By Alec Meer on November 11th, 2009 at 12:08 am.
You might have noticed. You might have queued up at silly o’clock to get a copy. You might even have got some sort of tattoo to commemorate how excited you are about the prospect of shooting virtual men of assorted ethnic origins. Aye, today was Modern Warfare 2 day – a game that, for a lot of the industry and its consumers, has managed to become pretty much the only game of the year. I was at the UK launch last night – some thoughts on that and some of the rolling PC version problems follow.
I wasn’t at the pre-launch party, the one held in a Leicester Square cinema, because a quiet pint with chums seemed infinitely more appealing than braving the crowds and listening to Vernon Kaye pretend he’s a geek, but I did pop along to the big booze up afterwards, which covered the two and half hour run up to midnight, when the vaunted FPS became available. A funny affair – clearly an awful lot of money was poured into the giant countdown screen, the glut of student barstaff dressed in fatigues and a few dudes dressed as snow terrorists. A few celebrities showed up and were quickly ushered off to a special pen – the thin one from Gavin & Stacy, some Radio 1 DJs and Dizzee Rascal, who played a short set just before the witching hour. But mostly, it was a big warehouse with free booze, a few Xboxes and lots of people standing around trying not to stare unblinkingly at the enormous timer on the wall.
It wasn’t bad, not by any measure (and I’d be an awful churl to say it was, as I had a pleasant enough time), but there was an unavoidably awkward, how-do-we-do-this air to the proceedings. I say this not to mock it, because it doesn’t deserve to be mocked, but instead because it was arrestingly incongrous with MW2′s enormous profile so far. Honestly – I’m not bitching, I’m just fascinated by how new and strange a thing it is to put a videogame on the same level as a movie premiere or royal visit. It’s one of the biggest entertainment properties of the year (wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being the biggest): this is as good as it’s ever got for games. Perhaps the best it will get for the next couple of years, until something else achieves this degree of critical mass. It could have been, perhaps should have been, the launch party to end all launch parties – but instead it was a demonstration that for, for all the recent rush of success they’ve experienced, games are still in their infancy in a lot of ways.
No-one, it seems, quite knows how to make a game about repeatedly shooting dudes as glitzy as a red carpet affair – it all gets a bit unsure, a bit wobbly once it’s moved beyond showing footage and trailers. Games aren’t films, and one of the many side-effects of this is that celebrating them with pomp and ceremony isn’t easy, regardless of how much money the thing’s going to rake in. It’ll be interesting to see how that develops over time, as we (presumably) get more games with this degree of crossover appeal, and there’s more of an effort and an understanding of how to Go Big, to make it a bona fide cultural event as well as a gamer’s event. We’ve hit a new age in terms of public awareness of games in the last few years, and that’s going to bring interesting changes.
This struggle for glitz and glamour also hints at a certain hollowness at the heart of what Modern Warfare 2 really is. It’s certainly an incredibly accomplished first-person shooter and deserves success, but it’s still Put The Cursor Over The Man’s Face. it’s not doing anything to make anyone who wasn’t already going to buy it believe videogames are capable of a greatness nothing else can do. I understand why it’s “the most anticipated game of the decade”, to quote one of its marketing lines, but I can’t help but feel a little sad about that. Can’t we have a weirder, cheerier figurehead? Hey, it’d even help with launch parties – surrealistic colour and alien shapes would have brought that warehouse to life far more than all the frowning guys with fake AK-47s in the world ever could.
Still, I went home with a copy of the game, which was jolly nice. Except it was on Xbox, which wasn’t. I want to play the thing on PC, but I’m stuck with a Steam preorder. Which brings me to the latest in MW2′s litany of PC screwups. If you bought the thing via Steam, retailer appeasement nonsense means it doesn’t unlock for another two days yet. Buy a boxed copy instead and you’re laughing right away, even though it nonetheless requires Steam (and immediately downloads a 1.3Gb patch, a chum claims). So, a whole flock of people are being punished for buying the game up-front.
If you’re mad/desperate enough to go buy a boxed copy as well as having the Steam version, you’ll still be locked out, as the preorder version keeps priority – so setup a second Steam account if you plan to do that. Clearly, I’m not quite sure who’s to blame for this open stupidity, but it’s a sorry state of affairs – red tape and back-scratching holding PC gaming back from its present and its future, miring it bloody-mindedly in the past of plastic discs. What’s been achieved by doing this, apart from pissing off a bunch of guys who pre-ordered on Steam in good faith, expecting to be able to play at the same time as everyone else? Honestly, the degree to which high-up businessy types don’t have a blind clue how things really work in the real world never ceases to stun me.
I would guess this whole sorry saga, and all the sniping and swearing and spitting it resulted in, could well spell the end of Call of Duty’s PC tenure. I won’t be surprised if the next one does a Gears Of War 2 and gives up on the platform entirely. It’ll be a little sad if so, as the PC is where CoD was born, where Infinity Ward earned the experience and mega-bucks necessary to become the goliath they are today – but hey, we’ve got plenty else to be getting on with instead.
All the more importantly: who’s playing MW2, and what do you think so far? Worth the hype? Better than you thought? Sickened to the very stomach by That Level?
11/11/2009 at 00:15 Dracko says:
lol this game pulls a Halo 2 ending
If there’s a message here, it’s that history is not only written by liars, but also madmen.
Also, cycle of vengeance etc
11/11/2009 at 00:17 Omnikoron says:
What about those of us who don’t like modernity, or warfare? I’m totally unmoved by this, and the fact that my PC is made of valves and bits of leather has nothing to do with it.
11/11/2009 at 02:42 yhancik says:
You’re not alone
11/11/2009 at 08:49 monchberter says:
Thirded. Supposedly ‘real life’ shooty bang bangs do little more than make me switch off immediately.
11/11/2009 at 12:07 Subject 706 says:
Fourded(?)
The mass psychosis this game generates confounds me. It’s predecessor was not that good, and suspect neither will this be. Add to that a higher price and gimped features…
11/11/2009 at 00:17 Excalibur101 says:
“the most anticipated game of the decade”?
I did not even know it came out this week, and I like to keep up on gaming news. I think that’s a bit extreme, even for a marketing quote.
11/11/2009 at 00:24 Frosty says:
Thank god, I thought I was the only one! COD was entertaining but it has become more hollywood. Not that is necessarily a bad thing but Hollywood gets boring. Quickly.
I’ll pick it up sometime.
11/11/2009 at 00:43 Idle Threats and Bad Poetry says:
I agree with you guys. Sure, it’s fancy and all, but I remember all the hype about Grand Theft Halo or whatever and I have trouble believing this was the most anticipated game. I’ve never been much into military shooters.
11/11/2009 at 00:50 Earl_of_Josh says:
Right there with you, as far as I’m concerned Dragon Age was my game of the year (not sure about decade, Vampire Bloodlines and The Witcher are pretty close contenders (*whisper* and Mario Galaxy)).
11/11/2009 at 01:16 Po0py says:
I bet it will be the most pirated game of the decade.
11/11/2009 at 01:38 Pantsman says:
Careful everyone: it says “most anticipated game of the decade”, not “best game of the decade” or even “game of the decade”.
11/11/2009 at 02:28 RobF says:
I wasn’t anticipating it. Give me bright lights and aliens (or zombies or cats or pirates or frogs or something, anything) over CoD:Anything. It’s filed under “one of those games I doubt I’ll ever play” same as the last one and the one before that.
Did get a bit sick of hearing about it on the news yesterday, mind. The BBC were having a reportgasm.
11/11/2009 at 02:33 Heliocentric says:
Earlier I ate the most anticipated sandwich of the decade. You have no idea how hungry i was, shame it was mediocre, it did have a dedicated server though.
11/11/2009 at 03:26 Eplekongen says:
Agreed, I didn’t know this game existed before about a week ago, and I just figured it was a game that had come out recently. And I also keep up to date on games. Then I see people in lined up outside a games store in the middle of the night…
11/11/2009 at 03:34 Guy Jin says:
Give me bright lights and aliens (or zombies or cats or pirates or frogs or something, anything) over CoD:Anything.
Would you compromise on CoD: Zombie Pirate Cats?
11/11/2009 at 03:36 Guy Jin says:
@RobF: Would you compromise on CoD: Zombie Pirate Cats?
Give me bright lights and aliens (or zombies or cats or pirates or frogs or something, anything) over CoD:Anything.
11/11/2009 at 03:37 Guy Jin says:
Would you compromise on CoD: Zombie Pirate Cats?
11/11/2009 at 04:35 Krikey! says:
Like you said: “marketing”. I too didn’t care much for the game’s debut, nor did I realize there was such a huge launch party going on.
Activision can eat it.
11/11/2009 at 05:59 RobF says:
@ Guy Jin
Only if it involved real cod.
11/11/2009 at 00:19 SlappyBag says:
I literally just finished it, Its a beautiful and solid shooter but really lacks in the story telling department. I had to go onto wikipedia and read the plot section just to figure out what just happened.
That being said it is definitely a fantastic game, its really just more of the same brilliance that COD4 produced but with an extra ompth in its back side. Some parts of missons are a bit stereotypical but its just a hard on, in your face action film so its alright.
If only the multiplayer worked at university =(
11/11/2009 at 01:43 fuggles says:
I really want slappybag’s comment to appear on a marketing poster
“Some parts of missons are a bit stereotypical but its just a hard on”
11/11/2009 at 00:20 AsubstanceD says:
Hmmm, COD4 seemed really polished, fairly accomplished, but I cannot agree with people’s opinions that it was this amazing game, not from the stand point that it did not do anything new, but simply because at heart it always felt like one long set piece that I could never engage very well with. I guess I couldn’t really appreciate it because it was a war game that seemed absolutely arcadey and after the gun play of STALKER a realistic setting seemed to scream for a different shooting model.
I also find this whole great glitzy marketing a worrying trend, that for me backs the hollowness that the game industry is heading for. I don’t think we should want gaming to head in the direction of huge release events. I find them troubling, and not the way I want gaming to raise its profile (not that it needs to!). Not only that but I consider the buying of a game at midnight at a weird cult like opening event to be a troubling trend, one that would once have been associated with the ultra geek.
I personally will not weep at the loss of any COD games in the future. I do understand anyone that would however.
11/11/2009 at 07:13 qrter says:
I’d say a glitzy, hollow affair like this fits very well with a game series that is full of grand setpieces that still find it hard to cover up the emptiness at its centre.
11/11/2009 at 00:20 Gap Gen says:
Well, I know what I’m doing on Armistice Day.
11/11/2009 at 10:14 JB says:
Yeah, personally I think it’s out of order releasing it when they did. Disrespectful at best.
As for the game, last CoD I played was the add-on for number 1. Or was it two, I forget. So I’m definitely in the “meh” camp on this one.
11/11/2009 at 00:22 SirKicksalot says:
I picked up the game for SP and some co-op with my friends. I don’t give a shit about the “regular” MP.
I’ve played 2 hours and 15 minutes of the campaign.
Three flaws:
– no options in the main menu. You have to start playing to modify something. Not THAT annoying, but still. I was lucky to read about this somewhere, I can imagine others being frustrated.
- no lean. It abandoned the infinite respawning, and the levels are much more convulted, so *this* is where lean was needed, not in the old games… I forgot about it at the start, I was like HELLZ YEAH MOAR TACTICS SINCE NO RESPAWN and I spammed smoke grenades instead of leaning!
- blood splatter. Fuck this shit. I can’t see anything when I’m shot.
Other than that, yeah. Awesome. Cliche, cheesy, but awesome. Reminds me a lot of COD1 and, to some extent, 2. Also, fantastic voice acting (Keith David! Lance Henriksen! Barry Pepper!), fantastic music and beautiful graphics.
11/11/2009 at 00:35 Paul_M says:
SPOILERS, vague though they are.
It’s as mad as a sack of hammers and I felt a little deja vu having played World in Conflict. It’s good – the environments are quite nice but it’s still a duck-shoot and relentlessly grim.
THAT mission doesn’t make any sense either – surely far more lives were lost in the long run as a result of you going along with it? Or was that itself orchestrated the big baddie?
The multiplayer reminds me of Time Crisis with Japanese levels of stats, bonuses and flashing coloured boxes when you shoot people. Preferred the more understated nature of its predecessor.
11/11/2009 at 00:39 Lagmint says:
A friend at my work beat it in 4 hours. Given that I beat the first Modern Warfare in 5 (including over an hour on that awful sniper defense part), sounds like a no for me. The multiplayer is… awful, if I remember correctly (and from what I’ve heard the Specter Gunship makes it ever WORSE now…), mostly due to dying in my spawn over and over.
I think I’ll skip this.
11/11/2009 at 00:42 FhnuZoag says:
Reading the plot summary on wikipedia….
Jeez, that’s ridiculous. I mean, heck, the Red Alert games had a more believable plot than this.
11/11/2009 at 03:21 Rinox says:
Did the same and AMEN to that. Jesus H Christ. For a game that portrays itself as the “real world shooter” par excellence that plot is just bonkers.
IW better hire some real writers next time or the console gamers might rise up and say ‘wha?’. /end sarcasm
11/11/2009 at 03:32 RyePunk says:
But they went out and hired a writer from NCIS! the #1 show in America! So it will work great with the #1 game in America!
and I can’t keep a straight face anymore. I laughed when I heard they were taking story seriously and had hired an NCIS writer.
11/11/2009 at 03:53 Bret says:
Wow.
Reading about the first one, it felt somewhat plausible, a bit clever, and most impressively (to me) it allowed itself to hold back a tad from excessive “THIS IS A BIG DEAL” ness. It had a campaign that never even made the headlines.
