Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 really is one of the best video games released all year. Naysayers may point out at this stage that 2009 hasn't exactly been a banner year for the gaming industry. But consider the obstacles Modern Warfare 2 has to conquer.

This is largely due to the fact that Infinity Ward has managed to craft a game which perfectly balances the inclusion of some fantastic new features with the maintenance of everything that worked in the first Modern Warfare installment (COD4) in terms of its core game play experience. The control system is smooth and intuitively mapped to the controllers. The visuals have been given a polish and the frame rate is excellent. The sound effects remain largely unchanged from COD4, but this is by no means a bad thing when one considers how integral to the in-game experience they are. The weapons feel weighty and give a satisfying kick depending on their size. Overall, the experience of playing Modern Warfare 2 is very similar to COD4; Infinity Ward hurl everything at the player including the kitchen sink and the result is a white-knuckled, visceral shooter which hits the player at gut-level throughout its entire duration. The sense of a world that exists outside the game is obliterated by the firefights onscreen. The player is both thrilled and disorientated by the constant pace of the action which comes so thick and fast that the player really does feel that death (or at least game over) could come at any second. It's in this way that Modern Warfare 2, more than any other shooter in the market, both challenges the player's reflexes and accuracy while at the same time engaging their primal need for survival. It all adds up to some of the best shooter action money can buy.

Modern Warfare 2 contains three main modes: campaign, multi player and special ops. The first two are fairly self-explanatory, while the third is a new feature. Modern Warfare 2's campaign kicks off with a couple of brief tutorials to familiarize players with the controls. It then plunges them headlong into the game's story, which, without giving too many plot details away, takes the ingredients from COD4's campaign (overlapping narratives and missions being undertaken by US armed forces and the British SAS), adds more twists and turns than a spaghetti junction and then ramps up the testosterone to unimaginable levels. It should pointed out at this stage that, when considered from a reasonable, real-world perspective, the story of Modern Warfare 2 is utterly ridiculous and its plot has more holes in it than a hunk of swiss cheese. But then, the game's story exists merely as an excuse to hang action set pieces on, and in this regard it's an unqualified success, mainly because Infinity Ward's level design is peerless

Aside from the aforementioned excellent game play, the developers pack the missions with epic set pieces, breakneck tension, scenes which garner reactions of shock and awe and more than a few moments which will that prompt audible gasps from anyone watching or playing the game. There simply isn't a mission that goes by which doesn't succeed in nailing the player's jaw to the floor. There are, it has to be said, more than a few of scenes of disturbing violence which have the power to unsettle players – the footage that has already been leaked is probably the most obvious (but not the last) example of this. But these scenes are meant to have this effect within the context of the plot. Despite the silly extremes of certain plot developments, there is a serious undercurrent to the campaign's story which not only takes a hard unblinking look at the destabilizing effects of armed conflict but also the fact that some of the people who operate within that environment exhibit a fish-eyed pragmatism which belies their brutal nature. The extremes to which some of the characters – even those with less questionable motives – go in order to accomplish their goals would mark them out as sociopaths in any other context. Modern Warfare 2 may toss a large chunk of reality into the rubbish skip in terms of its story, but it nails the motives of its protagonists to the wall.

Depending on their accuracy, players will probably finish off the campaign in around six to eight hours, and although they'll probably play it through more than once, the game's online multi player mode is where its true longevity lies. Once again, Infinity Ward have kept the nuts and bolts of their multi player intact, while adding in some new features that are sure to delight the faithful. The RPG/perk reward system remains the same and with players advancing through the ranks depending on their abilities and gaining experience points with each battle. There are new Kill-streak rewards which unlock weapons drops and air strikes – which are always handy in a firefight – and players also have the option of customizing their Kill-streaks, which allows them to unlock more advantages and battle assets. This customization, however, remains balanced; players aren't able to rain down drone attacks after just a couple of kills. There's also the new Death-streak feature which helps out the less accurate players (like me) with 'rewards' such as the ability to steel your killer's military class and weapons.