As Shepherd says in the opening, if the first Modern Warfare game takes place in 2011, the second takes place in 2016, five years after the end of Call of Duty 4.
At the moment of its release, it was the most profitable video game of all time. It earned more than 500 million dollars in its first 5 days.
Archer and Toad, the members of Task Force 141's Sniper Team One, may have escaped capture or death at the end of "Loose Ends." After Roach is shot by Shepherd, you can hear a radio broadcast from Shadow Company soldiers advising troops to be careful of snipers in the area.
Its release broke the record for the biggest entertainment launch in history, grossing 310 million dollars in the first 24 hours in the United States and the United Kingdom, surpassing the previous record holder Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and other media such as music and film.
It features Hans Zimmer's first video game score.
The game includes a controversial mission known as "No Russian," in which the player is given the option to play at the start of the game. In this mission, the player takes on the role of a CIA agent who joins a Russian terrorist group and must take part in the killing of innocent civilians at an airport. The stage was later skipped in the Russian version of the game due to concerns. In the German and Japanese versions, players fail the mission if they kill civilians.
The creators brought Craig Fairbrass back to voice the character Ghost in the game. In the previous Modern Warfare game, he had voiced Gaz, even though the character died. To make it even more interesting, Ghost wears a balaclava throughout the game but also dies in the end.
In the mission titled 'The Gulag,' where you infiltrate a prison to rescue 'Prisoner 627,' you enter a shower room. Sharp-eyed players will notice that this shower room is identical to the shower room in the 1996 film 'The Rock.' This is one of the many references this game makes to 'The Rock.'
There are many references to the film "The Rock," including the shower room, the deployment of green flares to stop fighters hitting an important structure at the last moment, and a military leader who betrays his country for a military purpose.
The fan-favorite multiplayer map Favela was temporarily removed on October 6, 2012, after picture frames were found in a bathroom bearing Islamic writing and the phrase "Allah is beautiful and he loves beauty," a subject that is forbidden to speak about in the Muslim religion. It was later readded on October 23, 2012, on PlayStation 3 and on December 10, 2012, for Xbox 360 with plain black frames, but it has not yet been readded on PC.
The last member of Task Force 141 confirmed killed is Rook, the driver who gets Soap and Price out of the bone yard. Because of the circumstances of his death, he is the only fallen member whose body is seen being extracted from the conflict. After completing this level and the previous level on Veteran, the achievement/trophy for the highest difficulty level is named Queen takes castle, referring to Rook's death.
On the Wasteland multiplayer map, in one of the houses at the eastern end of the map, there is a poster of a smiling woman and a little girl. The Russian text on the poster says in English, "Driver, they are waiting for you at home."
The "No Russian" campaign mission was considered by many to be one of the most controversial scenes in video game history. It was so controversial that there was even an option to skip the mission in the pause menu.
In the Team Player mission, as the player's Humvee passes through the town, mushroom clouds can be seen on posters hung on various walls. The photograph is actually from the US nuclear test in 1952, Ivy Mike, the first full-scale, true hydrogen bomb.
"Soap" MacTavish (the main hero of the previous MW series) returns as an experienced Captain, far from his rookie days in COD 4.
At the start of the Hornets Nest mission, a beaten and unconscious Alejandro Rojas, who was interrogated in the time gap between Takedown and Hornets Nest, can be seen tied to a wall. He can be killed.
A new feature called "Texture Streaming" was used in the game to create more open environments without compromising performance. It is not known which id Tech the engine is based on.
At the start of the mission "The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday," an American submarine named USS Dallas is visible. This may be a reference to the submarine of the same name in the film "The Hunt For Red October" (1990).
Because of the "No Russian" level, in which the player must shoot and kill several innocent people at an airport, it was placed on the list of the most controversial games of all time. The level is optional, but if it is not played, it leaves large gaps in the story.
The level name S. S. D. D may be a reference to Stephen King's novel 'Dreamcatcher.' S. S. D. D ("Same Shit, Different Day") is a phrase used by the main characters throughout the book. Also, Shepherd's first line in the cutscene, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," may be a small reference to King's 'Thinner,' in which the phrase is also spoken.
One of the levels in the game is "Cliffhanger," which also takes place on a snowy mountain and shares its name with the 1993 blockbuster action film. Craig Fairbrass, who voices Ghost in the game, had previously played a servant named Delmar in that film. Ironically, the aforementioned level is the only level in which Fairbrass's character Ghost does not appear, despite Fairbrass having been in the 1993 film of the same name.
Surprisingly, a few American Rangers are seen with Desert Eagles.
The controversial "No Russian" mission was the sole reason for the game's 18 certificate in the UK, due to its "disturbing nature" and "brutal" focus on inflicting pain/injury. The 2011 sequel, 'Modern Warfare 3', also received an 18 rating for similar reasons, due to an interrogation victim being burned alive and the realistic context of a chase scene set in the London Underground, which media outlets compared to the 2005 '7/7' terrorist bombings.
The campaign was remastered for PS4 on 31 March 2020, and would later be available for Xbox and PC on 30 April 2020.
Frank Woods from Black Ops 1 is a Soldier in the background in one of the first Missions.
Modern Warfare 2, along with Crysis 2, is one of two games for which Hans Zimmer composed the music.
In the highly controversial 'No Russian' scene, the player's participation in the massacre is voluntary; you can simply follow without having to fire at civilians.
The game is set in 2016.