This one’s plot…
If they had a twist midway through that the whole thing was a plot by the aliens from X-Com to summon swarms of demon vampires, the plot would be greatly improved.
11/11/2009 at 03:58 Dracko says:
Yeah, but you’re all reading the plot summary on Wikipedia.
11/11/2009 at 00:45 Vinraith says:
In celebration of not caring about the release of Modern Warfare 2, I pre-ordered Kings Bounty: Armored Princess.
11/11/2009 at 00:55 MD says:
And I played Cricket Revolution! Just had a huge 10/10 match, needed 18 off the last over and 12 off the last two balls, finished it off with consecutive sixes. Modern Warfare? More like Modern Borefare.
11/11/2009 at 01:15 Bhazor says:
More like Sodden Horsebear!
11/11/2009 at 02:40 Spacewalk says:
I just played DooM II, that old thing.
11/11/2009 at 12:14 Subject 706 says:
And I am too engrossed in the colors of The Void to care about lesser games
Armoured Princess has had an english release already?
11/11/2009 at 19:49 Vinraith says:
@Subject 706
November 20.
11/11/2009 at 19:59 Psychopomp says:
The Void is utterly lovely. If only *that* was “THE MOST ANTICIPATED GAME OF THE DECADE!”
11/11/2009 at 00:51 Serenegoose says:
I've been vaguely interested in this game since Call of Duty 4. But these games are just -too short-. It's absolutely ridiculous. We're talking episode length, but with crazy price tags. I've no compelling reason to buy this game until I can find it for about £15.
11/11/2009 at 13:05 Carra says:
I agree. It’s six hours playing a great game. But at six hours for €60 you’re paying €10 per hour.
I’m not interested in the multiplayer so I’ll just wait until one day it’s out for a reasonable price. Although I’ve seen it in retail shops for €40 compared to the €60 steam asks. When will they get their pricing straight?
11/11/2009 at 00:52 manintheshack says:
Been playing CoD4 in the run up to the Steam release tomorrow and purposefully choosing 6 to 9-aside games. gotta say, playing on a smaller scale is where I’m happiest. UAV Jammer and a silenced MP5 and I’m the enemy’s worst nightmare.
Booze, cigs & MW2 on Friday and I’ll hopefully be doing that all night. I would just like someone who isn’t a moron and does like the previous game’s multiplayer to give it a write-up somewhere. If it controls the same and there’s minimal lag then I can almost forgive the lobby system / dedi-servers fiasco. I read a handful of PC reviews but they’re all happily steering clear of the-things-that-IW-done-bad and mainly banging on about that bloody airport level.
C’mon, someone spill the beans…
11/11/2009 at 00:56 Ted says:
I’ll get this eventually, but I’m not paying anywhere near $59.99 for a 10 hour game.
11/11/2009 at 03:29 Psychopomp says:
*5 hour
Also, [my usual quality>quantity diatribe here]
11/11/2009 at 04:13 GGX_Justice says:
Problem is, it really isn’t that high on quality, or quantity…
11/11/2009 at 13:07 Carra says:
Sure beats paying €60 (~$90).
11/11/2009 at 01:01 Astorax says:
Wait, you guys are already done with “the game of the year”…seriously?
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the solid multiplayer experience…I played the hell outta counterstrike for a long time…but counterstrike was never the game of the year, Half Life was. And Half Life had an amazingly rich story behind the shooter that took more than 24 hours to finish.
What’s happened to us that we’re okay with a game that finishes that fast being hailed as this good?
11/11/2009 at 01:28 Mr Chug says:
Portal?
11/11/2009 at 02:46 skalpadda says:
Portal wasn’t 60€ though. In fact, with the Orange Box you got Portal, HL2+episodes and TF2 for less than that. I think there’s a pretty big issue when the most expensive game ever only lasts you 5-10 hours.
And if anyone brings up multiplayer as justification for the ludicrous price tag, I’d like to again point to things like the Orange Box. I seriously doubt the production values of MW2 are that amazing.
11/11/2009 at 03:59 Dracko says:
Well, if you paid over £30 for a game on its release, you deserve to be ripped off.
11/11/2009 at 06:11 skalpadda says:
Everyone doesn’t live in the UK getting mysteriously low prices on games, and isn’t the standard price for MW2 over there something like 40 or 50£ anyway?
11/11/2009 at 12:58 Casimir's Blake says:
The last time I paid more than £30 for a game was Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. That was worth every penny.
I enjoyed CoD4 (in fact I’ll be honest and found the experience enjoyably dramatic and fairly believeable), but this time it sounds like IW have pushed the melodrama a bit too fucking far. I’ll wait the decade it will take this game to enter the bargain bins.
11/11/2009 at 14:00 VelvetFistIronGlove says:
I still firmly remember the lesson learnt at the end of The Secret Of Monkey Island: never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
11/11/2009 at 01:03 Bhazor says:
Oh goody. Games are becoming even more like the marzipan and glitter section of Hollywood. If a game now hires Shia LafuckingBeouf I officially quit and will take up archery or sperlunking as a hobby.
On an unrelated note I found these fan reviews of MW2 from metacritic hilarious.
“Dude D. gave it a0:
When I put this product in my toaster, I began to smell a pungent burnt smell, bizarre colored smoke began to exude from it, and then all power stopped in my house, forcing me to go downstairs and reset a fuse. When I went to check the toaster later I couldn’t get less than three meters to it due to the pungent smell and tangible cloud of noxious fumes. After hours of letting the air circulate, I finally discovered my toaster was completely ruined. I do NOT recommend this game, the port to toaster was done TERRIBLY and absolutely ruined my toaster system.”
“Jeff D. gave it a0:
ThE CRAppiest game ever. this SUCKED. I want my money back. I would rather watch barney and friends! Short campaign, stupid first person camera… If ur wondering what games I do like, Halo.”
Oh christ I hate us lot sometimes.
11/11/2009 at 01:07 tapanister says:
*Waits for Bobby Kotick to hire Shie Le Bouf as MW2 creative strategist no2*
11/11/2009 at 01:09 Paul_M says:
No sir, games like MW2 are the interactive Hollywood experience. Let’s not do the medium down but allowing it only one facet to its character.
11/11/2009 at 01:19 Ozzie says:
The Dude D. review is hilarious!
Jeff D. is just your typical troll, though.
11/11/2009 at 01:05 viper34j says:
Guess not everyone things this game is all that…
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/modernwarfare2
11/11/2009 at 01:07 Rath says:
For the record, I went ahead with That Level, and did not fire a single shot during it. They were right to put the warning in, but it did a decent job of making me really, really want to see Makarov get what was coming to him.
11/11/2009 at 01:18 rocketman71 says:
If Infinity Ward is going to keep fucking the platform like this, frankly, I’d prefer they do a GoW2 and do COD8, MW3, however is called, only for the consoles. Much better than this sorry port and the amount of lies, bad PR, over-the-shoulder talking and sheer stupidity that we’ve seen this last month.
BTW, the game was pirated today. Lots of people are playing it 2 days before many people that paid for it. And in the case of the 360, it was a full week. Yet another fuckup for Infinity Ward’s collection. fourzerotwo is going to have to buy a bigger house to keep them all this year.
Congrats, IW. Congrats, Kotick. Of course you don’t care, because you’ll sell 15 million copies and next year you’ll make us play with an xbox controller, IF the next game comes to PC.
11/11/2009 at 01:23 Psychopomp says:
As for That Level, if it doesn’t make you feel guilty, you should probably be institutionalized.
As for the game, well, all I can say is that the single player was really, really good. Still, as far as single player games go, Uncharted 2 or Dragon Age are still GOTY in my book. Uncharted 2 was a ten hour spree of me yelling “RUUUUUUUUUUN NA-OH SHIT,” and I’ve always been completely stoic while playing a game. Plus, Amy Hennig(of Legacy of Kain) is an amazing writer, that even managed to make that clichefest absolutely enthralling.
As far as multiplayer goes, I didn’t exactly obtain my copy through legitimate means due to that whole fuss up. I’d gladly pay for the single player alone, if it didn’t fund that kind of treatment of the PC. Probably buy a used copy of Amazon at some point.
11/11/2009 at 01:26 Psychopomp says:
On another note: MW2 ran absolutely marvelously on my decrepit rig, and still looked amazing in the process.
11/11/2009 at 02:14 Rohit says:
Guilty of killing defenseless pixels?
11/11/2009 at 14:41 Lars Westergren says:
Don’t be silly Rohit. By that argumentation, no one would be affected by a graphic scene of murder and rape in a film because, hey, it’s only actors doing make believe stuff.
11/11/2009 at 01:25 Matzerath says:
I does not playz dese games.
11/11/2009 at 01:26 Gilly says:
Boooring.
11/11/2009 at 01:29 Wooly says:
I’ll be buying this used (if ever) so that not one dime of my money goes to Activision & Infinity Ward. Of course I’ll probably have to wait a year or so to get a reasonable used price for it.
11/11/2009 at 02:26 Heliocentric says:
Do not buy used, this game adds to steam doesn’t it? Surely its a single use key.
11/11/2009 at 01:30 Taillefer says:
The only CoD game I’ve ever played is Robocod.
11/11/2009 at 01:30 TeeJay says:
The price of CoD4 has come down to c.£18, a little more and I might finally buy it. I am therefore guessing it might well be another couple of years before I get round to Modern Warfare 2, unless the people I trust start raving about it being a masterpiece.
11/11/2009 at 01:33 Adam says:
Honestly, I couldn’t care less if IW decide that the PC isn’t viable enough for them to produce games for it. Activision are a newer, meaner version of EA – churning out extremely high priced, highly produced yet poor substance products.
In fact, in the past couple of years EA have actually started allowing the developers to create better games, rather than relying on just polished front ends and high quality graphics.
11/11/2009 at 01:36 Junch says:
Heard from online sources that people who preordered the game were not being able to play out like those with boxed copies. You’re wrong though Alec, there isn’t a 1GB+ patch to be downloaded. It plays right out of the box, of course after the 2 DVD 45 mins installation process.
As for the game, bang bang pow all the way. But like you said, how long can CoD sustain until people realize that there’s got to be more to life than that?
11/11/2009 at 01:37 Hoernchen says:
5h Singleplayer is just meh after DA Origins. Especially for this price. Don’t even mention the fuckup they call multiplayer..
11/11/2009 at 01:42 Phinor says:
A huge fan of four of the five previous CoD games and even played three of them competitively but I’m just not going to bother with this one. Everyone must be tired of hearing about the multiplayer on PC but that’s my reason, nothing more to it. I’m not sure I would be able to enjoy the singleplayer either with the FOV the game is locked to, usually FOV that low makes me sick quite quickly though I guess it’s a good thing the singleplayer campaign is very short :)
But it’s good to see gaming more in the mainstream media. Too bad it was this game that made the headlines, not for example that one brilliant RPG that was released last week. Goes by the name Dragon Age.
11/11/2009 at 02:52 Nathan says:
But it wasn’t the game that made the media so much as peoples’ reactions and expectations of it. When the next Bioware RPG gets the region of 5 million preorders and is expected to sell well in excess of ten million copies, I’ll be the first to contact the press.
11/11/2009 at 01:44 Jason says:
No-one cares about shooting civilians because their dirty masters tell them it’s OK. Welcome to the new world order folks.
11/11/2009 at 01:45 WilPal says:
MW1 will now be cheaper so i’ll just buy that and have the exact same experience.
11/11/2009 at 01:47 Wulf says:
This is far too [i]WHYSOSERIOUS?![/i] for me, really. And to those who had no idea when this particular game was coming out, I’ll add my voice to that chorus. Games of this ilk never manage to raise an eyebrow in my case, not even a twice, note that neither eyebrow is even a pico-metre out of alignment.
I’m more excited about Borderlands than I am about this, and I have Borderlands and I’ve been playing that for quite some time. There, I am Shotgun Zeus, electro-maniacal fair-weather lawman-for-hire extraordinaire.
I would’ve had the same problem with Dragon Age: Origins being too serious (along with its ragtag band of poorly written characters) if not for Shale. Alec was right about him. But yes, things important to me in a game: things that can invoke a sense of wonder, a game with a sense of humour, and characters which are both likeable and memorable. A game must have two of these for me to enjoy it.
MW has… perhaps one of those.
So… looking onward to more interesting games, then!
11/11/2009 at 02:15 Mundus says:
Oh wow, the plot as described on Wikipedia looks….insanely laughable.
*SPOILERS*
ICBMs, Russian insurgents CAPTURING AND HOLDING Washington, DC?!?
What’s next? A T-rex with a CCCP flag hanging from his waist?
Maybe it all makes sense in-game, but wow, C&C Red Alert looks like a war documentary by comparison.
11/11/2009 at 02:50 Spacewalk says:
Call the A-Team, they’ll sort it out. Mr T. will give us Snickers as well which will make all the children smile.
11/11/2009 at 11:48 Rinox says:
I heard the mind-controlled war bears were cut late in the development progress.
11/11/2009 at 02:20 Ybfelix says:
Talking about campaign:
I feel the plot and characterizing is… Metal Gear?!
Despite that, not as good as COD4.
The middle symdrome. The first title, not sure whether there will be a sequel so they packed in a self contained plot. The sequel, knowing there will be a MW3, left too many loose plot threads. Makarov being the loosest. (Though in this case it still handles much, much better than Matrix Reloaded – I feel obliged to say that given any chance.)
The loading screen exposition is not as good as COD4. Confusing, I’d say, lacks key information and too many weapon wireframes as fillers. There are even 2 or 3 simply total black loading screens.
