There's this game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. You might've heard of it. If you haven't, well, the guys in PCP are here to get you up to speed. If we're interpreting this correctly, they kinda like it.
Modern Warfare 2...
Just saying the name gets me excited and my trigger finger twitching. Pathetic, I know. But it isn’t just me. Millions around the world are having the same reaction to that name and spent countless hours waiting for midnight on November 10th. But that is in the past. The game we all have been waiting for is here and the Pork Chop Platoon is ready to dish the dirt on the greatest entertainment launch in history. So does the game live up to the hype? Is it the best game ever made? Let’s take a look at all aspects of this title and get some reactions, both good and bad, from a group of gamers dedicated to the Call of Duty franchise.
The Look and Feel
Many in my clan agree that the game’s action and pacing set Modern Warfare 2 apart from most other first-person shooters on the market today. It is faster, louder and more intense than any other game we have played. Without question the graphics are truly "next-gen" and it is a pleasure to simply watch the scenery and listen to the background noise. This, of course, is a deadly mistake, since you will be shot full of holes within seconds … did I mention how fast this title is?
New gamer or old, you will be both thrilled and disoriented by the constant pace of the action that comes so thick and fast you really do feel that death could come at any second. It’s in this way that Modern Warfare 2, more than any other game I have played, both challenges the player’s reflexes and accuracy while at the same time engaging your primal need for survival. It fucking rocks! Here are some comments from the first few hours of game play as posted by members...
Triplewayne: “I think it is fucking amazing. Takes some getting used too, but overall amazing”
Bnobs: “Couldn"t be better. So fast, yet so awesome. This shit is not for the faint of heart. You've got to be quick and accurate.”
Canup: “The game is even more fun than cod 4. It seems they made an effort to stop camping, by making the game even faster.”
Single-player
Lets face it, most of us are playing the MP and not really looking at the SP, but that would be a mistake. IW has always strived to make a genuinely unique experience with its storytelling and majestic, often exotic set pieces. This game is no exception; however much of the dialogue is lost due to the background noise and action on screen. The pace is relentless and the sometimes brutally realistic visuals are dazzling. The title packs in some of the fiercest battles and most exhilarating chase sequences yet seen in a video game. That said, Modern Warfare 2's campaign is surprisingly short (can be completed in as little as four-and-a-half hours ), and the missions make better scenarios and moment-to-moment adrenaline rushes than they do a cohesive, well-told story.
The sequence that has drawn the most commentary is one in which you go undercover and join terrorists in shooting up a crowded Russian airport. It’s a deliberate attempt to match a truly discomforting moment halfway through the first Modern Warfare when a nuclear warhead detonates, killing your character. The terrorist airport atrocity fails on two counts, however. First, it prompts you with a disclaimer and an opt-out button before the chapter even begins (something that was not in MW and subsequently part of the reason it had such a gut wrenching feel to it ). Second, it is completely unnecessary, doing next to nothing to advance the story. I know, I know, it is meant to enhance your desire to put two in the head of Makarov, but I think that IW could have done it with a different scene that was less graphic and maybe a little bit more inline with advancing the story and character development.
Despite this, the SP is a tour de force that will propel you through a wide range of locations, engage you in virtually non-stop action and make you feel like you have just completed your first triathlon when finished. Obviously the ending was meant to leave the door open for a third installment, and in the way of a good Tom Clancy novel has an ending you may not have anticipated. No spoilers. You will need to play it.
And just like the Mile High scene from MW, once you complete the game, check out the Museum mode. If you are unsure what to do, see Hwhipp’s comments below.
cool hwhipp: “So has anybody that beat the game checked out museum mode? if u do make sure u grab some good guns outta the cases max up yer ammo .... then push the lil red bell.”
Multiplayer
This is where the game really kicks ass. If you ever buy a game for MP, this is it! IW has refined rather than revolutionized the Call of Duty 4 formula, but the key here is customization. You can create a personalized profile with your own emblem and call sign, unlock your own kill streaks and even unlock ‘pro’ versions of perks if you want to push your character as far as possible. It’s polished, smooth and light-years ahead of almost every other FPS. Each map is beautifully rendered. The damage effects are seemingly endless and oh so satisfying! So let’s see what some piggies have to say about it.
