I've decided to potentially start posting reviews on the Escapist. If I get positive feedback, I'll review more games as I get them, or I may review games that have been out for a while that I really enjoyed, or really hated. This first review is of MW2, and I am not going to spoil anything about the storyline that hasn't already been revealed. I am however going to go in depth into what I believe is the main focus of the game, and I will be brutally honest in my criticism and final score. My overall score and verdict is based on what the game is trying to be, so I won't grade down an arcade game for not being realistic enough. I am not an english major, and I miss spelling and grammar sometimes, so don't jump down my throat for that kind of thing, unless there is something that is really pissing you off to no end. Constructive criticism will also be helpful for future reviews.(things like layout, general questions you want answered)
Modern Warfare 2
Note: I am playing these games on a PS3.
Controls/Gameplay: The controls are as crisp as ever, and as expected, nothing significant has been modified to the gameplay, down to it's core it has the same feel you have either grown to love or hate.
Campaign(Singleplayer):
Story/Plot: The game begins a few years after Call of Duty 4, and once again you begin with a training course, in case this is your first time playing. After you have decided your difficulty you go straight into battle. If you did not already know, the primary antagonist is a Russian by the name of Vladimir Makarov, who was Zakhaev's closest asset, and he is out for revenge. There is a mission early in the game where you are undercover as one of the Russian's under control of Makarov, and you march your way through an airport(located in Moscow), mowing down hundreds of civilians.(Note: The game will ask you if you wish to skip potentially offensive missions when you first put in the disc. Personally, despite being Russian myself, I didn't find this mission offensive, they are virtual civilians after all) This mission is called "No Russian", as Makarov wants him and his cohorts to appear as American terrorists, to bring the rage of Russia on to the U.S. This begins a chain of events that takes you through the story, taking you to many locations all over the world, including America. The finale of the game is a bit cliche, and cliffhangerish, but those who did not like CoD4's ending might like this ending more, it doesn't come out of nowhere, like last time.
Note: For all of the attempts to made by the game to make you hate Makarov, I didn't really mind him, I think he is a cool, if cruel villan. There is someone you will hate much more later on.(again, no spoilers)
The storyline this time around is much more over-the-top, much like a summer action movie, which is disappointing. The storyline in CoD4 was at least believable, and was reminiscent of the war in Iraq, combined with the Cold War, had we started fighting. If you are accustomed to CoD games being "realistic", MW2 stretches that somewhat, though a feeling of authenticity in the weapons, gadgets, and locations is still there, and still deserves praise. Difficulty/Length: If you felt a great sense of accomplishment when you finally finished CoD4 on veteran, this feeling will be diminished somewhat in MW2. The game overall is much more forgiving, but don't think it's become "easy". It's definitely a lot more "fair" this time around. There's less bullshit grenade spamming enemies, and enemies do not infinitely respawn anymore, which makes the experience easier, but also much more enjoyable. If you haven't played a CoD game on veteran however, be prepared for a spanking. Now for a quick note about length. CoD4 was about 10 hours in length, depending on difficulty, and player skill. MW2 is about the same length, despite there being many more missions, as they are all much shorter.
Multiplayer
Now we get to the good stuff)
Spec Ops Mode: Something that I think was a bit overlooked in the pre-release interviews and trailers and what not was the Spec Ops mode. It was mentioned a few times, but never really got explained. This mode is essentially a random collection of missions, or parts of missions, taken from the campaign(some are taken from CoD4), that can be played with a second person, locally, or online. Most of these are the usual "Get from point A to point B", "Get from point A to point B stealthily", "Defend A from X enemies, or for X minutes", or "Destroy objective A, B, and C", however there are a few that are a stroke of genius. For example, there is a mission where one player is making his/her way from point A to point B, however, the second player is the gunner in an AC-130 gunship, raining hell on those who get in the way of the player on the ground. If you've got a friend over, or a friend online that doesn't feel like playing competitive, this mode is here for you.
Competitive: This is what I'm guessing 90% of people are buying this game for, and unfortunately, while it is great fun, there are a number of downsides. Maps: There are a lot of maps to start off this time around, and they feel bigger that the CoD4 maps, while still somehow being about the same size. Most of the maps are much more 3D, and some maps, such as Favela, seem to encourage some serious parkour, which is always fun. On the down side, there are A LOT of nooks and crannies in every map, resulting in much more camping. It can get so bad, that sometimes I call the game "Modern Camping 2". The maps also feel more confined, despite also feeling larger, because there is a lot more cover, making the job of snipers even more difficult on a majority of the maps. Game Modes: All of the modes you remember from CoD4 have returned, and are pretty much the same, the only thing that has changed with these is the maps they are played on. There are a few new additions such as capture the flag, and two different 3RD person modes, which, if you don't mind me saying, are seriously out of place. There is a reason this game is categorized as a 1ST person shooter.....however despite this, they are pretty fun to play, and focus on your ability to aim, rather than your ability to make a proper class.
