Modern Warfare 2 Review: Bigger, Louder, Stranger and Dumber 

It's ghosting time

As a military personnel……the twist being to cover up massive stupidity is actually the most realistic thing about this game’s story.

I thought it was so brave that Activision decided to have your character say it was Ghostin' time.

One tiny thing that got me during Bricky's stream: The game constantly refers to the stolen American missiles as 'ballistic missiles'. When we see them launch, they are all cruise missiles- not one ballistic missile in sight.

"I played 2009 MW2 when it came out, you know what Ghost did in that game? NOTHING" THANK YOU I love ghost but I chalk it all up to nostalgia goggles and cool design, that anyone would say he was 'such a great character' I'm just like "????" thank you for saying what so many are too afraid to

That smile drop when the words “No Russian” was sent is priceless IMO

The most infuriating thing about the final mission is that you have to craft a glass knife while Soap has a whole survival knife strapped to his plate carrier you discover in the next cutscene when Ghost shoots Hassan

One thing I’m surprised that Bricky didn’t mention is that no members of the game plays it relatively safe in terms of stakes. By the end of the game, the main roster is Ghost, Gaz, Soap, Price, and Laswell. You can also include Rudolfo,Alejandro and Farah in that. The thing that made Shepherd’s betrayal so affecting in the original MW2 wasn’t that he was revealed to have ulterior motives, it was that he killed Ghost, and ostensibly, you. In nearly every cod game, especially the Modern Warfares, characters die to show how the stakes are elevating which ultimately makes each conclusion have more tension. In this game, the stakes never really feel that high because nobody really feels like they’re in any danger. Nothing reenforces how deadly these missions are because nobody fails at anything.

In regards to the Russians listening to Shadow's comms, something that is taught for radio etiquette is never saying actual names like "John" or "Bill" and only using callsigns like Warrior 2-6 or Husky 1-2. Same with mission objectives/updates, instead of saying "we've passed the hill" or "we've passed checkpoint 2" you'd say "Checkpoint Steel" or simply "Steel" therefore if enemies are listening on comms they wont know your exact progress in your route.

"Bigger, Louder, Stranger and Dumber" needs to be the tagline for every Call of Duty. Not just the ones after MW2 2022, but every single game. Cause if that doesn't answer the age old question of "what does call of duty actually stand for", idk what does.

I loved when Price said “I’m a professional in combat tactics, it’s my Call of Duty. Modern Warfare too.” It really elevated my experience and helped me realize I was playing a reboot of a 13 year old game

As a former soldier who can understand that comm traffic at the end, the amount of hell they had to be experiencing is on another level. And the broken arrow bit brought a tear. At that point you know your fucked

seeing the 2022 vehicle chase scene with no music instantly threw me back into Arma 3 Convoying, where there was only silence and the occasional guy on Convoy Net clarifying when the next turn was, or someone telling the guy behind them to get some distance

The name changes are DEFINITELY supposed to solidify change, cause when Shepard is introduced he’s in blue, when we find out about the missiles and we start questioning he’s a neutral yellow. Then when he starts saying “What are you going to do about it?” The name changes to red. Such a cool way to show who the enemy is.

I'm so glad bricky brought to attention the mw2 2009 DC radio chatter. It's my favorite subtle touch to that game to arguably its best mission. If you're reading this and have the time I highly recommend listening to the subtitled video of the chatter, it provides so much depth and many military professionals have remarked on its accuracy.

The thing is, all the time they're calling the ordnance "Ballistic Missile" when all of we're seeing are Cruise Missile and that proves just how stretching out this game is.

Still can't get over that the plot is basically "what if Russia did Iran Contra" lmao

Yow brickmeister. Your video on frostpunk made me realize it would be a perfect setting for a dramatic TV series of a few seasons. All i am saying is, if i win the euromillions and have funding for it, i'm casting you as a coal shoveler or scout airship cook.

To add on to Of Their Own Accord, your mission isn't something grand like reclaiming the White House, it's literally just to protect the evac site. Your entire purpose from stepping outside the bunker is just to protect the civilians evacuating the war zone. For a Call of Duty game, that just makes the mood so much more dire.

One cool bit of trivia I noticed is that Shepherd in this game is voiced by the same person who voiced Overlord in the original Modern Warfare 2. I don't think this games version of Shepherd surpasses the original Shepherd by any stretch but I did like that little bit of fanservice since I immediately recognized his voice

As nice as it is to see Shadow Company get some development in this game. I did like MW2 2009 where it was implied Shadow was a private army of select US soldiers serving shepherd and his ultranationalist ideas. Considering they used a callsign like Disciple further eluded to what kind of megalomaniac Shepherd was.