Azure:
“Well the long-awaited launch day has come and gone, 4.7 million copies sold on day one. Modern Warfare 2 has arrived. I belong to the premier COD clan on 2o2p so the first thing that I did after calming my trembling hands was to jump with both feet into multiplayer mode and hook up with the Pork Chop Platoon.
The first thing you’ll notice about this title is that you’ve basically played it before. Or at least you think you have until you leave the lobby. While it’s obviously a sequel to COD4 as it retains the same basic framework, it’s definitely got its own look and play. The graphics are drop-dead freaking gorgeous, from the environments to the bandoliers. Infinity Ward has really out done themselves in the art department.
The next most obvious change is the speed of this title. In Modern Warfare 2 you are either moving or you’re on someone’s highlight reel. Having said that, the speed can be one of the most daunting differences from COD4, but have patience you will get used to it. Having already put in about 19 hours into multiplayer, I can confidently tell you that every other FPS you’ve played will seem like old people humping after MW2.
Titles and Kill streaks -- They are fun and more diverse than most ever anticipated. There are 22 pages of titles alone. And when you consider that IW has no intention of releasing exactly how they are earned, they add a monstrous amount of playtime to the title. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked where I got that cool title or emblem. Speaking of kill streaks, being able to customize them is a master stroke from IW who has yet again used innovation to change the face of fps gaming.
However, even with all of the drooling ,there are some things not to like with this title...
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With the removal of party chat in objective games, we are once again subject to Timmy and his verbal diarrhea. Also, there is no ability to back out of a lobby as a party, despite this feature being present in CoD World at War.
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Set spawns. This is the worst-of-the-worst and the whole reason I shelved COD4 in the first place. It’s only been two days and players are already exploiting the choke points of maps to punish their opponents. I know some people love this style of play, but I feel that it takes little to no skill to stand behind an invisible line and camp. This is especially excruciating after Treyarch fixed the problem so beautifully with W@W.
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Fail Packages. Care packages dropping into unreachable areas.
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Rooftops. I know that vertical play is the new thing, but how many accessible roofs do we really need?
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Lack of more customizable classes with prestige. I personally don’t know anyone who has yet, but I think if they were included IW would have mentioned it.
The biggest reason however to love this title, for me at least, is that it has my clan playing together again and will for quite some time. This game actually makes ground war entertaining enough to play it again by choice instead of feeling obligated to play it to fit more people into your rooms. With all of the titles, emblems, kill streaks and game-winning kill cams, there’s plenty to keep you coming back again and again. So Azure says, Tango Down!”
Blimmer: “Well, MW2 has finally dropped and I thought I would share my thoughts on the multiplayer madness. I could basically sum it up in two words – it rocks. That would, however, not make for a very good review, so here is a rundown of what’s good (most of it) and what’s bad (a few bits).
The Good
The first thing to mention has gotta be the visuals. The maps are all stunning in their design and rendering. Fom snowy forest to desert cave complex, the attention to detail has, in my view, surpassed World at War. IW 1, Treyarch 0!! It also has to be said there is a good mix of close-up maps as well as sniper-type arenas, making each game a little bit different, causing you to think about perks and weapon choice a lot more than previous titles. Throw into the mix the massive amount of game types you can now play (now up to 14!), the added equipment and perks system (too many to count), and you have a recipe for a world-beating MP.
But it doesn’t stop there. The rank system has been improved and some nice little banner bars added, 22 pages of them if you unlock everything. The scoring system seems to be a lot better; there is an increase in points needed to rank up, but a lot more ways to obtain more points, such as using different perks and achieving different goals, which is something that will keep us coming back for more and more.
Another thing I have noticed is the speed. The games just seem to be much more full on and in-ya-face than Cod4 and W@W. It is a real adrenaline rush when the map loads up and you charge in. There seems to be less softly sneak and snipe and much more BANZAI!, which is a good thing. I could go on about the good points for ever and ever, but feel I must balance before I get too carried away.
