Activision
As one of the most anticipated titles of the year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a lot of hype to live up to. From what Dan Bowling of developer Infinity Ward has shown us, this game is ready to do just that.
With the action split into three categories - Campaign, Multiplayer and Special Ops - there is even more content to get your teeth into than before. At its core, however, is the same great Call of Duty gameplay experience, spruced up with some technical tinkering.
Campaign mode
Campaign offers a cinematic single-player experience, sucking you in with its vivid graphics and high-pressure missions from the word go. Set to be six to ten hours long, the same length as its predecessor, the single-player mode has been ramped up in terms of level size and graphical improvements. As it changes pace from slow stealth to all-out gun battles, it's pretty damn exhilarating, too.
One campaign mission called Cliffhanger, for example, starts you off on a precarious mountain ledge, with a snowstorm swirling around you as you slowly progress towards the enemy base, using a heat monitor to sneak up on unsuspecting foes.
Activision
The level leads you through tense, stealth moments but then suddenly throws in a mighty explosion and some hectic gunfights as you and boss MacTavish (the playable character from the first game) provide cover for each other, racing for your life from the base.
As if that isn't enough to leave you grinning like a Cheshire cat, you then launch yourself onto a snowmobile, desperately trying to dodge oncoming trees and enemy gunners while travelling downhill at breakneck speed.
Whiz forward to later level Favela and you'll experience fast-paced mayhem from the start. There's no time to catch your breath as you race through a Rio de Janeiro shanty town, trying to keep pace with the target leaping from rooftop to rooftop as you navigate the maze of alleys.
With enemies randomly appearing in buildings, round corners and on roofs you may want to fire rounds at anything that moves - but no can do, soldier, as the civilians around you mustn't be harmed.
It isn't just the gameplay experience that stands out, as the new engine has allowed for improved levels of detail. Graphically, the character models excel, with wind billowing against jackets and facial expressions of enemies in their death throes highly detailed.
Graphical tweaks
These small improvements can be found throughout, such as the red hue that formerly indicated you were taking damage replaced by blood splattering against the screen. Vivid HD graphics and improved lighting effects add a further layer of realism, giving you a real attachment to the experience.
The AI has also improved. Among the original game's flaws were "invisible checkpoints", where enemies would keep coming until you crossed specific points. Endless waves of foes are no more, replaced instead with intelligent AI and random spawning. These guys will use noise to hunt you out and work out the quickest, most direct routes to get to you, really upping the ante.
Activision
We also got to see the Special Ops mode in action for the first time. Playable solo or co-op, Special Ops are pick-up-and-play challenges that you'll need to complete over and over to master.
Special Ops
Beginning with the Alpha selection, you're rewarded stars - one for low difficulty, three for hard mode - which gradually unlock a further four sectors, each containing five new levels. Gameplay is varied, consisting of challenges such as time trials, elimination, races and bomb defusal.
In the Estate level, the goal is to take down 40 opponents without dying. A lakeside cabin and wooded area is your hunting ground and as Bowling, our previewer, showed us, your goal is to play tactically.
After taking down as many foes as possible with a sniper in the early stages, Bowling kept moving so the enemy couldn't pin him down. He then raced over to the cabin, which holds a stockpile of weapons that would make even Arnie smile. His tactic was to place claymores in the ground floor doorways, and then camp out with some semi automatics, raining fire from upstairs windows.
Activision
New enemies in the form of "juggernauts" appear in these scenarios; these are harder, more heavily armoured soldiers. Ominous music warns you they are close and you'll need some hefty firepower to stop them in their tracks.
Back to Brazil
The Christ Redeemer scenario was where we got our hands dirty with some co-op fun. In another elimination level, this time set in sunny Rio, you're back in the shanty town and the goal is to work together to pick off foes as you scout your way around the level. If one of you dies the other can revive them, so the key is to keep close.
The highly enjoyable Special Ops missions add another gameplay dimension to an already corking game. The ability to independently set your difficulty levels allows players of different skills to still game together, offering accessibility to all.
Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward wanted to make a game that wouldn't alienate newcomers but that veteran players could still be passionate about. It appears that the team has succeeded. Even without having yet sampled the multiplayer experience, we can venture that the rock-solid gameplay, added details and new features will please both groups come November 10.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 from November 10.