Can’t believe they had Ghost say “it’s ghosting time” and then ghost all over everyone. Really bold creative decision there from Activision, but I think it pays off.

Shepard in the OG: Complex and somewhat interesting villain who turned evil because he felt responsible for the death of his men and wanted to prevent it from happening again. Shepard in MW22: "Oopsie whoopsie I made a fucky wucky now you have to go in the forever box"

The armored enemies took years off my life when I did veteran difficulty. They take way too many rounds to kill and have pin point accuracy while being shot. Which is bad because you die in like 2 shots on veteran.

As a kid, the invasion Washington DC in MW2 was just super wild. Funny that you mentioned the radio chatter, because I would be too scared to progress through the mission, so I would listen to what they're saying... And it scared me so much!

I always felt like “new” price was a cuddly teddy bear in comparison to “old” price. From the slight disdain in his voice when he speaks, to the fact that he’s introduced to you by calling you a “muppet”… whereas this Price speaks softer, has this weird facial hair that hides his mouth partly, and just in general looks so much different

The problem with Activision is that they think "Gritty" means "Realistic". Fighting Steampunk mechs in a 1800s setting can be more serious than a military drama.

MW2: Shepard wants to become a war hero after losing his men in a nuclear blast, and to do that he needs to kick off a war be the hero in... MW2 2 22: Shepard does an oopsie and tries to cover it up

30:10 "Hey if it comes to media, no body no kill, could easily say he remote controling it..." 7 moths later: Alex: "Heard you died in the tank in South America" Graves:"I wasn't in that tank"

I will say, the fact that the entire game takes place because a General fucked up doing something illegal is very on-point for the United States military. Modern Warfare indeed.

love how this game sells itself as realistic then sends in the al-qaeda super soldiers in ironman armor

"When creative freedom died with Infinite Warfare" Oh man that hits hard, such a fucking good story, the best CoD story by far. Please make a review of that in the style of this and your newer reviews.

I loved the part where Bricky said “Free international shipping" truly an unforgettable Birkcy moment. Thx! I may buy smth

"...he can come back with a wicked scar next game" if only he knew

One of the things I really liked in alone is how familiar ghost is with guerilla warfare. Even telling soap on how to craft certain items. It gave me the idea that the reason he's so stoic is that he's traumatised from extended fighting in a guerilla warfare environment.

Ghost always reminded me of Emile from Reach. They both had cool skull masks but otherwise didn't do much except die in a cutscene

I'm impressed with Bricky's passion and careful points of contention. The ending of this video clearly wraps up everything he said, really tastefully.

He says no body no kill Graves is back in the New warzone season

Bricky, if you listen to the chatter for both missions where its present, you really get a feel about the thought they put into it as well. it starts with pristine US army comms. everyone follows radio etiquette, its proper US army terminology and usage. by the end, its melted down to random soldiers picking up radios of their superior to inform command that their companies are reduced to 3 man teams, with the appropriate decrease in communication quality. even if most people dont understand the terms used (such as Echo 4 Sierra), they understand through the voice acting and context that the situation is beyond dire. MW2 (2009) does an excellent job at portraying a losing side's communications and overall aesthetic. for 2 whole missions you're hit with low after low; first you evacuate washington DC, then you get EMP'd and are all alone, in a city full of russians. it may be nostalgia speaking, but the DC missions are some of the most well made in cod history imo. they induce feelings so organically, on a level that no other mission has done. and the radio chatter, which you barely hear, is all part of that.

in defense of radio moment and big american flag on the missile- that's genuinely the most Accurate American Military Mistake moment in this game. like they Would do that.

28:45 remembered me a lot on "When Dorne killed Alpharius, who was actually Omegon, who was Alpharius all along while pretending to be Omegon, who was killed by Dorne while beeing Alpharius who was lying about beeing Alpharius all along while beeing killed by Dorne" My absolute favourite episode of you 3.

"Beaning people" was my favorite part of the campaign stream that Bricky did! So much I had to clip it to make it a part of Bricky's national history for all to enjoy!

The moment I saw Price swimming and diving around in his iconic hat, like if that made any sense at all, I knew what kind of game this was gonna be...

The thing I hated about the campaign was how the story didn’t feel as connected to cod mw19. In the og series every single game was connected and what happens in each is related, where as mw19 and mw22 don’t feel connected at all,with Barkov not even being mentioned once. It would’ve made it better if they scrapped the “cool ghost opening” and had the motive of the second games villain to be revenge for Barkov or at least something connecting it to the first.

Now that im hearing the radio chatter in the og mw2, it really is a masterpiece of a game

They legit brought back Al Asad to not bring him up again. They blended the MW and Black Ops universes in Cold War, and they're not doing shit. Like, I wanna see Makerov with Krachenko. I want to see David Mason and Price as a duo. They already blended it together. They might as well do it.

