BinaryMessiah Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered Campaign Review

Well, what a treat! Modern Warfare 2 is considered the best game in the earlier series and the campaign was most definitely the best and the most memorable. The game takes place right after the end of the first game with the Russians invading the United States for World War III. You play as various soldiers in this war and bounce back and forth trying to stop the bad guy, Makarov, but the story takes a crazy twist at the last mission. The question here is there anyone asking for these games to be remastered? Most people usually only stick around for multiplayer and it’s rather strange to only remaster the campaign and release the multiplayer section later. Most Call of Duty players skip the campaign and only bother with multiplayer, and it’s not like the Call of Duty campaigns are anything to write home about. Sure, they’re entertaining and exciting, but they don’t last long and the story is a trite modern military train of nonsense, so who is this game for? That’s will be hard to answer, but I’m one of the few who play the campaign first and usually go back for seconds later on. I played the original on Xbox 360 and spent more time in this game’s multiplayer than any other in the series. The maps were perfectly created, the balance was fantastic, but it’s long dead now so all we have is this campaign. Thankfully it’s only $20 as you get about 4 hours of gameplay out of it. It’s literally fun for an evening and it’s over. The game does have some crazy scenes like seeing a nuke detonate from space and the battle in Washington DC through the White House is pretty awesome. There are more stealth missions with Captain Price this time around, and overall we get a good range of different types of action. The boots on the ground mowing down enemies type, the special ops missions, then the stealth missions. What I would have liked to see is more on-rails stuff. There are a couple of chase scenes in the game and one helicopter ride in which you get to snipe enemies, but I wanted more of these. They’re exciting and just a lot of mindless fun. I did find the game’s difficulty poorly balanced as I’d blow through a couple of missions and then die over and over in one spot particularly as Roach in the U.S. Marine levels. There are wide-open areas and they usually have you running around trying to take down vehicles and large waves of enemies. There is never a dull moment however and I had a blast through the whole thing, but it does feel shorter than the first game. The infamous and controversial “No Russian” mission is present but allows players to skip this level entirely. While at the time of release it may not have seemed like such a big deal, but mowing down people in an airport as part of a terrorist attack is all too real these days and there are thousands of people in the US who have fallen victim to shootings or have been near one and it can be a seriously sensitive topic, so good on Beenox for adding this option. The visuals are amazing using modern techniques to make the game look like it was made and released today. Fantastic lighting, textures, models, and other effects that PC gamers will love. It runs flawlessly without a hitch and everything moment was a blast. I will say that there is no reason to go back however and that’s going to be the deciding factor for people. There’s zero replay value here as Battle dot net doesn’t have an achievement system and while you can find 45 different intel laptops…what’s the point? There’s no reward for doing so and there are no extra modes either. There’s a neat little museum mode that lets you see various panoramas of each level, but there’s nothing to do besides pressing a button and having all the character models jump at you and attack. It’s neat but seriously pointless that no one will probably bother exploring. Overall, Modern Ware 2 Campaign Remastered is a blast while it lasts. It’s only 4 hours long with no replay value, extra modes, or a reason to even go back. It’s a game you go back and play every 5-10 years for nostalgia and that’s it. Newcomers will have a blast and may play through a second time, but that’s all your $20 is going to give you: One fun evening. The visuals are fantastic and look amazing, but that’s about it here. It really is the best campaign of the early trilogy, but what does that mean to anyone? I guess it depends on how much you love linear shooters.