Games

Poised to be the biggest game of 2009 and predicted to break all videogame sales records for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 with healthy PC sales too, Infinity Ward’s sequel to critically acclaimed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has completed its two year journey to completion and deployment. Should you join the fight and buy into the hype overload for this highly anticipated shooter? Heck yes you should; in fact, start making plans for the midnight release or first available opportunity to drop £40 on it immediately.

Set not long after the original Modern Warfare, the sequel begins with a bombardment of intel to bring you up to speed on the world’s current events. Russian Ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev has been turned into a martyr by an even more dangerous associate after his death, Vladimir Makarov. He has taken over leadership of the radical group and garnered plenty of support for his cause. His influence is global, and his hatred for America and its allies is no secret. To counter Makarov’s nefarious plans, Allied nations have created an elite task force known simply as ‘141′ to take him down.

Special Ops is a new mode to the Modern Warfare / Call of Duty franchise that feels like a new game within a game. It has its own independent missions – with shared environments from the campaign – which can be played solo or cooperatively with a mate. There are four separate groups of missions: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Each offers multiple scenarios of difficulty and tasks. One of the first is simply defending a position with only a sniper rifle, claymore explosives, and a Predator drone to repel wave after wave of enemy reinforcements. The result is instant gratification of seeing how long you can last and is an absolute blast to play. Stars are awarded based on the outcome and are collected to unlock the next Special Ops mission to keep a high replay value alive.

Turn up your 5.1 surround sound because you cannot get any closer to real war than this. Highlighted by a Hans Zimmer score, explosions threaten to melt your subwoofer as bullets and soldier chatter draw you deeper into the experience. The stellar audio also works extremely well for drowning out your myriad of curse words as you realize you have been flanked or fragged yet again. Modern Warfare set a bar for gaming audio excellence and its sequel rightfully raises it.