Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

"MW2" redirects here. For MechWarrior 2, see MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat.

This article is about the console and PC game. For the Nintendo DS game, see Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized. For the comic book series, see Modern Warfare 2: Ghost.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
File:Modern Warfare 2 cover.PNG
Developer(s)	Infinity Ward
Publisher(s)	Activision Square Enix (Japan)
Designer(s)	Mackey McCandlish
Writer(s)	Jesse Stern
Composer(s)	Hans Zimmer
Series	Call of Duty
Engine	IW 4.0
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release	November 10, 2009
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, cooperative and multiplayer (online, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (also referred to as simply Modern Warfare 2) is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on November 10, 2009. It is the sixth installment of the Call of Duty series and the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, continuing along the same storyline. It was released in conjunction with two other Call of Duty games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized for the Nintendo DS, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex, a port of Call of Duty 4 adapted by Treyarch for the Wii console. In addition, a comic book series based on one of the game's characters will also be produced, entitled Modern Warfare 2: Ghost.

The game picks up 5 years after the previous installment, where a new anti-terrorist group, Task Force 141, must fight a Russian ultranationalist terrorist organisation and counter a Russian invasion of the United States. Several settings for the game include Afghanistan, Rio de Janeiro, Siberia, and Washington D.C.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 received highly positive reviews from various gaming websites and has received high praise for its in-depth multiplayer.

Gameplay

Campaign

Similar to previous installments within the Call of Duty series, the player assumes the role of various characters during the single-player campaign, changing perspectives throughout the progression of the story.

Each mission features a series of objectives that are displayed on the HUD, which marks the direction of and distance from said objectives. Tasks vary in their requirements, having the player arrive at a particular checkpoint, eliminate enemies in a specified location, stand his/her ground to defend an objective, or plant explosive charges on an enemy installation. The player is accompanied by friendly troops who cannot be issued orders. Laptop computers that contain enemy intelligence appear throughout the campaign and may be collected to unlock several game bonuses.

Mission settings in the game include Afghanistan, Rio de Janeiro, Siberia, and Washington D.C.

Cooperative

Modern Warfare 2 features a cooperative mode entitled Special Ops, which consists of independent missions similar in design to the "Mile High Club" epilogue mission from Call of Duty 4. These missions will take place in a variety of locations from the campaign mode, but are not related to story of the campaign itself. Most of the Special Ops missions may be played alone, but supports two player cooperative play, in which two players can play together locally or online. Such mode includes scenarios such as a snowmobile race between the two players, one player providing air support from an AC-130 with the other player conducting operations on the ground, capturing an enemy compound, and searching areas for and eliminating 40 or more enemies at a time.

Special Ops is divided into five separate groups of missions: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Each mission may be played at three difficulty levels: regular, hardened, or veteran. Successfully completing a mission earns the players stars; there are up to three stars available for each mission: one star for completing the mission on regular difficulty, two for hardened, and three for veteran. Once enough stars are earned, more missions can be unlocked. There are a total of 23 missions, and 69 stars available for unlock. At the end of each mission, a statistics screen displays how long the player(s) took in order to complete the level and how many kills were scored, among other stats.

Multiplayer

Gameplay in the online multiplayer mode

The online multiplayer mode of Modern Warfare 2 retains the same experience points and unlockable reward system as that of Call of Duty 4, with game modes that include Free-For-All, Search & Destroy, Demolition, Domination, Team Deathmatch, and Capture The Flag. However, Modern Warfare 2 introduces several new features. Aside from new weapons, equipment, and perks that are now able to be upgraded to "pro versions", 15 different kill streak rewards can be unlocked and selected by the player. Among these is the ability to receive a supply drop after achieving four kills in a row, order a Predator missile strike after five kills, and call in an AC-130 gunship to strike from the sky after 11 kills. Another new feature is the in-game host migration. If a match host leaves the game, the current game no longer ends (as in Call of Duty 4), as a 'host migration delay' allows a new host to be selected and the game to continue on. There is also the addition of an optional third person mode which can be used in certain game types for multiplayer.

In the Xbox 360 version of the game, the party chat system is disabled while the player is playing online in certain playlist types.

The offline (splitscreen and LAN) multiplayer mode still retains the experience and rewards system found online, a first for the series since the system was introduced. However, the rewards are separate from those earned while playing online.

