If Modern Warfare 2 was actually a game about modern warfare, it wouldn’t be half as much fun as it is. To the best of our knowledge, heartbeat-detecting weapons are not deployed on any real-life battlefield, R&R does not involve slalom snowmobile races in which drivers shoot each other in the face, and two soldiers versus 40 snipers is not a scenario from this or any era. Importantly, it’s not a scene from a movie either. Leaving the Black Hawk Down-isms to a secretive campaign, the new Special Ops modes are 100 per cent videogame. No wonder this is such a bogeyman on the Christmas schedules. Whether you’re a firstperson shooter or not, just being an action game puts you in its sights.

That Special Ops is one of three equally prominent parts, the others being story and traditional multiplayer, says a lot. Infinity Ward doesn’t do ‘extras’, it seems, just more. So whether you’re fighting in the foothills or racing on the pistes (while fighting), nothing feels underdeveloped. In fact, with solo, split-screen and online play supported across the board, it’s clearly determined that if it raises expectations in one area, it should meet them everywhere else. A fine philosophy, especially when you consider how far things have come since Call Of Duty 2.



The snowmobiles, then. Played as a singleplayer time trial, there’s enough shaving of seconds, skimming of tree trunks and Evel Knievel stunt jumps to keep you entertained. Play it competitively, though, and it’s more about shunting and shooting, a headshot bloodying the victim’s POV. In something of a running theme there’s surprising scope for accidents and exploits, creative strategist Robert Bowling finishing his run with a stupendous, near-disastrous mid-air banking manoeuvre across a ravine.

Special Ops is more a party pack than a set of uniform game types. Scan up from the racing and there’s a bomb disposal mission, a co-op survival mode, and a second promising ‘predator drones, favela gangs, sniper rifles and stealth’.