The Bad
There isn’t any. Seriously though, there are a few little niggles I and my fellow gamers are already finding a little tedious (pay attention IW). The first has to be spawning. The game has been out less than a week and I have already experienced major spawn camping and spawning in front of enemies. Surely this is easy to fix? There is now a perk called tactical insertion that helps a little, but is not the answer. Sort it out IW.
The only other gripe I have Is the lobby system, which is one thing I really liked about WAW. It is so much easier keeping your party together in Treyarch's title. Why did IW not listen to the gamers? Yes, they have developed a groundbreaking new title that I will probably not be removing from my Elite for the foreseeable future, but they do not seem to have learned from some of their previous mistakes.
To sum up – it rocks. And it does so on so many levels. Now if I could just get another 12 hours in a day, my kids to all leave home and the wife to take up gaming, my life would be complete."
Spec-Ops
This new game type adds two-player co-op scenarios. You and a buddy can battle through a series of bite-sized challenges. Borrowing scenarios and locations from the single-player story, each mission has you and a partner completing tasks together. The AC130 and Heli-gunner games require you to communicate with your partner on the ground. The “wave” games where you must survive, ala Horde mode in GW2, are fun and allow you to roam the map as needed as long as you can stay alive.
I prefer Spec Ops to the SP campaign and wish they had made it a four-player co-op, as some of the missions really do need a squad-sized compliment rather than just two players. That aside, this is a truly fun and surprisingly rewarding game mode. As you play through, you acquire STARS that unlock other levels within Spec-Ops, so the harder the level and the faster you complete it, the more STARS you get and the more Ops you unlock.
MineMagnet: “What I want to draw attention to here, however, is Spec Ops mode. This is the awesomeness, with but one weakness. The weakness is that it's 2 player only. This would be badass with 4. I played through maybe half a dozen missions today with my little homie, PMA and we had an absolute blast. This is the redeeming value. Take an hour out of your spawn camping n00bt00b showers, grab a buddy and check this mode out.”
Final words
Rather than put my own comments in here, I will let my clan sum up this game.Thanks for reading and see you on the battlefield!
Sooper: “For sure a game I'll be playing for a very long time.”
Whizz: “I love this game so hard! Still have no f'in idea where I'm going on the maps, but with my trusty tubed M4 I don't need no stinking directions.
Hunter: “Greatest game ever made IMO. Easily the greatest shooter ever made.”
Fireghost: “This one is hard to adjust to if you use a run and gun style. Just wayyyyy to many little alleys, nooks and crannies for bad guys to camp in. The game is also allot more dimensional than COD4. Almost every map has high spaces (rooftops, upstairs rooms).”
Prospector: “I was pleasantly surprised myself. I am definitely not gifted with twitch reaction times and given what I had heard I thought I might find MW2 too frantic for me to be able to do much. The first few MP games were WTF, die, WTF, die, repeat. But after a bit I started to get the feel for a couple of maps. I think I'm going to do about as well as I did in W@W.”
Volt2amp: “This game Rocks!!!”
Epik: “I am in love with this game. I think my favorite feature thus far is that your secondary weapon is a viable option. As a sniper I really love that my survivability has dramatically increased because now I get a veritable smg in a machine pistol, or a shotgun if i so desire.”
Tocleora: “It's definitely an enjoyable game and I'm confident I'll get my $60 out of it. No complaints so far.”
Paingod: “Just completed the campaign on Veteran. Wow what a ride! Such a good game so far. Now it's time to get on multiplayer and see what the rest of the game looks like.”
Wipsy: “I'm, kinda glad I didn't post my thoughts last night as I intended. Because at that stage I hated the game. I couldn't go positive, I couldn't get a kill in some games. Today however I rolled with a full 9 Piggies in a Ground War room and it was great. OK I still went negative in some of the games, but at least I was getting the odd kill which made it bearable. And watching the Piggy's rack up the kills on the Timmies made it all worth while.”
BigBlumunky: “my two cents are pretty much just like everyone else. Its a great game. Graphics are smooth, never chopped yet. the surplus of layouts will keep me interested forever (I wanna make love to the thumper). But the thing I love most are the levels. They are so detailed.”
PowerMacAttack (and PCP)