Blood splatter IS terrible.
__spoilers ahead______________
The emphasis on personal view is stronger. More blockbuster-y than COD4 and not the best kind of blockbusters. COD4 were “personal adventure” in “Modern Warfare”, this time it’s just “personal adventure”.
Death-cam and paralyzed-cams were used to great effect in COD4. While IW added more variants thereof in MW2, the element itself is not fresh anymore.
Breach breach breach! Breach-cam is nice. Not dramatic as I imagined but nice. But can you throw a flashbang for me please?
No levels as impressive as expriencing Crew Expendable, The Coup, Death from Above, Aftermath and All Ghillied Up the first time. Quite some deja vu, which is fitting for Metal Gear Solidifying analog (MGS2).
Airplane Graveyard pumped my adrenaline, pity it didn’t last longer. I think it’s nice that everyone not concerntrated firing on you yet you’re still in danger.
No Russian: if they didn’t make the cause and the aftermath loose threads, or put in more explanation, maybe it would be more impactful, but as of now I just feel uncomfortable, and my father called me out for slaughtering innocent in a videogame for the first time.
A lot details were added, more types of enviroments, and no obvious respawning or grenade showers. A curious question: Why most developers chose to add snow-terrain in sequel or expansions?
Gen.Sheperd, He is so MGS a villain. A villain in anime/comic, not film-style.
11/11/2009 at 03:02 Ybfelix says:
噢，嗨 Zhengogo，你在吗？ 听说你也在这里反主机？:D
a little personal shout out ;)
11/11/2009 at 02:21 sigma83 says:
Counterpoint:
I thought the single player in COD4 was enthralling and compulsive. I thought it had a very good grasp of storytelling for the medium and it was a heck of a lot of fun. The Call of Duty series for me has always been a hallmark of engrossing single player shooting, and MW2 seems poised to carry out that same promise.
Honestly, I would rather play MW2 before Dragon Age at this point in my life because I know MW2 will be over in 8 hours while Dragon Age might take weeks. And given my limited amount of free time, I know which I prefer at this point, although which is the better game time will tell for me.
TL;DR version: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
11/11/2009 at 02:24 Tom says:
“believe videogames are capable of a greatness nothing else can do.” – you’re kidding right? No offense dude, but that’s a rather silly thing to say. I know i’m kinda taking it out of context, but it’s still silly.
A game is never going to be able to put an audience member on the edge of their seat the way good, let alone great, theatre can. And a game is never going to be able to fill the imagination the a good book can, let alone a great. Until the imagines are being driven directly in to my visual cortext, it’s not HD.
11/11/2009 at 02:30 Vinraith says:
An interactive medium is always going to have greater capacity to be truly engrossing and affecting than a non-interactive medium. Which makes statements like:
“A game is never going to be able to put an audience member on the edge of their seat the way good, let alone great, theatre can. And a game is never going to be able to fill the imagination the a good book can”
positively bizarre to me. All I can really say to that is “speak for yourself.” I love reading and I love movies, games are never going to replace either of them, but then they’re not trying to do so. It’s a completely different kind of medium, and its capacity is largely untapped, but even in what I’ve played so far in my life I’ve had “edge of your seat” moments to rival those of a great film, and discovered imagination-seizing worlds to rival a great book.
11/11/2009 at 02:38 Heliocentric says:
Spelunkey gave me “edge of my seat” so take you media facism back to the 1990′s. People like you were announcing that television will never match a good radio drama or that radio entertainment is a gimmick and people should get back to books.
11/11/2009 at 03:05 Tom says:
I geuss it depends upon what puts you on the edge of your seat. I’ve have a few jaw meets ground moments of complete, that-was-freakin-awesome-ness. No edge of my seat stuff though.
I wonder if it’s actually possible for a game to lift you to the same level of suspense as film or books can?
At the end of the day it’s the player whose in control of the scene, and you don’t have scenes in games, you have scenarios… and we’re not all Speilberg’s or Choen’s or whoever your director of choice is.
I think that by simple taking part in a scenario removes a certain amount of suspense? Does for me anyway. You have a certain amount of control.
Suspense is more than just something that’s frilling anyways. It can be that reading of a passage that, despite knowing how it’s gonna end, still grips you and resuses to let you stop reading. Even if it’s the description of some tragic or tranquil or whatever.
For games to be as great as books, theatre and film it needs to be a “completely different kind of medium”.
It will never be better though, just as good.
11/11/2009 at 03:31 Psychopomp says:
Uncharted 2
Butt was firmly planted on my seat edge for ten hours.
11/11/2009 at 10:59 CMaster says:
I’m going to have to join in with Vinrath and go “wait, whaaa?” at your assertions there.
Games reguarly get me much more involved and tense than film or theatre does. In those, I’m watching someone on a screen or (even more removing) watching some small people stood a fair distance away from me having something happen to them. When it’s done well, yes I get sucked in but in general, I’m watching things happen to other people, I’m interested but not involved.
In a game, these things are all happening to me. I’m the one going to face these consequences. That adds so much more, makes it so much easier to have me nervous, makes me quickly run through options in my head and make a snap decision.
So I find your argument really odd, there. Of course, thats not to say one person should not have their own preferences for one media over another. But your suggestion that non-interactive media are more immersive, more involved experiences than interactive ones strikes me as counterintuitive at best.
11/11/2009 at 02:28 The_B says:
This was totally an undercover report. ALEC MEER: MASTER OF DIGUISE.
11/11/2009 at 02:29 The_B says:
DISGUISE even. *Ahem*
11/11/2009 at 02:31 IssaTrapdoh says:
Yeah, huge shaft to PC players by Activision/Infinity Ward/whoever was in charge. Not that I really care. I’ve been pissed at Infinity since they caved to regenerative health and shaped the future of First Person Shooter health mechanics. I prefer my Doom/FEAR 1 style medpacks, thankyouverymuch.
Also: Why is MW 1 still $60 at my local EB?
Regardless, my interest has lain in the other options people are throwing out like Kings Bounty and Borderlands. Mmm Western developed strat arr puh guhs. Mmm a more polished game based on the Hellgate London model.
11/11/2009 at 02:53 subversus says:
I was looking forward it but so far singleplayer is rather bland and dumb (plot is so terrible and unrealistic, that I star expect some Metal Gear-kind bosses. they’ll fit) . And I like on-rails shooters. This one has its highs but I expected much more than the same tired formula. MW1 feels more innovative and you know, interesting.
11/11/2009 at 03:07 Tom says:
I suspect I’ll like this game as much as I did the first… and pay roughly the same for it as well. Sweet FA.
11/11/2009 at 03:09 Elcor Gamer says:
Expression of disgust, it’s disturbing to see developers who made their fortunes off the backs of a loyal community, just to end up stabbing them in the back.
Spiteful, with any luck they will go the way of EPIC and kindly take their product elsewhere.
11/11/2009 at 03:22 frymaster says:
well, yes, that’s what this is all about
they HAVE taken their game elsewhere, conceptually if not platform-ually. Essentially the furore is over the fact that the focus and philosophy behind the game is different to cod4. I think it’s a bit shit that they waited until so late in the day to mention this (it may have caused trouble for some people who pre-ordered in the – justified – expectation that it would be similar to cod4) but otherwise I can’t manage any emotion worse than “meh”
I’m not going to boycott this, but with a relatively short single player and a multiplayer that does not attract I’m not buying this until it’s dropped in price a bit either
12/11/2009 at 07:55 Nate says:
They stabbed you in the back? Did they also kidnap your children and force them into overseas prostitution?
IW didn’t get the opportunity to make lots of games and lots of money because of how hard you worked. They won that opportunity through their own efforts. Even if you raved about their games, that doesn’t mean that you (or others like you) are responsible for their success. It means that they made a game you liked.
I mean, really, this should all be obvious. They get to make a game they want to make it. They get to make it for the platforms they want to make it for. You don’t have some kind of special right to this game. And then, stabbed in the back because you have to wait a week longer? Is that really correct?
11/11/2009 at 03:21 Serenegoose says:
Truly with your bitterness, you would be a worthy Volus, Earth Clan.
Not that I disagree with you. They've really messed up this time. It's so unfortunate to see a developer who had previously been exceptional, sell out so fast. Beyond everything else, I'll reiterate my complaint as to the games length, as the singleplayer was all that interested me, as after a tentative dip of MW1s multiplayer, it didn't at all enthuse me, though I will freely admit I love the perks system as a way of customising a character. I don't understand how they can have the gall to rack their prices up whilst simultaneously supplying less content. Naturally, it's because they can. This would be a best seller if IW freely admitted they were not going to put DVDs in boxes, but dog shit, and they know it.
11/11/2009 at 03:43 thefanciestofpants says:
It’s a real shame, but stabbing the mod community in the back is a dealbreaker for me. It’s been fun Infinity ward.
11/11/2009 at 04:29 GGX_Justice says:
“AAA101: Franchise design basics from start to finish
This course covers starting and finishing franchises. emphasis is placed in the continuation of the franchise which leads to it’s finish.
AAA102: Turning a profit at the consumer’s expense.
This course covers turning a profit at the expense of the consumer’s enjoyment/fulfillment/wellbeing
AAA103: Putting the ‘power’ back in ‘powergaming’
Using examples such as IWNet for CoD:MW2, this course covers how to put yourself into such a position of power where the player relies on your virtual presence.
Briefly covered is ripping this virtual presence from underneath the players, and how to take legal action when players circumvent the requirement of your presence.
I think that about covers it. Now, go out and DON’T major in AAA!
(Try INDI instead!)” – BW
11/11/2009 at 03:50 Gabbo says:
I’m sure it will look good, and sell more copies than any game not made by Nintendo. However, a 5 hour campaign, the fuck up that is the multiplayer, the removed setup options and my aversion to MW1 means it won’t be too hard to keep it off my shelf.
At this rate, I’ll take Treyarch’s next attempt at CoD. They still seem hungry, like they have to try and make the games worth a damn, unlike this.
11/11/2009 at 04:03 Serenegoose says:
Eh, it's valid to an extent. Quality > Quantity is all fine, but to take it to its extreme, I'd not be happy with 20 seconds of sheer quality for standard RRP, and for me that line is crossed when it reaches 5 hours of unknown quality.
11/11/2009 at 04:21 Ybfelix says:
so you prefer videogames to drugs… good for you ;)
11/11/2009 at 04:11 abhishek says:
I’m stuck with a Steam pre-order myself, but the retail release in my country is severely delayed at best, and canceled at worst, so I’m not going to complain much. Still chugging away at the monstrous preload… 11gb yikes :(
11/11/2009 at 04:27 GGX_Justice says:
I never was interested in any Call of Duty title, but I am very bothered by the possible implications for the PC community.
I don’t know any PC gamer who is fine with the precedent this is setting, actually.
11/11/2009 at 04:40 elle says:
Of course it’s not RPS readers’ most anticipated game of the decade. It’s a console game with a PC port. The only PC gamers who anticipate those are console gamers with high-end laptops.
11/11/2009 at 04:45 army of none says:
It would be a physical impossibility for me to care less about a shooter with a super short SP for fully 60 bucks. Too much time being spent on Borderlands and Dragon-Age, (and soon L4D2!). Sad to see that it’s PC version isn’t doing well, though, as I do so enjoy having people pay attention to my platform of choice.
11/11/2009 at 04:59 Nimdok says:
Steam-activated only? Lost my money.
11/11/2009 at 08:43 monchberter says:
Railing against Steam is sooooo 2004-2008.
11/11/2009 at 11:23 Speedcore says:
haha so true! I gave up when orange box arrived.
11/11/2009 at 05:10 Ybfelix says:
On SP side, the spec-ops is quite arcadey fun and generally nicely designed, though. If only there are more scenarios
11/11/2009 at 05:14 Y3k-Bug says:
I suppose the cool thing to say is that I don’t like it, or don’t care…
…but by God, I love it. One of the best single player FPS games I’ve ever played. Yes its on rail, clearly. And I like that.
Fuck the sandbox. Put me on a guided thrill ride and never let me goooooooo.
11/11/2009 at 07:49 TotalBiscuit says:
For 4 hours.
11/11/2009 at 09:17 Baris says:
10 times.
11/11/2009 at 09:18 Baris says:
Damn posting bugs!
11/11/2009 at 05:30 Jugglenaut says:
“but hey, we’ve got plenty else to be getting on with instead.”
My thoughts exactly on this game, and all CoD games. Never really been interested enough to give them a try.
11/11/2009 at 05:43 etho says:
I confess to getting it at midnight and staying up all night playing the campaign. It was excellent all the way though. Exciting action and a pretty smart, twisty plot that that makes me eager to play Modern Warfare 3. The way they built on the story of the first game and ended it with some, but not complete, closure was excellent. Could be a great trilogy.
As for That Level… It was disturbing and off-putting and upsetting, just as I think it was meant to be. More so than the shooting at the beginning of COD4, and more so than the nuke, but in the same vein. And it was crucial to the plot. It was not a fun level to play through, but I’m glad it was there.
Oh, and MP is great fun too, and it will keep me occupied for months, or years, to come.
11/11/2009 at 05:59 Matzerath says:
I don’t take it as a good sign when the supporters of a game that came out yesterday have already finished the single player campaign.
11/11/2009 at 06:05 GGX_Justice says:
I agree completely – especially for a game with such a large asking price. (Which, considering CoD4 rarely came down in price before MW2′s release, I can see MW2 following the same pattern)
Also, as an aside – @Draco: that covers the concerns about quantity. I’ll get to quality shortly.
