Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is seen by many as the defining first-person shooter of this generation. This can be seen by the hints of CoD4 that exist in many shooters released since 2007. But even with the large success of the game, there were problems with it. These included network issues, grenade spam, and irritating perks. There was a large amount of outcry from the community to fix these issues, but after a single map pack, Infinity War essentially dropped support of the game. However, the silver lining is that everyone assumed Infinity Ward wanted to put the time into fixing their sequel, similar to what happened with Uncharted 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2. But did they do that? Let’s find out.

The Good

I’d be lying if I said this game wasn’t fun. For some reason, even though I rage about the game’s faults, I still have fun playing it. There is just something that is rewarding about stabbing a group of three people with a tactical knife, setting a nuke off, or even just the sound from getting a headshot. When you get down to it, this is a game and you are meant to have fun, which is something Modern Warfare 2 does very well.

In Call of Duty 4, one of the biggest gripes people had was the lack of depth in the customization. There was only a couple of sights, a handful of useful perks, only one attachment could be used at a time, and killstreaks were static. All of these things have been expanded in Modern Warfare 2.

The new list of attachments includes a thermal sight, extended magazines, and full metal jacks, which increase bullet penetration and to a smaller extent, damage. This large list, combined with the Bling perk, which allows for two attachments on a single gun, gives players a lot more options in how they want to play.

And that’s just the primary weapon. Overkill from the last game has been removed, but replaced with a universal secondary weapon for all players. While you can’t run around with two assault rifles, you get your choice between various pistols, machine pistols, shotguns, and launchers. For all pistols and some shotguns, you have the option of running around dual wielding the weapons. You lose your ability to look down the sights, but being able to fire two Model 1887s at once can make you a killing machine.

Now, so far I’ve mentioned two changes to the list of perks. But those aren’t the only changes. All of the useless perks, like Eavesdrop, have been removed from the game. And at first glance, it looks like the also removed some of the better perks, like Dead Silence for example. But Infinity Ward has added a pro perk connected to every perk. The pro perk is unlocked after the player completes the fourth level of the challenge for that base perk. Some pro perks are directly related to the base perk (Bling Pro gives the player two attachments for their secondary weapon), while others are useful to have, but aren’t connected to the base perk (Commando Pro eliminates fall damage, whereas Commando extends the reach of the player’s melee attack).

The most exciting piece of customization comes with the addition of new killstreaks. In the last game, players only had access to three killstreaks. In Modern Warfare 2, players can still only have three killstreaks, but they are interchangeable with a pool of fifteen total killstreaks. The list includes a harrier airstrike, a chopper gunner, which puts the player in control of a gunner seat inside an attack helicopter, and after a 25-killstreak, a tactical nuke.

The thing I want to emphasize with these customizations is the ability to choose. While this game is mainly seen as a run and gun shooter, there are plenty of other strategies that come into existence if you set up the right kit. For example, I have a kit that let’s me become a crazy mass murderer with a knife. I go entire games without firing my gun once. This ability to play how you want to play is a huge positive for this game.

Another huge problem in Call of Duty 4 was when the host left the game, the game would end and you would be kicked out to the main screen. This was incredible annoying, especially when it could take a significant amount of time to find a lag free game. Infinity Ward has fixed this problem with the most wonderful thing that has ever come to match making multiplayer: host migration. When the host leaves the game, the game will pause and automatically search for another suitable host. And when one is found, the game will resume exactly where it left off. While the function isn’t perfect, it’s definitely a great addition to the game.

The Bad

Before starting this section, I need to ask a question. What the hell was Infinity Ward doing for two years? This year, three big sequels were released. Uncharted 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Modern Warfare 2. The first two made huge improvements over their predecessors. Infinity Ward on the other hand hasn’t done nearly as much as Naughty Dog and Ubisoft Montreal did in the same amount of time. There is the argument that they didn’t want to change the gameplay around too much, because of how successful Call of Duty 4 was. And this argument is completely correct. However, I am talking about technical issues that should have been fixed, especially BECAUSE they didn’t have to change the gameplay. I’ve honestly wondered on several occasions if this game even went through QA testing.

There are still network issues that exist with this game, such as parts of parties not joining a server, lag, random kicks, and a few others. This is something that really should have been a top priority of theirs, especially since this is a multiplayer-centric game. Players shouldn’t have to worry about finding a lag free server, but that’s what happens in this game.

The other problem involving networking is match making. Match making, while being very useful to developers in terms of cutting costs, is terrible for gamers, especially in this game. Players have no choice in what map they play or the quality of the connection they have to the server. Many times, players also get thrown into a game where they have no chance to win. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been thrown into a game five seconds before a countdown for a nuke pops up. There are even more times when I’ve left that kind of game, but get kicked right back into it when I search for another game.

Another technical issue that desperately needs to be addressed is hit detection. I’ve run into many occasions where I’ve gotten headshots when I wasn’t aiming anywhere near their heads. But the most irritating thing that happens is when I put a sniper rifle scope on a guys chest, pull the trigger, hear the shot, but still die. Watching the killcam confirms that the gun was in fact fired, but my enemy incurred no damage. This could be closely related to lag, but this has happened in all kinds of servers.

Anyone who has played Call of Duty 4 knows that in almost every map, there was a ton of grenade spam. Luckily, there is almost no grenade spam in Modern Warfare 2. This sounds like a good thing though right? So why is it in the bad section of this review. Well that’s because one annoying tactic has been replaced with another, namely camping. Its pretty obvious to tell that Infinity Ward took nade spam into account when making the maps, but now in just about every map, there are huge amounts of camping spots. IGN has actually created a series of videos showing off the numerous camping spots in many maps.

Remember “going prestige”? Remember how there weren’t any incentives to doing it and it was essentially useless? Well, it still is. If you go prestige you get access to a few more challenges and titles, as well as an extra create-a-class slot, but that’s it. I know IW wants to keep a balance between hardcore and casual gamers, but they need to figure out some reason for gamers to prestige.

This entire review has been dedicated to the game’s competitive multiplayer, so now its time for the singleplayer. It sucks. The story is five hours long, doesn’t have a definitive end (again), and there is a large feeling of “why did I just waste my time with that” going on when completed. Many sections are brokenly difficult and are just tiresome to get through. Infinity Ward really made a half assed attempt at a story. After that showing, they might want to consider slapping multiplayer only on the cover of Modern Warfare 3.

Conclusion

Call of Duty 4 will probably go down as an industry change game in a few years, if it isn’t already defined as such. Its sequel, however, probably won’t be regarded in such high esteem. Modern Warfare 2, while fun, isn’t much more than a $60 expansion pack. It doesn’t bring anything new to the genre or to the series. There are also a fair amount of problems that carried over from the last game. But I do want to emphasize the fact that this game is fun and if you liked the original, I would recommend picking this up. But don’t expect a spectacular change like we saw with Assassin’s Creed 2 or Uncharted 2.