Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was the biggest success to hit Xbox (Surpassed only by Halo Reach, since!) since its predecessor, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare...and with good reason.
Continuing the epic story of the first Modern Warfare game, MW2 leaves nothing wanting.

Sadly, this is Infinity Ward's last hurrah for Call of Duty. From here on out, the franchise is in the not-uncapable hands of Treyarch.

One of the biggest and best things about this game, is the visuals. This is a game that pushes the Xbox 360's graphics to the max. The screenshot seen above is NOT a rendered cinematic, but is IN-GAME graphics...the best I have seen yet.

Multiplayer continues in the tradition of CoD in being simply put: one of the best Multiplayer shooters in existance, rivaled again only by HALO.

Now, I'm not going to place one game above the other, Halo vs. CoD, but I WILL say that they are two very different styles of play. Both EXTREMELY good in their own right. MW2 is for the more serious shooter style. Ghillie suits and silenced sniper rifles allow you to hide in the bushes and camp out your enemy, and ability to call in airstrikes, care packages, Guided Predator Missiles, Harrier Air Support, are all things that Halo lacks. Yet Halo offers things like Jet Packs, Tanks, Warthogs (Jeeps) Flying Vehicles, overshields and Plasma-Launching Concussion rifles...very different.

While Multiplayer allows for hours upon endless hours of online crazy chaotic fun, it does have some issues. Modders and hackers are common, glitch finders, XP Boosters and cheaters as well. Something Activision Lacks that Bungie is notorious for is the "Banhammer"...a diligent police force scouring the multiplayer universe and banning any modder or hacker...that IS one advantage Halo has over CoD, and this lack of "Ban Police" has, in all honesty, had me nearly defect 100% over to Halo Reach. Too many times I have been frustrated with cheaters and hackers that it has ruined my day.

The saving grace, however, is the campaign...

The story is complex, and while being a Canadian, I still felt like I could relate to the characters in the campaign. To see the White House under seige, to see DC Laid waste and turned into a DMZ via EMP (hehe DC, DMZ, EMP...lotta lingo here...), still made my heart jump into my throat and go: "Oh, MAN this sucks!"

And I'm not even American!

The story's ending leaves you hanging and wanting more, and the ability to actually widdle down your enemy's numbers is a first in CoD. Normally, the baddies would just keep coming until you reached a certain checkpoint. Now, they are limited like they would be in reality. SO...if you feel you could just wait them out and pick em off one by one before moving on...now you can!
The AI has been re-vamped as well, and your squadmates are now actually effective. Enemy AI will try to push you into a narrow corridor and can often be flanked from the side. They actually ACT like sentient beings, being focused on where they THINK you are, rather than being programmed to always KNOW where you are. It makes campaign playing a little more realistic, and enjoyable. The other side of the coin is, though, that also makes the enemy more effective in suppressing you and corralling you to make sure you DONT flank them. It's ALMOST as good as playing against live players...ALMOST...

When this game first came out, I would have given it a 10/10, but that has dropped to a 7 due to the modders and hackers which I spoke of before.