ThruIT

November 10th marked the release of one of this years most anticipated games yet. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. And the question on the majority of gamers’ minds is, “Will Modern Warfare 2 live up to the hype, or drown in its shortcomings?”

A few weeks prior to its release Infinity Ward, the development studio behind the Call of Duty (CoD) franchise, raised concerns about Infinity Ward’’s lack of perceived commitment to the PC platform. Posted on a fans podcast was information regarding changes to the multi-player aspect for PC gamers, but I’ll get into the details about the changes later. For now, lets just say it was enough to start a forum where 200,000+ PC gamers stated their intention to boycott the game. Needless to say, as an avid PC gamer, I probably wouldn’t have thrown down 60 bucks for a game that disregards certain platforms if I hadn’t already pre-purchased it, but maybe I’m jumping to conclusions.

Despite changes made to the multi-player aspect of the PC game, I knew that I would still want to play the single-player. As epic as the first Modern Warfare was in terms of the multi-player experience, I was extremely excited to see where this one took the single-player story line and to see if Modern Warfare 2 could live up to expectations set by its predecessor.

Story: The first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was well within the realm of possibility. Nuke goes off in unnamed middle eastern country, and the United Nations (UN) dives in to track down who did what. Although not as realistic, the second installment to the MW franchise brings the story to a new level. Taking place immediately after the first game, you play as mainly two characters. Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson, a member of an elite, multinational commando unit known as Task Force 141, and Private James Ramirez, a member of 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment stationed in the United States; two perspectives of an effort to capture Zakhaev’s (ultra nationalist and main protagonist from MW1) right hand man, who will stop it nothing to get revenge and continue the rain of hell that was brought down in the previous game.

Much like the previous game, MW 2’s action spans well across the globe (and above it), taking place in familiar settings like the middle east but also exploring new areas such as the Virginian Suburbs, South America, and Snowy Russia.

Gameplay: The pace to this game MW2 is essentially MW overdosed on steroids. This game will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through its surprisingly short 6 hours of gameplay. On top of pace, the artificial intelligence (AI) is much less repetitive than the first game. For example, players will find themselves attempting a variety of different methods to get the AI out from cover, while bots never appear to poke their head from behind cover in quite the same place as before. Some missions will have you running through crowded shacks with civilians running out, as you get shot from all directions, making it extremely hard to camp out in one spot and take out the AI until its safe to move.

The game also creates an atmosphere of urgency, so that even in slower paced missions, players will feel their adrenaline pumping. Whether you’re chasing down an arms dealer through the middle of South American streets, or you’re simply planting C4 to blow up a fueling station players will feel as if it was a real mission and their lives depended on its success.

Even more intriguing is how IW seamlessly immerses the gamer into the more cinematic action sequences. In one sequence you repel down a cliff stomach first, much like the repel sequence in the first Mission Impossible. Then your character proceeds to take out a guard by slitting his throat. The game’s camera actually zooms into the guard’s face, so that your screen is filled with his look of terror as his eyes roll back into his head and he collapses. There are many sequences like this throughout the entire game, where you’ll simply crap your pants at the incredibly well executed cut-scenes.

Since this game is incredibly fast paced and the AI is much smarter than its predecessor, most avid gamers will find even the Normal difficulty settings a challenge. Whether this is a good thing or not is completely up to you. I think the challenging difficulty adds replay value. Additionally, players who purchased MW2 off Steam will be able to track their stats and achievements even more so then the retail copy allows, which to me is icing on the cake of an incredibly well executed game.

Presentation: Although MW2 uses the same engine as MW, IW has tweaked the engine so that even players of the first game will find something eye catching. In the first MW, the lighting only looked good in a select few missions, almost as if they didn’t care about the others. This is not the case in the new MW. The lighting and effects are Jaw dropping, and yet they probably won’t push your graphics card to the limit on even the highest of settings.

You can also tell that IW took time to look into sound effects. Playing in 5.1 channel surround sound gives you an incredible advantage, and weapon sound effects are varied and more authentic than the original game.

The immersion factor as mentioned before is absolutely stunning. You can tell that many sequences were carefully laid out to encourage the player to “take in” the moment. The maps are more open, authentic, and remove the linear feel from the first game. In fact, maps look so good, you may have trouble figuring out which way to go in some situations.

Multi-Player: As stated above, this is a very touchy subject for many PC gamers. Back in late October, IW casually stated on a fan-site’s podcast that they would no longer be supporting dedicated servers. Instead, a closed system that uses a P2P connection method would be implemented, similar to how many games work on Xbox Live. For PC gamers, who are used to playing on their favorite dedicated server much like a patron visits their favorite bar, this revelation was startling. Aspects of PC gaming that have been taken for granted, such as the active modding community that provides custom maps, custom games, and custom skins would be barred from changing the game in any way. Which, according to IW, is how they will keep the game how they intended it to be.

IW also mentioned, but it seems to be untrue, that the servers would be limited to max 18 players or 9 v 9. However after playing, it seems as though IW re-thought this decision (or I was mistaken), using 18 v 18 is the biggest server size for PC gamers.

Changes aside, from a stability point of view, the multi-player works, and very well I might add. Despite having to wait for the server to reconnect when the host drops out of the game, and having servers with slightly less people, the multi-player is just as engrossing as the first.For those on the fence, or just generally pissed off at IW’s choices, give the game a chance and I’m sure you will be playing until you realized you forgot to go to work/class. With the incredible amount of weapons to unlock, new perks, new kill streak reward, a XP point system and grenade physics that will make you giggle with joy, I would be amazed if you’re not spending countless hours of your life trying to unlock the urban camo for your sniper rifle.

Overall: If the single-player experience was the only thing that sold you on MW2, you will not only be in for a treat there, but once you bring up the nerve to actually try the multi-player, I think many of you will be pleasantly surprised.

If I had to describe this game in one word, it would be EPIC, and yes, all in caps. For those of you saying its the same as the last MW, or you still refuse to buy it for the multi-player, I say fine, pirate the game and play the single player alone in a dark corner of your room with no friends, while the rest of the world takes part in some sick ass gun fights.

Thruit gives Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 a solid 4 out 5 Stars

I would love to hear from the rest of you, especially those who thought the game sucked. So please feel free to comment. Discussions are some of the best ways to review games.