Video games: 'Modern Warfare 2' is the real deal

Hours after playing through the single-player campaign mode of "Modern Warfare 2," my lips still hurt. It's from clenching them so tightly while shooting my way through some of the most intense and brutally realistic military combat I've ever experienced in a video game.

I play video games in my home theater -- a 100-inch screen with full surround sound -- so "Modern Warfare 2" provided a completely immersive experience. And let me tell you: The soundscape of the latest entry in the hugely popular "Call of Duty" series is out of this world. It's an essential component of fighting your way through chaotic scenes where you're not really sure who's the enemy amid screams and gunfire coming from all around.

When spattered blood obscures your on-screen vision and your virtual ears start ringing -- coupled with your quickening heart rate and shortened breathing in the real world -- it feels as if you're actually there. The Mature-rated game is the closest I ever want to come to fighting in a war.

There are some cool ways to break up the shooting in the game's solo outing, including all-too-brief mountain climbing and snowmobiling, but not enough of them. "Modern Warfare 2" is a shooter through and through -- no surprise there.

The incredibly lame and short story -- involving the hunt for a Russian terrorist -- is a surprise, though. Clichéd voice-overs (example: "History is written by the victor," repeated) and disjointed plot machinations aren't just nits; they're the game's biggest liability. The weak story and its presentation are especially glaring coming right after "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves," a recent hybrid shooter for the PlayStation 3 whose extensive plot is so sharp that the game plays just as well as a movie.

And the controversial scene where civilians in an airport are targeted by a terrorist group that your character has infiltrated (with little exposition)? Yes, it's disturbing, but the plot bails on it, as well.

In pre-release hype, the episode was presented as some huge moral decision for the player. Do you join in on the slaughter, or do you blow your cover by not participating or by trying to take down the terrorists? There's no decision at all. If you try to shoot anyone in the gang, you're instantly killed by the leader as a traitor. If you opt not to shoot any civilians, you'll still progress through the level. The results are no different. So where's the moral dilemma?

Players who don't want to witness the carnage are given the option of skipping the episode altogether.

But besides the realism, players are targeting "Modern Warfare 2" because of its intense multiplayer action, in which up to 18 players can square off against and with one another online. Players can earn better weapons and other abilities through experience and by compiling "kill streaks." And there are the usual variations in multiplayer play, including capture the flag and a free-for-all in which it's every soldier for himself. There's even a new co-op mode in which just two players work their way through specialized missions.

Although multiplayer game play is the focus of "Modern Warfare 2," I wish developer Infinity Ward had spent more time making the one-player experience memorable beyond the outstanding in-game action. Then the game would be perfect.

Randy A. Salas • 612-673-4542