Modern Warfare 2 arrives riding a wave of hype unprecedented in the world of video games. The original Modern Warfare became one of the sleeper hits of the decade, steadily gaining in sales and word-of-mouth to become one of the top-selling first person action shooters of all time.

The latest Modern Warfare went on sale this past Tuesday. Retail giant Wal-Mart had its supplies ready to go at midnight on Monday. Popular video game retailer GameStop had its doors open at midnight across the nation as well, hosting parties as eager gamers waited in line for their copy. 4.7 million copies were reportedly sold on Tuesday alone in the U.S. and the U.K., equaling $310 million at the register. That total easily beats the previous one-day record holder, Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold 3.6 million copies in May 2008.

It starts with the single-player campaign.  I bet  you won’t find a game this intense on today’s market. Unlike its predecessor with its fictional Middle Eastern setting, Modern Warefare 2 drops you into the real-life war-torn country of Afghanistan and doesn’t let up. At its core, MW2 follows a very similar formula to the original Modern Warefare since you are guided through thrilling set pieces in a linear, dramatic fashion. If you want to follow a gripping, straight-forward action story, this is the game you should buy.
Real world locations range from the Middle East to snowy mountainsides, and the action hardly ever lets up. As in the original Modern Warefare, you’ll play several different story arcs, all aimed to stop a war and take the bad guy down.