Save the Burger World!

Like it's predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is not a very long ride, but I'd gladly stand in line again for another go. With this franchise, it's all about the total package; the multi-player, the co-op, special ops, etc. But at the end of the day, it's the story mode that has to sell the game. Soap and McTavish are back to provide some continuity with the previous installment and the look and feel are largely the same (though noticeably improved.) The missions are uber-tense and deliberately distracting to keep one from rummaging around too much for those elusive collectibles. Having said that, there is still a little something missing. . .

In Battlefield Bad Company, we were accompanied throughout the game by Redfern, Sweetwater, and Haggard and got to know them; Redfern looked forward to retirement and marlin fishing, Sweetwater planned to attend college and Haggard had his dream of owning a monster truck ("Truck-O-Saurus") We were often amused by their banter and worried for their safety during the parts of the game when separated. In CODMW2, I didn't feel any of that relationship with the cohorts. It's perhaps a minor quibble, but a matter of substance.

Still, there's plenty to love in this installment to be sure. I love a good sniper rifle and the piece you get to use in this game with the IR scope is pretty sweet. The requisite vehicle forays are typically fast and frenetic but thankfully SixAxis-Free. I don't know what it is, but except for Flower, developers just don't seem to have a good idea of how to use the Sony SixAxis as a steering device.

I look forward to the next Call of Duty venture, but next time I'd be interested in it having a little more heart.