Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the follow-up to the 2019 reboot. As is with this series, this year’s entry offers a high-octane single player campaign and plenty of multiplayer action to sink your teeth into for months to come.

Let’s begin with the story campaign. Under the guidance of General Shepherd, aka Aaron from 24, Task Force 141 are working with apparent trustworthy allies, Captain John Price, Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley and Sergeant John “Soap” MacTavish are working undercover to stop a mission attack led by Major Hasson Zyani. However, Intel leads Task Force 141 to believe that the imminent Iranian attack is funded by the Russian military.

Having played the remastered version of Modern Warfare 2 quite recently, its story was fresh in my memory, and I had some expectations of not being too surprised by what might be about to come. Thankfully, however, a lot has changed in this reboot from characters, mission order and plenty of plot twists to keep you on your toes. From start to finish, the campaign is over-the-top and wonderfully cheesy, and I would expect nothing less.

call of duty modern warfare 2

Credit: Activision/Infinity Ward

In terms of visuals, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is an absolute banger. The action moves at a frantic pace while still maintaining a wonderful visual fidelity. Playing on the PS5, the Modern Warfare 2 reboot is by far the most visually striking with a near ultra-realistic aesthetic at times. Furthermore, its cinematography is near movie quality and you might even forget that you’re playing a video game from time to time.

Audio is also of a high standard here too. Each of the characters is portrayed expertly by their assigned voice actor. It’s clear that all the voice actors in Modern Warfare 2 are giving their all which plays a huge part in telling its Hollywood, blockbuster-esque tale.

Additionally, the sound effects are simply sublime. If you have access to a decent headset, it not only sounds amazing hearing bullets whist past or even the brush of a leafy branch as you stalk an enemy during a stealth mission. Expect to be immersed further when indulging in the multiplayer offerings too.

call of duty modern warfare 2

Credit: Activision/Infinity Ward

However, that immersion can easily be broken thanks to an inconsiderate twonk either munching crisps down a mic, playing loud music in the background or being yelled at by their mom. Thankfully, you can mute all in-game multiplayer chat.

The only drawback that I have from the most enjoyable campaign is that it ended very abruptly with cliffhanger bait leading into the Modern Warfare 3 reboot. However, that is only a small critique of what is a typically enjoyable Call of Duty story.

In terms of Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer offerings, this reboot is absolutely stacked with the promise of more content to come in the months ahead. Not to mention the emergence of Warzone 2 being on the way on November 16th, 2022. You have your typical modes from Team Deathmatch, Search & Destroy, Kill Confirmed, Control, Domination, Free for All and more. Most of the modes in Modern Warfare 2 will see 6v6 action apart from a couple of exceptions.

call of duty modern warfare 2

Credit: Activision/Infinity Ward

Invasion is a 20v20 mode that requires teams of four to battle it out alongside waves of AI enemies. At its core, this large-scale battle continues until one team is left standing. Whereas Ground War is an objective-based battle which features two teams of 32 fighting until the bitter end.

If you’re familiar with this series, you’ll be very familiar with what’s on offer. However, if you’re new to this series, all the modes on offer might feel a little overwhelming at first, but most should be pleased with Modern Warfare 2s bang for your buck.

Modern Warfare 2 also comes with several new multiplayer modes too. Prisoner Rescue will pit two teams against each in which one team must extract a prisoner, while the opposing team attempts to stop them with the aid of fortifying defences around the hostage.

Knockout requires players to capture high-value packages with only a limited number of lives. Both of these two new modes are quick-fire, right into the action and over before you know it. Perfect if you want a quick blast of multiplayer action.

However, quite possibly the biggest addition to Modern Warfare 2s multiplayer is the new third-person perspective. At the time of writing the review, the third-person perspective is playable via Playlists, which rotate maps and modes. By the time you read this review, the Playlist may have changed. So please keep that in mind as to the reason why I’ve not listed its modes.

Personally, I really enjoy playing multiplayer in the third-person perspective. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the traditional first-person. Third-person not only keeps the action feeling fresh, but its point-of-view allows you to see more of your surroundings. It does feel like it gives you an advantage, especially when it comes to seeing what might be around the next corner. However, the same also applies to the opposing players too.

call of duty modern warfare 2

Credit: Activision/Infinity Ward

Furthermore, co-op mode also makes a return so that you can team up with a buddy to take on objective-based missions. Sadly, this is a mode that I never explored all that much, as I am not keen on teaming up with a random person.

So, if you can, pair up with a friend because working together on the same wavelength is paramount to your success. A 3-player co-op mode called Raid will also arrive post-launch. However, this mode was not available at the time of writing my review.

Finally, the Gunsmith makes a return that offers a great deal of customisation to your favourite weapons. As with recent Call of Duty entries, not only will your player XP level up but so too will your weapon.

The more you use a particular weapon, the more it will level up which results in a variety of snazzy weapon attachments and gadgets. While I am a fan of the Gunsmith, its User Interface isn’t the easiest on the eye and it can take some getting used to navigating around its multi-layered features.

To conclude, even if you don’t play Call of Duty each year, then you know what to expect. However, that should work against Modern Warfare 2 and I certainly won’t hold that against it. After all, the series continues to hold a high standard with almost every release. To the point where it’s getting quite difficult to make huge advances on its winning formula.

That being said, despite its abrupt campaign ending, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 brings yet another action-packed, high-octane entry that will keep fans entertained for months to come, whether you’re here for the single player or especially for the multiplayer. Either way, you won’t be disappointed. So, what are you waiting for? Squad up!