Customization: Not surprisingly, the create-a-class system has returned and has been changed a bit. There seems to be a general focus in the mutiplayer to make players feel as badass as possible. For starters, shotguns have finally become fairly balanced weapons, however, instead of staying as primary weapons, are now secondary weapons, meaning that you do not need to sacrifice a perk to have one alongside say......a sniper rifle. Secondary weapons also include standard handguns, which have been improved a bit to match the other secondaries, and machine pistols, which are exactly what you would expect them to be. Rocket launchers(which even includes the Javelin), are also included as secondary weapons, rather than requiring a perk). Now to primary weapons. Now that shotguns have been moved, there are only 4 categories of primary weapons. Assault rifles, sniper rifles, sub-machine guns, and light machine guns. The number of choices for assault rifles dwarfs the options you have for all of the other categories, and there are many bullpup rifles("bullpup" means that bullets are fed from behind the trigger, allowing for long barrels in relatively short guns). Unfortunately, Infinity Ward did not give the sniper community(including me) much love. There are only 4 sniper rifles, 2 of which are re-runs from CoD4(sad face :[). The sub-machine gun selection is about the same size as it was in CoD4, and there are only one or two re-runs, including the P90(which is like.....my favorite gun EVAR). There are also some guns that non-gun nuts will find strange(this applies in general to the weapon selection in MW2), such as the Kriss Super-V(known as the Vector in MW2), which is a very odd-looking gun that fires big bullets, with a high rate of fire, and low recoil(badass, another one of my favorites). While I am talking about this gun, I will also mention weapon balance. If all the weapons were represented realistically(in terms of damage, rate of fire, etc.), some would be better than others, which is why weapons like the Vector(which should do massive damage per shot), has had its damage downgraded, to make it balanced. However, assault rifles overall have become more accurate and deadly across the board, which seems odd to me. Why work so hard to balance guns in their category, when you are going to take whole categories, and make them unbalanced? Finally, light machine guns. there are about 4-5 choices here, but a few of them look and feel remarkably similar. However, if you like these "Rambo guns", as I like to call them, you are well catered for. Actually, I lied, there is another choice, the riot shield. This shield will deflect just about anything that is thrown at you(from the front at least, or back if you switch weapons), but there are also multiple ways to defeat a riot shield user, making them useless unless you have teammates defending your flanks.
In addition to all of these new weapons, there are some new attachments, such as the heartbeat sensor, which is like a mini-radar that is attached to the left side of your gun, and monitors enemy locations based on heartbeat(obviously). Weapons, depending on their categories, can have anywhere between 4-10 potential attachments. Once you have finished fiddling with what weapons and attachments you want, you've got a choice between a few different types of equipment, such as frag grenades, semtex(sticky) grenades, throwing knives(which can be re-used :]), C4, claymores, etc. The same Secondary grenades return from CoD4.
Obviously, the perk system has returned, along with everything else, and it isn't much different than it was in CoD4. The only major change is the pro-perk system. Once you fulfill certain criteria using a given perk, you unlock the "pro" effect of it, which is like having a second, minor perk. Example: Commando, increased melee range. Commando pro, increased melee range + no falling damage. This system is a great idea in my eyes, and makes you think more about how your perks will work together to make the best class possible. Back to my earlier point about being "badass", this whole system seems to support this idea. There is even a perk that allows you to have 2 attachments on your primary, and secondary(if you have pro) weapons. Last, but not least, the killstreak system. This is where the multiplayer falls down for me. Every few levels you can unlock a killstreak of your choice. You then make a set of 3 killstreaks you want equipped. Obviously you can't have any 2 that have the same prerequisite number of kills equipped at once. This seems like a great idea, save for one problem. A few of these killstreaks are so overpowered that they can turn an even game into a slaughterfest, with one player getting all the kills. The best example of this is the chopper gunner killstreak you get at 11 kills. Essentially, the chopper flies around the map while you shoot with the machine gun mounted under the hull, which shoots explosive rounds no less. I don't think you need an explanation as to why this overpowered.
Verdict: Overall, while the game is more fun and refined than CoD4, I believe that in an attempt to make everything bigger and better, it falls down under it's own weight a bit. This should NOT be a deterrent from picking this game up however, it is an excellent game, however it should be a warning that, if you were expecting the best game ever, you will be a little disappointed.
