Modern Warfare 2: Does it live up to the hype?

[GundamSentinel]

Single player was rock solid. I never play shooters online, so to hell with the multiplayer. But great game nonetheless.

 

[DalekJaas]

Good review, although CoD WaW has lasted a lot longer for me than CoD4's multiplayer, and I wouldn't call it mediocre as I think its inclusion of co-op, zombies and its overall multiplayer, plus the constant release of map packs to totally trump CoD4. Treyarch is dedicated to its player-base.

I've only heard from one other person and you that MW2's multiplayer is good without dedicated servers, but it makes me wonder how long it will last with out the support of a clan base.

Anyway nice overview of opinions.

 

[joe182]

Lovely. I'm still not buying it though.

Erm, thanks? I wasn't asking you if you were buying it, I was stating my opinion of the game, if you're gonna post meaningless sentences, kindly restrain yourself from clicking the 'post' button

Anyway, less bitching about the game, more constructtive criticism please hehe.

yes it would be lovely if u stopped bitching. if they wanna put "meaningless sentences" they have every right too. besides ur reading comprehension needs to improve before you reply about anyones post since he was giving u a compliment on ur thread and then responding to ur if u only buy one game this year let it be this one. anyways i got the game played and wish i didnt spend the money on it. about 5 hrs long for me the game had it moments but the entire thing reminded me of ODST.i wish i got the game for my xbox since then i could at least get rid of it now that i spent a graaaaand whole afternoon to pass it on it hardest difficulty. so to answer your thread does MW2 live up to all the hype. it is a no but it is a mediocure game if some1 reeeeeeeeeeally doesnt have anything better to buy.

The fuck are you talking about? My 'reading comprehension'? How about learn to spell/type properly before you say shit about me?
It was obvious that he wasn't complimenting my post, if you can't see that then YOU need to 'improve your reading comprehension'. Secondly, everyone knows the main component of MW2 would be the multiplayer, you finishing the campaign in an afternoon doesn't make it a bad game, and it is FAR from 'mediocre' (thats how to spell it, btw).

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

I'm not buying it.
Partly because war games don't give me wood. I mean, the premise is actually kind of interesting for a war game but here is why. I'm also not buying it for the reasons the PC gamers were complaining about.
Activision is strangling the game industry. The £55 RRP is not acceptable and the price rises have been unacceptable since £40. I mean, I'm not cheap or anything, but if games companies can survive and have survived for the last... 13(?) years since CD's were used on consoles without overcharging to this point then why? Everything else is pure greed on the part of the owners of the publishers and distributors.
Do you think the devs at Infinity Ward will get paid more? The programmers, the level designers, the people that actually make the game? Of course not. 13 million people bought CoD4. That's £65 million for the higher ups to wipe their arses with.

I know this sounds like I'm being needlessly whiney, but my point is this. Gamers, as a force, need to say no. We are the people they're selling their product to, and if we don't buy it, they'll have to bring the prices back to normal. That point, in my opinion, should've been the £45 mark. But we won't. We'll get bent over by the companies and will be paying £80 for games by 2015. Quote me on that.

Remember when carts used to cost a copious amount of money? Then CD's came along being cheaper to make and were sold new for £20 or so? I don't have a point with that bit, it's just a nice memory.

 

[skywalkerlion]

Nice review, I really want MW2 now. I'm kinda out of the FPS scene though, it'll take some more MW 1 playing to get me back in.

 

[joe182]

I'm not buying it.
Partly because war games don't give me wood. I mean, the premise is actually kind of interesting for a war game but here is why. I'm also not buying it for the reasons the PC gamers were complaining about.
Activision is strangling the game industry. The £55 RRP is not acceptable and the price rises have been unacceptable since £40. I mean, I'm not cheap or anything, but if games companies can survive and have survived for the last... 13(?) years since CD's were used on consoles without overcharging to this point then why? Everything else is pure greed on the part of the owners of the publishers and distributors.
Do you think the devs at Infinity Ward will get paid more? The programmers, the level designers, the people that actually make the game? Of course not. 13 million people bought CoD4. That's £65 million for the higher ups to wipe their arses with.

