Overview

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 the sequel to Call of Duty 4. Both games were developed by Infinity Ward. The game is a first-person shooter which allows the player to play through the eyes of a soldier, similar to the other games in this franchise. Modern Warfare 2 offers a campaign mode that continues the story in Call of Duty 4. It also offers an online multiplayer which the game is primarily known for. There is a new mode called Spec-ops.

Campaign

Characters

Private First Class Joseph Allen:
Allen is a U.S. Army Ranger who helps take control of a city in Afghanistan from militants. Impressed, General Shepard makes him a CIA officer and his task is to go undercover and get close to Vladimir Makarov.

Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson:
Roach is a member of the Task Force 141 and is the character the player controls throughout most of the campaign.

Private James Ramirez:
Ramirez is a member of the 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment, which is stationed in the U.S.

Captain “Soap” MacTavish:
Soap is the superior officer of Roach in the Task Force 141. In Call of Duty 4, Soap was the character who the player controlled for the majority of the campaign.

Story

After Allen is assigned to be Makarovr’s “best friend” for a CIA mission, he takes part in a massacre at a Russian airport with Makarov and his friends to continue to hide his identity. However, Makarov already knows that Allen is a CIA agent and kills him in the airport. Once the police find Allen’s body at the scene of the massacre, they assume it was an American-supported terrorist attack. All of Russia calls for war against the U.S. Russia quickly invades the U.S. and takes control of Washington D.C. Eventually, the U.S. Army takes back the capital. Meanwhile, the Task Force 141 is busy hunting down clues to the whereabouts of Makarov. They go to Brazil and learn the location of one of Makarov’s most hated enemies. The Task Force 141 goes to a Russian gulag to free Makarov’s enemy, who turns out to be Captain Price. After Price agrees to help Task Force 141, he hijacks a Russian submarine and launches an ICBM at Washington D.C. Instead of hitting the capital, the ICBM was rigged to explode in the upper atmosphere. This still cripples the electronics in the area and the Air Force decides to bomb the area, assuming that the city is lost. Foley and his squad manage to set off green flares at the top of the White House to call of the bombing. Task Force 141 splits up to find Makarov in two selected locations. Roach and Ghost find vital intelligence on Makarov, but General Shepherd betrays Task Force 141 and kills both Roach and Ghost. After Soap and Price learn of this betrayal, they hunt Shepherd down and are able to stop him.

Multiplayer

Modern Warfare 2 allows players to compete against other players in a variety of game modes. In Team Deathmatch, a team wins by killing seventy-five players on the other team. Another mode is Search and Destroy where one team has to try and rig a bomb in one of three locations while the other team has to try and stop them. These games modes are played on sixteen different maps ranging from the cliffy Afghan map to the snow-covered Derailed map. As players score points, their level increases, which unlocks more weapons, equipment, and perks for custom classes.

Secondary Weapons

Machine Pistols:
Machine pistols are fully automatic side arms that are used best at close range.

Handguns:
The handguns are similar to the machine pistols, except they are semi-automatic rather than fully automatic. While losing rate of fire, they are more accurate than the machine pistols.

Shotguns:
Shotguns are weapons that deal heavy damage at close range, but are almost useless at further distances.

Launchers:
Launchers fire explosive projectiles which are used to kill groups of enemies and destroy vehicles such as the helicopter.

Equipment

Explosives make up the majority of the equipment category. This category also contains throwing knives and tactical insertions, which allow players to choose where they respawn.

Streaks

There are two types of streaks in Modern Warfare 2, killstreaks and deathstreaks. As players kill other players without dying, they are awarded bonuses to use as they continue on their spree. The more kills they get, the better the bonus. A seven killstreak lets the player call in an attack helicopter. By getting eleven kills without dying, a player can control the gun of an AC130 gunship. If a player manages to get a twenty-five killstreak, they are awarded a tactical nuke, which instantly grants them and their team a victory. Deathstreaks are awarded to players who die three or more time without killing another player.

Sergeant Foley:
Foley is the squad leader of Allen, and later Ramirez.

Sergeant Simon Riley:
Riley is a member of the Task Force 141 who goes by the codename “Ghost”.

General Shepherd:
Shepherd is the commander of the Task Force 141 and the U.S. Army Rangers.

Vladimir Makarov:
Makarov is the antagonist of the game. He is a former lieutenant of Imran Zachaev, the antagonist of Call of Duty 4.

Spec-ops

Spec-ops is a game mode to the Call of Duty franchise. It offers different types of missions that can be played alone or with another player. Missions range from quietly sniping enemies and avoid being spotted to defending one’s partner with an AC130 gunship. The missions are separated into the groups Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. The difficulty of the missions changes as the groups change.

Custom Classes

Players are able to create custom load outs to use in multiplayer. They can choose their primary weapon, secondary weapon, attachments, camouflage, equipment, and perks.

Primary Weapons

Assault Rifles:
Assault rifles are the standard guns in the game. They offer strong damage, decent sized magazines, and an average rate of fire. They can also be equipped with many attachments.

Submachine Guns:
Submachine guns are smaller than assault rifles and are used for medium to close range. Their size makes them easier to carry, allowing the player to move faster. They also have a high rate of fire.

Light Machine Guns:
Light machine guns are heavy, fully automatic weapons that can suppress enemies from a distance. Due to their large size, the player cannot move as fast with them as other types of guns.

Sniper Rifles:
Sniper Rifles are used to pick an enemy off in the distance. They are either semi-automatic or bolt action, making them unreliable in close quarters.

Riot Shield:
The riot shield can be used to deflect bullets in front of a player and reduces explosive damage. It can also be placed on a player’s back to offer protection from behind and allowing the player to use a secondary weapon.

Perks

In addition to weapons, a player can make a class more unique through the use of different perks. The three groups of perks are blue, red, and green. Each group contains five to six perks and only one perk from each group can be chosen. Some perks offer increased weapon damage, such as Stopping Power, while perks like Bling allow a player to equip two attachments on a gun. The more players use certain perks, the more challenges they complete for that perk. Once enough challenges are complete for a perk, the pro-version of the perk is unlocked, adding an extra bonus.