Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Modern Warfare 2, for better or worse, is one of the most popular multiplayer FPS games of all time, but its legacy has definitely been tarnished as a "case zero" for the current stagnation of the genre a decade later. The game undoubtedly is a fun and competent twitch shooter but replaying it now, especially the campaign, it is a huge mess of an ADD distraction. I remember the multiplayer fondly at least.

The multiplayer portion of this game added a lot of the customization that defines the Call of Duty series nowadays, but it ruined a lot as well.

Modern Warfare 2, or MW2 as it is sometimes referred to in official material, offered some highly memorable maps to play on, like Terminal, but it also shrunk the skill gap compared to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare 2 added a few more options to its seminal "create-a-class" system from COD4, but a closer inspection revealed an ominous trend. Some of the additions gave a damage boost to the player's weapons (the danger close perk), or gave the player a very unfair advantage (the infamous commando pro perk). Despite these negative additions, the game was still very playable, but could be very unfair. This unfairness emanated not just from the gameplay itself, but from the behind the scenes matchmaking. The matchmaking was a particularly strong complaint from the PC community.

Modern Warfare 2 marked the point where the Call of Duty PC player base lost interest in the series for good, because of the switch to p2p (peer-to-peer) matchmaking exclusively for all online multiplayer lobbies. Not only did this eliminate the far less-laggy dedicated server option for PC players, it removed any hope of running online mod lobbies, and private servers. The announcement of matchmaking replacing dedicated servers was met with hostility by the PC community. Many quickly pointed out that Left 4 Dead, a game that also used peer-to-peer matchmaking, was incredibly inefficient, sometimes causing players to remain in lobbies searching for other players for minutes at a time. MW2's matchmaking fared about as well as L4D's. PC players abandoned the franchise in droves, and the franchise was relegated to joke status on PC within two years. Many PC players would point to this issue as the beginning of the "consolization" of the video game market, though the trend had started far earlier than that.

MW2 is a game that i have a lot of hate toward, despite investing quite a few hours in it. I think the main issue is that i bought it after experience the ifrst MW, and that game is for me what the series should always be striving for,

MW 2 is the bloated sequel, that adds a lot of new content without checking if its quality wont ruin the overal package. I dont have many issues about the actual campaign, as its very cinematic and has a nice pacing to it. I dont recall nearly as many levels as the first MW, except the infamous No Russian level, but its still a nice way to introduce players to the meat of the game, which is the multiplayer.

In addition to competitive multiplayer there is coop in this game. Its however very basic, and its basically a horde mode that seems that it was quickly patched in. I feel that the shooting mechanics arent quite suitable for this sort of mode and hitscan enemies that can kill you fast. Its definitly much less enticing than the zombies mode.

Its really the competitive multiplayer that i have an issue with. In terms of level design, there are still some great maps, but on the whole i feel that there is a step back. The maps are more crowded with grass which makes it harder to spot enemies, and i dont feel that this is beneficial to the high intensity of gameplay. But the worst is the new perks and killstreaks that completly kill any semblance of balance that the game had. The first one had martydom and grenade launchers, this one keeps that and adds even more broken things. The grenade spam and airplane streaks and airstrikes make snowballing very easy to do with little skill. This means that the game can easily end up in spam killing, and its generally very annoying. It just doesnt feel fair, and because of that its really frustrating to play.

Its a terrible sequel to one of the best FPS.

Year: 2009
Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Console Played: Playstation 3


The 00s seems to be absolutely plagued with shoot em up after shoot em up. I mean how many times can you move around an on screen gun and shoot the bad guys? Okay so I love Doom, Quake and Half Life, but just about every game developer last decade had to make shoot em up after shoot em up. And the main problem was they were all basically just one of the aforementioned games verbatim, just in different clothing (and rarely anywhere as good as those titans). But the 00s did spawn a new titan of the genre. Out of the ashes of the failing popularity of epic WW2 FPS series Medal of Honour, came Call of Duty. It instantly became popular and recognisable with it's trademark ultra precise aiming system (how many games now use the close up sight aim trick). As the Call of Duty series evolved, the graphics became more beautiful to look at, the storylines and voice acting seemed to match Hollywood blockbusters and occassionally be genuinely powerful and moving. Another trademark of the COD series is how graciously the control systems and fluidity of play are. But aside from these ultra technical little details, does Call of Duty really have the same fun heart of the titans that inspired it, namely Doom and Half Life?

