The Call of Duty series has come a long way from its origins as a World War II shooter, seeing numerous entries on all gaming platforms. With the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the series took a drastic turn away from WWII action and turned to present times; as such, Modern Warfare became one of the best-selling shooter games of all time. Developer Infinity Ward returns, delivering Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, possibly the most anticipated title of the year, with new thrills and a retuned multiplayer system.

While great in technical aspects and entertainment, Modern Warfare 2 is an extremely mature title. There are a lot of realistic and graphic depictions of violence, blood, and gore throughout the campaign, with no option to turn it off. There are a couple scenes of implied torture committed by your allies and one particular mission has some rather disturbing content throughout – to walk through an airport with a terrorist group and take out everything that breathes, innocent civilians and all. Fortunately, this mission can be skipped, which the game warns of at the beginning of the campaign. Another mission tasks you with quietly taking out a guard with a knife, which you see completely from the first person perspective, as you look into the eyes of the guard you have just slain. Moments like this are found throughout the single player campaign. There is a moderate amount of language in the game as well. While the vulgarities are not pervasive or out of place, a couple of strong words are thrown in at points.

Modern Warfare 2 is an excellent, albeit short game with top-notch presentation. The engulfing single-player campaign, fun co-op, and maddeningly addictive multiplayer speak volumes. The only real downside to the game relate to the length and horrific depictions of violence, so if you do not have a high-speed Internet connection or a friend to play Spec-Ops with, then this is definitely more worth renting, with the initial $60 price tag. The blood, language, constant intense violence, and disturbing material earn the game its Mature rating. Regardless, Modern Warfare 2 should be recognized as an outstanding, entertaining, and technical achievement with mechanics that other games should strive to emulate and build upon.

» By Joe Severyn, Plain Games. Published 11/29/2009 7:09:28 PM.