Modern Warfare 2: Review Round-up

It’s Modern Warfare 2. It is, hyperbole aside, the most anticipated game of 2009. But is it any good? The review embargo for Infinity Ward’s shooter is still ten hours away, but some naughty websites and newspapers have already published their verdicts. Will any review anywhere stop anybody buying it? Well, OBVIOUSLY NOT. But just for the hell of it, let’s take a look at what the first reviews are saying:

The Guardian (full review here) was first to break the embargo, yet Activision’s rage may be quelled by a glowing review from the lefty UK newspaper:

“All in all, MW2 is exactly what fans were expecting. Yes, it carries a hefty price-tag, a shortish single player campaign and only adds a handful of genuinely new elements to the prequel, but you won’t find a more polished, intelligent FPS this year.”
5 / 5

The Telegraph (full review here) followed the Guardian’s lead shortly after, and – wow! – also loved it. This review round-up is turning out to be highly unsurprising:

“All told, Modern Warfare 2 crosses into the must-have category of video games effortlessly. It offers an unmatched shooter experience, a compelling story mode, a slick package of mini missions and a multiplayer which is pretty much unparalleled in depth.”
10 / 10

Fortunately, JustPushStart (full review here) granted the game a score that fell just short of perfect:

“It is indeed a Game of the Year contender, and is clearly the best shooter of 2009. With that being said, Modern Warfare 2 is not a perfect game, but many improvements were made and it is better than its predecessor.”
4.5 / 5

So OMG, surprise, Modern Warfare 2 seems to be really great, but let’s end this post with a thudding dose of reality from the Twitter feed of the Guardian’s Charlie Brooker:

“In summary: it’s very good, but it’s not the flippin’ messiah or anything. And it has the intellectual depth of Die Hard 4.”

‘Atta guy, Charlie. I think it would do us all well to remember the above statement in the coming weeks.