In the immediate aftermath of E3, Activision seemed like the most cynical, money-hungry company in the entire industry. Granted, the imminent arrival of two-dozen Guitar Hero sequels seeded the thought long before the doors of the LA Convention Center opened to the press and public, but Bobby Kotick and friends had a busy week offending gamers’ sensibilities.

At the thin end was the great DJ Hero swindle: a cunning ploy from Activision, who didn’t make the game available to play to anyone but E3 judges; in other words, the people who decide the ‘best in show’ nominations. In addition to this, the judges were made to sign non-disclosure agreements guaranteeing that they wouldn’t publish a single word about what the experience was actually like. DJ Hero was the only game of the whole show to be entered for a prize without also being available to play for the press, but that’s another exclusive cover for Activision later in the year.

Slightly more pregnant with corruption was the lawsuit filed against crowd favourite Brütal Legend. Activision abandoned the game after the merger with Vivendi due to its lack of sequel and earning potential, but now the buzz had started things looked somewhat different. The fact that the suit was issued on the very day the show-floor opened only underlines how unsavoury Activision’s motives are, and the outside chance that Tim Schaeffer’s metal opus will be delayed is a bitter pill to swallow. If it’s never released, we’re posting dog-droppings to Kotick’s house.

Last, but by no means least, are our good friend Bobby Kotick’s recent swipes at the price of our beloved and really rather excellent value PlayStation 3. Evidently he was disappointed that Sony didn’t announce a price-cut, and the billions of dollars flowing through his company didn’t quite stretch to consoles with less than 30 million installed units. “No price-cut; no support,” said the man who priced Tony Hawk: Ride at $130.

As we said, Activision has been busy, and gamers have been only too happy to crown the mega-publisher as ‘The New EA’. Ouch. Yet just as we were ready to wash our hands of Kotick and crew, we saw the Modern Warfare 2 demo and were reluctantly blown away. Moving from glacially paced climbing and stealth sections to run-and-gun action and a staggering, climactic snowmobile chase; it was a welcome reminder of why Infinity Ward is the current master of pitch-perfect action.

More to the point, it made the upside of Activision’s vast wealth abundantly clear; it allows game design of this skill and polish to be released in record time, and there’s a small, reluctant part of our brains that is thankful for it. When you see this running at 1080p and 60 flawless frames per second, yours will be too.

In Modern Warfare 2, you play as Sgt Gary ‘Roach’ Sanderson, a member of the elite, multinational Task Force 141, which was specially assembled to neutralise the Russian Ultranationalist threat. The character you played in the first game, ‘Soap’ MacTavish, returns as your Captain, and will be by your side for most of the missions. Infinity Ward is keen to point out that this is a direct sequel to Modern Warfare in terms of story, and the entire game is being built around the narrative and its events. When asked about Modern Warfare 2’s potential length, the team remains tight-lipped. The plot, not a number, dictates the missions and if any of them don’t reach the studio’s exacting standards, they might just be banished to the game’s new ‘Special Ops’ mode (see boxout).

… continued