For the PC version, Infinity Ward has decided to implement a new matchmaking service: IWNET working through Steam. This system is nearly identical to the console version of IWNET. Dedicated server support is removed, eliminating the ability for mods or user-created maps to be incorporated. Because the multiplayer aspect runs within Steamworks, the PunkBuster anti-cheat system utilized in previous titles has been replaced by VAC. In addition, the PC version shares the same 18-player cap as the console versions (max. 9 vs. 9 matches). Such decisions have created some controversy amongst the PC community.

Synopsis

Characters

During the single-player campaign, the player controls five different characters from a first-person perspective. For the majority of the game, the player assumes the role of Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, a member of an elite, multinational commando unit known as Task Force 141. However, the player begins the game through the eyes of Private First Class Joseph Allen, a U.S. Army Ranger stationed in Afghanistan, who later goes undercover in Russia for the CIA under the alias, "Alexei Borodin". Private James Ramirez, a member of 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment stationed in the United States, serves as the played character during the defense of the eastern coast of the United States during the Russian invasion. "Soap" MacTavish returns as a non-playable character for most of the game, but once again becomes the played character in the final three missions of the game. In the five years since Call of Duty 4 took place, he has been promoted to the rank of captain in the Special Air Service. He now commands most of the Task Force operations in the field and is Sanderson's superior officer. The player also briefly assumes the role of an unnamed International Space Station astronaut during an EVA in the minute or so prior to the destruction of the International Space Station.

Several non-playable characters play prominent roles in the story. As mentioned, Captain MacTavish (voiced by Kevin McKidd) returns and serves as Roach's superior officer and mentor (similar to Captain Price serving as MacTavish's mentor in Call of Duty 4) as an NPC for a majority of the game. Captain Price (voiced by Billy Murray) also returns from Call of Duty 4 to assist TF-141 after MacTavish, Roach, and other TF-141 members rescue him from his imprisonment in a Russian Gulag. The other primary member of the Task Force is Sergeant Simon Riley (voiced by Craig Fairbrass, who also voiced Gaz in Call of Duty 4), a mysterious character by the codename of "Ghost" who conceals his face with a balaclava with a skull print. Sergeant Foley (voiced by Keith David) is Joseph Allen's squad leader in Afghanistan and later James Ramirez's squad leader in the United States. General Shepherd (voiced by Lance Henriksen) is the commander of both TF-141 and the Army Rangers, but becomes the primary antagonist after he betrays the Task Force members near the end of the game. Vladimir Makarov, a former protégé of Imran Zakhaev (the chief antagonist from Call of Duty 4), serves as the primary antagonist throughout most of the story.

Plot

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Riding a snowmobile in "Cliffhanger"

Modern Warfare 2 is set five years after the conclusion of Call of Duty 4. Despite the efforts of the Marines and the SAS, the Ultranationalists seize control of Russia and declare Zakhaev a hero and martyr. Meanwhile, Vladimir Makarov, one of Zakhaev's former lieutenants, begins a campaign against Europe by committing numerous acts of terrorism.

The game begins in Afghanistan, where U.S. Army Ranger Private Joseph Allen helps take an Afghan city from an army of militants. Impressed, General Shepherd recruits Allen as a CIA operative and places him in Makarov's organization as a CIA undercover operative under the alias Alexei Borodin. Meanwhile, Soap MacTavish and Roach infiltrate a Russian airbase to recover a lost ACS module from a downed satellite. Shepherd then sends Allen on an undercover mission in Russia in order to get close to Makarov. Allen joins Makarov in a brutal massacre of unarmed civilians waiting in a terminal at fictional Zakhaev International Airport in Moscow. Makarov, however, is apparently aware of Allen's true identity. Before leaving, he kills Allen and exposes his identity as an American, so that the Russian police will believe he is responsible for the attack.

Angered by what they believe is an American-supported terrorist attack, Russia stages a massive surprise invasion of the United States. It turns out that the ACS module recovered earlier by Task Force 141 has already been cracked, which allows the Russian forces to advance without alerting the U.S. until they are very close. Private James Ramirez and his squad of U.S. Army Rangers, led by Sergeant Foley, are called upon to defend a suburb in northeastern Virginia from the Russian attack. They then proceed towards a war-torn Washington, D.C. where more U.S. forces are fighting a desperate battle against the Russians for control of the city.