Ever considered the cost of development rising? Obviously not. It's rising, and its rising fast, a game of MW2's standards will easily cost tens of millions of £ to develop and publish, and yes, the devs WILL get paid more, Im a games design student and as part of the course we study the video games buisness as a whole. Costs are rising, as is the pay of the employees, so please, stop trying to make it look like you know about the industry, because you don't.

Anyway, I wasn't asking you if you were buying the game, I was stating my opinions in a review, I would have appeciated feedback much more than yet more bitching.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

Ever considered the cost of development rising? Obviously not. It's rising, and its rising fast, a game of MW2's standards will easily cost tens of millions of £ to develop and publish, and yes, the devs WILL get paid more, Im a games design student and as part of the course we study the video games buisness as a whole. Costs are rising, as is the pay of the employees, so please, stop trying to make it look like you know about the industry, because you don't.

Anyway, I wasn't asking you if you were buying the game, I was stating my opinions in a review, I would have appeciated feedback much more than yet more bitching.

Ugh. If you don't want people to talk about the game you've made a thread about, don't make a thread about it. I did a review on Wet. Some people commented on my review, some people commented on the game. It's relevant and deliciously tangential. A wonderful irony in what you just said is "I don't care what you think about this game, but please care what I have to say". No. I don't work that way. If there's something I want to say I'll bloody well say it.

Game development costs aren't rising as fast as you say they are. Yes, they are rising, but it's basic accountancy. You cut the costs early and price your product to be competitive. Activision have cut costs. They cut thousands of jobs after the merger with Blizzard and even after that they continue to jack up the price and they don't need to. Activision Blizzard made $5 billion last year ffs. They dropped highly anticipated games because they couldn't milk them for sequels. They're treating their core source of income with no respect and expect us to take it. And we will.

Oh, and fuck you. My post was restrained but I just noticed that little burn you put in there. I wasn't insulting you or provoking you and you decided to act like a ****. Nice. I know just as much about the industry as you do. You're a game design student are you? That's interesting. I'm just saying because you know there's a total lack of jobs in design positions right? I learnt this on my games programming course I did at uni where we learn about the games industry as a whole. I also learnt from a family friend who's a higher up at EA. And another friend who has a game design degree and is currently employed. Best of luck though.

 

[joe182]

Ever considered the cost of development rising? Obviously not. It's rising, and its rising fast, a game of MW2's standards will easily cost tens of millions of £ to develop and publish, and yes, the devs WILL get paid more, Im a games design student and as part of the course we study the video games buisness as a whole. Costs are rising, as is the pay of the employees, so please, stop trying to make it look like you know about the industry, because you don't.

Anyway, I wasn't asking you if you were buying the game, I was stating my opinions in a review, I would have appeciated feedback much more than yet more bitching.

Ugh. If you don't want people to talk about the game you've made a thread about, don't make a thread about it. I did a review on Wet. Some people commented on my review, some people commented on the game. It's relevant and deliciously tangential. A wonderful irony in what you just said is "I don't care what you think about this game, but please care what I have to say". No. I don't work that way. If there's something I want to say I'll bloody well say it.

Game development costs aren't rising as fast as you say they are. Yes, they are rising, but it's basic accountancy. You cut the costs early and price your product to be competitive. Activision have cut costs. They cut thousands of jobs after the merger with Blizzard and even after that they continue to jack up the price and they don't need to. Activision Blizzard made $5 billion last year ffs. They dropped highly anticipated games because they couldn't milk them for sequels. They're treating their core source of income with no respect and expect us to take it. And we will.

Oh, and fuck you. My post was restrained but I just noticed that little burn you put in there. I wasn't insulting you or provoking you and you decided to act like a ****. Nice. I know just as much about the industry as you do. You're a game design student are you? That's interesting. I'm just saying because you know there's a total lack of jobs in design positions right? I learnt this on my games programming course I did at uni where we learn about the games industry as a whole. I also learnt from a family friend who's a higher up at EA. And another friend who has a game design degree and is currently employed. Best of luck though.