11/11/2009 at 08:42 cliffski says:
personally I’m always amazed that a game that lasts me three weeks other people finish in 3 hours. It’s not a race, its like sex, the idea is to have fun, not get to the end ASAP.
11/11/2009 at 09:01 Gap Gen says:
Yeah, but it’s not like you were playing continuously for three weeks (and if you were, you have my condolences). It’s like sex – some people like to have it all in one go in a three-hour orgy, some people like to have little bits of sex here and there over a few weeks.
11/11/2009 at 09:46 TheApologist says:
Sex isn’t a race?
Oh…oh dear…
11/11/2009 at 06:09 Cedge says:
The only PC game coming out this week that I care about is Star Trek D-A-C. Serious Sam HD, after that.
To put it lightly, Call of Duty can lick my fucking balls. And this has nothing to do with the MW2 uber-dramafest. I’ve been sick of this series since part 2, and honestly, it peaked back when it was called Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
11/11/2009 at 06:12 sigma83 says:
@Matzerath Portal?
11/11/2009 at 06:36 Vinraith says:
Portal wasn’t $60.
11/11/2009 at 07:59 Mad Doc MacRae says:
Portal wasn’t the most hyped game since Jesus, either, or not until after people played it.
11/11/2009 at 06:31 Egoh Rtut says:
Activision need to be shot for “that level”. And no, not for why you think.
This industry has struggled for respectability for years. Every time some idiot shoots up a school it turns out he’s played video games and they get tarnished. As gamers we’ve struggled so long to be accepted as legitimate entertainment.
So in one fell swoop, Activision have set the game industry back ten bloody years, just because some idiot suit at Activision thinks controversy makes for good publicity. (Saw the video on Destructoid.) For the sake of a quick buck, Activision have sacrificed the industry, and you can bet that if somebody who can be shown to have played this shoots up a public place, goodbye ESRB, as Activision just did your legs and now the government WILL be involved in ratings.
Well thanks a lot, jackasses. Perhaps you should have stopped to think “Okay, how can we tell this story without feeding the fire that condemns the industry? How can we benefit the industry here and not create problems down the line?” But no, they took the greedy way out and went for cheap controversy and have done immense damage to the industry. The effects won’t be felt now, but you can be damn sure down the road, they will be.
As for the game, fuck Activision. They can keep this overly hyped cumshot of a game.
11/11/2009 at 06:44 Jake says:
I was disappointed that they dumped realism in the first 30 seconds when the dude in charge tells you that bouncing in and out of your iron sights will allow you to snap to a target. Tell me that in a pop-up, not from the mouth of this supposedly real person.
11/11/2009 at 06:49 Lobotomist says:
Oh jolly! Another 4 hours long – but excellent gaming experience! And no proper multiplayer for PC!
Where do i stand in line not to buy it ?
11/11/2009 at 07:23 Tei says:
So, is true? It got mouse support on the PC version, like the dev’s claims?
11/11/2009 at 09:15 FunkyB says:
ROFL. It does have mouse support, but you probably can’t change the sensitivity or activate mouse smoothing.
11/11/2009 at 07:32 Risingson says:
Wonderful wondeful chronicle, Alec.
11/11/2009 at 07:38 Risingson says:
BTW, the main point I had against COD4 was its infamous checkpoint system. Why can’t I save whenever I want? And sometimes the points were not saved correctly and I had to do a lot of missions again, and I became tired of killing the same poor arabs over and over again.
11/11/2009 at 08:04 leeder_krenon says:
i give such a small shit about this game that i need to eat some fibre to get the rest out.
11/11/2009 at 18:59 Stupoider says:
Ahahahaha! XD That’s gold!
11/11/2009 at 08:15 Electrophotonic says:
The title’s got too many numbers in it!
11/11/2009 at 08:16 merc says:
I just read the synopsis of the plot on wikipedia. I thought people were exagerating about the silly story, but holy shit that plot is retarded!
Spoilers:
“He temporarily goes rogue, hijacks a Russian nuclear submarine, and launches an ICBM at Washington D.C. However, Price rigs the warhead to explode in the upper atmosphere, which destroys the International Space Station but spares Washington. The resulting electromagnetic pulse cripples both the US and Russian forces in the city.”
What. The. Fuck.
11/11/2009 at 08:22 TheFool says:
to be fair they’re not _completely_ pulling that out of their ass; right wingers have been warning about the threat of nuclear EMPs in order to push missile defense. http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/articles/display/the_emp_threat_lots_of_hype_little_traction for more info, although obviously a highly biased source.
11/11/2009 at 08:47 Heliocentric says:
Lots of people multiclass rogue for the evasion perk. It ensures you’ll only ever take half damage upon failing a reflex test.
Whats prices base class?
11/11/2009 at 09:18 merc says:
No, I think it’s safe to say it’s completely ass-pulled.
Price nukes the international space station. He nukes the international space station. That’s fucking hilariously bad.
11/11/2009 at 08:28 tigershuffle says:
can you imagine they money spent thrown at Arma2…..
cheap publicity…….
Call of Duty ………..the Jordan of gaming
11/11/2009 at 08:40 Lars Westergren says:
“Aye, today was Modern Warfare 2 day – a game that, for a lot of the industry and its consumers, has managed to become pretty much the only game of the year.”
You can file me under those who had barely heard about this game, or the series, until a few weeks ago with the “shoot civilians” scandal. And now that I have read about it, I can’t say I’m any more interested. Someone poke me when Alpha Protocol is released, I’ll be playing Dragon Age until then.
11/11/2009 at 08:47 tom@nullpointer.co.uk says:
but it’s still Put The Cursor Over The Man’s Face
This^^
11/11/2009 at 08:50 Zainal says:
So video games don’t cause violence or affect normal people adversely.
But you are unbalanced if you don’t feel guilty for shooting characters who can’t fight back.
Did you also feel guilty about the sleeping sailors getting knifed in MW1?
11/11/2009 at 08:51 Zainal says:
That was supposed to be a reply to an earlier comment, not the article
11/11/2009 at 09:28 Rostock says:
I did, so much in fact that I didn’t want to finish the first one.
11/11/2009 at 08:52 Soulless One says:
Does anyone here have the PC version? How bad is the multiplayer? How bad is the lag? (given a 5megabit download)
11/11/2009 at 08:57 mbp says:
So much for all the high minded protests about EA treatment of PC gamers. That was soooo last week. This week there’s a new shiny shooty game out so lets all just roll over and pay our 60 bucks.
There is a ruthless simplicity about business. You get whatever you are willing to pay for. If we are willing to pay a high price to be treated disrespectfully that is exactly what we are going to get.
11/11/2009 at 08:58 [21CW] 2000AD says:
hmmmm…. so an hour ago there were “approximately 14 hours” to go before it unlocked on Steam and now it’s “approximately 15 hours”. That put’s it’s release time at midnight tonight, so much for the Nov 11th release. In fact, since all the trailers had a release date of 11.10.09 stressed, why the hell is Steam still waiting on the 11.11.09?
11/11/2009 at 09:02 Dominic White says:
While I’m not boycotting this by any means, I doubt I’ll buy it until I can find it for £15 or under. The frightfully short singleplayer mode, and highly limited (no modding, no customization, 6v6 on most maps, host advantage and worse) multiplayer are all turnoffs. The worst thing, though, is how Infinity Ward seem to have tried their level best to be complete assholes about everything. I liked the original MW a lot, but they seem to have done everything they can to put me off it.
I hope this doesn’t start some huge argument, but while I’m not buying L4D2 (no, not boycotting – I just didn’t particularly like the first), Valve handled that whole situation like champs, and ended up with me liking them a lot more. They really are an example to follow.
Like others have said, I’ve got Dragon Age to chew on anyway, and I’m still less than halfway through the ‘main’ act.
11/11/2009 at 12:17 Ginger Yellow says:
I’m the same way. I’m not too bothered about CoD multiplayer, but I’ve loved the single player campaigns. I’m not shelling out so much money for what I hear is an extremely short single-player game, even without all the PC malarkey. I’ll wait until the New Year, thanks, and play all the games I’ve already got piling up in the mean time.
11/11/2009 at 09:04 Magius Paulus says:
QFT really. The ‘video games tend to make people aggressive guys’ are certainly delighted with this game. I wrote a paper about the scientific debate between proponents and opponents of the link between violent video games and aggressiveness, and the conclusion was mainly that proponents (Craig Anderson particularly, google him) are having a much easier time due to the media coverage.
Here newspapers are paying especially attention to “That level”, as it’s the most dramatic, which means people who don’t really know video games have their judgement once again at a ready.
11/11/2009 at 09:06 Magius Paulus says:
The QFT was for the comment #9 on this page btw
11/11/2009 at 09:08 Stew says:
Wait, people were waiting for something other than Dragon Age?
I roll to disbelieve.
11/11/2009 at 09:35 Lars Westergren says:
“Wait, people were waiting for something other than Dragon Age? I roll to disbelieve.”
You failed your will save, and are stunned.
11/11/2009 at 09:19 Wisq says:
Apparently, IW has taken their formerly amazing skill and dedication in making great PC games, and turned it into an amazing skill and dedication in pissing everyone off.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s not even worth the recognition that piracy implies. Which is a pretty strong turnaround from being ready to buy MW2 half a year ago, after having just finished MW1 and adoring it.
The real travesty, though, is how it’s going to overshadow so many better PC games in the upcoming “game(s) of the year” lists, just because we’re somehow supposed to be blessed and grateful that such a hugely popular console franchise is continuing to “support” the PC platform. (Never mind that they apparently wish we would go away and leave them alone, and seem to be doing their damnedest to get that point across.)
11/11/2009 at 09:21 Alexander Norris says:
This was going to be my game of the year until it turned out to not be coming out on PC (ahem).
On second thought, I’m glad it turned out to not be coming out on PC (ahem), because the sheer stupidity of the plot would have angered me quite a bit.
11/11/2009 at 09:24 Mike says:
Speaking as someone who only really plays single-player games, I’m not buying this till the price dips below £20. I enjoyed the Modern Warfare 1 campaign, but the length just makes the price ridiculous (although £26 in Sainsbury’s is a good deal). Plus, I’ve just started Dragon Age, so that’s going to consume the regrettably small amount of time I have to play games each week.
Does anyone know if the Special Ops missions can be played in single player, or are they 2 player only?
Also, that plot looks like something from Jack Bauer’s alcoholic ravings.
11/11/2009 at 10:38 Tang says:
Yep, you can play the special ops missions in single player, but they’re infinitely more fun playing in co-op with voice comms…
11/11/2009 at 09:26 pignoli says:
A thousand times this. I'd place this in the same value proposition bracket as Zeno Clash. It's far more polished, yes, but is sorely lacking in the y'know, interesting stuff that made made Zeno Clash great. Sounds like the campaign is of similar length (actually I think ZC took me about 7 hours, so maybe not, still probably shouldn't be relying on length as a value-meter too much)and the multiplayer will be similarly stunted.
11/11/2009 at 13:47 VelvetFistIronGlove says:
But Zeno Clash had more imagination, a better plot, and memorable characters.
11/11/2009 at 09:30 Tei says:
4 hours gameplay? lol.
… 2 hours longer than a 6€ movie, and ..hee.. 54€ more expensive… With that money you can watch 10 movies, for a total of 20 hours of fun. What are the public target of this game? people that is bad at math?
11/11/2009 at 09:36 etho says:
Your metaphor doesn’t work, because a month ago, I had a huge, three-our orgy, but, much to my chagrin, I’ve been picking up bits of sex all over my house ever since.
I was very interested the story, so I played through the game as quick as possible on the easiest difficulty in about 6 hours. I will play through the single player again on one of the higher difficulties and play a bit slower, explore more and generally take more time with the actual gameplay. That will likely take me around a week of regular play. I’ll probably also try to play it on the highest difficulty, and I don’t even know if I will ever completely beat that. And from time to time after I have finished complete playthroughs, I’ll probably still go back and play through certain levels that I particularly enjoyed.
That, along with the Spec Ops co-op stuff, and the multiplayer that I probably won’t stop playing, at least sometimes, until MW3, and I feel like I got plenty of entertainment for my money.
Also, it always has seemed weird to me that people think all games should be dozens of hours long, at least. In some RPG’s that can work, if the characters are likable and the story is paced well. But a game like this, with a story like it has and the type of gameplay it features, would be horrid if it were too much longer than it is. It would be exhausting.
11/11/2009 at 09:41 Risingson says:
People, stop the snobbery. I don’t know how good is this one, but it’s just stupid to deny that Modern Warfare was a good (sometimes a really good) arcade. And reliable sources are telling me that this one is just as fun, cinematic and over the top.
11/11/2009 at 10:01 Lars Westergren says:
I hope I’m not being snobbish, I’m sure it’s fun, it’s just not my genre of game really. I may try it out – in a year or two, when the base price has gone down significantly and there is a sale on Steam or something.
Very good article by Alec BTW.
11/11/2009 at 09:43 videogangs says:
I’m going to go out on a limb here and actually say something about the game itself, not the tumultuous shitstorm that has gathers around it’s epicentre-
My copy turned up the day before launch, I activated it on steam at 1 second past midnight with no problem. So far the single player has been excellent fun, if a little hammy. They seem to have upped the number of minor canned animations, which makes the whole thing as scripted as before, but on the whole does look very solid when you watch a scene play out.
I braced myself to hate the multiplayer based on “dedigate” but so far (early days yet) the matchmaking actually works extremely well, and you can always set up a private game so in that respect organised matches are still a possibility (although it may mean your steam friends list explodes in size).
