23 replies to this topic

[Plasmic Fury]

**NOTE**
This review is intended for the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 2. The scores given in this review do not reflect the overall PC or PS3 versions.


Published by: Activision
Developed by: Infinity Ward
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date:
US: November 10, 2009
Platform: PC/Xbox360/PS3

There are many games that try to mimic Call of Duty, but none can manage to pull off the same hectic game play and presentation. It’s no surprise that Modern Warfare 2 has already broken sales records. The hype for this game was intense, the only question is if it lived up to it or not.

Well rest assured my friends, this game not only lives up to the hype but it shatters it into pieces. You’d think for a series like Call of Duty with the sheer amount of games they have put out, it would start to fall flat. Infinity Ward manages to keep the game feeling fresh and exciting throughout all these years.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gives players a series of things to accomplish throughout your play through. You’ve got the standard campaign, a deep multiplayer mode and a newly added Spec Ops mode which essentially takes pieces from the campaign and makes them into challenges you can complete on your own or with a friend. Simply put, you cannot and will not be disappointed with any of these modes, they all offer several hours of playtime and enjoyment.

Get Ready For Hell

If you’ve never played a Call of Duty game before you can only expect the best when it comes to controls. Everything is exceptionally tight and responsive. This is crucial as many of the games elements require quick and decisive movements that could not be performed with sloppy controls. It leans towards more of an arcade style shooter but some of the elements can feel very realistic such as aiming through the sights (which is a staple now of the CoD Series). You will learn quickly in this game and come to love how it handles in under a half hour.

Taking a deeper look into the campaign you will find that not much has changed from the first. Many of the missions are jam packed with action sequences you have come to know and love. Although, I am finding that even with some of the suspenseful and intense scenes that you will play through it's starting to lose some of its edge. I feel like the first modern warfare blew me away more. This could be because I’ve come to expect it from these games. I am betting if you never played a Call of Duty before you would think the opposite.

What is great about the campaign is that the missions offer lots of variety. You do not play as the same solider throughout the entire campaign. You will switch between countries and solders after every level. This keeps the scenery and other aspects of the game fresh. No level will feel entirely the same. For instance one level you will be scaling an icy mountain and shooting down baddies from a snowmobile while the next mission you will be in Brazil running through the streets chasing after a kingpin.

To put this games story in laments terms - it sucks and will confuse you to death. The amount of things that happen and the quick transitions will make the story very hard to follow. Near the end of the game you will probably find yourself beyond confused, but you probably won’t care. I had to replay some of the campaign in order to follow the events that happened to better understand it. Once you finally do put the pieces of the story together you probably won’t be glad you did. It’s really not that great.

Even still, you’ll be having a lot of fun with the campaign and you’ll be sadly disappointed when the game comes to a close so promptly. You can easily finish the campaign in less than 5 hours when playing on regular difficulty. There is no doubt that the campaign should be longer, but at least what you do play is fun and worthwhile. The campaign is also good for another play through on veteran for achievements.

Every level feels fresh

Spec Ops is one of my favourite additions to the call of duty series. Gears of War 2 and Halo 3:ODST were on the right track when they made their horde and firefight modes. Modern Warfare 2 expands on modes like that by offering 25 different challenges that can be completed with a friend. Challenges will test you on your stealth, survival, and assault skills. Each missions can be completed on a certain difficulty which the higher the difficulty the more stars you will earn. The more stars the higher the bragging rights and missions you unlock. Completing these challenges on veteran will take some serious teamwork.

Missions are creative and original. For example in one mission you will have a buddy on the ground and another in a helicopter. You have to cover your buddy on the ground by blasting threw enemies with your machine gun until he makes it to the rally point. The amount of dedication and focus you can muster to beat these missions on veteran is unbelievable, I’ve never been in so much communication with my friends before. As far as I’m concerned spec ops is a shining example of a game play mode that should be added into most games.

Last but not least is the selling point of the CoD series – the multiplayer. Much has changed since MW1 and for the better too. For those that are unfamiliar the system plays off of levels. The more games you win and people you kill the higher your level will become. You can unlock different items like scopes and guns. You also get to choose between different perks such as “steady aim” or extending the explosiveness of your grenades. You can form your classes into pretty much anything you wish which gives you a lot of variety for your play style. The balance of the game has changed greatly for the better, especially when it comes to kill streak rewards. Now you have to choose between 3 specific rewards. No more endless abilities to use the more kills you get. They’ve added a lot more rewards though such as gunning down people from an AC gunship which is very cool. All in all, you really have to play a lot in order to unlock everything. There is such a wide variety of guns and attachment you will want to collect. The game keeps rewarding you the longer you play which will keep you interested for a long time.

The graphics are nothing to scoff at

The maps have been designed carefully and in my opinion are much better than MW1. In addition to several well thought out maps there are several game types. All of which provide a great deal of fun. The better you get the more intense you can play. Hardcore game types try to take out the more arcade style elements of the game and make you rely purely on teamwork and good aim. If you are more than a casual gamer and enjoy competitive gaming this will be right up your alley.

