They rise to the expectations and deliver remarkably.
As I said in my review of MW 1, it doesn't quite seem that Infinity ward never made a game on modern warfare with CoD after the level of brilliance it achieved in its first try. With MW 2 however, and with experience from the previous game, they have topped themselves.
So on you go on another short single player campaign, though longer than the earlier one, filled with visceral action and variations in level designs never before seen in military shooters. You'll have some old characters back and with the new ones in addition it really makes up a great cast for a great experience. The audio-visual presentation of the game is remarkable with each character seemingly life like.
Action remains very much the same in terms of tactics only that you have more guns and better ways to shoot down your enemies. The story, though not as well told as the earlier one, still will capture your attention and boils down to something quite special in the end.
Regardless of whether you like shooters or just Call of Duty, this is one title that will both surprise you and satisfy your thirst for edge-of-the-seat action through various perspectives.