8:06 Wait you de-escalate people BY POINTING YOUR GUN AT THEM, did I miss something or like isn't that the exact opposite of de-escalation, like they couldn't be bothered to have Jonathan COD put his hands up for 2 seconds what the fuck.

Ghost is the highlight of the game for me. It's rare that we get a character with an 'edgy' motif that is well written and mature.

My favourite part of the last mission is that you need to find something sharp to kill hassan with, and in the final scene, soap HAS A KNIFE ON HIS VEST SHEATHED!

I feel like the prior MW2 found a way to somewhat balance a fairly serious (albeit silly) story and outlandish gameplay. New MW2 hammered story to make a more gritter story but didn't do the same for gameplay. Maybe if the gameplay had more grit or focus on the rather dark matters of real life engagement, it could of lessened the blacklash.

I know there was a note about the lack of music during a large amount of the campaign (especially in that damn truck chase). The composer actually fought for more music throughout the game entirely, and got overruled by the higher ups. As of 2022, she said she will no longer going to work with Activision because of it. I still mourn all the music we lost because of how much they forced her to cut.

Personally I think old Gaz and Ghost were cooler because they actually felt like spec op soldiers. As in old Gaz and Price felt like an experienced pair of soldiers vs new Gaz feels like Price’s lapdog. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having characters fuck around like they did in 22, but maybe they could have other less professional characters do it, like i dunno, fucking RANGERS? Also, not every character needs character development. And personally I think stark professionalism would be an awesome contrast to Graves

I love how Bricky goes from hating this version of Task Force 141 (specifically Ghost and Soap) to actually loving the dynamic between the two in one of the most stealthiest campaign missions of the game! God, the duality...

COD trying to dive into the politics around the cartel, and the Drug War is done as incompetently as I expected.

The fact that Graves is voiced by the same guy who played Rafe in Uncharted 4 made his character so cool to me. He does such a good job at being charismatic and threatening.

THANKYOU FOR THAT END BIT ABOUT THE RADIO COMS. I had noticed it some while playing the game but then found a channel that posted the radio chatter and listened in more detail and holy shit just the gutteral "Broken arrow, broken arrow!" And the solem "Major its been an honor." Or when they call out that the Russians were opening fire on the stadium where civilians were being evaced. . . Christ man its just surprising and overwhelming with how well detailed it was

My biggest critisicm of this game is the lack of music. That driving mission would've been a shit load cooler with some Hans Zimmer.

“I, Cato Sicarius, am illegally transporting American missiles!”

The radio from the OG Modern Warfare 2 was not only great world building but very accurate. They talked to actual vets or did their homework.

Also, fun fact, the guy who plays graves was the guy playing Galaga on the heli carrier in avengers that Tony points out lol.

There were a ton of moments that felt like bad Warzone mods in the new MWII. 3rd person vehicles, armor plating, cartoon bomb car/tank boss fights, maps that were so large that the graphics fidelity broke down and didn’t look nearly as polished as the linear levels… the presentation was so sloppy

And then Graves returned in Warzone teaming up with Farah and Alex after trying to kill Price who Farah is friends with because he "was never in that tank" 10/10 writting, bravo.

Personally I thought the reason for the Shepherd/Shadow Co. betraying you wasn’t that stupid only forced, but that may have been because I thought the earlier scene of “we need to let this known terrorist go, keeping him prisoner is illegal” after DESTROYING AN ENTIRE MEXICAN TOWN WITH AN AC-130 TO GET HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE was way more stupid.

37:32 "...the background sound of the original MW2." THIS. There're compilations of the MW2 invasion radio chatters and it has entire storyarcs of how the DC invasion was playing out. The only studio that pays that much attention to radio comm is Valve with the Combine Overwatch.

I straight up died when you said "STOP FINGERING MY NOSTALGIA PROSTATE" lol

23:52 Soap: "Think I'll live that long?" Ghost: "Probably not" ... 😬😬😬

MW2: "I lost thirty thousand men in the blink of an eye. And the world just fuckin' watched." MWpoo: "I forgot to use code names when doing super crime oops"

It feels like we're seeing another side of their characters. It's like what could've been and I enjoy that

Also, as of mw2 season 5, guess who's back? Our favorite condescending asshole, Graves. And they said that he wasn't in the tonk when it blew up. Bricky prediction

Just discovered your channel off of one of Jevs recent videos. This is all golden. Watched your recent cod rats videos and now I’m here. And I swear you hit the nail on the head for everything I feel about the COD series as a whole, from single player to multiplayer.