I'm not saying don't talk about it, im up for a discussion of the game, not a *****-fest, as thats what nigh on every MW2 thread develops into.
'Little burn'? Jesus, are we 10? I wasn't poking fun at you, what you said simply made you sound as though you think you know it all, as does the last post you made. Yes, I know there aren't jobs going about left right and center, but I'm in college, It's not like I'm looking for a job right now is it. Yes there are going to be a lack of jobs in the industry, there are a lack of jobs fucking everywhere at the moment, hence why I'm going to do a masters and specialise in either 3D modelling or level design.
It's what I want to do, and you're not going to discourage me by telling me 'what your friends told you'.

 

[MDSnowman]

So.. back on topic...

I played the game today, and even though I beat the single player in a little over 5 hours I enjoyed every second of it. Everything just worked in a story sense, even if it ended up going quickly.

I've only started messing with the multi-player and I've found that the levels are huge compared to CoD4. The Brazil level is mind boggling in the sheer number of places to get the drop on someone. I'm really looking forward to learning these nooks and crannies.

 

[joe182]

So.. back on topic...

I played the game today, and even though I beat the single player in a little over 5 hours I enjoyed every second of it. Everything just worked in a story sense, even if it ended up going quickly.

I've only started messing with the multi-player and I've found that the levels are huge compared to CoD4. The Brazil level is mind boggling in the sheer number of places to get the drop on someone. I'm really looking forward to learning these nooks and crannies.

I was hoping for it to be longer, but then it IS a CoD game, so I wasn't holding my breath.
I think the map you're talking about is 'favela', one of my favourites But yah there are so many windows and rooftops, it's hard to find a place to take cover sometimes.

 

[Master_Fubar23]

Lovely. I'm still not buying it though.

Erm, thanks? I wasn't asking you if you were buying it, I was stating my opinion of the game, if you're gonna post meaningless sentences, kindly restrain yourself from clicking the 'post' button

Anyway, less bitching about the game, more constructtive criticism please hehe.

yes it would be lovely if u stopped bitching. if they wanna put "meaningless sentences" they have every right too. besides ur reading comprehension needs to improve before you reply about anyones post since he was giving u a compliment on ur thread and then responding to ur if u only buy one game this year let it be this one. anyways i got the game played and wish i didnt spend the money on it. about 5 hrs long for me the game had it moments but the entire thing reminded me of ODST.i wish i got the game for my xbox since then i could at least get rid of it now that i spent a graaaaand whole afternoon to pass it on it hardest difficulty. so to answer your thread does MW2 live up to all the hype. it is a no but it is a mediocure game if some1 reeeeeeeeeeally doesnt have anything better to buy.

The fuck are you talking about? My 'reading comprehension'? How about learn to spell/type properly before you say shit about me?
It was obvious that he wasn't complimenting my post, if you can't see that then YOU need to 'improve your reading comprehension'. Secondly, everyone knows the main component of MW2 would be the multiplayer, you finishing the campaign in an afternoon doesn't make it a bad game, and it is FAR from 'mediocre' (thats how to spell it, btw).

you are a sad little man lol cant even be ok with ppl saying if there gunna buy the game or not.

 

[joe182]

Lovely. I'm still not buying it though.

Erm, thanks? I wasn't asking you if you were buying it, I was stating my opinion of the game, if you're gonna post meaningless sentences, kindly restrain yourself from clicking the 'post' button

Anyway, less bitching about the game, more constructtive criticism please hehe.

yes it would be lovely if u stopped bitching. if they wanna put "meaningless sentences" they have every right too. besides ur reading comprehension needs to improve before you reply about anyones post since he was giving u a compliment on ur thread and then responding to ur if u only buy one game this year let it be this one. anyways i got the game played and wish i didnt spend the money on it. about 5 hrs long for me the game had it moments but the entire thing reminded me of ODST.i wish i got the game for my xbox since then i could at least get rid of it now that i spent a graaaaand whole afternoon to pass it on it hardest difficulty. so to answer your thread does MW2 live up to all the hype. it is a no but it is a mediocure game if some1 reeeeeeeeeeally doesnt have anything better to buy.