Meanwhile, Task Force 141 work on tracking down Makarov. Intelligence from the airport attacks lead them to Rio de Janeiro to investigate leads on Makarov's contacts, but the only intelligence they learn from the operation is that the most hated enemy of Makarov is locked up in a Russian gulag on the Kamchatka Peninsula. As a result, Soap decides to rescue the prisoner from the gulag to use him as a bait to draw Makarov out. With assistance from the Navy SEALS and U.S. Marines, Task Force 141 manages to free the prisoner, who is revealed to be Captain Price. Price agrees to help them track down Makarov, but knows they must go to extremes to end the war. He decides to go rogue, hijack a Russian nuclear submarine, and launch an ICBM towards Washington, D.C. However, he rigs the warhead to explode in the upper atmosphere, which destroys the International Space Station (viewed from an astronaut's point of view), but spares Washington. The resulting electromagnetic pulse cripples the vehicles and electronic equipment of both the U.S. and Russian forces in the city. Later, Ramirez and his squad discover that the Air Force has assumed that D.C. has been lost after the nuclear explosion and plans to carpet bomb the city. The only way to abort the operation is to set off green flares on the roof of the White House, which is under Russian control. Ramirez and his squad fight their way to the roof the building and manage to set off their flares in the nick of time, while green flares on the roofs of other D.C. landmarks signify that the city remains firmly in American hands.

Narrowing down Makarov's hiding place to two separate locations, Task Force 141 decides to split up. Price and Soap go to the aircraft boneyards in Afghanistan, while Roach and Ghost raid Makarov's safehouse in the Caucasus Mountains. The latter obtain vital intelligence that implicates Makarov in the massacre at Zakhaev International Airport. However, General Shepherd betrays them and kills both Ghost and Roach, taking the intelligence with him. Price and Soap quickly learn of Roach and Ghost's death and manage to escape Shepherd's ambush with the help of Nikolai. After learning the location of Shepherd's secret base in Afghanistan from Makarov, they decide to take revenge on him in one final, bloody suicide mission. However, during the infiltration, Shepherd tries to escape and a long boat pursuit ensues.

Shepherd appears to escape when he drives his boat into the back of a hovering MH-53 helicopter. However, Price manages to shoot down the helicopter just before their boat tumbles over a waterfall. After recovering from the fall, an injured Soap staggers after Shepherd and attempts to kill him with his knife, but Shepherd blocks the attack and stabs Soap with his own knife. As Soap lays on the ground, Shepherd pulls out his pistol and prepares to execute Soap, but before he can, Price attacks him and knocks the pistol away. Price and Shepherd then engage in an extended fist fight. Soap, meanwhile, attempts to crawl towards Shepherd's pistol, but Shepherd kicks it away before he can grab it. Soap then pulls the knife out of his own chest and throws it at Shepherd, striking him in the eye and killing him. Price attends to Soap's wound before Nikolai arrives in a helicopter to extract them. He tells them of a hiding place he knows.

Development

System requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
Microsoft Windows
Operating system	Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
CPU	Intel Pentium 4 @ 3.2 GHz, Core Duo @ 1.8 GHz or higher, or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor	-
Memory	512 MB (1024 for Vista)	-
Free space	16 GB of free space
Graphics hardware	Nvidia GeForce 6600GT (256 MB) or ATI Radeon 1600XT (256 MB)	-
Sound hardware	100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card	-
Network	Internet or LAN connection required for multiplayer and online activation

Modern Warfare 2 was originally referred to under the working title of Call of Duty 6. The game was first announced under the title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 by Activision on December 3, 2008. Activision subsequently retracted their announcement, stating that any information about an upcoming Call of Duty game was "speculative." Infinity Ward then asserted that they had not officially confirmed their latest project at that time. On February 11, 2009, Activision officially announced Modern Warfare 2 and set a tentative release date for "Holiday 2009." The game was tested in an internal beta by the development team. While both Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War have been preceded by public multiplayer betas, no such beta was released for Modern Warfare 2 because it was determined that, according to Community Manager Robert Bowling, no public beta was needed unless the internal beta did not provide adequate feedback.

Infinity Ward announced on October 2009 that the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 would not support the use of user-run dedicated servers or in-game console commands. Such announcement was received poorly by some members of the PC community, a negative response that eventually drew Infinity Ward's own response on the matter in an effort to put the community at ease.

Audio

Rapper 50 Cent provided voice work for the Special Ops and multiplayer modes portraying "one of the squad voices." On August 20, 2009, Robert Bowling revealed through Twitter that Kevin McKidd, Craig Fairbrass, Barry Pepper, Keith David, Glenn Morshower, were confirmed voice actors for the game. It was confirmed that McKidd would voice the protagonist, "Soap" MacTavish. Fairbrass, who voiced Gaz in Call of Duty 4, provided voice work for Ghost. Billy Murray confirmed that he would reprise his role as Captain Price from Call of Duty 4.

