CoD MW2 - Running and gunning in the special ops mode

_{by Charles Onyett}

One of the biggest games of this holiday season, Infinity Ward's follow-up to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, was shown off in a behind-closed-doors session at Gamescom 2009 this year, with a focus on the co-op special ops mode.

From the main menu you get the option to dive into single player, multiplayer, and special ops modes, which according to Infinity Ward means that special ops is just as important a mode as the other two. It's a completely separate mode too, meaning it doesn't link with the others for unlocks or anything like that, and in it you've got the option to play split screen locally, solo, or online with a friend.

The mode is broken into different groups of missions, and for the demo we saw one in the Charlie group called Breach and Clear. The mode overall is meant to be a high-intensity but brief segment of gameplay in the vein of something like the mile high club in Call of Duty 4. Regular, hardened, and veteran difficulties are available, and you earn stars by completing a mission on each difficulty setting, with veteran earning you three. These stars are then used to unlock more special ops missions.

The objective in Breach and Clear is simply to survive and make it to the end point of the level. There's a section in the beginning where you can choose from a few different weapons strewn about on the ground, reminiscent of a Left 4 Dead ammo dump. After a red dot scope assault rifle was chosen, a charge was placed on a wall, detonated, and the action kicked into gear. While the smoke was clearing a slow motion effect took over that gave the player a better look at some of the guards nearby. Firing grenades from the launcher mounted under the gun, the slow motion effect wore off as enemies poured into what seemed to be a shower room that looked almost identical to the one from The Rock. Enemies took cover on the behind walls and fired from a balcony above, with red laser beams making their lines of sight more obvious.

Also in the stage was a riot shield, which could be picked up and used as mobile cover to enter into crowded rooms. It could also be used as a melee weapon, with an initial bump serving to daze the enemy, and a follow up slam knocking them out for good. Stun grenade detonations and melee knife kills rounded out the fight.

Then the demo player dropped down a hole in the floor and the stage was over. A statistics screen showed the total run time had been two minutes, 20 kills were made, and the demo was over. While Infinity Ward isn't yet saying how many missions are being included in the game, it seems like there'll be quite a few. Unfortunately no details were made available concerning the rest of the single-player campaign or multiplayer, so we'll have to wait for more.

Extra added: a Pre-Viewer Report

We really enjoyed the "Mile High Club" mission unlocked upon the completion of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- despite the fact it was completely out-of-continuity, it was one of the most thrilling segments in the entire game. Fortunately, it seems Infinity Ward has taken a cue from this airplane-combat scenario -- the developer recently explained that it's using it as inspiration for Modern Warfare 2's "Special Ops" missions, which were briefly demoed at GamesCom 2009.

Billed as the game's co-op mode, Special Ops allows players to perform standalone missions either on their lonesome or with a friend via online or split-screen co-op. Different difficulty tiers are offered for each Special Ops mission -- those bold enough to tackle the harder echelons will receive greater in-game unlockables.

We got a chance to see someone play through "The Gulag" at GamesCom -- a seeming recreation of the shower room from The Rock. The player armed himself at a Left 4 Dead-esque ammo dump, then run-and-gunned his way through a series of enemy-infested rooms. While lacking in the airborne panache that made "Mile High Club" so memorable, it was a neat little slice of gameplay -- we can't wait to see what other precarious scenarios Infinity Ward drops us into when Modern Warfare 2 hits store shelves this November.