Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Preview

You wait almost two years to get a first-hand demonstration of the sequel to one of the best first-person shooters of all time and when it finally comes you’re treated to little more than 90 seconds. Had I been talking about any ordinary game this would have been a hard pill to swallow, but this isn’t just your average release – this is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, perhaps the most anticipated game of 2009. A game that stands every chance of being the best selling next-gen title yet when it hits stores in November. And what a 90 seconds they were.

There is sense to the brief gameplay demonstration carried out at Activision Blizzard’s gamescom 2009 booth. Rather than show off the game’s single-player campaign or the in-depth competitive multiplayer component, the publisher chose to tease the gathered press with a short, but oh so sweet morsel of the brand new Special Ops mode. For those that played and finished Modern Warfare, the end of the game gifted gamers with a thrilling mission on board a passenger plane. Special Ops is essentially giving gamers more of these one-off non-story missions, and this time you can play with a friend – either over the internet or through split-screen on a single console.

Sadly our demo didn’t feature any co-op play (the mode is playable alone if you’d prefer), but it did feature a lot of intense action, lots of blood splatter and the now trademark Call of Duty gameplay. Infinity Ward and Activision are being quite coy about the depth on offer in Special Ops, giving out no information on how many levels we’ll get, but we did get to see the set up screens as our Activision rep went about starting the Breach and Clear mission. There are five mission menus, running Alpha through to Echo, each containing a number of levels. Each mission is customisable in terms of enemy opposition, and difficulty, with more stars being rewarded for completing each stage on harder settings – stars will then unlock new levels to play through.

The objective in Breach and Clear is simple. Breach a wall leading into a shower room, fend off the enemies and make it through to the exit at the other end. It’s clearly simpler said than done as our rep failed to make it much further than the first wall during his first two attempts. With a mission completion time goal of just 90 seconds you can get an idea of the kind of quick-fire intense experience Infinity Ward is going for with Special Ops mode. Some levels will offer a brief moment of quiet at the start, giving you time to sort out your weapon load-out, but the game mode is more or less all about instant action.

During our rep’s final, and successful attempt at the level the intensity was clear to see – playing it will no doubt be even more thrilling. The breach itself temporarily sent the game into slow motion, allowing for easy take down of the few enemies located directly ahead. Moving into the showers our rep came under extremely heavy fire, from the balcony around the edge and from the ground floor ahead. One of the new visual effects noticeable was a far improved blood splatter on the screen to indicate that the player is taking damage. When you’ve been pummeled visibility is terrible and it really adds to the intense, almost hopeless feeling of being completely outnumbered.

The scene is highly reminiscent of the shower entry shoot out in The Rock, although the entry point is from a side wall and not a drainage grate. A few minutes in what is a fairly closed room isn’t much to get a feel for Modern Warfare 2’s updated visuals, but the game clearly looks incredibly polished. There’s stuff being shot all over the place, bullet impacts causing small puffs of smoke and laser sights darting across the room. And it all runs at a silky smooth frame rate, which is another Call of Duty trademark when in the hands of Infinity Ward.

Our demo ended 91 seconds into our rep’s third attempt. Having shot down an enemy carrying a riot shield he picked it up and used it to barge through to the end of the map, down the hole in the ground and to safety. We don’t know for sure if the game mode will feature online leaderboards, but it seems highly likely given how it would greatly extend each level’s appeal. Even with just a small glimpse at one level it’s clear that many people will be spending a lot of time playing Special Ops. While campaign co-op would have been preferable for many, this is a very good alternative. Combined with a full story campaign and online competitive multiplayer, Modern Warfare 2 can’t be anything other than a smash hit. I’d bet 90 seconds of my life on it.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is due for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 10.