Game engine

The game utilizes the in-house IW 4.0 game engine, which is claimed to be a generation beyond the capabilities of the engine used in Call of Duty 4. Although proprietary, it is based on an unspecified id Tech engine. The new engine can accommodate larger worlds, enhanced graphic detail, and more efficient rendering.

Infinity Ward has addressed the issue of enemies that continually respawn at different points of a level. The developer demonstrated that the game engine uses a "dynamic AI," which has replaced the infinite respawn system and allows enemies to act more independently. These "smarter" enemies are designed to actively seek out and drive the player forward through a level, and can break away from set behaviors such as following a designated route in order to attack. The player cannot depend on enemies to be found in the same locations as a previous play-through because enemies will behave differently each time a level is played.

Marketing and release

On March 25, 2009, a teaser trailer for the game was revealed at the Game Developer Choice Awards ceremony in San Francisco. The teaser was posted on Infinity Ward's website, and released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network a short time later. A second teaser was released on May 10, 2009 that showed gameplay features such as snowmobile driving and underwater actions. The teaser announced that the game would be "revealed" on TNT during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 24, 2009. The "reveal" was the first full-length trailer, which debuted extended sequences of actual in-game scenes and combat; the trailer was subsequently made available on the Modern Warfare 2 official website, which was kept updated for the occasion. A fourth trailer was released on July 27, 2009, and showed the first footage of the game's multiplayer mode. On October 4, 2009, a second full-length cinematic trailer was released and revealed that part of the game would take place in a war-torn Washington, D.C.

On July 21, 2009, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling revealed through Twitter that a Modern Warfare 2 controller was in the works. Peripherals manufacturer Mad Catz was contracted by Activision to create a line of Modern Warfare 2 controllers and accessories for all platforms that the game would be available on.

Activision stated, in its quarterly earnings report, that pre-orders for the game had broken a company record; more copies of Modern Warfare 2 had been pre-ordered than any other game that the company had published.

In September 2009, Monster Energy teamed up with Activision to bring special redeemable codes on the Monster Energy website, where people can submit codes included in Monster Energy packs to redeem items such as Xbox 360 Premium Themes and a Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack code.

Title

The original teaser trailer announced that the release date for the game would be November 10, 2009 and confirmed that the game's title of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was officially shortened to just Modern Warfare 2. After photographs of the official retail boxes were posted by Robert Bowling, Activision confirmed that the standard-edition Modern Warfare 2 packaging would feature the Call of Duty brand logo in order to reflect the game's association with the Call of Duty franchise. It is speculated that the decision was influenced by findings that brand awareness for the game was significantly lower without the Call of Duty logo. However, the developers still prefer to simply call the game Modern Warfare 2 as they consider it a new IP. The menus in the game are also referred to as Modern Warfare 2.

Retail versions

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The contents of the Prestige Edition

Modern Warfare 2 was released in four different retail versions across the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms: Standard, Hardened, Veteran, and Prestige. The standard version consists of the game and instructional manual, and is the only version available for the Microsoft Windows platform. The Hardened Edition consists of the game and manual (which are packaged in a steel book case), an art book, and a token that allows one to download the original Call of Duty from the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Store. The Prestige Edition contains all of the elements of the Hardened Edition, but will also include fully-functioning night vision goggles, imprinted with the Modern Warfare 2 logo and a stand modeled after the head of the character "Soap" MacTavish. The goggles are powered by five double A batteries and can see up to 50 feet in absolute darkness.

On September 15, 2009, Activision and Microsoft jointly announced a special, limited Modern Warfare 2 version of the Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard disk. The unit is highlighted by special game product branding and includes two wireless controllers and a headset. This is the first Xbox 360 to come with a 250GB hard drive.

On September 18, UK retailer GAME announced a Veteran Edition of Modern Warfare 2 that would be exclusively for the UK. It will come with a 12" (30.5 cm) tall statue of "Soap" MacTavish with interchangeable arms and weapons; has the same contents as the Hardened Edition. In September 2009, a Veteran Statue Bundle of Modern Warfare 2 was posted on the EBGames website and is available for all platforms.

Downloadable content

Activision announced that two downloadable map packs will be released for Modern Warfare 2. At E3 2009, Microsoft stated that these map packs would be made available for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live before they would be released for other platforms. Robert Bowling stated that the community response to the game and the first two downloadable map packs would be used in designing other potential map packs.

Comic

Main article: Modern Warfare 2: Ghost

A six-part comic book mini-series related to the game will also be produced. Announced by Robert Bowling on August 17, 2009, Modern Warfare 2: Ghost will focus on the backstory of the character Ghost, who appears in the video game. The series will be published by WildStorm and a release date has yet to be revealed.

