Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (XBOX 360 / PS3 / PC)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (XBOX 360 / PS3 / PC)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, most commonly referred to as MW2, is the 6th game in the Call of Duty series. MW2 was developed by Infinity Ward and released in November of 2009. There was a lot of hype surrounding MW2, as with any sequel in a series, but it was more than that. Players had been left disappointed with Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War following Infinity Ward's groundbreaking FPS, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and were itching for the next big thing. Expectations for MW2 were extremely high, which set the game up for either a roaring success or an utter crash and burn.
While I admittedly got caught up in to the hype surrounding MW2's release (as any gamer should every now and then), I could also see just how high the stakes were for the game. All of MW2's prospective players were expecting either the most awesome game they'd ever played or absolute, crushing disappointment, with almost nothing in the middle ground. To avoid utter ruination, Infinity Ward would somehow have to come up with something new and innovative that would satiate their rabid fans, or at least leave the game largely unchanged but work more with what they had.
But why not try to fix what isn't broken?
I have to admit, I haven't played through the full campaign, but from what I experience, the company ended up trying to revamp the game completely and ultimately killed the experience for me. I didn't find the campaign nearly as enjoyable as the one in COD4 (or almost any other FPS for that matter); it felt too much like just another generic shooter campaign that I didn't want to waste my time on, and I was tired of ignoring the game invite spam I was receiving from my XBOX Live friends who I actually wanted to play with.
Next to try out was the multiplayer.
Multiplayer, multiplayer, why, oh why?? I know that not everyone feels this way about MW2's multiplayer, but honestly, I think they ruined the great multiplayer experience that they had made in Modern Warfare. I say this, but I also find it difficult to pinpoint exactly what ruined the multiplayer experience overall. I feel that the tweaks to certain weapon's damage, range, etc. such as the Barret .50 cal sniper rifle changed entirely how everyone played, not for the better. For the most part, CoD4 was a "run and gun" style FPS, one that, for the most part, everyone can enjoy. MW2, however, requires that you camp around a corner the whole game, or use "unlegit" weapon combos, such as ones whose primary focus is on auto-shotguns, "n00b tube" grenade launchers, or tactical knives in order to maintain a good kill-to-death ratio, called your k/d or kdr. (A good k/d would be 1.5 or more, meaning you get 1.5 times kills as you do deaths.) While both games still require some level of strategic skill and ability, playing in MW2's style is more frustrating for the players, and having to play against people who are just camping or running around with a knife is just plain annoying.
Over time, the multiplayer did gain more respect with me, just because I got better at it, if nothing else. I can more appreciate MW2's multiplayer after giving in and adapting to its style of gameplay, but the nuisances are still nuisances, so I don't play as much as I normally would. In fact, ever since my getting better at MW2's multiplayer, I've come to appreciate CoD4's multiplayer even more, and have found myself popping in the CoD4 disc more often when I'm looking for a good multiplayer break from Halo 3.
Alright, enough about the multiplayer, let's talk about the graphics; I can actually compliment the game in this area. As has come to be expected from Infinity Ward's Call of Duty games, MW2's graphics are top-of-the-line by far. MW2 is extremely photorealistic and with much better 3D modeling than CoD4. Unlike other popular FPSs, MW2 doesn't festoon in-game characters with over-vibrant colors or out-of-proportion weapons or body parts. Watching a game of Search and Destroy in MW2 is just like watching a real life S&D mission, as bad as that probably is for sake of what that is teaching kids (who shouldn't be playing the game in the first place, but still do) it's certainly a nice advancement for gaming graphics technology.
The sounds of the game are certainly worth mentioning. While I haven't really heard much of a great soundtrack as far as music goes, the rest of the game's sounds are very nice and a great improvement over CoD4's sounds. The voice actors are very convincing, and it sounds like the audio is somewhat less compressed, which means that there is not static or noticeable noise or distortion as I follow a bullet around my room with 5.1 surround sound.
Overall, MW2 is a decent addition to the FPS genre, but I still am left feeling that it should have been much better as a sequel to CoD4:MW.