I’ve had no problems with connection strength, host dropouts, blood raining from the sky or plagues of locust so far, which is good because my Arctic cooler 64 couldn’t handle insect carcasses clogging the damn thing up. Let’s just say network-wise this isn’t the Left 4 Dead launch.
As a CoD1 Clanbase vet, my own real complaint about the “consolification” of CoD is this- RIP the lean keys, no more jammy snap shots round corners. IW have finally seen it fit to see the control scheme exactely match the console versions.
While I’m hoping Treyarch’s next effort will put this feature back in, I doubt it because I can see where this is going- identical matchmaking and controls suggest to me somewhere in a grubby little IRAD lab of Infinity Ward where they graft Xbox controllers onto goats and other such abominations, they’re testing cross platform play.
While I’d be preaching to the choir here if I said that mouse and keys was still the superior input, looking at the capabilities of a half decent console player nowadays I’m wondering if we’re getting to the point where that gap isn’t so huge as it was when people were running breathlessly from one end of the original Xbox controller to the other, just to hit the left bumper.
Anyway yeah, it’s pretty good. And that airport scene is every bit as horrendous as it sounds, but I don’t think it’s worse than say, the rape scene in Baise Moi or something. It’s just uncomfortable, although the discomfort is quickly lifted when you start mowing down whole SWAT teams running underneath planes with an LMG.
11/11/2009 at 10:11 jti says:
Boycotting this crap. I’ll rather play Dragon Age until my eyes bleed.
11/11/2009 at 10:12 Dan(WR) says:
I really enjoyed the first Modern Warfare (particularly the sniper level), and I find myself shamefully tempted by MW2. But by this point for me it isn’t even about the lack of dedicated servers, the price point, the shortness or the stupidity of the plot. It’s about the way IW have publicly responded to PC gamers – like a pack of obfuscating weasels that should be pelted with Jarate.
I’m also all the more cheesed off that other games’ releases got pushed back because everyone was scared off by MW2. Now I have to make do with the pile of 50+ unplayed games I have stacked up. ;-p
11/11/2009 at 10:19 Paul Moloney says:
“This struggle for glitz and glamour also hints at a certain hollowness at the heart of what Modern Warfare 2 really is. ”
Too true. Like Halo, I’ve never felt the COD games had any real heart compared to, say, the Half-Life 2 games. The fact that you not only play a faceless protagonist, but _several_ faceless protagonists, doesn’t help. The emotional highpoint for me in the series was playing the Russian campaign in number 1. I got bored with both COD2 and COD4 half-way through, so this frenzied hype leaves me a bit bemused.
As for the Steam debacle, I think of the quote “Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence”, but in this case since the incompetence could be fixed by the flicking of a bit, I’m forced to think it’s sheer malice.
P.
11/11/2009 at 10:19 teo says:
Do they still have the quotes about war when you die?
11/11/2009 at 10:28 the wiseass says:
For me MW2 is in the same league as Gears of War, it’s the league of immature and shallow games that get hyped up to no end. As somebody who’s enjoyed the Battlefield series from the beginning, MW2 is nothing special. I even think that games like this (BF included) do not deserve the critical acclaim they get as they are a fine example of how immature the video game industry and most of their consumers really are.
If MW2 has to be considered as game of the year than I’m afraid to say that this year war a very boring one. If shooty shooty bam bam is all our favorite entertainment industry has got to offer it is no wonder that nobody respects games as an art form.
11/11/2009 at 10:41 Risingson says:
INMATURE games? Hey, we are talking about games, ENTERTAIMENT. It’s the same kind of argument that critics made to Spielberg movies back at the 80s…
And don’t compare the horrid, boring Gears of War with a great designed game like Call of Duty.
11/11/2009 at 10:50 Lars Westergren says:
Risington – just as not all movies have to aspire to be like a Spielberg 80s movie, neither do all games have to aspire to be “just entertainment”. Some things can be entertaining, but also make you think.
11/11/2009 at 10:54 the wiseass says:
Being mature AND entertaining are not two mutually exclusive things.
11/11/2009 at 10:59 Gap Gen says:
Perhaps ironically, both MoH:AA and CoD were trying rather hard to be just like Spielberg films.
11/11/2009 at 10:30 T-B0N3 says:
The single player of this game actually seems interesting to me, but 60 euro is just waaay to much for 4-5 hours. And i was gonna buy this for the awesome multiplayer, but no dedicated servers is really a no buy for me. I have already heard alot of lag talk from friends who have the pc version :(
11/11/2009 at 10:32 TotalBiscuit says:
I don’t go for pseudo-realistic shooters, particularly when they try and force ‘THIS IS THE GRIM REALITY OF WAR’ down my throat while simultaneously shoving an absurd plot in my face the likes of which would make Tom Clancy blush. Is that snobbish? Then I’m a proud snob.
11/11/2009 at 10:32 Nick says:
I like this post.
11/11/2009 at 10:47 Tei says:
My brother have asked me about this game (since is advertised in TV), I have tell him “Is consolized, probably the singleplayer is fun”. He insisted about warezing it. “No, I am not going to warez it” ( I was myself somewhat undecided about this…, but I don’t warez nowdays, and I don’t want to start again with this one. If I really want a game, I buy it ). “Do whatever you want, I don’t want to know nothing about it”. He is unhappy about the reply, he probably thinks the game is awesome, and deserve be buy or warezed, and think theres something strange on me on why I don’t want it. That is almost true, I don’t want this game, and I hope is not a huge sucess, since is bad for the PC world, but It will probably have a Ok success since It will have more marketing hype than a Ubisoft title, with more quality behind to support it. The Troyan Horse here is the multiplayer, of course, 60€ is too much for a short singleplayer game. And If gamers like my brother buy it, will end really angry, has the MP of MW2 is doomed to be a repetition of bad lag, and waiting screens. My brother is onto CS:S full-time, he is one of these dudes that are on a CS clan, so the MW2 is probably not his thing. He has one console, and a few FPS titles for console, but for some reason ditch it, since him have zero political agendas, he is honest about ditching console FPS’s. I know console FPS is bad, but maybe is not that bad, so maybe is the “community” aspect of CS:S that win’s.
I just finished Dragon Age. Humm… I sould try the other races origins.
11/11/2009 at 10:47 hmrf says:
I just don’t understand why one would pay that much money for so little.
I’m not that much of the multiplayer-type, so I mainly judge the singleplayer portions of games. And after playing some of CoD 4, which was “nicely set-up, but terribly boring”, I don’t know why one might want to spend that much money on such a few hours of a (I assume) only slightly different/improved singleplayer. Yes, I’m probably biased – I really like ArmA II, and my favourite game is still Deus Ex – but seriously: Deus Ex, I mean, Deus Ex, was at least a million hours of singleplayer plus at least 200 times of replayability (well, almost). And I paid less for that.
So.. I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m too old for this ;)
12/11/2009 at 00:30 Psychopomp says:
“I just don’t understand why one would pay that much money for so little.”
I’ve bought Shadow of the Collosus three times. Not that this is on the same level as that, but I stand by my point.
11/11/2009 at 10:56 TotalBiscuit says:
As much as I dislike Activision I must take the opposing view on this one. Games companies in general should be shot for shying away from the things that other mediums take for granted in terms of story-telling. TV can do mass-murder, books and film can do gratuitous sex and do so frequently without anyone batting an eye-lid. So why is it that whenever a game tries to do it it’s suddenly a big deal? Look at Dragon Age. DARK EPIC FANTASY, GRITTY, but with laughable CLOTHED sex scenes. They’re not even tastefully done, they’re laughable. This dark mature fantasy, as much as I love it, deals with sex in a ‘tee hee hee dryhumping’ way.
Violence is dealt with in a similar fashion. Violence is common place in games these days and yet it’s only ok if it doesn’t have a message of some sort behind it? It’s fine to run down hundreds of innocent people in Grand Theft Auto because it’s comedy violence, but kill (or don’t kill) some civilians in a gritty war game as an essential part of the plot and suddenly it’s Activision trying to grab the headlines? Bollocks, video-games need to grow up and deal with grown-up topics properly. Six Days in Fallujah was canned and yet series like Generation Kill are ok? True Blood shows graphic and often deviant sex-acts like it ain’t no thing and yet Dragon Age they keep their underwear on? Look at the disparity that exists between video-games and other mediums and tell me that games don’t need to start dealing with adult themes better. MW2 is a good start and perhaps the only good thing that will come out of this release is the debate will have to happen, rather than being shoved under the rug by self-righteous imbeciles shouting ‘WON’T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!’
11/11/2009 at 10:56 TotalBiscuit says:
That was supposed to be a reply to Risingson, blah.
11/11/2009 at 11:17 Risingson says:
Maybe it’s because precisely a good 80′s Spielberg game is something that is extremely uncommon. Usually the console games are repetitive crap that depend more on patience than in skill, and whose rewards are just the same things over and over again (I’m thinking of MGS series, the Gears of War series and so on). And Call of Duty, let’s say 4, did these things well. It was fun, it looked like a real modern Roland Emmerich thriller, so camp, so Tom Clancy done well, that I really liked it. The sniper mission, the one of the flashback, is one marvel of design that I’m amazed that is so underrated over here.
Maybe there’s a kind of game for everything. My favourite kind of game are 2D shoot’em ups, and after that, classic adventure games (not Myst, please). And I like some variation. It’s like going to the movies: I’m eager to watch 2012, but also for the Costa-Gavras last film (they say it’s like Le Couperet and that’s one I loved). So talking about certain games, as exhaustingly hyped as this one is, as inmature or not realistic reminds me too much of the nonsense Cahiers Du Cinema used (oh, pardon me, uses) to talk about.
Next!
11/11/2009 at 11:22 TotalBiscuit says:
Next? You didn’t respond to anything I just said @_@
11/11/2009 at 11:23 TotalBiscuit says:
Hell it was actually a reply to Egoh Rtut – My brain is not functioning properly this morning.
11/11/2009 at 11:44 Risingson says:
Yes, I’m not that sharp today either, sorry.
You have a point there, but let me see… I dislike violence for the sake of violence in videogames, because it’s different to be told a story than to be the main character in a story of violence. But that isn’t what annoys me, it’s something you pointed out: the childish attitude when talking about adult topics. Adult topics for gamers is nudism and blood, full stop. I mean, is that the reason for growing up? Being able to see some pair of female attributes, read foul words and see wonderfully modelled blood? That doesn’t work for me.
13/11/2009 at 15:05 Mark says:
@TotalBiscuit
I agree with you on the pre-adolescent “tee-hee-hee” manner with which videogames portray sex and sexuality.
Disclaimer: I have not and have no intention of buying or playing MW2.
The reason why the (video of the) airport level in MW2 bothers me more than violence in a game like GTA3 is it is, for all intents and purposes, an interactive cut scene. It would be more powerful, by far, if you were given a moral dilemma at the start and had to make a choice with real in-game consequences.
For instance, the terrorist leader has information for tracking down a rogue nuclear warhead and standing by and watching civilians be gunned down may end up saving more lives in the end.
Give me the option to make a choice and change the outcome. Forcing a character which I am controlling to make a certain in-game choice, particularly a hard moral choice, not only destroys any investment I have in the character it is also infuriating.
11/11/2009 at 11:08 manintheshack says:
Blimey. I thought I was a PC snob, but this takes the biscuit. It’s not even about the dedi-server / modding scandal anymore, just people desperate to show how totally uninterested they are in the game and how they never wanted to play the stupid thing anyway, SO THERE. It’s like you’ve all been collectively dumped, but need everyone to know that it’s all right because you definitely didn’t love her, or find her sexually appealing OR plan out the rest of your lives together inside your woefully misled mind.
I get the pain people are feeling, I really do, but I’m finding it hard to root out intelligent comments amongst all the bawling… Speaking of which, thanks videogangs. Just clocked your post.
P.S. War isn’t sexy.
11/11/2009 at 12:00 morte says:
My thoughts exactly.
11/11/2009 at 11:19 Speedcore says:
I got it on Xbox yesterday. Already finished the story! Pretty intense story line! Just started on multiplayer and it’s an improvement.
and yes the quotes are still there when you die….
11/11/2009 at 11:23 XM says:
I’ve seen and read enough now so I’ve ordered the steam version. By the time it’s finished downloading it should be the time it unlocks.
Most people that have played it are happy so that’s good to hear.
11/11/2009 at 11:33 Daniel Klein says:
Me, I’m going to put on the old eye-patch and wooden leg and get the game that way, for now. The asking price is a bit obscene, and I’m flat out broke this month (here’s the irony: buying a PC that would allow me to play this sort of thing properly means I can’t afford to buy this sort of thing this month).
I’m actually really looking forward the SP campaign. People complaining about its shortness only make me want it more. I’m finding more and more that this sort of length (around 4h for a person with well honed putting cursor on man’s face skills I hear) is pretty much the sweet spot for me. I still have some sort of damage in my brain where I cannot enjoy a singleplayer experience for very long amounts of time without feeling some sort of weird universal guilt. Think of all the multiplayer matches that could have been improved by your presence, says the very weird angel on my shoulder. Also, it seems that if you give developers the freedom to tell their story in as little time as they want, they make an experience that is just infinitely better than the old “oh but it’s gotta be 10+ hours so let’s send ‘em back through this level four more times”.
There’s very little doubt in my mind I’ll buy a legit copy for the MP down the line. I’m a magpie when it comes to shiny things, and shiny things plus carrot-on-a-stick multiplayer will totally demolish me, in a good way. I just don’t think I’ll be giving Steam 60 eurobucks for the game any time soon.
