IF I have to summarise this review in a word, it will be 'intense'.

See the screenshots (Images: Activision)

There may be better action games that keep you engaged longer, like last year's Grand Theft Auto IV, but nothing on the computer screen has been such an adrenaline-pumping ride as this year's best action game.

The high comes from battling a terrorist gang in various levels as special forces soldiers in far-flung locales such as snow-capped Siberia, Rio de Janeiro's slums and a war-torn Washington DC complete with the White House in ruins.

Then there is one disturbing level, where you play an American soldier posing as a terrorist to earn the trust of the arch nemesis. It begins with you joining the gang to gun down passengers at a Russian airport, triggering a war with the United States.

All these levels are loosely tied together as the story moves from one unrealistic twist to another. Even as fantastical Hollywood scripts go, the story in Modern Warfare 2 is so full of holes that you can shoot a Predator missile through it.

But the action more than makes up for it. The game literally transports you into a Hollywood war movie.

One moment, you are a grunt slugging it out on top of a Humvee in Afghanistan. The next, you are a British Special Air Service soldier quietly infiltrating an enemy base in Siberia.

In one of my favourite levels, I find myself fighting as a US soldier through heartland America after a sudden Russian invasion (developer Infinity Ward's nod at 2007's World In Conflict, which featured a similar invasion of the US).

Often taking cover behind cars, I find myself fighting to complete new objectives on a seemingly fluid battlefield that includes the neighbourhood diner and a burger shack.

In yet another US level, I had to fight my way into the White House's chambers to save Washington from being annihilated.

The intensity does not let up because you move from objective to objective without delay. Meanwhile, persistent radio chatter and wave after wave of enemies add to the grittiness and ensure that your trigger finger is always on the ready.

Sure, there are the obligatory rail shooter elements - the ending, for example, is a little too campy and unbelievable. But the bulk of the gameplay is excellent.

This is helped, of course, by excellent weapons you can use. You do not get to play a gunner in the memorable C-130 gunship levels in the original Modern Warfare, but here, you can call in Predator drones that fire deadly missiles at foes.

The graphics are top notch too, at least on the PC. Other games like Crysis are better but Modern Warfare 2 holds its own with all the eye candy turned on when I played it on my Intel Core i7 PC.

The only complaint is that the fun ends too soon. I finished the first-person campaign in six hours. Fortunately, the multiplayer action online is not that bad, including the traditional team death matches as well as capture-the-flag modes.

Modern Warfare 2 may not be perfect but there is not a dull moment. A must buy for anyone who likes to shoot.

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