The fuck are you talking about? My 'reading comprehension'? How about learn to spell/type properly before you say shit about me?
It was obvious that he wasn't complimenting my post, if you can't see that then YOU need to 'improve your reading comprehension'. Secondly, everyone knows the main component of MW2 would be the multiplayer, you finishing the campaign in an afternoon doesn't make it a bad game, and it is FAR from 'mediocre' (thats how to spell it, btw).

you are a sad little man lol cant even be ok with ppl saying if there gunna buy the game or not.

Sad little man?
Seriously, fuck off If you're not going to give an intelligent response just don't say anything.

 

[firedfns13]

Did we forget the plot holes in the campaign? Nothing about how sneak attacks work, nor how someone came to be in a foreign prison, nothing about how the Ultranationalists took over after last game anyway, etc.

To me the game is mediocre. There's just nothing like CoD4. It tried too hard, even in multiplayer. Though it is a nice change, I still prefer CoD4 over all parts of MW2, except for the veteran campaign.

 

[joe182]

Did we forget the plot holes in the campaign? Nothing about how sneak attacks work, nor how someone came to be in a foreign prison, nothing about how the Ultranationalists took over after last game anyway, etc.

To me the game is mediocre. There's just nothing like CoD4. It tried too hard, even in multiplayer. Though it is a nice change, I still prefer CoD4 over all parts of MW2, except for the veteran campaign.

To be honest, I didn't pay massive attention to the plot (blasted through it over a night, so no sleep = not good for remembering details) and didn't wanna ruin it for anyone, but having played through again it is a bit messy.

And I see what you mean about trying to hard, the 'payback, longshot, buzzkill' etc online can get pretty annoying, but I can see me playing it more that CoD4 now, mainly because I'm bored of the maps.

 

[firedfns13]

Thats true, out of all the CoD4 maps, I only liked playing about 2 or 3 still.
I miss my acog M40, it was awesome to absolutely wreck kids on Wetwork with it. Especially while not camping.

 

[Marowit]

To be honest whilst there are some amazing moments in the MW2 campaign, the story-telling is abysmal - half the time I have no idea what's going on or why I am there and the game jumps viewpoints far too often for the player to really build a connection with the characters. Just my opinion. It's still very good though.

EDIT: It all feels very "go here, do this" - whilst in CoD4 you felt part of an almost independent squad. There are no missions that really seem to match your objective at the beginning.

I felt the exact same about MW2 - Plus I find the plot in the game pretty hard to swallow. I think that CoD4 seemed so pertinent to what was going on in the world at the time it was semi-believable...I understand this is a fictional game, but the ludicrous plot really drew me out of the immersion I felt with CoDs 1-4.

Also I felt like I was almost on a rail following someone for many of the missions...plus it pissed the sh!t out of me when my squad would run into a room...then I'd follow and 3 guys would pop out of nowhere and all target me.

Plus all the plane/helicopter junk in multi-player made it unendurable for me at least. Though I am sure some people find it a lot of fun, its far to gimmicky for me. Not to mention how frustrating it is when someone shoots you soon as you spawn through the roof you're under. There are some nice maps indoors where you can avoid that junk, most of the time, but constantly having to hide from helicopters, predators, etc... gets old reaaaaaal fast.

As far as feedback for the review...

You probably shouldn't start it by biasing yourself in the first sentence. It's not your place as a reviewer to have an opinion - it's to list the strengths, weaknesses and weigh them against some standard (in this case CoD4 could be that for instance).

I did really like the length of your piece though. Some people just drone on and on when a nice succinct piece works perfectly fine.