Call of Duty 4 was a beautifully polished game, featuring both a memorable campaign and addictive multiplayer. Without a doubt it deserved all of the accolades it received when it was released two years ago. From the minute that Modern Warfare 2 was announced, I wondered how a close to perfect game could be improved upon. Infinity Ward included more guns, explosions, and action sequences in an attempt to make the game better.

Unfortunately this game design mantra negatively affected the single player campaign.  Call of Duty 4’s story was particularly memorable largely because it was filled with dramatic twists and turns. Infinity Ward attempted to make Modern Warfare 2’s campaign even more thrilling by injecting it with action movie steroids. You will ride snowmobiles and boats, climb and repel down cliffs, and escape the most hopeless of situations.

The action moves so quickly that it makes the story confusing. I found myself constantly confused with how the game was relating back to the main international conflict. Part of this is due to the Call of Duty franchise’s switching around soldiers in different theaters of the conflict. You will be fighting in Brazil, then in the US, then in Russia, then back to Brazil—moving so much that you can’t realize who you are fighting a specific points. Yet a larger reason for the confusing mind numbing campaign is because you are always in a collapsing cave, exploding building, swooping helicopter or speeding humvee.  Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is overwhelming because it is overly dramatic.  Of course, there are parts where you are sneaking and sniping, but the fast parts greatly outweigh these tense sections.

Fortunately for multiplayer fans, the inclusion of bigger and better action definitely improves the online component of the game. The bigger arsenal of weapons and perks allows players hundreds of new combination possibilities. More important is the addition of the killstreak reward choices. Instead of automatically getting a reward at 3, 5, and 7 kills, you can choose your supports. Taking control of an AC-130 gunship and a heavily armored helicopter is enormously satisfying, but pales in comparison to the 25 killstreak reward of a tactical nuke.

Simply put, the multiplayer is still addicting. I know this first hand because I have played almost 40 hours through the first week of the games release. Infinity Ward did make some great improvements to the multiplayer portion of the game, so much so that I took breaks from the campaign to play with my friends online.

If you do get frustrated online by “cheap” through the wall kills and campers, you can play the new Spec Ops mode. Essentially it allows you to play some of the campaigns more exciting moments and special challenges with a friend in co-op.  Broken up nicely into chapters, the Spec Ops mode includes the same action movie type sequences but doesn’t overwhelm you. Playing with a friend makes the experience all the better. However it does beg the question of why there isn’t an option of playing through the entire campaign in co-op.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a great game largely due to the great formula created by Call of Duty 4. The franchise is still one of the best-engineered shooters but I wasn’t thrilled with the changes in the campaign’s design. Fortunately, Infinity Ward included some improvements to the multiplayer portion of the game that freshens the experience and makes it more addictive than ever.

Entertainium played both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.