Score: 9.0
Note: How do I make things bold in a forum post, it would make this review easier to read if I could make the sections of the review bold....
Also how do I indent paragraphs and all that good stuff, because I had some small indents when I was typing it up, but they are gone when I post it.
Modern Warfare 2
Note: I am playing these games on a PS3.
Controls/Gameplay: The controls are as crisp as ever, and as expected, nothing significant has been modified to the gameplay, down to it's core it has the same feel you have either grown to love or hate.
Campaign(Singleplayer):
Story/Plot: The game begins a few years after Call of Duty 4, and once again you begin with a training course, in case this is your first time playing. After you have decided your difficulty you go straight into battle. If you did not already know, the primary antagonist is a Russian by the name of Vladimir Makarov, who was Zakhaev's closest asset, and he is out for revenge. There is a mission early in the game where you are undercover as one of the Russian's under control of Makarov, and you march your way through an airport(located in Moscow), mowing down hundreds of civilians.(Note: The game will ask you if you wish to skip potentially offensive missions when you first put in the disc. Personally, despite being Russian myself, I didn't find this mission offensive, they are virtual civilians after all) This mission is called "No Russian", as Makarov wants him and his cohorts to appear as American terrorists, to bring the rage of Russia on to the U.S. This begins a chain of events that takes you through the story, taking you to many locations all over the world, including America. The finale of the game is a bit cliche, and cliffhangerish, but those who did not like CoD4's ending might like this ending more, it doesn't come out of nowhere, like last time.
Note: For all of the attempts to made by the game to make you hate Makarov, I didn't really mind him, I think he is a cool, if cruel villan. There is someone you will hate much more later on.(again, no spoilers)
The storyline this time around is much more over-the-top, much like a summer action movie, which is disappointing. The storyline in CoD4 was at least believable, and was reminiscent of the war in Iraq, combined with the Cold War, had we started fighting. If you are accustomed to CoD games being "realistic", MW2 stretches that somewhat, though a feeling of authenticity in the weapons, gadgets, and locations is still there, and still deserves praise. Difficulty/Length: If you felt a great sense of accomplishment when you finally finished CoD4 on veteran, this feeling will be diminished somewhat in MW2. The game overall is much more forgiving, but don't think it's become "easy". It's definitely a lot more "fair" this time around. There's less bullshit grenade spamming enemies, and enemies do not infinitely respawn anymore, which makes the experience easier, but also much more enjoyable. If you haven't played a CoD game on veteran however, be prepared for a spanking. Now for a quick note about length. CoD4 was about 10 hours in length, depending on difficulty, and player skill. MW2 is about the same length, despite there being many more missions, as they are all much shorter.
Multiplayer
Now we get to the good stuff) Spec Ops Mode: Something that I think was a bit overlooked in the pre-release interviews and trailers and what not was the Spec Ops mode. It was mentioned a few times, but never really got explained. This mode is essentially a random collection of missions, or parts of missions, taken from the campaign(some are taken from CoD4), that can be played with a second person, locally, or online. Most of these are the usual "Get from point A to point B", "Get from point A to point B stealthily", "Defend A from X enemies, or for X minutes", or "Destroy objective A, B, and C", however there are a few that are a stroke of genius. For example, there is a mission where one player is making his/her way from point A to point B, however, the second player is the gunner in an AC-130 gunship, raining hell on those who get in the way of the player on the ground. If you've got a friend over, or a friend online that doesn't feel like playing competitive, this mode is here for you.
Competitive: This is what I'm guessing 90% of people are buying this game for, and unfortunately, while it is great fun, there are a number of downsides. Maps: There are a lot of maps to start off this time around, and they feel bigger that the CoD4 maps, while still somehow being about the same size. Most of the maps are much more 3D, and some maps, such as Favela, seem to encourage some serious parkour, which is always fun. On the down side, there are A LOT of nooks and crannies in every map, resulting in much more camping. It can get so bad, that sometimes I call the game "Modern Camping 2". The maps also feel more confined, despite also feeling larger, because there is a lot more cover, making the job of snipers even more difficult on a majority of the maps. Game Modes: All of the modes you remember from CoD4 have returned, and are pretty much the same, the only thing that has changed with these is the maps they are played on. There are a few new additions such as capture the flag, and two different 3RD person modes, which, if you don't mind me saying, are seriously out of place. There is a reason this game is categorized as a 1ST person shooter.....however despite this, they are pretty fun to play, and focus on your ability to aim, rather than your ability to make a proper class.
