Yes, it took me this long to write a review for Modern Warfare 2. And I'll tell you, it's not because I hadn't finished the campaign (which I did two days after its release), and it's not as though it took me this long to get to the online level cap (that took about a month). And it's also not just because I was too lazy (though that was certainly a contributing factor). Mainly, the reason I haven't yet written a proper critique of the game is because my opinions of it have swayed so rapidly on each play, so that one day I would be completely in love, and the next day I would get so frustrated I found myself wishing I had never purchased a copy. I thought sooner or later I would get a more conclusive, permanent picture of whether or not I really liked the game. As months went by, I realized how wrong I was.

My wavering opinions of the game aren't going anywhere, and I'm sure the massive CoD fanbase shares that sentiment. The game, or at the least the multiplayer, makes sure that people are always either overjoyed or pissed off in equal fashion. That's probably not exactly what Infinity Ward wanted, and it's definitely not what I wanted, but when you have to make a multiplayer offering as huge as the series has been in the past, I sure as hell wouldn't expect it to be perfect. So yes, there are major balancing issues, and an unwelcome amount of douchebaggery. And the single-player isn't perfect either. But what Infinity Ward HAS done is astounding when I looked at it this way: No matter how mad I get at the game, and no matter how much I realize it's practically PLAGUED with issues, I can't stop coming back. And clearly, I'm not alone there either. Now that is an impressive phenomenon.

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AT A GLANCE:

WHAT IT IS: Shoot bad guys in this astonishingly popular military first-person shooter, taking on the usual America/Europe-hating fodder in single-player, and an endless amount of pissed off dudes online.

WHAT YOU'LL LIKE: Action-packed campaign, special ops mode, beautiful graphics, tons of guns, and a truly massive amount of addictive competitive multiplayer content.

WHAT YOU WON'T LIKE: Major balancing issues and tons of jerks online, the uncanny single-player AI and the memorization needed to defeat them on veteran.

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When the first Modern Warfare hit shelves in late 2007, my main intention was to play only the single-player, and maybe fool around with the multiplayer a little bit afterwards. That's not really how it turned out, as I couldn't stop playing online after beginning. I had always been a solo-game kind of person, and Call of Duty quickly changed that. As such, when Modern Warfare 2 was announced, my intentions were quite shifted from the first time around: I was now in it mostly for the multiplayer, but I would definitely start out plowing through the campaign.   It's a good thing I decided to focus on the online more, because it turns out that, while really good, the campaign isn't quite as mind-blowingly awesome as the first game's.  What I immediately appreciated about the campaign is that it doesn't forget about Call of Duty 4's storyline - it continues it. It's always fun to see old characters return, and it really leaves an impact here. However, the actual plotline is a little sketchy. I found it far too difficult to follow, to the point of just skipping the cutscenes partway through. Most of the time I had no idea why I was fighting these missions, only informed with brief "find this guy" messages or whatnot on the pause screen. Because of this, some of the biggest moments lose their emotional effectiveness due to the confusing nature of the story. Whereas the story and gameplay in the first game were blended perfectly, each being in aid to the other, the story in MW2 felt to me as ONLY an excuse to put you in awesome battle scenes, and nothing more. It tries for depth, but ends up tangling players in a web of characters, goals, and motivations.

The epic battle scenes are the star of the campaign show this time around, since the story doesn't keep up, so it's a relief that the gameplay and set pieces are awesome throughout the campaign. There's always some kind of intense twist around the corner, and the environments are quite varied throughout, and almost always a sight to behold. A Middle Eastern school, oil rig out at sea, Russian Gulag, dessert cave, and Rio's Favelas are some examples. Sure, you get sent back to the Favelas and the American neighborhood for more than one mission, but to complain about that would be really finicky when the variety is already so good. The graphics are immediately and consistently some of the best you can see on the 360 (and it's still an incredibly good-looking game on PS3 as well). I was surprised by how good Call of Duty 4 looked when it came out, and Modern Warfare 2 blows those visuals out of the water, online and off. There is always more stuff going on at any moment in the single-player due to the amount of enemies, so the graphics shine the brightest during the campaign. The music is also some of the best in gaming, which is no surprise given the intense score was composed by Hans Zimmer, who did the music for such movies as The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Pearl Harbor, and the Lion King - yeah, that's a pretty good resume. And Mr. Zimmer does a surprisingly good job with a video game score, which I was a bit less confident he would be able to pull off to his usual standards: yet he pulls it off with aplomb.