23:58 I just realised they used the wrong “tale” in the subtitles, lmfao

When soap said “it’s Soapin’ time” I rethought my entire life up to that point

Bricky, I am at the 7:32 mark. I just sat through your Ghost has character rant. I felt that. Like... I feel that. Now I gotta buy another product from Orchard Eight and disguise it this year as a gift from santa.

I remember the old mw2. The good, the bad, the danger close one man army noob tubing and dual 1887s. It's a real shame the new one seemed to leave it's legacy behind. I was so baffled by the story and I think you nailed it with the title. It's trying to hard for a franchise that never did so in the first place.

I did play some CoD games, and Black Ops 1 and 2 campaigns left the biggest impression on me Seeing Mason lose his grip on reality and keeping hearing the fucking numbers was a disturbing, fascinating and amazing experience to me And of course, Raul Menendez is a legend tier villain

CoD is wack: contextualizes actual US war crime as being committed by Russians, straight up reenacts an assassination with dumb political fallout

30:21 i watched the modern warfare 3 video and couldnt help but not chuckle at this

Honestly, I absolutely hate the No Russian text message at the end, not least of all because it perpetuates the stupid meaning that the community took from that line. It didn’t mean “no russians”, “kill all Russians” or anything like that. It meant “don’t speak Russian” hence him saying it after the other guy said something in Russian! Because they were posing as Americans! It makes no damn sense in the context of the new game, it’s pure fan service and it’s just blegh

They got their boots on the ground, but they also got them stuck in the mud.

i really like how in the ad you said the deal was going and said you would delete that section of the video, that is genuinely very helpful and a smart use of the built in youtube editor, so props to you bricky.

As a former employee of a pmc (L3 Communications- (2011-2014) can confirm that they’re well portrayed. Even though I was a sigint analyst, and not a shooter, the lax-yet-stoic company mindset towards combat ops comes across really well.

30:00 bro really predicted the future

The cutscene before wolverines, the one where everyone realises america is under attack i will never ever forget that and the washington DC maps

During the driving convoy mission I put the original Hans Zimmer MW2 OST on another tab and holy shit it made a world of difference. It's really sad that there wasn't already some in there.

I wonder if Makarov and his team will have characterization like Graves and Shadow Company, in the original Shadow Company was just there to be "Shepard's men" so I hope Makarov at least has some moments that will make us hate him rather than "he is doing stuff off screen and we gotta stop him"

“Do you not feel pandered to?” Yes. And that’s why I didn’t buy it.

i still love that the shadow company betrayal only happens to cover up the answer to a question that Ghost asked once at the beginning of the game and then was never asked again by anyone. I mean, really it just happens because it happened in the original game but yknow

As strangely realistic as the military coverup of a botched weapons deal is, the level of incompetence displayed (including the USE OF REAL NAMES ON COMMS) makes me think that the US government would have figured out Shephard's plot eventually anyway.

Can't wait for him to cover Mw3

Trans rights support AND roasting some of Hasan's worst takes? Beyond Based.

12:05 I recognized the hack frauds voice instantly, it's nice to know that the Brickster also watches RLMs videos.

I don't think "you get nuked in cod 4" is a valid argument. That was I think a very somber and impactful depiction of the use of nuclear weapons by a despotic government pushed to the edge. It was a big moment yes, but it wasn't a jump the shark moment.

Speaking of radio and tone, Black Mesa also did a fantastic job with this. The HECU radio feels real, like it's real soldiers just trying to survive a deteriorating situation, and the emergency broadcasts you can hear periodically over radios give that feeling that the Black Mesa event wasn't confined to the facility, it affected EVERYTHING. Feels like you're in the middle of a real disaster.

the graves name tag color swap: it needed to be done at some point, otherwise it would be silly for the rest of the game for graves to be blue. if it needed to happen, then at that moment was a great time for it. it means whatever coder was paying attention. :)

Awesome video, my dude. i pulled an all nighter playing this unspoiled and though i had fun, there was something i couldn't wrap my mind around and you said it to a point. Keep up the good work.

>"You boys have been relieved, thank you for your service." >My computer crashes Can't get any better timing than that.

The most surprising part of this video was the ProZD Codenames integration, that shit came out >2 days ago.

I like the original MW2 the missions are really cool and no russian was a very interesting mission and left us with a lot of questions

The name change thing is one I really liked. It's subtle enough to where you don't notice at first but when you do, it's 's just nice. In my mind, the text going red is the confirmation that the characters now recognize them as the enemy. It's just a nice little touch to me

the only thing i liked about this game was when captain price said "We're ghost squad, from Call of Duty: Ghosts, coming 2013 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, and PC"