Last night Kotaku, along with a load of other magazines/websites, got their hands on a beta of the multiplayer mode of Modern Warfare 2.

Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward brought with them three maps, five preset classes, and dozens of new improvements that make the sequel to Call of Duty 4 feel, well, even more modern than its predecessor. The addition of new perks, new killstreak and deathstreak bonuses, and the new Callsign unlockables ensure that players of the previous game will have hundreds of hours worth of reasons to reinvest in multiplayer. The blistering intensity of the game’s multiplayer component, more frenetic than ever, will guarantee they’ll have fun doing it.

First, let’s talk about the location, location, location of Modern Warfare 2′s multiplayer beta.

We spent most of our time on the Highrise map, a level that takes place on the rooftop of a building and two adjoining offices—the spawn location of flags and the players who long to capture them. It’s a chokepoint-filled map, with both sides meeting in the middle for the majority of firefights, a handful of service tunnels cutting beneath the area where the action takes place. There’s a sweet spot right in the center of Highrise, offering protective walls on all sides with two entry points that look to be easily guarded. One team we went up against took advantage of this spot to great effect, whether by luck or strategy, putting a hurt on my team of Army Rangers.

With its mirrored map layout and dozens of little nooks and crannies in which to hide oneself, we foresee Highrise becoming very popular, very quickly amongst the Modern Warfare 2 community.

Favela, a sun-bleached brick village full of brightly colored posters and billboards, looks like it could be set in Rio de Janiero. It was the map we spent the second most time with and my personal favorite. Plenty of winding alleyways, staircases and multi-tiered roofs on which to hide made the map more exciting, less predictable than Highrise. Grabbing the flag in the center of the map, then sprinting back to base with an escort was exhilarating. On Highrise, we were more concerned about being sniped from the back. On Favela, it was who might be around the next corner that was cause for concern.

Finally, we spent a little time in the map Afghan, a dusty desert location that featured a downed aircraft or two (or more) and some scary drop-offs. The edges of those sheer drops made for prime sniping real estate, though, giving the player full view of the map. Afghan also has a few lived-in caves that offer a bit of shelter from the open air layout of the rest of the map, but our time with it was brief.

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