Allow me, dear imagined reader, to go into a bit of a rant for a moment here. I love digital distribution. It’s the future, and not the dreary old “things are the same but our cellphones are a little smaller” actual future, but rather the “things are the same but we live underwater” awesome-o future full of flying (or diving!) cars, orbital death rays, and a pill that cures your hiccups. And lets you grow a new kidney. I want it, and I want to pay for it.
But even though it’s better than brick’n'mortar retails, I don’t want to pay more for it than for that quaint meatspace ritual. But Daniel, you just admitted that the digital thingamajig is the superior product! Why would you not want to pay more for that? YOU MAKE NO SENSE! Well, thank you imaginary interlocutor, for bringing that up, but here’s the thing: the whole stick a disc in a box and truck it to a convenient retail location model costs the distributor more money than the stick a file on a server conveniently connected to the internet model. There’s the physical medium, there’s the box, the high quality manual (oh wait it’s not my childhood anymore), there’s the trucking it here and there, there’s the highly paid employees/subject matter exoerts at said retailer, there’s the cut the retailer wants, and so forth.
So part of what should make digital superior is that it just should have a lower price tag. That’s the way evolution intended for it to work! No wait. Anyway. I can give 60 buckses to the Steam gents or I can hit up cdwow.ie and get MOAR stuff (physical stuff, but still) for 37 buckses. That don’t seem right.
Anyhoo, the dedicated server brouhaha was actually very amusing. You know what’s the part I hate most about TF2? And you should know that TF2 is the kind of game I would sell my children to the Armenians for if I had any. It’s the old “find a server that’s not ridiculously craptastic.” Last night I cried tears of joy when I found a server actually running the VANILLA GAME I WANT TO PLAY; no ridiculously increased maxplayers, no instant respawn, no “roll the dice and see if you’ll turn into a suicide bomber ha ha”, no unreal tournament announcer, and not a server displayed 18/24 players where it turns out the thing was lying to me–TO MY VIRTUAL FACE!–and it’s actually empty. Sure, there’s great mods. There are wonderful maps considerably better than the official ones (many of them are officialized eventually). I don’t think an entirely invisible host-based matchmaking system is the answer. But right now, both the IW way and the “there’s only fan servers, you figure it out” approach are shit. I think we need something in between “don’t worry about your online experience, The Benevolent Party will tell you how to enjoy your game and who to enjoy it with” and “here’s the deep end of of the shark pool, now go forth and DROWN LESS.”
But that’s not what this post was about. This post was about WHY IS STEAM SO EXPENSIVE WHEN I ONLY WANT TO GIVE THEM ALL MY MONEY!??!?
11/11/2009 at 12:03 DMJ says:
This is pretty much what you get if you stick electrodes in my brain, too.
11/11/2009 at 17:37 Tei says:
for every people like you that want to play the games in a “vanilla” way, theres a lot of other people that want changes, or that are tired of the vanilla way and could have more fun on a different style. this is why these no-vanilla servers are created, people do want these changes. the wrong solution for you to play on vanilla servers is to stop other people from creating non-vanilla servers. And you can’t stop modding, modding happends, modding is a force of nature, is as sure as dead. You can have your vanilla servers, I will have fun with Hex editors. *grins*
12/11/2009 at 01:00 Jimbo says:
Yeah, you’d stop stealing games if they were just a little less expensive. It’s bad enough I have to fund your entertainment, let alone have to hear you try and justify it to yourself here.
You are consuming a product which I funded – give me back my money.
12/11/2009 at 10:18 ToadSmokingDuckMonkey says:
I’d love to be able to play vanilla TF2. Without all those Valve mods, these “hats” and alternate weapons that unbalanced the original core game which I loved.
12/11/2009 at 12:28 Howl says:
I so agree with your TF2 comments. You CANNOT play Team Fortress 2 in the UK with less than 100 ping. You can only play some bastardised, 32 player, insta-spawning, party hats, monster truck rally announcer garbage version of TF2 that sucks big donkey balls.
All this ‘choice’ means that I can’t actually play the game that Valve made. What’s that all about? I don’t have this problem with Left4Dead and it’s looking like I won’t have this problem with MW2 either.
12/11/2009 at 13:35 Vandelay says:
Thank you for voicing my very opinions on TF2. The standard game (including all the unlocks, etc.) is fantastic and I wish more servers would run it. No instant respawn (ruins pretty much every map), 24 player cap (the majority of maps become spam-fests with the usual 32), no weird sounds, no dice rolling, I just want to play the game as Valve intended.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t want dedicated servers. I like to have something a little different once in a while. Those dodgeball servers on TF2, for example, are great fun. In MW2 none of these little gems are going to emerge. We also have the much more significant problem in that the games are going to be completely unfair and weighted towards the game creator, due to him having zero latency. All TF2 needs is an option to show standard, custom or vanilla games.
12/11/2009 at 15:09 Daniel Klein says:
Just quickly on the ARRR! matter: I’m very much a pragmatist when it comes to this. Games are too expensive, yeah. Pirating needs to be more of a hassle than buying the legit game, not less; true, too. But I’m not saying “AND BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS it is my moral and ethical imperative to download these games and deal a deathblow to The Man! HAHAHA!” I like to think of myself as a little bit more sane than that.
I pirated CoD4:MW2 because I really wanted to have a look and couldn’t spare the 60 quid it would have cost me to get it with the same amount of hassle. Of course I can order it for about 40 from cdwow.ie; then I’ll still have to go to the post office during my lunch break to pick it up, and having a physical medium is just not something I enjoy at all. I’m also unsure if buying the retail version would allow me to download the game off Steam if I lose the disc at some point (which I tend to do). So basically, it’s 60 euro (way too much) for a legit copy that’s about as much hassle to download as the pirated version, or 40 euro (pretty much acceptable) for something that’s actually more hassle than pirating it.
Buying MW2 is a no brainer. Next paycheck (that’s about two weeks from now), whatever’s cheapest at that time will get my money. It’ll be more hassle than pirating it was, but I’ll make an unhappy sound and move on.
What we need, really, is a common sense-driven, open digital marketplace with games priced much lower than they would be in BnM retail. That may drive retail out of existence, but who cares?
Also, if I can go back to piracy for just a moment. The hostility from much of the gamer community toward people who actually admit that they pirate stuff is really counterproductive. Pirates are superfans, to borrow an observation Cory Doctorow made about the same situation in the music industry. People who consume massive amounts of this type of entertainment are basically forced to pirate by the prices. I have a pretty decent job, earning around 28k, but I also live in Dublin, so a lot of that money is sucked up by Life. If I went entirely legit, I wouldn’t be able to afford more than one or two games a month, and what if I buy the wrong ones? Many, MANY games I download I only play once or twice, decided that the PR was all hype and false promises, and delete again. That’s not a risk I want to take with an investment of 50-60 euro.
Instead of yelling at people like me (OMG, stop destroying my Entertainment Industry Of Choice) it might be better to try and change the way games are sold (see above) in order to get us to happily part with what spending money we have.
Just a thought :)
12/11/2009 at 21:53 Jimbo says:
Stop kidding yourself, you aren’t a ‘super-fan’, you are a thief, no more, no less. You aren’t entitled to every piece of entertainment media just because you buy some of it – there’s plenty of shit I would like, but don’t have because I can’t afford all of it. You are forcing the prices artificially high for the rest of us because we pick up your share of the development costs – please, don’t for a moment think you aren’t taking money out of my pocket every time you steal a game I have paid for.
11/11/2009 at 12:10 T-B0N3 says:
omg, i also read that fov is default 65 and cannot be changed. Can anyone confirm this? Low fov in console ports annoys the hell out of me :/ fov 90 in source games is just barely acceptable for me.
11/11/2009 at 22:43 Phinor says:
It is indeed locked at 65 even on PC. If you try to change it and go online, VAC will warn you and I suppose ban you soon after. Just read it from another forum so I’m not sure if the guy got instantly banned or was it just that, a warning.
12/11/2009 at 01:13 Thranx says:
Awe man. I was on the fence… but the locked FOV just pushed me over the fence… and into the neighbor’s chipper/shredder.
Stupid Infinity Ward.
11/11/2009 at 12:15 Sinnerman says:
It’s good to see that RPS at least can still be level headed about new video game releases, unless they are by Valve, of course. As a thirty something male I can’t really get myself excited about this game in the way that a 12 year old boy, the games obvious target market, can. They have probably calculated that 12 year olds are much more likely to have an XBox these days than a gaming PC and that they will want this game for Xmas and oh, who cares. The best of indie vol 2 compilation on Direct2Drive is what I’m playing now, there is some great PC gaming there.
11/11/2009 at 12:21 MikeBiggs says:
I concur!
Especially with the last sentence. In fact if it weren’t for the excellent sales I’d never buy anything on steam!
15/11/2009 at 23:23 ChaosSmurf says:
18 rated game aimed at 12 year olds?
15/11/2009 at 23:36 Oak says:
What an outrageous concept!
11/11/2009 at 12:22 MikeBiggs says:
…. It replied to the wrong comment. hmmm
11/11/2009 at 12:31 Mman says:
“usually the console games are repetitive crap that depend more on patience than in skill, and whose rewards are just the same things over and over again (I’m thinking of MGS series…”
Saying this then bringing up the MGS is utterly ludicrous as whether you like it or not it offers far more choices and gameplay styles than most games do (PC or otherwise).
11/11/2009 at 12:32 Mman says:
Ugh, messed up reply.
11/11/2009 at 12:36 Dominic White says:
Messed up reply or not, you said what I was going to – the MGS games are some of the most ridiculously replayable out there because of the massive range of ways that you can play them. They’re why I could never get into the Splinter Cell series, because *just* sneaking past guards and cameras and moving from shadow to shadow loses some of its luster when you’ve been capturing live snakes to use as weapons in unsuspecting guards.
11/11/2009 at 12:39 Risingson says:
It blends genres, but in a very rutinary and repetitive way. And well, carried on by a story that takes itself too seriously and gravely for its own good.
11/11/2009 at 13:15 Dominic White says:
Dude… MGS? Too serious?
You hear that whistling sound? That’s the joke, flying right over your head.
11/11/2009 at 20:45 Psychopomp says:
“There’s this big pile of crap, right? It’s shaped like a giant tank, and walking around on two legs.This giant turd is carrying the nastiest missiles you ever saw! Whatever it hits, people, trees, buildings, TURNS INTO SHIT! EVERYTHING IN THAT TURDS PATH TURNED INTO SHIT.”
11/11/2009 at 12:34 Kororas says:
Really not happy with the dedicated server situation. If there going to continue pulling stunts like this im happy to see CoD leave the PC.
Might pick it up when it drops in price (a lot) but i may also be crying ‘yaaar me hearties’ at somepoint sooner just to check it out.
11/11/2009 at 12:40 Radiant says:
The game is good.
BUT it does lack that tiny extra bit of polish that mw1 had the luxury of having.
Sort of like the shiny sheen that Pizza Hut sprays on their food to make it look appetising.
Small gripes:
Level difficulty; the early brazilian levels are brick hard and not in the ninja gaiden ‘teaching you how to block that’s why it’s hard’ way.
You just get shot from every direction and it’s stupid and off putting for an early level.
Trying to figure out what the game wants you to do is also confusing.
Go where? How? Shoot what? Is it this way? Crap I’m stuck between these barrels…I’m dead.
Also it does have a love of 80′s adventure game insta death.
If you try something that’s maybe not what the game wants you to do you will insta die.
Like a shooty Zak McKracken.
These things were ironed out in MW1 [which I prefer] but bloody hell is this game good but bloody hell it’s shorter then ODST.
11/11/2009 at 12:43 Radiant says:
plus 25 quid from sainsburys?
Take THAT Activision.
11/11/2009 at 12:50 Mikmanner says:
The Airport level wasn’t what I expected. I held off watching the leaked footage because I didn’t want to see it out of context, so when I played it these guys I was with just started shooting civilians but I didn’t fire, I even found myself turning my character away from some bits because I didn’t want to see it. The fact that you are essentially a ‘good guy’ in the scene is important because the character has been forced into the situation, it’s not like you are controlling someone evil from their perspective forcing some sort of weird disjointed empathy.
Game is fun though, the levels in Brazil are a bit annoying.
11/11/2009 at 13:04 XM says:
Why is there so much hate on IW forums on all platforms? I feel sorry for forum mods at times like this. I guess it’s working for most players so they are too busy playing to post on forums.
Others have time to rant that can’t/won’t play it I guess.
11/11/2009 at 13:05 DarkFenix says:
I do want the game, but I really just can’t get into this silly “5 year old on christmas eve” type excitement. The game will no doubt be good, but it’s overpriced and has made moves towards reducing its own longevity (ie. lack of dedicated servers etc.).
I shall be pirating it sometime in the next week or three, reserving my hard earned money for games worthy of it (like Torchlight and Dragon Age).
11/11/2009 at 13:13 Lilliput King says:
I’ll get it when it’s cheaper.
CoD 4′s single player was a good laff, and buys them some good grace in the face of the multiplayer nonsense. I never really enjoyed CoD 4′s multiplayer component anyway.
Incidentally, to those of the “I’ll be pirating it HARHAR” persuasion – You aren’t big or clever, and you’re part of the problem.
11/11/2009 at 13:31 The Manxman says:
Actually, I think that people pirating this will part of the solution. When IW/Activision look at how many copies were illegally downloaded, they’ll realise just how badly they screwed this game up. Say they sell 14 million copies, but 4 million copies get downloaded illegally – that’s a lot of dough getting away. Software devs and publishers who don’t treat everyone like would be pirates actually sell more games. Fact.
