Best of 2009: Modern Warfare 2

Honestly, I don't know what to write about Modern Warfare 2.  The now "Call of Duty"-less franchise pretty much speaks for itself.  If you don't know what this game is all about, then you probably don't care enough to have me explain it to you.  And the rest of you already know.  I wouldn't be surprised if you were reading this while waiting for the next round of Headquarters to load up.  Still, I might as well talk about some of my personal thoughts on this enormously popular sequel.

The multiplayer is solid.  But I don't really care about multiplayer in almost any game.  That stuff is rarely for me.  The fact that I want to play competitive multiplayer in Modern Warfare 2 at all is a testament in itself as to how good it is.  Unfortunately, I'm not very good at it.  I'll play it in short spurts, rack up a bunch of deaths, occasionally see my rank go up, and then call it a night.  Still, nothing can top the disbelief I felt when someone on my team actually killed enough guys to drop the nuclear bomb.  I guess it's not so rare anymore, but that first time was pretty crazy.  There's also a co-op mode that's supposed to be really good, but I haven't actually played any of it, so I can't really speak about that at all.

So let's talk about the story.  I'm not going to go into spoilers, but I thought it was pretty awesome.  I also thought it was incredibly ridiculous.  It's been said a thousand times already, but Modern Warfare 2 abandons the almost feasible story elements of Modern Warfare and goes for a completely insane Red Dawn scenario.  Add to that a whole bunch of confusing stuff with your British counterparts, and you've got an almost incomprehensible plot.  However, Infinity Ward can immerse you in a game almost unlike anyone else, so you don't care that none of this really makes any sense.  You care about the dudes trying to kill you as you race through the streets of Rio and pray you get to the chopper on time.  You care about surviving the snowmobile chase.  You care about working your way through Afghanistan while both sides of a conflict are out for your blood.  And you care that Soap MacTavish is one of the biggest badasses that's ever been put on your screen.  While Modern Warfare 2 may not have the same impact and game-changing effects as its predecessor, it still packs one heck of a punch and is one incredible ride from start to finish.