I have a problem. I am a completionist. A completionist is someone who must explore every area in a video game. They just have to get every alternate ending, find every special weapon, or retrieve every animal orb. This disorder that I suffer from develops into a much larger issue when playing a game such as Modern Warfare 2. Let me explain. When playing online one receives experience points (exp) for killing enemies, killing enemies with certain guns, killing multiple enemies with a grenade, you get the idea. These exp are used to advance in rank, which in turn unlock more guns and equipment. Each weapon has about 7 attachments that can be unlocked by killing enemies with that weapon. All the unlocks allow for a completely customizable soldier. This alone is addicting but Modern Warfare 2 also tracks your stats with a progress bar. As a completionist I found myself saying "just one more round, I'm so close to being 90% complete!" I've spent the entire week just getting to the 19th rank and unlocking my ACOG Scope.
Modern Warfare 2's campaign is about five hours long and is just as epic as it's predecessor. When I first booted the game up it asked me if I wanted to skip a mission that could be considered offensive or disturbing. I selected "No, I would not be offended" and started the campaign. It never actually said which mission would be offensive so I assumed I would be left to figure that out for myself. I find this interesting. I mean, why write a mission that could potentially be offensive or disturbing? Why is it necessary? Video games already get a bad rap for being too violent already, why must we push the envelope even more? During the campaign you play as Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson of Task Force 141. Roach eventually fights under the command of Captain "Soap" MacTavish (the main character from Modern Warfare) as they both try to take down a group of terrorists called the Ultranationalists. As the story continued to the fourth mission I found myself walking out of an elevator in a Russian airport fully armed with 4 other men. As the other men opened fire on an entire customs line I realized that this was the mission that could potentially be offensive. The mission continues with these men gunning down civilians as we walked slowly through most of the airport. A special operations team shows up after a while to "stop" us, this was the moment I finally fired my weapon. The mission is quite critical in the plot's development but stilled seemed rather avoidable. Could you not just write it into a video? Or even write another mission that achieved the same result? Either way as I continued the campaign shifts back to the heroic Force 141 as you search to eliminate the Ultranationalists.
I have had a hard time trying to review this game. It is an excellent Shooter. Very smooth in its controls, flows really well into multiplayer, and has some really great cut scenes. The only thing it fails to bring, however, is innovation. Modern Warfare 2 is everything I expected it to be because I expected it to be pretty much the same as the first one. This elusive "next great epic" should feel exciting because it will be something we have never experienced. Modern Warfare 2 is just another great Shooter. I am not going to say that this game is bad, I would not be able. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a great game and you should all play it. I guess what I am trying to express is that it is not my passion. I love story-driven games, ones that innovate the industry, and move me emotionally and intellectually. I have been trapped too many times in the cycle of online gaming and have no desire to become that guy.
Thank you for your time my friends.
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