The stunning graphics, epic music, excellent voice acting, well-made animations, and the same lightning fast Call of Duty gameplay come together to grab that elusive and always-sought-after cinematic feel, which shouldn't surprise anyone given the developer's past. The pacing may be all over the place compared to other expertly made shooters like Bioshock and CoD 4, but as usual, the action is such a blast that it barely matters, and will keep any action fan entertained until the end. It's a really great campaign, but it's not the best campaign out there for a few reasons. Infinity Ward actively sought to get rid of one aspect that annoyed people about the previous entries in the series: the infinitely spawning enemies, who won't stop coming until you move ahead a certain distance.  Now, there is always a limited number of enemies in the environment, but in order to keep the challenge at the same level, the developers amped up the AI a lot more. The result are bad guys who can seemingly sense your presence before you arrive, and will all attempt to shoot you the exact second you pop into view. On hardened and veteran difficulties, this becomes the definition of annoying. The only way around this is memorizing every enemy position and quickly locking onto them before they can kill you (which on veteran only takes a couple shots). Whereas veteran difficulty was genuinely challenging in CoD 4, the difficulty here feels artificial. I wouldn't even call it challenging - since trial and error is key, it's just time-consuming. I would have preferred the endless waves to this alternative.

So, in order to close off my opinions on the campaign on a good note (to emphasize that it is still definitely worth playing), I'll just say that the set-pieces in this game are crazy, and many of them surpass the awesomeness of those that dropped jaws in the first Modern Warfare. The entirety of the level titled 'Second Sun' is probably my favorite, since it starts with a bang, and doesn't let up until the end. The ending of the game is also incredibly badass, though I could do without the cliffhanger sequel setup. There are a couple of vehicle segments, a snowmobile escape and a boat chase - both which add some well-controlling, high-speed chaos to the mix, which is definitely welcome. While there isn't a stealth section as incredible as 'All Ghillied Up', there are a few sneaky moments which function just as well as ever. Oh, and then there's the infamous airport scene, which seemingly every reviewer on the face of the planet has an opinion on. I truly couldn't care less about the controversy. It was probably a bid to make the game feel more edgy and hardcore to players, and to drum up hype. Let's just say I don't believe that the game was leaked without the knowledge of Infinity Ward. In the game, it may establish the Russian Makarov as the villian, but that didn't help make the plot any better. And it's just not that fun to play, since the initial assault forces you to move at very sluggish speeds. I think the level is an interesting novelty, and it does prove a point about the types of subject matter that can be covered in a game.  So it works in that way, but it's not exactly 'fun' - though it probably wasn't meant to be.

Modern Warfare 2 marks the debut of Special Ops mode, which is the only co-op mode in the game (World at War's co-op campaign does not return). I prefer Special Ops, since it is completely different content than what's in the single-player mode. Spec Ops is a tiered list of one-off challenges, and while some can be incredibly frustrating, and there are plenty of repeating goals, it can be a whole lot of fun depending on which operation you chose. The environments are a mix of bits and pieces ripped from the single-player in this game, and Call of Duty 4. I was disappointed by the fact that only one environment, a bridge, was exclusive to Special Ops. I assumed there would be more new environments, but it's almost countered by the joy of seeing some old favorites from CoD 4 appear. The best operations are those where one player is positioned inside an AC-130 or helicopter, and must support the other player on the ground. Sure, some operations were so frustrating or stressful I just couldn't finish them, and it has been the longest time since I've played that mode, but perhaps the craziest moment I've experienced in Modern Warfare 2 came from Special Ops.

