Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

By Jason Venter · November 10, 2009

Wow, Modern Warfare 2 is intense! I just finished the single-player campaign, with my time weighing in at just under 7 hours, and I have to say that Infinity Ward really has managed to bring the intensity. The first Modern Warfare had its moments, but not like you'll find here. Whether or not that makes for a better game this time around is of course a matter of opinion. I expect that people will debate it for a long time to come.

As far as multi-player goes, I have played it locally with my brother-in-law and we had some good fun. There are 16 different areas available to choose from, so more than enough to keep us busy for a long while. I like that local play is supported, but I'll probably get the most use out of the game online... once I have my Xbox 360 hooked up again. I played on my HD set, but that meant no online play because I don't have the super-expensive wireless receiver yet. That'll happen soon enough. Hopefully.

I expect to review the game sometime soon, once I've spent a decent amount of time online. If online holds up the way it seems likely that it will, this is another stellar CoD game that easily justifies its price tag. Anyone else have it yet?

Comments 10

Suskie Nov 10, 2009

My roommate is supposedly getting it today, though I just found out he didn't reserve it anywhere so I have no idea how he intends to find a copy. I'll eventually get my own copy but will probably play his (if and when he gets it) for the time being.

He's getting it for PS3, though, which annoys me. The PlayStation controller has its specialties, but shooters aren't one of them :(

honestgamer Blogger Nov 10, 2009

I can agree with you there. Whatever its faults, the Xbox 360 controller is great for FPS titles. I really had no issues playing through the game on the Xbox 360, whereas some of the maneuvers would possibly be a bit less comfortable with the R2 triggers on the PS3 controller.

Suskie Nov 10, 2009

Well the shooters I've played on PS3 (namely Resistance and Killzone 2) use R1 for fire, which is even worse. And I just can't aim properly with those fat analog sticks.

Halon Nov 10, 2009

I will try the singleplayer as soon as I get 360/PS3 access unless I can pirate it sooner. However I'm not purchasing it. $60 for a 5-6 hour campaign is a bit too much and IW completely screwed over PC gamers with the multiplayer.

Suskie Nov 10, 2009

Hey Sportsman, do you think you could explain to me why abandoning dedicated servers is such a travesty? I'm not challenging you or anything; PC gaming is practically a foreign language to me and I have no idea why everyone's in such a fuss over this.

honestgamer Blogger Nov 10, 2009

Yeah, I really don't get it either. Infinity Ward is providing servers that ensure reliability and will bring the experience properly in line with console gaming... and PC gamers are screaming bloody murder. The only thing I can see is that it will prevent players from getting together groups and easily hosting their own tournaments, theoretically... or it will force them to have exposure to a bunch of other PC gamers, but that doesn't seem like such a disaster to me. Or is the PC gamer audience worse than I know?

Suskie Nov 10, 2009

I'm sure there's a good reason for it, I just don't understand online gaming jargon.

Halon Nov 11, 2009

Infinity Ward is providing servers that ensure reliability and will bring the experience properly in line with console gaming

That's the problem I have, it is becoming a console experience. If that's what I want I'd save myself $1000 or so and get a 360/PS3.

Two main reasons why I like dedicated servers. First is community. It allows gaming communities to form, where you get to know the people you play with. To me this is a much more fun and friendly experience than playing with random people every time. The other pro to this is it allows competitive scenes and clans to form.

The second main reason is mods. Now I'm not only talking about a mod that turns the SAS into zombies or something. It refers to any tweaks in gameplay. This includes custom maps, gameplay improvements and balances ( promod, bans on martydom, etc) and more. Promod has been the standard for competitive COD play for years now. This all adds a ton of depth and improves and extends the life of games greatly. Without this people would get bored of the game fast. It's odd that IW would kill the modding community like this because a lot of gameplay features were in fact created by modders during the CoD/CoD2 days (killstreaks, hardcore mode, airstrikes, perks, etc).

I would love to go much more in depth but really don't have a lot of time now. This video pretty much sums everything up pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy1-8efNdpQ (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDF2CQNSTzI&feature=related (part 2)

and a little chart:
http://i35.tinypic.com/jb2zvn.png

Now I'm not suggesting one's better than the other. Consoles certainly have their pros: fewer douchebags, much more casual and relaxed environment, easier to just put the game in and play, don't have to worry about PC bullshit (updates, crashes, tweaks, etc), can play on your couch (well you can set up a PC like this but it would be kind of awkward haha), and more. They both have their pros and cons and I just want PC gaming to stay as PC gaming and console gaming to stay as console gaming.

Or is the PC gamer audience worse than I know?

They are probably worse than you know, though I am not boycotting the game to sound edgy or make a statement. The game in its current forms just does not interest me at all.

honestgamer Blogger Nov 11, 2009

Frankly, I expect that I could get around 50 or 60 hours out of the game online before getting bored, given what's already in place. That to me justifies a purchase quite easily. The number could realistically be even higher, but I won't have the time to continue playing it to find out.

As far as mods and such, that makes sense... but frankly I expect that they will add in support for stuff like that somewhere down the road. Not to bow to PC gamer pressure, but because they've been planning to all along. I won't be surprised at all when/if that happens. So you may yet end up with a copy of the game on your PC.

Halon Nov 11, 2009

I'm not officially boycotting the game or anything. The reason I'm not getting it is because the game in its current form does not interest me at all. If IW allow dedicated servers, mod support, etc I'll definitely pick it up. It doesn't look optimistic at this point but you never know.