I had the game on pre-order but cancelled it after all the terrible facts came out. I want to play it to see what it’s like, there is no demo, so I guess piracy is the only option.
Just one other point; The 360 version has been on download sights for a week/week and a half now – so I would be interested to hear the ‘Piracy only happens on PC’s’ brigades explanations.
11/11/2009 at 13:43 Lilliput King says:
“Actually, I think that people pirating this will part of the solution. When IW/Activision look at how many copies were illegally downloaded, they’ll realise just how badly they screwed this game up.”
When they look at the sales on consoles compared with the sales on PC, they’ll just decide the PC isn’t worth their time. There isn’t a simple way to get a veridical figure of how many copies have been illegally downloaded. There isn’t even a good way of getting an estimate.
So, to be fair, pirating it is fairly unimportant. If the game simply sells poorly on PC because it’s not a proper PC game, it’ll be blamed on piracy anyway. It’s the existence of piracy that’s the problem, not, really, the pirates. I guess I just resent the tone of the posts that claim piracy is a legitimate solution.
11/11/2009 at 15:40 Starky says:
So? Either they decide to drop the PC utterly, or they decide to actually spend some time and effort on the PC version and give us PC users something worth buying not just a crappy port.
Either way is a victory.
In the first: if they quit trying to make a PC version it opens the PC market up to other devs who WILL make a proper PC FPS. Maybe that will be Valve who’ll decide to make Counter-Strike 2, with single player story mode, maybe some other Dev.
I’d wager most PC gamers own a console (my 360 sits in a cupboard collecting dust between infrequent game rentals) so we’ll just do that, rent it.
Personally this game is a rental for me now, I’ll Download it on the PC, and rent the 360 version and let my sister and her boyfriend play it while I play it on the PC. Technically piracy I suppose, but I’d rather play the single player with mouse and keyboard and you cannot rent PC copies.
Either way they’ll be getting a few quid for me renting the title, which is better than nothing, and I’ll buy it when I can find it for a tenner.
In the second: If they spend a bit of time and effort on the PC version to deliver a proper multiplayer experience, then they’ll get more sales on the platform.
Yes good dedicated servers can be hard to find, and it’s nice to have small scale P2P matchmaking for when you just want a game with a few friends.
Still, dedicated servers are a must in my opinion. Finding a good dedicated server gives you a sense of community that joining a steam group, or having a friends list never provides.
Every FPS game I’ve played I always gravitate toward a handful of favourite servers, with maybe a dozen backups.
Servers where I can get to know the regulars, servers where I can drop in and drop out yet not be playing with utterly random players – servers where the admin are fair, friendly and most of all active.
I’ve rented servers in my lifetime, for CS, then CS-source, for Natural Selection and CoD4, never big popular servers (the largest was 20 slot for NS), but a place for clans I might join, or in the case of NS and CS for playtesting maps I would make.
I’ve not made any maps for modern FPS games, as frankly the complexity of the tools and length of time/skills needed surpassed my interest in dabbling – Carmack was right on for me.
Lack of dedicated servers seriously hampers any kind of competitive gaming, which I’m not huge into, but have been known to dip a toe into.
Anyway, IW ward turned MW2 from a must-have-day-one-buy, to a rental for the single player (pirating the PC version and renting the 360 version to “pay” for it).
Hey maybe I’ll be wrong and after renting it I’ll want to play it multiplayer and buy it, but I doubt it.
11/11/2009 at 15:41 Starky says:
oops bold tag error…
11/11/2009 at 18:17 oceanclub says:
“I’d wager most PC gamers own a console (my 360 sits in a cupboard collecting dust between infrequent game rentals)”
If you don’t use it that much for gaming – and I don’t – set it up as a media centre; it works a treat. That was the main justification I had for buying one anyway and so far am not disappointed.
P.
11/11/2009 at 21:47 Starky says:
I’ve got a basic model (only cost me £30 quid for the console – plus another 20 for a VGA cable for it), no harddrive, no wireless (and the router is in another room so a ethernet cable isn’t an option).
It’s okay though as if I was going to get a console for a media centre I’d get a PS3, for the bluray, free wifi and PSN access.
12/11/2009 at 01:20 Thranx says:
I gotta agree with Lilliput on this one. If they see 4 million pirated copies… they just won’t release the next one on PC. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s happening… we’re already low man on the totem pole for sales and companies are just starting to not care about us. We’re not worth the trouble when so many copies are pirated.
Example : Brutal Legend, Force Unleashed (which IS finally coming to the PC, 1.5 years later after the devs specifically said, no PC because of piracy).
Don’t pay? Don’t play.
11/11/2009 at 13:16 dan says:
There are already up to 40k people playing the singleplayer and 33k the mp making it the most played game on steam next to CounterStrike/Source.
I guess the boycott plans w’ont have a big effect on sales after all.
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/
11/11/2009 at 13:29 Lilliput King says:
I giggle at your apostrophe placement, sir.
To be fair though, those aren’t really huge numbers. More people are currently playing the /original Counter Strike/, and almost twice the number of people are playing CSS. CSS was released, what, 5 years ago now? And Counter Strike is approaching its tenth birthday.
Seeing as more people play a game on release than at other times, and that steam stats only logs hours in-game if friends is enabled, which is necessary for MW2 and not for CSS or CS, I dunno. It suggests poor sales, really.
11/11/2009 at 14:17 XM says:
If you add both SP and MP MW2 players currently 60k that is more than CS source. But if you add CS source and CS players there are 105k. It’ll be good to see if MW2 will ever beat both CSs added together. Plus still be top after 10 years but I’m sure there will be another COD game in the next 10 years. ;)
But is this good sales for a steam only game? More players will be online tomorrow when steam d/l version is active so we will see. Will L4D2 beat it at the end of the month? Fun times ahead I feel. :)
11/11/2009 at 16:25 T-B0N3 says:
but COD MW2 SP and Mp are probably the same people right? Cause there is a split between counts for sp and mp people that play sp and mp will get counted as an unique user for both. So this doesnt show all the players, but i guess it will be like 5 K above the MP count of 39,014
11/11/2009 at 17:20 XM says:
I got both parts downloaded now and you launch SP or MP from different icons in steam so don’t know if it counts both.
When it unlocks I will know more.
11/11/2009 at 13:21 Sam says:
The savvy of Infinity Ward has always been in their inspiration from film, right back to the 2015 days of Allied Assault. It makes perfect sense that this, their knighthood into popular phenomena would be launched in the spirit of an opening screening. What’s struck me so far is how the necessary FPS convention of ‘Put The Cursor Over The Man’s Face’ hampers the developer’s mostly deft translation of cinematic convention.
The opening mission of Modern Warfare is David Simon’s Generation: Kill through and through. Hip Hop from a boom box, overheard conversations about a lack of equipment, an allusion to descent in the lower ranks and the opening’s general masculinism are all lifts from the HBO series. Where the charade falls clumsily flat is on the same front as Alec’s justified unease at the launch – the whole thing is hollow to the point of vacuum. The dead eyed, motion captured, specular gleaming soldiers all parrot the lines, ‘We’re oscar mike!’, and ‘Hoo-rah!’ But who are they? No one. Rag dolls, technically and narratively.
The structure of it all works far better in the next mission. Stumbling blindly through a Kazakhstan blizzard guided by a instantly trust-worthy Scotsman, the context is simpler. There is no need to create the illusion of a strategically doomed and morally complex war-world with its innumerable idealogical and practical forces at play. It is a stealth arcade shooter with a big explosive ending and the narrative here is far simpler, between teacher and student. The Scot, (MacTavish?) doesn’t need to comment on the nature of war to fit this bill, he just needs to tell you what to do in his grizzled, all knowing voice. He does this, you follow, and you succeed in Vin Diesel pyrotechnics. It’s a different kind of cinematic influence, perhaps a Bond one. It works far better for the systems Infinity Ward have chosen to work within.
It’s not like Generation Kill could not be referenced interactively, or any more complex war film – Turtles Can Fly, Redacted, even Waltz with Bashir – but the series’ themes of bureaucratic frustration, hierarchy, nationalism and the morality of violence cannot be ‘emulated’ in the MW system. It is too clearly a veneer. It is for this reason that the isolated, uncontextualised airport scene comes off as crass.
11/11/2009 at 20:35 Funky Badger says:
Nice critique.
11/11/2009 at 23:28 Soobe says:
I second that, very well written….just who are you anyway stranger….
11/11/2009 at 23:32 Soobe says:
And this article is a perfect example of why I keep coming back to this site. Fantastically written and covers an angle I had not yet heard.
Bravo!
11/11/2009 at 13:23 Rich says:
If I buy it, I ain’t spending more than £25. That’s a normal new game price as far as I’m concerned.
Also, no singleplayer demo means I can’t be certain how well my long-in-the-tooth PC will handle it. Bit of a risk at £40 with no possibility of return or resale.
11/11/2009 at 13:28 redviper says:
The sp portion of the game is far too short for the amount of money they were originally asking, even with mp. Its seems with each new cod title the sp is becoming increasingly shorter, in fact I wouldn’t at all be surprised if they just axe the sp altogether in future titles. I’d prefer that if IW can’t be bothered to produce a decent sp.
11/11/2009 at 13:29 ShineDog says:
Having sat and played all last night I’m happy to report it actually runs very, very well. Surprisingly so. The first few games seem to be a little laggy, which apparently is down to the game working out where you are, and sorting out people who are an appropriate host to you, so my very first game saw me playing against some people in america.
Even connecting to the US, the game was fairly playable,
Every game after that though? I wouldnt have known I wasnt playing on a dedicated server, and 9v9 games are still very intense, something I was worried about having played 16v16 at least almost exclusively in 4.
Joining a game takes seconds if it joins you to a game in progress, and up to a minute if it drops you into a lobby. (You get a 1 minute intermission in a lobby between games, to set up classes and stuff)
Oh yeah, there was a host migration at one point, took about 15 seconds.
So yeah, I’m going to play the shit out of this.
11/11/2009 at 13:35 Skinlo says:
I personally can’t see why everyone has to buy it on the day it comes out. Its not like the game is going to disappear after a few weeks/months. People just caught along in the hyperbole , so they just have to buy the game the day it comes out no matter how much it costs. This I feel is especially true on the console releases.
12/11/2009 at 02:23 vagabond says:
I managed to play CoD4 without knowing about the nuke level before it happened. I was keen to play this as close to release day as possible to experience anything similar without having it spoiled. Sadly, despite not reading anything resembling a preview for the game prior to it’s release, I was informed about the controversial level via various people’s twitters before I got a chance to install the game (serves me right for caring about what games journalists are having for lunch, or what amusing thing their cat is doing right now, I guess).
As far as launch events go, I am gainfully employed so I’m not going to hang around a game store until midnight to get a copy that I won’t play until I get home from work the next day, especially when I can just duck out in my lunch break and grab it then. On the other hand, if I was still a Uni student who habitually stayed up until 3am hanging out with friends I could see a group of us going along to the launch since we’d be awake anyway, so I’m not going to question the people that were there too much.
11/11/2009 at 13:36 Harper says:
The multiplayer will be crap and single player will be short. But hey at least they raised the price.
I’ll get it used or from a bargain bin.
Maybe…
11/11/2009 at 13:51 mattwombat says:
I grabbed it at Makro for 20 quid. They kept it quiet, so when someone at work heard about it it spread like wildfire. Must have been about 20 of us go down to our local Makro to get it.
Only trouble was, they didn’t sell the PC version, so I got the 360 version instead.
11/11/2009 at 14:32 Jay says:
1.3GB patch? Did I miss something? Mine only downloaded a 10 kb patch. I’d know if it was trying to download 1-point-3 gigabytes
11/11/2009 at 15:15 Dave says:
I really don’t understand the hype. I never heard of this game until about 10 days ago, at which point it was the only damned thing the internet was talking about. I have zero interest in it.
Isn’t the most anticipated game of the decade Diablo 3, or maybe Starcraft 2? Or do they not count because we don’t know if they’re going to be released this decade? :P
11/11/2009 at 22:33 sinister agent says:
I’m glad someone else said this first. I can name one person who’s even mentioned it to me in the real world, and that was a few days ago. Even online, I’ve not noticed any more fuss about it than, say, Gears of War 2, or MGS4.
Not that I have anything against the game, mind. The first one was a bit of a laugh. I would be disappointed if it or a presumably very similar sequel really are the ‘biggest’ game of the decade, though, simply because when all’s said and done it’s just another FPS.
11/11/2009 at 15:48 Rane2k says:
Oh man, I´m glad I read this thread, because I would have been REALLY pissed off about paying 60€ for a 4-6 hour game (experienced FPS player).
That´s almost twice as expensive as any other game that I bought recently, and I like games that take upwards of 15 hours.
11/11/2009 at 16:40 Psychopomp says:
It doesn’t HIT the ISS, the ISS is just caught in the massive blast of a *nuclear fucking weapon.*
11/11/2009 at 16:40 Psychopomp says:
OH GOD DAMNIT
11/11/2009 at 17:12 Stupoider says:
Oh man, I guess I’m one of the few people who thinks this is overrated console-jiggery-pokery. I saw Charlie Brooker post his thoughts on the game on twitter, he said the story was lame, I asked some friends about the story today and they worshipped it like it was the messiah. :/ I am disappoint.
11/11/2009 at 17:18 mR.Waffles says:
The game is good for what it is, and that’s where it ends. It’s a first person shooter in its truest form with the highest production values ever. The story is completely ambiguous and presented poorly, and the characters are flat tough guys.
