Finished: Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2

I finally finished Modern Warfare 2 last night and I'm happily ready to go back and play through it again on the harder difficulty. The graphics were beautiful, the voice acting was awesome (I love Lance Henrikson and Keith David's deep voices), and the gameplay was superb. Even the tantilizing and thought provoking misunderstood "No Russian" terrorist level was great (I even tried to play through it without killing innocent people because it was that powerful).

Of all the first person shooting games, Infinity Ward makes the one I will always come back to. Halo and Grand Theft Auto all have their place amongst the kings of killing off digital enemies, but Call of Duty is the cream of the crop for me. It's all about precision, timing and approach. The levels are completely original, well thought out and have great dynamics. Even though it's completely narrative and linear, it's like playing through a Tom Clancy novel (which strangely enough I don't like his branded games like Rainbow Six or Splinter Cell). Maybe Infinity Ward should write books.

One of the best things they've done with the Call of Duty series is take it into the "modern" future because it makes for awesome weapons, give you a helmet with a cool HUD that gets blood spattered on it when you're hurt (instead of classic video game beeping and warning lights) and just makes the game feel more real. I'm sorry I can't find the right words to describe it now.

We write a lot about Call of Duty on this site and for good reason. It's a top 10 favorite for two of us and for some reason never gets old. I hope to get another two years out of this Call of Duty and through in some Halo ODST and maybe some other games for the next few months while I go on a game buying hiatus.

So here's to Infinity Ward and Call of Duty for taking me out through the end of the year!