Yes and no. Modern Warfare 2 in particular, I personally find the single player campaign so offensively bland that I don't understand why the developers even chose to include it. It's not because the gameplay suffers in single player, because it doesn't. It's not because it doesn't have involving plotlines and voice acting, because it's very well done. But there seems to be a huge distance between these two aspects. The gameplay and the storyline don't fit together on an emotional level. The gameplay is great for sure, in multiplayer mode, but in the single player mode all the franticness and the atmosphere seems to be lost in what plays out as a hollywood style scripted affair. And as for the storyline, why even bother playing COD single player when you could choose to play something as immersive and emotionally involving as one of the Half Life games? Half Life 1, 2 and Portal, hands down have the greatest bond between story and shoot em up. The gameplay and the storyline seem inserpable, whilst when I play a Call of Duty campaign I feel a great seperation. The storyline and the gameplay don't seem to gel together in the same way. The two entities may be good on their own, but together I find they cross wires, interrupt each others flows, like two egos clashing.

With every COD game, I find the story modes more and more pointless. But the genius of MW2 lies in it's online multiplayer mode. For a person that admittedly isn't entirely won over by the COD series, I have to admit that it's multiplayer modes are amongst the most fun, intense and addictive online plays of any gaming series ever. Even with 12 years olds shouting the N word down their headsets, even if you do find yourself getting killed every 5 seconds, everytime I venture into a new COD game I unwillingly get lost in an online dream. As bitter as I am with the single player modes, COD does online play better than most, even giving Half Life a run for its money, and the 4 player mode of Goldeneye. When I slip into MW2's online modes, I always realise that it is so much more immersive, atmospheric, fun, intense, addictive, memorable and progressive than anything the single player campaign can offer. This is where the REAL game is at. And it makes me feel this major shift in gaming mechanics. The single player mode is traditionally the most important part of a game, the part the developers spend the most time on, and the multiplayer mode is almost like an added bonus. But with Call of Duty I would bet money that the developers spent more time on the multiplayer, because it is that much vastly superior to it's single player mode. So why do they even continue to put in these single player campaigns, why keep rehashing these hokey hollywood-esque war dramas when most of your audience are playing each other online instead?

As a whole package, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is extremely flawed and stale as a single player game, yet MW2 is perhaps the very peak of online gaming. And it really bothers me that the online part of the game feels illegitimate and tacked on, because of that damn campaign mode. I really hope COD makes the full shift and drops its campaign mode and focuses all out on online multiplayer, because that is the series greatest chance of reaching the heights of Half Life and Doom. The bottom line: I could just rate this game full marks based on it's near flawless multiplayer mode, but I can't ignore that there are huge portions of the game as a whole that I just don't care to play in the slightest.

By now, you most likely have heard enough about the controversial airport level (SPOILERS!) and publisher Activison boasting about it having the strongest sales up to that point. But, is it good? Since this is the sequel to one of the best FPS of recent years, expectations were unreasonably high for it.

Like most video game sequels, MW2 doesn’t set off in a new direction as much as it improves on nearly every aspect of the first while raising the stakes. You can now set off an atom bomb in multiplayer matches that will end the game. This is a perfect metaphor for MW2, as everything from the campaign to the revamped multiplayer adds in enough unpredictable elements to take even the most jaded players by surprise. However, this isn’t always a good thing.

I found the story of the main campaign to be stuck in a Michael Bay mindset of constant insanity and explosions that often detracted from the high points, not to mention it’s hard to get bearings on the who, where, and why of the missions you are a part of.

On the other hand, new additions to multiplayer like death streak (die enough times and unlock a bonus) add enough rewards that it makes even losing fun. Problems arise in multiplayer with the inclusion of perks and weapons that allow players to always see opponents and gun them down in one shot, taking away map awareness and skill shots from the multiplayer experience in favor of "who spotted who first" -- a problem that persists in the series.

MW2 isn’t as well structured as Half-Life 2 or have the personality of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, but if you loved the original Modern Warfare then this most likely will be a new favorite.