Call of Duty Modern Warefare II Multiplayer Review

As I stated in my review of the campaign for Modern Warfare II, I typically don’t show up for COD to play multiplayer, I’m typically focused on the narrative and campaign. But obviously since I was reviewing this game, I of course had to give it a fair chance and put in through the ringer…or put myself through the ringer, in the process I had ALOT of fun.

This year’s iteration of multiplayer doesn’t really Re-invent the game by any means, what they did do are some minor quality of life improvements, some changes in how you play and unlock things, and a handful of new modes to explore. So, lets break these different things down.

First thing coming off my main experience with multiplayer shooters, you die REALLY fast in Modern Warfare II, a couple or sometimes single well-placed shot can take you right out of the game. So, you have to be more selective with what you do and can rarely just run into combat guns blazing, that can take some getting used to for sure. Thankfully Infinity Ward has slowed down movement and your ability to jump, slide, etc.

This was done to make the game feel less like Apex Legends and more like a war simulation. You can still maneuver around for sure, but it’s definitely more realistic and deliberate.

One of the other big features for better or worse is some changes to Gunsmith and how you are able to unlock and customize your various weapons. The changes definitely will make it longer to complete all the unlocks and get all of the things you can get. But in the process the game will make you play with different weapons all of the time, which can be fun and frustrating depending on the situation.

In the past if you found a gun that you loved you could just stick with that gun and keep playing with it to get all of the fun attachments and enhancements for it. That is out the window, you may have to play with an entirely different gun to get that sight or ammo clip that you are looking for. Which I imagine would be frustrating for the sweaty try hard bros, but I think it’s interesting having a full arsenal of weapons and attachments at my beck and call.

The variety of modes is enough to keep me entertained. I don’t see myself personally wanting to focus on one specific one, so I more often than not booted up quick play, so I was able to experience everything while playing through.

From larger maps to manage various control points, to smaller experiences where you rescue hostages, there is a lot to digest here. For the most part they are all well designed and fun to play through, with the exception of the border map (I was not a fan of that one). My personal favorite was playing through the cooperative missions, taking a buddy and figuring out the best way to tackle the various objectives in each map take time and bring a good level of replay ability that was a blast to do.

Technically speaking the game runs just fine, obviously not as polished as the campaign as expected but still looks and sounds great. The main issues I had was random disconnects and dropping out of the game. I do have a stable high speed internet connection, so the problem wasn’t on my end. However due to the massive launch this game had and the number of active players this is not surprising at all really and I am sure will only get better as time goes on.