Good game, but severely hyped.
I've been playing modern warfare for a couple of hours now, and this is my first impression. The graphics are good, and the environment looks nicely well done. The cut scenes when you're in a helicopter look excellent. The weaponry is fun for the COD series, and is a nice change than using a M1 or Tommy gun. Thus, playing modern warfare is a nice change for a first person shooter that is often WW2 based in this series.
With that being said, the game doesn't offer a lot in originality. It still feels very much like a COD game, and depending on your position of playing the same game with a new title will change your perspective on it. The AI behave very much like the other COD AI, and doesn't seem like there has been any improvement. This is also the same with your "team mates" and as a result you don't feel very connected to your squad. Thus, it feels like you played the game that's been glossed over with new environments. Your life meter is highly forgiving and it's now your basic get shot and wait until you're healed. What is missing in this is what has always been missing – being able to cover and peek. I don't know how many times I've been shot simply because I can't angle a corner properly.
As I said before, it feels and acts very much like previous COD games and as a result after you get over shooting a round or two from a M4, then it'll feel your right back playing COD 3, or even finest hour. With that being said, I must add the fact that they added blood, but this feature doesn't make the game seem any more realistic. However, with that being said, what I do like about the game is when your enemies are injured they will crawl away and fire back at you. Hence, they are still dangerous and you want to make sure they aren't moving. That's nice.
If you're a fan of the COD series, then you'll enjoy the game and the sense that you've played the game before. If you haven't liked previous COD series games, and thinking about picking up this game, then you'll probably be disappointed simply because its basically the same game with some minor details changes; instead of ww2 uniforms you have modern uniforms – big deal! Instead of firing at hundreds of Nazi's you'll shoot Arabs who act just like Nazi's. Thus, this game at least for me seems like I've done it all before and if you're not a fan of the series, then you'll get the same impression. In all, it's a good game equivalent to its predecessors, but hardly goes beyond them.