Usually I am the first to defend video games as art, but I am completely unable to defend the terrorist scene where you have to walk with Marakov as he murders hundreds of citizens in the airport. After hearing the controversy I felt, “surely this is an over reaction and the situation is put in a moral light”. I was expected some sort of 24isque moral dilemma, where one had to sacrifice a few to save a million. I had envisioned some sort of plot where the only way to defuse a nuclear attack would be to commit a great act of evil. You get none of these scenarios. You’re told you are an undercover CIA agent, and the scene plays out, as if that is enough justification for the carnage about to be unleashed. “It’s okay you’re an undercover CIA agent”. It’s disrespectful to the real intelligence agencies to even assume they would allow an undercover agent to murder hundreds for some utilitarian purpose. The whole scene is distasteful. It’s as if the designers were trying so hard to be controversial they forgot the why.
Oh yeah and the multiplayer blows.
11/11/2009 at 18:59 Marshall says:
Thank you! I read through the plot summaries and watched the video (no, I don’t intend to buy the game – I’m one of a few people you may have heard of hunting for a job right now, which is taking up the better part of my time), and I just don’t see “morally ambiguous” anywhere. You got it right that it’s a slap in the face of the agencies, but more than that, it’s like some perverse train ride that the player must either take part in or blindly accept – even if you skip the level, you’ll be aware of your implied participation.
It doesn’t respect the player because there’s no sense of choice. As if there couldn’t have been a more creative solution. Aka, killing Makarov and his men in the elevator. What does the game tell you if you do that? I assume it tells you you can’t make that decision for yourself and must go on with the massacre. Because IW/Activision couldn’t be bothered to work in an alternative (and don’t give me that Makarov-as-bad-guy is the whole point of the story bullshit – they could easily have altered some later moments to include “generic-right-hand-man-villain” instead of Makarov).
Someone please tell me if I’m wrong here, and that when you dust Makarov, you’re presented with a screen in which you’re called a hero or martyr for averting a massacre, and I will happily retract my protest, and in fact deliver praise on the company for getting a moral dilemma right.
11/11/2009 at 20:55 Funky Badger says:
As an aside the CIA deserved less than zero respect on the balance of probabilities, but anyway… what happens if you shoot Makarov?
12/11/2009 at 03:08 Adam says:
Surely if you have played the game through, you would realise it’s not a CIA or intelligence service mission, it’s a special OP from Shephard – who obviously turns out very evil indeed.
I think it would be much better to view the situation as a “good guys aren’t always good” view – both the Americans and Russians were perfectly happy murdering civilians to get to their end game.
Honestly, while I truly do not think the game is worth £60, I’ve never before had an actual shiver of emotion based on what I’m doing – and this happened twice, once when shooting the civilians and then on the final mission, while bungeeing down to the solider and actually looking in his eyes as I stabbed him.
It may be scripted, but I think this is the truest form of video game art yet.
11/11/2009 at 17:38 Martin Edelius says:
I, honestly, don’t even know what the game is about (other than “shooting dudes”).
This has flown under my radar completely…
11/11/2009 at 17:42 kyrieee says:
There's actually about twice that number playing CS 1.6 but Steam doesn't count half of them
11/11/2009 at 18:13 Tims says:
I can’t be the only person that has never played a call of duty game and doesn’t care.
11/11/2009 at 18:20 manintheshack says:
Don’t worry, you’re not. In fact, this comments thread seems to have evolved into a support group for you guys… so stick around.
11/11/2009 at 18:39 Cedge says:
You’re seriously overreacting. No, that level isn’t going to cause mass-scale public backlash, and the government to take over game ratings (seriously, dude, lolwut?).
It’ll be forgotten in a few months.
11/11/2009 at 18:40 Cedge says:
Errr, that was in reply to Egoh Rtut, a page ago.
11/11/2009 at 18:41 Cedge says:
@mR.Waffles:
“It’s disrespectful to the real intelligence agencies to even assume they would allow an undercover agent to murder hundreds for some utilitarian purpose.”
Hahaha, do you know anything about the CIA?
Put on a tinfoil hat and google it.
11/11/2009 at 19:24 mR.Waffles says:
@Cedge
11/11/2009 at 18:53 torchedEARTH says:
Definitely worth £26 on the ps3.
11/11/2009 at 19:17 Hug_dealer says:
what you are complaining a bout is that you dont control the story, you are simply playing your part in it. which that is 90% of the games out there.
They arent trying to give you 60 different ending depending on your choices made during the game like dragon age. They are providing you with a set story much like that of a movie, only you play through it instead of just watching it.
11/11/2009 at 19:34 mR.Waffles says:
11/11/2009 at 19:37 Bret says:
Which means they’ve got even more of an obligation to make sure the one story you get isn’t a moronic mass of idiocy and cliches where the player is forced to do things that are BLOODY STUPID to advance the plot.
You have a ton of plots and subplots, some can be a bit shoddy. You have one plot, and you really shouldn’t be able to get away with something that makes Red Dawn look realistic and nuanced.
11/11/2009 at 19:57 Psychopomp says:
“If only I could talk to the monsters!”
12/11/2009 at 03:21 Fumarole says:
“… you really shouldn’t be able to get away with something that makes Red Dawn look realistic and nuanced.”
Best thing thing I’ve read all year.
11/11/2009 at 20:35 RIVAL says:
Fuck this game.
Sincerely,
RIVAL
11/11/2009 at 22:04 Calabi says:
So this is our great game. How does it compare to great war movies?
12/11/2009 at 00:57 Kenny says:
Why would you camp out to buy a game when you could just order it from play.com and have it waiting for you when you walk through the door?
12/11/2009 at 06:44 cw says:
THANK YOU!! I agree, and think this kind of thing has been redundant since the first Call of Duty was released. Sure there have been fun bits added here and there in each release, but it has mostly been a case of beating a dead horse.
The first Medal of Honor game was released for Playstation IIRC. Honestly I didn’t even realize that Call of Duty was still being released for PC. I’m kind of confused by people who expect this genre of video game to cater to the interests of the PC user. It seems to be the kind of thing that was designed for a console from the beginning. The whole linear cinematic feel of it (which don’t get me wrong, was fun for a while) lends itself well to a console.
12/11/2009 at 10:24 Lilliput King says:
“The whole linear cinematic feel of it (which don’t get me wrong, was fun for a while) lends itself well to a console.”
I just can’t see why.
12/11/2009 at 06:47 cw says:
(That was meant to be a reply to Cedge back on page 2)
12/11/2009 at 09:17 manintheshack says:
“I’m kind of confused by people who expect this genre of video game to cater to the interests of the PC user.”
I’m a PC user and I love this genre. I do, however, dislike other PC users and the whiter than white towers that they sit in.
12/11/2009 at 10:24 fulis says:
“I’m kind of confused by people who expect this genre of video game to cater to the interests of the PC user.”
They’re trying to sell us a product for quite a lot of money
Why the fuck should it not cater to our interests
12/11/2009 at 10:54 XM says:
After hours of play this is what I think.
First this is still the PC designed Quake engine feel FPS. This is not a console port it’s the Quake code modded so much over time to make it user friendly. The fast paced multiplayer is straight out of Quake III: Team Arena. So if you liked that then add everyday guns modern setting and new game modes you get an idea of what it’s like.
So this is just another COD game and if you like that you’ll love MW2. IWnet works but I would say so did dedicated servers. Forgetting modding if you want to just play the game IWnet works just as well with normal lag sometimes. But for some reason that’s hard to explain it’s not game stopping like getting on a bad dedicated server when things are laggy. Normally you are dead before you know what happened but it’s more fair as it’s not just you having a laggy moment. I have not yet raged as someone got a cheap kill on me. Also the times where you empty a hole clip into someone and they hit you with one shot have gone.
You may have seen the funny video on youtube with lots of lag where you walk then have to walk to the same place again and again. This is I can only imagine if you are unlucky to connect to someone on and 56k modem or someone on the other side of the world. I have yet to see it this bad the most common lag I got was the odd stutter but I’ve done enough online games to think this is normal.
I need more time to with IWnet P2P before I agree with IW this is the future. I can’t ever see it being better than a top line dedicated server at best it’s on a level with it forgetting mods.
The wait time when changing host is not that often and when it dose (though strange at first) it’s not game breaking. It takes about 10 secs just time for another swig of drink then you carry on where you were.
I’ve only started the SP so don’t know what it’s all like but it’s a Quake engine FPS with up to date graphics. The same type of gameplay as MW1 as you would expect with lots of action.
I’ve not done the spec ops yet so can’t comment.
So it’s just another FPS with lots of extras but if you like FPSs and not that bothered about modding you’ll love it.
All the haters are mad for a reason and I support them fully. The game is made for fun and fun you will get if you over look what is missing.
12/11/2009 at 11:27 Chaz says:
Well for all the hype and razzmatazz surrounding its launch, I won’t be buying it as I’ve never really been too keen on the CoD games.
As for this whole thing “I won’t be surprised if the next one does a Gears Of War 2 and gives up on the platform entirely. It’ll be a little sad if so, as the PC is where CoD was born, where Infinity Ward earned the experience and mega-bucks necessary to become the goliath they are today”. I’ve never quite understood this whole concept, that because a developer started off on a specific platform, that they some how owe it a debit of gratitude. The Medal of Honor series was born on the Playstation, but undoubtedly it was most successful on the PC with MOH:AA. The GTA series started out on the PC but undoubtedly the series really took off on the Playstation 2 with GTA3, and yet now the series seems to be favouring the 360 as its lead platform with GTA4. Selling games is a business, so of course they’re going to go where the money is greatest, wouldn’t you?
12/11/2009 at 12:39 CMaster says:
@Howl – What?
Their are plenty of servers running the standard game out there. PC Gamer being a prime example. Nervous Energy Community run a good one too. if you look around, its far from hard to find a standard server. It just depresses me how many people only play on fast respawn servers because they hate waiting out the game a few seconds, despite the fact that it completey fucks up game balance.
12/11/2009 at 13:04 manintheshack says:
Okay, so Steam finally decided to let me play the game at 11pm last night. Although I'd been practicing online CoD4 for the past week I figured I'd get the feel for the new game in singleplayer first. Everything loaded fine with plenty of video options to tweak, although I managed to bang it up to full settings with 2xAA and suffered very little drop in framerate. As soon as I was thrown into the training mission at the start of the game it felt right. I have a feeling they've tweaked the players movement slightly, it feels a bit less stumbly, but it's all for the better.
2 hours in and I was bored and frustrated, the standard reaction for me when faced with CoD singleplayer modes. It's more of a grind than it was before. Instead of waves of enemies that you trigger to stop they've just thrown an unfair mass of them at you and let you pick up the pieces. Fight, die, reload, fight, die, reload, fight, die, reload. It's game design at its most basic. Amateur stuff. By the end of the Rio mission I was ready to give up for the night or possibly forever. I just can't fathom why anyone would buy this game for the singleplayer alone, whether it was priced at £40 or £20. It's just not well made.
Dipping into multiplayer with a feeling of unease I knocked vsync off for greater performance and clicked the button. Sheer relief was my first emotion. I was in a well-populated lobby in a second. My fears of encountering the same limboing awfulness I'd suffered in Left 4 Dead were gone. The game started, the map loaded and there was no lag, at all. I played for another two hours and experienced about 5 seconds of juddering at some point, less than I'd had the night before when some loon with a ping of 500 joined a server I'd been enjoying for a good while. In short, it's accessible and smoothly and smartly presented. I didn't encounter any nobheads whilst playing except for one guy who called me a n00b for kicking his ass in my first MW2 match, but I adore those sorts. I'm sold on this, totally and utterly. I can understand why others will despise it, but for me its perfect and for that reason I thank Infinity Ward for the work they've put in to getting us up to date with FPS multiplayer on the PC. Just because it's different doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong and MW2 is far from being a mess of a console port.
12/11/2009 at 15:09 LimeWarrior says:
Bought it from Best Buy yesterday, got to play a few campaign levels. The set pieces are fantastic, over the top CoD at its best. The level of detail in this game IS better than modern warfare 1. In fact, this game looks ‘spankin good’ maxed out.
This is NOT a console port. In fact, despite all the issues involved with the PC release, this version is soooo much more WIN than a XBOX360 version. Two words: ‘mouse and keyboard.’ They had to build a engine that could scale well among platforms, and it STILL looks great maxed out (another reason PC is better, the xbox graphics suck in comparison).
Anyway, I recommend. Especially if you like CoD, but even to those who don’t.
12/11/2009 at 15:19 Jimmster says:
When, oh when, will there be CS:S2? Though for the time being, I haven’t found a better online experience than all the zombie mods available for CS:S.
I am fascinated by the hype surrounding MW2, but not at all interested in the game. However, I used enjoy CoD2 online…
12/11/2009 at 15:20 Jimmster says:
When, oh when, will there be a CS:S2? Though for the time being, I haven’t found a better on-line experience than all the zombie escape mods available for CS:S.
I am fascinated by the hype surrounding MW2, but not at all interested in the game. However, I used enjoy CoD2 online…
12/11/2009 at 21:58 Hug_dealer says:
Nah, you pay that price because you let them make you pay that price. Also because they that you should have to foot the price of thier extreme marketing campaign.
13/11/2009 at 18:38 cw says:
“They’re trying to sell us a product for quite a lot of money
Why the fuck should it not cater to our interests”
It should, I’m just surprised at the expectation that it will. Maybe PC users should vote with their wallets and not purchase this game if they want to see more games with modding, decent multiplayer options, etc. (as others have already pointed out).