The aesthetics of Modern Warfare 2 can be jaw dropping. They’ve defiantly improved from the first. The lighting effects and viewing distances are awesome. They’ve got some really nice scenery and solider models. Everything is highly detailed and the best part is that it runs exceptionally well on xbox. The entire game is appeasing to the eyes. The sound is also unmatched, in many situations you will have to rely on your ears to get you out of a mix. When you hear enemies reloading or bullets wising from behind it makes the game more realistic and engrossing.

Closing Comments
For a series that has been going on forever it doesn’t skip a beat. New and old players of the series can get sucked into the game play quickly and not look back for a long time. So many things have been improved or added to make this one of the best game purchases you could make all year. My only complaints rely mostly on the campaign mode. Not only is the story hard to follow but it literally goes all over the place. The campaign is also extremely short and most of the events won’t impact you as much as the first game. Ultimately, with endless hours of spec ops and team deathmatchs at your fingertips you won’t be disappointed with this purchase.

Presentation - 8.0/10
Follows the same style of the first Modern Warfare. Story is very confusing. Unmatched action sequences.

Graphics - 9.5/10
Beautiful scenery, high detail, great lighting - so much to make this game appeasing to the eyes

Sound - 10/10
Great sound effects and on par voice acting. Compliments all aspects of the game

Game Play - 9.0/10
Tight and responsive controls. Spec Ops is a wonderful addition. Deep and rewarding multiplayer. So many fun things to do hours will fly by like minutes

Lasting Appeal - 9.0/10
The campaign won’t last long, but it’s good for another play through. Beating all the spec ops missions on veteran will keep you busy, and don’t forget about the multiplayer. You could be playing this game for a long time


9.3/10 - Outstanding
( ? ) Click Here for ratings guide

Edited by Plasmic Fury, 17 November 2009 - 08:35 AM.

[Master C]

I havent played the game.

That said I do think you're giving it more credit than its worth. From what I've gathered its a straightforward run and gun single player, a game we've been playing for what, 15 years almost? And unlike MW1, it doesn't have the redeeming epic immersion/story telling.

Equally the MP seems like...Downloadable content added to MW1 or CoD5.

Honestly I'm disapointed in you, we expect this shit from some of the mainstream reviewers, but not niche reviewers.

[Plasmic Fury]

Honestly I'm disapointed in you, we expect this shit from some of the mainstream reviewers, but not niche reviewers.

Honestly I am merely reviewing on the amount of fun I'm having/had out of the game. I actually just really like the CoD series. While it's the same system we've been playing for years it is still really fun. Just because a game repeats some of its attributes does not always mean it automatically should be negated for it.

If you look at the guitar hero series then you will see a shining example of games that lost their buzz a long time ago. Essentially just new songs pilled onto the excat same game.

CoD breaks free of this by adding several rewarding modes and unlocks, highly polished and fully detailed graphics, and well thought out multiplayer.

A lot of effort went into Modern Warfare 2 whether you choose to believe so or not.

Edited by Plasmic Fury, 16 November 2009 - 06:38 PM.

[Master C]

I really enjoyed MW1, but even then I had to admit to myself the gameplay was pretty horribly flawed. Running past invisible lines shouldn't instantly trigger the end of an otherwise infinite horde of enemies. Have they removed these scripted events?

Also saying "I'm disapointed in you" is a little harsh lol, not quite what I meant .

[Plasmic Fury]

I really enjoyed MW1, but even then I had to admit to myself the gameplay was pretty horribly flawed. Running past invisible lines shouldn't instantly trigger the end of an otherwise infinite horde of enemies. Have they removed these scripted events?

Also saying "I'm disapointed in you" is a little harsh lol, not quite what I meant .

They've gotten rid of the ridiculous endless spawn of enemies till you get past a certain spot which is very nice. I must admit that was really stupid in the older games lol.

Also I can agree with you when it comes to some of the repeated things you will have in almost every Call of Duty game - such as being in a helicopter then getting shot falling to what seems like death but then waking up all groggy. Now when im in a helicopter I just expect that shit, which is why in the review I stated some of the single player elements are just not as captivating as before.

Also if this game was soly a single player game I probably would've given it a 7.0/10 - it's really the multiplayer modes that make this game so much fun.

Edited by Plasmic Fury, 16 November 2009 - 06:46 PM.

[Master C]

fair enough.

I think my brother is buying it for the xbox so I'll probably get around to playing it eventually.

[The Colonel]

See after playing hours of the multiplayer, the ridiculously short (and more guilty of repetition than CoD4) singleplayer, and quite a bit of Spec Ops, I gotta say this game is no more than an 8.5 for me.

[Tree_]

Last but not least is the selling point of the CoD series – the multiplayer. Much has changed since MW1 and for the better too.

You just made it sound the exact same as CoD4.