Sales

According to preliminary sales figures from Activision, Modern Warfare 2 has sold approximately 4.7 million units in both the United States and the UK in the first 24 hours of its release. The total revenue from first day sales for the U.S. and the UK was $310 million, making Modern Warfare 2 the biggest entertainment launch in history, surpassing its predecessor Grand Theft Auto IV.

Critical reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	93.9% (PS3) 93.4% (X360) 87.8% (PC)
Metacritic	94% (PS3) 94% (X360) 87% (PC)

Review scores

Publication	Score
Game Informer	9.75/10
GamePro
GameSpot	9.0/10
GameSpy
GameTrailers	9.5/10
IGN	9.5/10
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	10/10
X-Play

Modern Warfare 2 has received critical acclaim from professional reviewers, especially for its console versions. Review aggregator Metacritic holds the average review of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game at 94% and 93% respectively, while the PC version is at 87%. Positive reviews cite a "compelling story mode, a slick package of mini missions and a multiplayer which is pretty much unparalleled in depth."

Criticisms of the game are directed towards a variety of aspects, but focus on the short length of the single player campaign. IGN's Mark Bozon remarks, "Modern Warfare 2 is surprisingly short, and doesn’t live up to the standard set by previous Call of Duty games." In addition, many reviewers have complained about the lack of innovation to the formula of the series.

Controversy

Criticism of the Xbox 360 version

Many players have expressed concern about Infinity Ward's decision to remove the ability to use party chat while playing in certain multiplayer playlists. Although this decision was made to create more collaboration within teams, fans have criticized this decision due to players hearing excessive quantities of racial slurs, vulgarities, and other inappropriate conversations while being forced into the game chat.

Criticism of the PC version

Criticism has arisen of changes made to the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 including the lack of dedicated servers, latency issues of the listen server-only IWNET, lack of console commands, lack of support for matches larger than 18 players, and inability to vote towards kicking or banning cheating players immediately. When asked about the removal of console menu commands, Infinity Ward responded with, "We would like you to play the game the way we designed and balanced it." Taking a different view, Ars Technica writer Ben Kuchera wrote, "At launch, this will be one of the most locked-down, inflexible, and gamer-unfriendly [games] ever created."

Defending their decision towards the lack of dedicated servers, Infinity Ward maintains that IWNET will "put you in the game that will give you the smoothest gameplay possible without you having to manually find a server with the best ping." In addition, it is stated that the utilization of Valve's anti-cheat system will eliminate the need to worry about "joining a server full of aim-bots, wallhacks, or cheaters. Or relying on the server administrator to constantly be monitoring, banning, and policing it." However, cheat programs for the game were being sold the day following the game's release.

Because of such decisions made by Infinity Ward, an online petition was launched immediately after the announcement of such changes to the game's multiplayer aspect, urging Infinity Ward to reconsider its stance with over 200,000 signatures. When asked for a comment on the petition, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling stated that it “definitely made a big wave, and the response will not be ignored. I’ll ensure everyone at IW sees the petitions and responds to it.” No further response has been made.

"No Russian" mission

An early level in the game entitled "No Russian" has the player assume control of a deep cover CIA agent, joining a group of Russian nationalist terrorists in enacting an airport massacre. The player is given the option to skip the level at any point. The game was discussed briefly in Britain's House of Commons after the issue was brought to the attention of MP Keith Vaz, a long time opponent of violence in video games, with fellow Labour politician Tom Watson arguing that the level was "no worse than [scenes] in many films and books" and criticising Vaz for "collaborating with the Daily Mail to create moral panic over the use of video games".

X-Play on G4 TV has described the level's presence as an important catalyst to the overall plot of the game rather than a scene inserted for shock value. In his review for Game Informer, Adam Biessener writes that while the level "makes the player a part of truly heinous acts", he also notes that the "mission draws the morality of war and espionage into sharp focus in a way that simply shooting the bad guys cannot". Biessner concludes that it is one of the more emotional moments in the game, is "proud that our medium can address such weighty issues without resorting to adolescent black-and-white absolutes".

This controversial mission was removed from the Russian version of the game. It was believed that sales of the console editions of MW2 were delayed in Russia due to an ordered recall, but Activision has called this report erroneous. Activision stated that they made the decision to remove the No Russian mission from the game prior to its release as they did with the PC version sold in Russia.

External links

• Modern Warfare 2 official website
• Infinity Ward official website
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the Call of Duty Wiki, an external wiki