About the game
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a 2009 first-person shooter developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the sixth game in the Call of Duty series and the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was released worldwide on November 10, 2009, for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The campaign follows Task Force 141, a multinational special forces unit commanded by Captain Soap MacTavish, as it hunts Vladimir Makarov, leader of the Russian Ultranationalist party, while United States Army Rangers defend the Washington, D.C. area from a Russian invasion. The main playable characters are Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson of the 141 and Private James Ramirez of the Army Rangers, with MacTavish becoming playable later in the campaign.
There are three modes. Campaign is single player, with eighteen levels joined by one plot, four difficulties, and replayable levels. Spec Ops has twenty-three extra levels that can be played alone or with a partner, in five tiers that unlock as you earn stars. Multiplayer has team and deathmatch game types on many maps, with killstreaks, deathstreaks, experience points, levels, unlockable weapons and perks.
Development began in 2008, when it was still known as Call of Duty 6. It uses the IW 4.0 engine, an improved version of the one used for Call of Duty 4. Activision officially announced the game on February 11, 2009. Unlike Call of Duty 4 and World at War, it had no public multiplayer beta; it was tested in an internal beta. Infinity Ward did not make a Wii version.
The cast includes Kevin McKidd as Soap MacTavish, Craig Fairbrass as Ghost and Billy Murray as Captain Price, with Barry Pepper, Keith David and Glenn Morshower also confirmed. The rapper 50 Cent voices squad members in Special Ops and multiplayer. Hans Zimmer wrote the main theme and Lorne Balfe wrote the rest of the score. The soundtrack came out on June 1, 2010.
It shipped in four retail versions on PS3 and Xbox 360: Standard, Hardened, Veteran and Prestige. The Hardened Edition adds a steel book case, an art book and a code for Call of Duty Classic. The Prestige Edition adds working night vision goggles and a stand shaped like Soap's head. Two multiplayer map packs followed in 2010, each with five maps, called Stimulus Package and Resurgence Package.
Reviews were very strong (universal acclaim on Metacritic for the console versions). Critics praised the campaign, Spec Ops and multiplayer and criticised the short campaign and the lack of new ideas. The airport level No Russian drew wide controversy, and the game was censored in some international versions; the level was removed from the Russian version.
Activision reported about 4.7 million copies sold in the US and UK in the first 24 hours and about 310 million US dollars in first day sales in those two countries. In 2013 IGN put lifetime sales at 22.7 million. Retrospective reviews rank it among the best in the series, and its Spec Ops mode is often singled out. The campaign was remastered in 2020 for PS4, Xbox One and Windows, without multiplayer or Spec Ops.
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