[way2lazy2care]

See after playing hours of the multiplayer, the ridiculously short (and more guilty of repetition than CoD4) singleplayer, and quite a bit of Spec Ops, I gotta say this game is no more than an 8.5 for me.

I'd say if it weren't for spec ops this game would be an 8 at most. With spec ops I'd put it at a 9.

It's somewhat similar to the concept of firefight/horde/nazi zombies, but adds in multiple mission types that have a good amount of variety even though some of them have the same environments and similar concepts. Definitely something I'm hoping other games copy.

There's also a lot more depth to the unlocks for weapons and perks in this version. It really encourages you to try different playstyles.

For the main campaign, it felt like they made it entirely too actiony. Where the first one felt somewhat like a tom clancy story, this one felt like a Michael Bay movie. I really wish they would have paced it better instead of going the all action all the time route. It would have benefited a lot from more slow paced/strategic levels. The capability was clearly there, as there's parts that use the technology to do what I'm talking about, which makes it even sadder to know that they wasted the technology on a game that really only requires that enemies shoot at you and find cover occasionally.

For example, there's clearly enemy awareness in some of the spec-ops missions as well as a pretty cool breach system that allows for rapid clearing of a room, which would work wonderfully for some good stealth gameplay, but it's never really used to encourage you to do stealth. That's almost tragic to be perfectly honest. A mission like the flashback in the first one would have been a great change of pace for the story.

Also, the multiplayer maps are excessively large. There is no reason for them to be that big. There have been some matches where I go 1-0 because that is literally the only person I saw. The smallest maps in MW2 are the size of many of the medium maps in the original. They should have done like PDZ and had the maps scalable by the number of people playing. for 6v6 a lot of them, despite being sweet concepts/locations, are ruined because it takes too long to get to anything fun.

tldr;

It fixed a lot of things in the old game and games in general. It made a lot of things in the old game worse.

[Plasmic Fury]

I'd say if it weren't for spec ops this game would be an 8 at most. With spec ops I'd put it at a 9.

This man speaks wisdom

Agree 100%

[Master C]

Why would it be even be an 8/10 if its a regurgitated and largely inferior version of the previous?

Unlocks and perks represent a very tiny, insignificant portion of the gameplay...Tbh just looking at this game I would probably rate it 7/10 max. Lower for PC. But thats just me I guess.

[Plasmic Fury]

Why would it be even be an 8/10 if its a regurgitated and largely inferior version of the previous?

Unlocks and perks represent a very tiny, insignificant portion of the gameplay...Tbh just looking at this game I would probably rate it 7/10 max. Lower for PC. But thats just me I guess.

~7/10 if it was purley single player

~8/10 if it had no spec ops

No point talking about what it wasn't though. Focus on what it is.

Edited by Plasmic Fury, 17 November 2009 - 09:45 AM.

[Bl!ndf!re]

Also, the multiplayer maps are excessively large. There is no reason for them to be that big. There have been some matches where I go 1-0 because that is literally the only person I saw. The smallest maps in MW2 are the size of many of the medium maps in the original. They should have done like PDZ and had the maps scalable by the number of people playing. for 6v6 a lot of them, despite being sweet concepts/locations, are ruined because it takes too long to get to anything fun.

i disagree, i liked the new larger maps so much more, so much less spawn kills, both ways

[way2lazy2care]

Why would it be even be an 8/10 if its a regurgitated and largely inferior version of the previous?

Where did I say it was largely inferior. I have complaints with the game, but in any other game they wouldn't really be complaints. The only reason they come out as complaints is because the original did those things so well it didn't make sense for this one not to have them. The game is still a very fun game.

Unlocks and perks represent a very tiny, insignificant portion of the gameplay...Tbh just looking at this game I would probably rate it 7/10 max. Lower for PC. But thats just me I guess.

I can assure you they do not. They dramatically alter the game play. Unlike the original, they actually take a good amount of time to unlock too. It makes doing prestige a much more daunting concept.

[Master C]

I say largely inferior because the aspects of the game I enjoyed the most (the general story telling) has been ruined. And the multiplayer was never anything special to write home about.

[Plasmic Fury]

And the multiplayer was never anything special to write home about.

many people would disagree with this statment

[Tree_]

many people would disagree with this statment

And yet at the same time a lot would definitely agree,

[Plasmic Fury]

And yet at the same time a lot would definitely agree,

agree to disagree

[curbstompin]

Those screenies look shocking similar to cod4 (no one expected that, right). I haven't played the game, so I'm no expert, but right now I'm thinking I don't know if cod4 with a fancy new map pack and game mode deserves anything over a 6 or 7. And I'm pretty sure MW2 is exactly that.

COD has been the same re-skinned game since the 3rd one. Nooooo more creativity (except for Nazi zombies!!)

[Kipzz]

And yet at the same time a couple haters who shouldn't even post in MW2 threads anyway would definitely agree

fix'd. I don't go posting hate messages in Quake threads, do I? gtfo.