A friend and I were playing a level on veteran where we had to breach a locker room, and get to the opposite end in a very limited amount of time, while riot shield-wielding guards blocked are path, and a swarm of guards aimed down from above. The great thing about Spec Ops is the amount of different, creative methods that can be used. In this case, we started by trying to flashbang all of the riot shield guards and systematically shooting them while running fast enough to not get hit from above. When that failed, we decided after about an hour to just run to the end. We jumped around the riot shield guards and sprinted straight towards the hole we had to fall through. My friend got down there safely but I was shot down, sending me into the crawling final-stand mode. Instead of giving up, I decided to crawl VERY SLOWLY towards the hole, since the enemies can't kill you when you're down. I made it down the hole the exact second the timer went to zero, and we miraculously won. It's insane moments like that, and the teamwork and creativity you need to use, that makes Spec Ops such a success.  It's also the go to mode for those who are hungry for the greatest challenge in the game, since on veteran the last couple of tiers can bring experienced players to tears.

Now, the main mode for me, and the most time-consuming aspect in the game by far, is the online competitive multiplayer - which is decidedly what Infinity Ward is (or more specifically was) the best at making. They've crammed Modern Warfare 2 with a ridiculous amount of content, especially to those who thought CoD 4 had a lot. There are, once again, tons of weapons to unlock and customize, and the challenge system returns with tons of new goals.  Perks have now been given new 'Pro' upgrades after extensive use, and there are some useful new equipment like sticky Semtex grenades, throwing knives, and javelins (which are less useful). And speaking of unlocking and collecting, the genius move here was the addition of titles and emblems: like collectible trading cards from my childhood, these callsign rewards don't have any practical use, and instead are just about showing off what you've done, and which titles and emblems you've collected. There is no point, but for some reason, you just want more.

Probably the biggest new addition is killstreak rewards. Gone are the UAV, airstrike, helicopter order of unlocking. Now, you can customize what you get after certain killstreak intervals. The high end stuff, like the AC-130 and Chopper Gunner, which rack up huge numbers of constant kills, are one of the offenders of the endless amount of frustration and anger Modern Warfare 2 causes. When you have one of these on your side, you'll have a blast. But when it's on the enemy's side, you'll likely get pissed off before long.  It's kind of like the Smash Ball in Super Smash Brothers Brawl: it can turn the tide of the game in a flash, but it's a bit less extreme if you've got anti-air equipment and a willingness to look up in the midst of battle to use it. I'm not saying I'm against the killstreak reward system (I love it when I unlock my chopper gunner), but it's the kind of thing where you have to balance the satisfaction of kicking ass with the frustration of being kicked around.  And since there's so much of both thanks to this system, I'd simply rather have minimal frustration, even if it meant the system had to go.

The perks have been changed around a bit, for better or worse. Things like martyrdom are basically gone, now relegated to the negligible 'death streak' slot. At first, it seemed as though any balancing issues caused by the perks from the first game had been fixed, but boy was I wrong. Anyone who has played knows that the combination of Marathon, Lightweight, and Commando are notoriously frustrating, and there are other, less iconic examples of annoying perk combinations. But this isn't the only issue gamers have become outraged about.  There was the whole debacle with the dual shotguns, which Infinity Ward eventually had to tone down a bit.  Then there was the massive amount of glitching (probably due to the lack of a public beta). There was the Javelin suicide bomb glitch, the insane endless glitch (usually done on Rust), and there's still some 'leaving-the-map' glitches used now and then. The worst of it seems to be over now, but I hope the developers learned from the experience.  The maps in the game are a mixed bag. There are a lot of them, but many of them have way too many secret places to pop out of, so you always feel like you're about to die. Yes, it makes for an intense experience, but it can be very aggravating. Some maps feel too big, and some seem at times to favor snipers. Complaining about balancing too much in a game this big is cruel to the developers, so I won't complain too much, since they likely did as good a job as was humanely possible.

There always seems to be a lot of rage among the huge Modern Warfare community. Everyone gets pissed off at some point within a sitting, and it's a shame because it can be so unexplainably addictive. In late January, I got fed up with the game and stopped playing for a couple of months. Here I am months later, and I started playing again, and can't get enough of it for a second time. This is a true testament to the power of the game. No matter how angry you get, the game's addictive powers make you take the punishment. I find it miraculous that such a feat has been made. As a whole, Modern Warfare 2 is a mix of disappointments and jaw-dropping spectacle and fun. There are some annoying flaws in each of the three main modes, but each and every one are so brilliantly structured that I managed to make the amount of time I played way worth the $60 I paid on day one. And for some unexplainable reason, which must have been the magic of Zampella and West -era Infinity Ward, I don't regret a second of the time spent.