bit of a mess. The plot its holier than the Bible & after the Airport turning point it all gets really confusing. This is my only real criticism of the game. It just makes no sense & is completely bonkers. The original handled the story with much more skill. In this its as though IW didn’t know when to stop. They constantly try to surprise you with twists & turns that it seems even they got confused about the story as it all ends up becoming more & more of an incoherent, blabbering mess.

Luckily it does manage to keep you in the know just enough for you to like the characters & feel the correct & very real emotions at pivotal points. For the most part though its better to try & not think about it too much & just go along for the short but incredible ride.

The ride really is short too. On my first play through it was over in 5 hours. That’s not long by any means. However I've always said I prefer a game that is short & never lets up to one that pads itself out to be longer. Think of all the games that having boring sections, collect quests, backtracking, repeating areas or just other rubbish to just get a couple of extra hours. This has none of them. From beginning to end its incredible & intense. & every step reveals more incredibly detailed, stunning & new scenery. Give me that over a game like FEAR that gives me a couple of extra hours in grey corridors any day. Its always better to be left wanting more in my experience rather than it feeling like it should have ended earlier or it being a chore to reach the finale.

Not only that, but thanks to it being so brilliant & short it encouraged me to replay it instantly. Last time I checked I had been playing the single player for 16+ hours from replays.

One of those replays was on Veteran difficulty. Which brings me onto my other small niggle with the game. Now for me the challenge of Veteran in Modern Warfare is what raised above fantastic to bloody stunning. This however is quite a bit easier. Thanks in part to there no longer being re-spawning enemies as well as being able to take extra bullets. This obviously relieves a hell of a lot of frustration & it is a good trade off. I still cant help missing that punishing difficulty of the original though. Its certainly not easy, but its missing a lot of the satisfaction I felt when I finally completed CoD4 on it. That feeling of satisfaction is one that will be with me for the rest of my life. The same cant be said for this.

However there is a new mode where that challenge can be found. Spec Ops. Superb it is too. It’s a set of challenges that can be completed in 1-player (bar 2) or 2 player. These are fantastic fun. They range from Gears 2 style horde modes where you must fight off attacking waves to piloting a AC 130 gunner blasting enemies while your team mate runs to a point on the map. In co-op most of these challenges can be completed pretty problem free & all are fantastic fun & tense. A couple where we only scraped through had my heart in my throat. Stick to doing them alone though & it creates a near impossible challenge. Although its undoubtedly not as much fun.

As well as Spec ops that will add a lot of extra life to the game, the online mode makes a striking return for those who want it. I don’t cover online modes in my reviews but be assured, if that’s what you want from this game it is brilliant.

It doesn’t quite match the original (which would have been impossible anyway due to that being completely fresh & new at the time) but as sequels to spectacular games go, you cant do better. Its an incredible game that is well worth the wait & is deserving of the all the hype.