Infinity Ward has a seemingly impossible task in front of them. When Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare hit, it quickly became a huge success. It was a best-selling game and rivaled the likes of Halo 3 in online multiplayer. When its sequel was announced, hype quickly swelled around it. As always, you can't make the same exact gaming experience. It has to be better than the original. Anything less would look like a failure in the eyes of gamers. Well, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is out and already it has broken sales records. But is spending your money on it actually worth it?

The short answer to that is yes. All of what you loved about Call of Duty 4 is there and they have added much more content that makes it feel more substantial that just a slew of DLC packs.

The story of Modern Warfare 2 is even better that its predecessor. Taking place five years after the events of Call of Duty 4, the Ultranationalists have taken over Russia led by one of Imran Zakhaev's former lieutenants: Vladimir Makarov. As he launches a wave of brutal terrorist attacks, you assume control of multiple military operatives and try to turn the tide of this new war. You travel around the world to places such as Brazil, prison gulags, and even a war-torn Washington D.C. The scope of this story is much more engaging than that of the first one. There are even more sequences that feel more cinematic in nature and even more jaw-dropping than anything that happened in the first game. I will say that there was at least one mission ending that I played three times just to make sure that it really happened. And since then, I have watched the end of the same mission multiple times on YouTube. And no, it's not the infamous Russian Airport mission.

As much controversy that is swirling around this mission, it goes without saying that it has sparked some debate. But that is probably due to the fact that news outlets have picked up on it. While I would like to say that this mission is a crucial mission to the gameplay, it pretty much left me with more of an: "Eh" feeling. While this mission does prove to be the catalyst that sets the campaign in motion, the amount of violence in it really should not upset many of the mature gamers (You know; the 17 and up audience that SHOULD be playing the game and not 12-year-olds.). In an era of GTA where you can wipe out an entire city-block, run over countless of respawing civilians and gun down tons of police officers, Modern Warfare 2 seems tame in comparison. Even though it is a mission you can skip, Infinity Ward did not hold back with the imagery you see in it and this is mainly due to the fact that you can't run through the civilian killing part of it. You must slowly chug through the airport as you see many dead civilians on the floor or crawling on the ground trying to find some bastion of safety.

While this is perhaps the better storyline of the two games, Modern Warfare 2's storytelling is not all there. It is actually quite the let down. Modern Warfare 2 does not have too many parts where you can just stop playing and watch as events unfold and that is a shame. The storytelling events try and take place during load screens before missions, but that is just usually filled with holographic maps and GPS locations of the next operative you will assume control of and it just doesn't deliver that same way a cinematic cut scene can. It doesn't leave an impact with you by just seeing blips on a map.

The controls for Modern Warfare 2 are tight and very responsive. The shooting mechanics are incredible. Even for gamers new to shooters, they will feel very comfortable using them. One of the greatest mechanics this game possesses is the down the scope feature. Not only does it zoom in for a better firing position but if it close to a target it will automatically latch onto it making it prime for firing. When I first used this in the first game it made hitting my targets much more easy and it is something greatly needed in this game.

This game bolsters that it is one of the most realistic shooters out there, so you won't be battling bright blue aliens clearly distinguishable from your human allies. Unfortunately you will be up against people that at times will look like shades of brown and shadowy silhouettes. When I first played Modern Warfare, I lost several times mainly due to friendly fire. It sometimes gets frustrating not knowing when to fire. One second of hesitation and an enemy will unload half a clip into you.