Customization: Not surprisingly, the create-a-class system has returned and has been changed a bit. There seems to be a general focus in the mutiplayer to make players feel as badass as possible. For starters, shotguns have finally become fairly balanced weapons, however, instead of staying as primary weapons, are now secondary weapons, meaning that you do not need to sacrifice a perk to have one alongside say......a sniper rifle. Secondary weapons also include standard handguns, which have been improved a bit to match the other secondaries, and machine pistols, which are exactly what you would expect them to be. Rocket launchers(which even includes the Javelin), are also included as secondary weapons, rather than requiring a perk). Now to primary weapons. Now that shotguns have been moved, there are only 4 categories of primary weapons. Assault rifles, sniper rifles, sub-machine guns, and light machine guns. The number of choices for assault rifles dwarfs the options you have for all of the other categories, and there are many bullpup rifles("bullpup" means that bullets are fed from behind the trigger, allowing for long barrels in relatively short guns). Unfortunately, Infinity Ward did not give the sniper community(including me) much love. There are only 4 sniper rifles, 2 of which are re-runs from CoD4(sad face :[). The sub-machine gun selection is about the same size as it was in CoD4, and there are only one or two re-runs, including the P90(which is like.....my favorite gun EVAR). There are also some guns that non-gun nuts will find strange(this applies in general to the weapon selection in MW2), such as the Kriss Super-V(known as the Vector in MW2), which is a very odd-looking gun that fires big bullets, with a high rate of fire, and low recoil(badass, another one of my favorites). While I am talking about this gun, I will also mention weapon balance. If all the weapons were represented realistically(in terms of damage, rate of fire, etc.), some would be better than others, which is why weapons like the Vector(which should do massive damage per shot), has had its damage downgraded, to make it balanced. However, assault rifles overall have become more accurate and deadly across the board, which seems odd to me. Why work so hard to balance guns in their category, when you are going to take whole categories, and make them unbalanced? Finally, light machine guns. there are about 4-5 choices here, but a few of them look and feel remarkably similar. However, if you like these "Rambo guns", as I like to call them, you are well catered for. Actually, I lied, there is another choice, the riot shield. This shield will deflect just about anything that is thrown at you(from the front at least, or back if you switch weapons), but there are also multiple ways to defeat a riot shield user, making them useless unless you have teammates defending your flanks.
In addition to all of these new weapons, there are some new attachments, such as the heartbeat sensor, which is like a mini-radar that is attached to the left side of your gun, and monitors enemy locations based on heartbeat(obviously). Weapons, depending on their categories, can have anywhere between 4-10 potential attachments. Once you have finished fiddling with what weapons and attachments you want, you've got a choice between a few different types of equipment, such as frag grenades, semtex(sticky) grenades, throwing knives(which can be re-used :]), C4, claymores, etc. The same Secondary grenades return from CoD4.
Obviously, the perk system has returned, along with everything else, and it isn't much different than it was in CoD4. The only major change is the pro-perk system. Once you fulfill certain criteria using a given perk, you unlock the "pro" effect of it, which is like having a second, minor perk. Example: Commando, increased melee range. Commando pro, increased melee range + no falling damage. This system is a great idea in my eyes, and makes you think more about how your perks will work together to make the best class possible. Back to my earlier point about being "badass", this whole system seems to support this idea. There is even a perk that allows you to have 2 attachments on your primary, and secondary(if you have pro) weapons. Last, but not least, the killstreak system. This is where the multiplayer falls down for me. Every few levels you can unlock a killstreak of your choice. You then make a set of 3 killstreaks you want equipped. Obviously you can't have any 2 that have the same prerequisite number of kills equipped at once. This seems like a great idea, save for one problem. A few of these killstreaks are so overpowered that they can turn an even game into a slaughterfest, with one player getting all the kills. The best example of this is the chopper gunner killstreak you get at 11 kills. Essentially, the chopper flies around the map while you shoot with the machine gun mounted under the hull, which shoots explosive rounds no less. I don't think you need an explanation as to why this overpowered.
Verdict: Overall, while the game is more fun and refined than CoD4, I believe that in an attempt to make everything bigger and better, it falls down under it's own weight a bit. This should NOT be a deterrent from picking this game up however, it is an excellent game, however it should be a warning that, if you were expecting the best game ever, you will be a little disappointed.
Score: 9.0
Note: How do I make things bold in a forum post, it would make this review easier to read if I could make the sections of the review bold....
Also how do I indent paragraphs and all that good stuff, because I had some small indents when I was typing it up, but they are gone when I post it.
