Great explosive campaign. Spec ops is a lot of fun. Multiplayer is addictive but sadly very limited.
Technically the game boast an slightly updated engine. The game boast better texture streaming and specular map lighting. Even with the updates made though it's still sub-par technically to many games out there. but you don't buy a Call of Duty game for the visual aspect. I have to point out the animations for Modern Warfare 2 are some of the best I've ever seen and they add to the presentation making you forget this game technologies are slightly outdated. Despite it's average technical demands Call of Duty has been a very stable game so far.
The campaign continues 5 years after Modern Warfare... it's a bit convoluted and some of the plot element barely make any sense. But that doesn't really matter a whole lot. the action is tight and levels are pretty well made. some level are annoyingly difficult on harder difficulties but they don't take out from the overall experience. If you liked the first Modern Warfare campaign than you'll love this one as it builds up on the elements that made the first one the jewel it was.
the spec ops mode is a nice addition to the game. it's a series of challenges putting you in levels from the Modern Warfare 1 and 2. the mission types are varied and some are simply flash of genius. however the mode lacks an option to find partner so you will need to organize with a friend outside the game. This mode offers a welcome change of pace and allows you to replay some of the great moment from both campaigns in ways that will surprise you.
While the campaign and Spec ops are very well made. the online multiplayer is bittersweet. If you like the Multiplayer gameplay of the first Modern Warfare you'll like this one plain and simple. you find your classic modes, team deathmatch, FFA, domination, sabotage and so on. there's more gun, more perks, more add-ons and a greater feeling of achievement in this edition. But sadly Infinity Ward decided to replace their Dedicated server setup in favor of a matchmaking P2P backend called IWnet. It's dissapointing to say the least. I went into IWnet with an open mind and with the notion that more features would eventually come. sadly nothing yet...
The experience with IWnet offers you 2 options, either find match or private game. find match will let select a mode you want to play and place you with the nearest available group it can find for that mode. you cannot choose which map you want to play or with who you will play. I'm in Montreal, Canada finding a game takes on average 2 to 5 seconds and so far the only advantage to IWnet i can find is that you get into "full" games faster. However latency will generally hover around 120 to 250 ms (millisecond, the time it takes for data transfer between my computer and the host player), at best it will be below 100ms and at worst around 500 to 900 ms making some games unplayable. After 3 weeks VAC (Valve anti-cheats) hacks are now rampant and the majority of games available will have somebody using said hacks (wheter it's an ESP/Wall hack or aimbot) they reduce the entire experience to pure rage. whereas before well administered server kept hackers at bays very well and even more infuriating when you consider IWnet main selling point was cheat prevention.
The multiplayer overall "experience" is a pale shadow of what Modern Warfare offered PC gamers. After 3 weeks in modern warfare i had a dozen very good servers in my favorite list. I knew the people playing those servers and the server physical location and that made for some very competitive matches and nice discussions. i could also play the maps i wanted to play. latency was under 50ms (the ideal level). while it took a little more time to connect and some server were at half their capacities and some point of the day. While IWnet matchmaking is robust and works well most of the time, it's hard for me to figure out they could not simply implement it over their current system. Valve did it very well for left 4 dead.
All things considered the game is fun but could've been much much more than it currently is. I consider IWnet a failed experiment. it doesn't offer more to gamers and creates a host of very serious problems ranging from high latency, to lack of options and community to cheaters. If you were looking for a multiplayer experience on par with Modern Warfare, then don't bother you'll end up disappointed and wishing for more in the end