It took two short years for Infinity Ward to develop another Modern Warfare game. They did a good job promoting it by including fully functional goggles in the Prestige Edition and by the constant tweets of Robert Bowling updating the status of the title. The hype surrounding Modern Warfare 2 is well-deserved after the success of the first Modern Warfare title. But does the game actually live up to the hype? We say yes even if the super short story mode makes you want to punch your own balls.

Upon starting the game, you’ll be asked if you want to play some levels in the game that may be offensive. Of course being the curious species we are, I chose “Yes” because I wanted to know what the fuss was all about regarding the terrorist level. The terrorist level is not harmful in any way; it is after all just a game. However, it can be disturbing for little kids or guys whipped by their girlfriends.

The campaign story takes place five years after the events in the first Modern Warfare game. You take on different identities in the storyline but will face the same threat. Be it militias that pop out of nowhere or terrorist groups that have concocted some super plan to take over the world. The story is surprisingly short but not as weak as you’d expect.

First objective starts out with the usual training BS on how to fire a gun, throw grenades, switch weapons, lock on targets and everything you need to help remind your muscles how to play a Call of Duty game. The controls are simple, tight and easy to learn. The button scheme is accessible and only require one press of a button to throw a grenade or a flash bang; none of that hold then release crap. The responsive controls are great considering that you need to have quick finger reflexes because of the amount of times you’ll suddenly run into an enemy face to face.

During loading times, there’s a narration of a current mission and the overall story. After a death there are quotes from famous people like JFK and Confucius but the quote selection is limited because I encountered the same JFK quote three times in two hours.

Infinity Ward paid a whole lot attention to the accuracy of the physics. You can’t explode a tank with a machine gun, vehicles that catch fire will explode and a shot fired at the leg will cause the enemy to limp around. They could've taken this attention to detail a bit further by letting steel doors fly open after shooting the lock with a rifle. It would've given players more passageways and choke points. Another notable detail in Modern Warfare 2 is the different ways your character reloads a gun. Not all rifles and shotguns reload similarly and this is depicted with accuracy in the game. For every type of gun, you reload differently.

The battlefield is pure chaos. Everything you’d expect from modern combat is here. Sometimes you can never tell where the bullets are coming from, only to find out the there are five guys shooting at you from the roof, two guys shooting from the windows and one guy charging at you. Players will find themselves in situations where they’ll panic and fire shots that hit nothing but air. I guess that’s how war is – being in the worst situation unimaginable then having to think fast about your next move. All of this detail is portrayed accurately by the visuals.

The graphics are perfect depictions of a world entrenched in war. You can see smoke from crashed helicopters from a distance and debris like newspapers fly towards the screen while you try to aim at an enemy. There are various environments like fighting militia in a maze-like shanty area, escaping from enemies in snowy terrain while riding a snowmobile, dodging enemy fire in the desert, shooting down Russian troops in a US suburban neighborhood and opening fire on civilians in an airport. The visuals are really something to marvel at but with all the hype I was expecting it to exceed the visuals of Uncharted.

The graphics seem to pixelize once you climb on ladders or hide behind broken down cars. It still has the same graphical hiccups as the first Modern Warfare. You’d think that they’d have these type of visual hiccups polished after two years. I know I’m going to take a lot of heat for this but the graphics are not as polished as you’d expect them to be. This is not necessarily a bad thing but it’s still a half-step behind Uncharted in the visuals department.

Obviously, Modern Warfare 2 is made for online multi-player gameplay. It is one of the best online experiences in gaming. The re-spawning locations make sure that you don’t spawn next to enemies. The re-spawn points change depending on where your enemies currently are which prevents cheap kills. The maps online are strategically balanced meaning that there are only a few areas where you can just sit and camp-out. Infinity Ward made sure that the maps are not camper friendly which requires players to move continuously. If you do find sweet spot for snipers, you can’t peek through scope for too long or else you’ll get popped from behind.

There are a few very minor problems with the hosting. For example, in the middle of an online game the connection will suddenly search for a new host. This only happened once and is nothing compared to the fun online experience it has to offer. To describe to you how good the match-making system is with connections, I’ll admit that my latency bar/network bar always has one red bar. This means that I have the weakest possible network connection online but so far it seems that my connection does not affect the matches I’m in. it’s been a smooth, lag-free first-person shooting experience and a really addicting one to boot.

Overall this game is candy for your hearing senses. Squad mates shout directions during missions that add excitement to the story. Aside from directions, your squad mates also ask for cover while reloading their gun or tell you where an enemy is located. All of this makes you feel part of the US Rangers. The sound is superb; explosions can be heard from a distance, militia’s shout incoherent words when they spot you and the sound of firing a gun vary from weapon to weapon.

Modern Warfare 2 is a great game that has great visuals, superb sound and tight controls. There are a few problems here and there but it doesn’t stop you from having a good time. Modern Warfare 2 will be one of the best selling games of all-time regardless of how many times I nitpick at its minor glitches. Is it one of the best games of all time? I don’t think so considering that campaign is so short that you need only five hours to finish it. But is it one of the best online multiplayer games and first-person shooters of all time? Hell yes considering the depth of weapons, rankings, maps, modes, rewards and overall lag-free experience.