Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

I'm finally seeing a small segment of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's single-player, courtesy of lead character designer Joel Emslie; the first thing I want to tell you about Modern Warfare 2's campaign is something I can't talk about. Recall that the original Modern Warfare had its share of surprises during the campaign; it was the game that executed you during the opening credits, that gave you a detached gunship operator's perspective on modern combat, and had you witness a nuclear detonation from the ground level. In short, MW had a whole lot of twists, and Infinity Ward is aiming to up the ante in terms of surprise for MW2. What Emslie shows off for single-player is a level seen only in glimpses: a skirmish in Rio titled "Takedown." This mission takes place at the end of Act One, after the first major curveball the story throws at you. Again, I can't really elaborate more, but the story context is that you (as Gary "Roach" Sanderson) and fellow Task Force 141 members are in pursuit of an arms dealer named Rojas. And even after I ask Emslie about the turn of events in the beginning of Act One, he slyly smiles and notes that that bigger stuff is yet to come.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 left me with a stupid grin on my face. I felt like a super soldier in a squad of James Bonds after playing the campaign and came down to earth with a bump after a brief stint in the multiplayer arena. This is a highly polished game with good solid gameplay, mainstream FPS mechanics and a decent amount of replay value. If you are going to engage in the single and multiplayer aspects this is a must buy game. "

Preview: We've played it again

Will Porter is called out of retirement and heads out on his final mission

Modern Warfare 2 is the shit. Yes, I know, I only played a beta version for a few hours, and this is just a preview. And sure, I was probably influenced by the massive theater screen,  surround sound, and free Mountain Dew (don't worry, I'm not reviewing it), but even so, I’m confident in saying that Modern Warfare 2 is the absolute shit. Infinity Ward could have hitched a ride on the success of Call of Duty 4 and released a moderately updated game with new maps and some new weapons, but they didn’t – they updated everything without losing any of the violent charm of CoD 4. ...