As reviewers, it's up to my peers in the gaming press and I to put on our hype-proof blinders when reviewing big "event" games, as it's just as easy for us to get whipped up into a frenzy as it is for any other gamer. After all, we're only human. When I played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in an Activision-provided hotel room for review a few weeks ago, there was no question in my mind that it was an amazing game, but I began to wonder how much my rabid, unbridled anticipation for it going into the event clouded my judgment.

Thankfully, I lucked into a retail copy of the game late last week, allowing me to spend some more quality time with it over the weekend in an effort to judge whether my initial impressions were valid or if I was letting my fanboyism color my view. Upon further inspection I confirmed my original feelings: While I won't say that Modern Warfare 2 is my surefire Game of the Decade, it's definitely one of the best games of this generation.

Picking up about five years after the end of the first game, Modern Warfare 2 throws the player into a world still in upheaval after the events caused by Russian ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev. Shockingly, Zakhaev's death during the climax of Modern Warfare didn't fix everything, so now the world's got to deal with a more dangerous threat: Zakhaev's former right-hand man, one Vladimir Makarov. I really don't want to get too deep into the story, as this truly is one of those rare games that has to be experienced first-hand. If you've managed to avoid all of the spoiler-filled videos leaking onto the web over the last few weeks, give yourself a pat on the back. Your vigilance is about to pay off in a big way.


Whether they say it or not, most developers of top-tier games want to knock players' socks off with a number of "wow!" moments as they progress through the story. Not only are there a few "wow!" moments in each and every one of the game's levels, there are also a handful of jaw-dropping "Holy shit! I can't believe they just did that!" sequences to boot. I was shocked and surprised by the level of emotional gravity during some of the more disturbing sequences, proving once again that no one's better at first-person storytelling than Infinity Ward. I guarantee that there will be some scenes in Modern Warfare 2 that will get under your skin and stay with you for days or weeks after you finish.

One of the reasons the single-player is so enthralling comes in the incredibly high production values. Each epic set-piece feels like it would've been the piece de resistance in some other game, and it's unlikely you've ever played a game that exhausts you quite like this one. Outside of a few overly melodramatic speeches, some cliched writing and the occasional confusing plot twist, Modern Warfare 2's single-player campaign is excellent from start to finish. It'll probably be knocked by some for being too short, but I was fine with the roughly eight hours I spent playing through the game on the Hardened difficulty, and I'm already looking forward to playing through again on Veteran.