I've never been a soldier, but I always wanted to be.

Not a real soldier, mind you. The men and women who keep our shores safe have a job I'd never want: Asked to kill in service of our country, but criticized at every turn for doing so.

No, what I wanted was to be John Rambo, John McClane and all the other action stars with J's in their first name. To fight in the jungle, tooth and nail, a M-16 machine gun strapped to my back and a machete at my side.

I imagine other people had this same dream, at age 6. And thus we have "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2," a glimpse into the life of a soldier, as seen through the eyes of the Hollywood blockbuster.

The following dialog best sums up the plot: "We're almost out of fuel! You've got 30 seconds! Move!" "Look out!" "Target down, target down!"

Players are thrust into battle in several armed conflicts across the globe, from a Russian-led invasion of the United States to a militia uprising in Brazil.

What the "Call of Duty" series has always done well is portray war as a high-speed adrenaline rush where people die in seconds.

It happens so seamlessly. You walk through a crowded marketplace. Suddenly, men appear on the rooftops with rocket propelled grenades! The squad fans out, taking cover. Shots ring out. Both sides open fire. People fall to the ground, some hurt, some dead. You drop to one knee, take aim, fire a few rounds. An enemy drops. Another. The shell next to you explodes. Move up!

I've heard video games described as "electronic theme park rides," but that implies a very linear experience. "Modern Warfare 2" is a living, breathing battlefield that constantly challenges the player.

The tutorial part of the game tells you how to shoot from the hip and how to aim. To stop and aim takes time, so you have to adapt. Learn when to blind fire, when to take cover, when to move.

Meanwhile, chaos rains down around you. It doesn't matter which path you take, soldiers will kick down doors, snipe at you from high windows, flank your unit and fire at you from behind.

Truly good video games introduce you to the basic mechanics, then ask you to use them naturally in the game.

Sure, you can play "Modern Warfare 2" like you would "Doom," by charging ahead and always firing, but you'd end up dead again and again. Instead, you start to mimic the soldiers that surround you. Move up slowly. Take cover behind a barrier. Keep the area clear. Watch for snipers. Duck, weave, shoot, move.

There's a scene where you grab the mounted gun in an attack helicopter and go on a suicide run down the Washington, D.C. Mall, tearing Russian soldiers apart as the ship bursts into flames around you.

Yeah, it gets kind of emotional.

A stray shot hits a comrade. He falls to the ground, lifeless. I glance around, horrified that someone has seen. They didn't, though. This is war. People die. Everyone is busy trying not to die themselves.

You see your squad mates blown away, and you think, "Man, I'm screwed." Then you miraculously survive the battle and think, "Man, I'm awesome."

The popularity of the "Call of Duty" series is owed to one simple, but delightfully complicated fact: It makes you feel like a soldier on a battlefield. It's frantic and exciting and occasionally leaves you with the horrific realization that fights like this really do happen.

I suppose I can't finish without talking about The Controversy.

If you've heard anything about "Modern Warfare 2," it probably surrounds "That Scene." Surely you've seen people scream about it on FOX News. How it'll turn your children into terrorists and topple the Christian faith. It happens like this:

The screen goes dark. For at least a minute, you hear the sounds of people in motion. Clothes rustle. Clips are snapped into weapons. Safeties click off. Body armor is adjusted.

Then, you and four armed men step out into a crowded airport. A signal is given. And you open fire.

In the greater context of the scene, you are an American undercover operative trying to get close to the terrorist leader. So you go along with the massacre, killing innocents on a quest for the greater good. That it is morally reprehensible is beside the point. It is necessary.

Now, the game gives you an option here, and that option is: You can skip the scene. It is violent and disturbing. It's not meant for everyone. And yet, that's kind of a cop-out. The scene exists because the developers took the time to make it and they want it to be experienced. If there is a part of a movie you don't like, you can skip over it with the remote control, but that doesn't make it any less a part of that movie.

So, I played through it. And it made me feel a little queasy. Maybe it won't for you.

Some will dismiss it as "just a video game," but if you do, then you're missing the point.

"Modern Warfare 2" wants to keep you unsettled. It shows us images of Washington, D.C. destroyed, of suburban America overrun with enemy troops. It taps into the deepest fears of many U.S. citizens and then asks you to save the world.

Is that a good thing? I'm not sure. But when the smoke cleared, I was definitely having fun.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2"

Genre: First person shooter

Rated: M for mature, ages 17+ (Entertainment Software Ratings Board)

Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Publisher: Activision

ONtap Thinks: It’s all the excitement and tragedy of war, for better or worse.

(Nov. 20, 2009)