Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

[Asher]

Seriously guys, compare the multiplayer features of COD4 to MW2, it's a complete downgrade that reeks of being console-centric.

No one is arguing this.

[Asher]

I got it this morning for £26 from Sainsburys (a supermarket - they are increasingly getting into the release day action here for big titles). Not bad when you consider the RRP is a ridiculous £50 for MW2.

I was expecting a short campaign but MW was more than 5 hours with a strong story and variety, so it's a shame if that's been lost. But the MP is clearly the make or break aspect.

Running at a whopping 96 at metacritic so far on the 360. A clear game of the year contender as I predicted, despite what some here posted beforehand to the contrary.

It'll be a shame if it wins GOTY from what I've read.

Multiplayer is more of the same with better graphics, the singleplayer is a downgrade from MW1, and Spec Ops is fun by short also.

Looks like the usual mega-game hype train. It may also have to do with the fact that Activision apparently only gave review copies to publications who promised a very positive review (according to a German gaming site which was refused a review copy for refusing to promise a review score).

The user score is 5.7/10 avg

[sirboxalot]

Just seems like greed combined with laziness at this point :/

[DrSpike]

No one can deny Activision are greedy after the £50 price point.

[Asher]

Eurogamer seems to sum it up best:

Modern Warfare 2 balances the spectacle and silliness of its single-player campaign with a deep, enduring multiplayer core, carefully covering its bases for players of all persuasions. But there is no denying it seeks merely to build upon the successes of its forebear while doing very little to expand its scope or redefine them.

In terms of PC game of the year, it should be Dragon Age so far.
Console game of the year, Uncharted 2.

COD:MW2 may yet be the 360 GOTY, but we'll see. Assassin's Creed 2 is supposed to be amazing, and they've got substantial changes from the prior version.

[DrSpike]

Looks like the usual mega-game hype train.

If only El Cid were here to hear you say that, after your many (I think correct) rebuttals to him when he made the same point about games you liked.

[Asher]

Just because El Cid doesn't know when to correctly apply the argument doesn't make it less valid.

[DrSpike]

COD:MW2 may yet be the 360 GOTY, but we'll see. Assassin's Creed 2 is supposed to be amazing, and they've got substantial changes from the prior version.

I'm quite looking forward to AC2. The first game (which I didn't get) came across as having a lot of potential with poor execution. With the lessons learned from the first game, the sequel could be great.

Also, there's ODST of course.

[Asher]

For posterity, here's my prediction:

I just don't think it can even be a candidate unless there's some dramatic gameplay changes, of which there are none that we know of.

It's a predictable if solid franchise, but it looks like MW2 is bringing nothing new to the table except some tasteless scenes and a massive middle finger up the ass to PC gamers.

It'll be the same CoD as we've been playing for years. Regenerative health, endless respawn points and triggers, and insanely heavily scripted battles. CoD4 introduced the modern setting and the awesome Perk system, CoD:WaW was less popular than CoD4 and was the CoD4 formula in WW2. The new CoD is CoD4 in the same setting with the same gameplay with new levels, unless I'm wrong. That kind of game is not going to win GOTY, especially if essentially the same game comes out every year at the same time like CoD does.

So far I'm spot on, with two caveats: They fix the infinite-respawn stuff, but they countered for that by making the campaign so short and make it a bit worse by making it over-the-top silly.

[Asher]

http://xbox.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=18836

Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (X360)
Good noisy fun. But is it the game of the year?

As good as Uncharted 2? The simple answer to that question, away from all the hype, is a resounding no.

Modern Warfare 2 is a good entertaining and rather simplistic shooter that eschews many of today's gameplay innovations to focus on the intensity of war. It looks pretty, is very loud and peddles the kind of them-and-us politics that will go down well in the kind of places that still think Saddam Hussein had something to do with the 9/11 atrocity.

I felt a certain amount of unease playing through the incredibly short campaign. In-game quotes from Dick Cheney don't help, nor does that level that everyone's been talking about.

...

Taken as a whole then Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a good scripted linear shooter. It doesn't really innovate and instead relies on tried and trusted gameplay - ramping up the action to the max and whisking the player though an adventure without stopping to look at the scenery. All three sections of the game offer good fun, albeit too small a slice of fun in the campaign. Those of you who may have recently completed Uncharted 2 who are now looking for another exciting adventure may be a little disappointed, the writing and voice work is not on a par with that PlayStation 3 epic, nor are the visuals, even though Modern Warfare 2 is often very pretty.

Reservations over the games politics and that level aside my main beef with Modern Warfare 2 is that it's too short and too one-note. But that note is a good one and if you can afford the expensive outlay - or pick up the game from a discounting supermarket - you're bound to have a good time with the game. Just don't expect the game of the year. Instead expect a good fun entertaining but simplistic shooter, you won't be disappointed.

[Felch]

Seriously guys, compare the multiplayer features of COD4 to MW2, it's a complete downgrade that reeks of being console-centric. That's where the money is, though. Just sucks that I'd rather keep playing COD4 instead of dealing with matchmaking and 18 max players on MW2...

I was just busting your balls. You're right though about the PC version being a downgrade. Piracy has a price all its own.

[DrSpike]

For posterity, here's my prediction:

I just don't think it can even be a candidate unless there's some dramatic gameplay changes, of which there are none that we know of.

Thanks.

Clearly, despite any (probably fair) criticisms of SP length/content, the MP looks great, and contrary to your prediction MW2 is a strong contender for 360 GotY. If Uncharted 2 was on the 360, or Dragon Age was as good as the PC version, then maybe it would be less strong.

But as it is it's foolish to deny that it's a strong, and probably the main, contender. AC2 or L4D2 (that's coming out soon I think - a dark horse?) are the only possibilities because nothing out yet this year (Forza 3, ODST) can beat it.

[ZEE]

Piracy has a price all its own.

basically this

[Asher]

Thanks.

Clearly, despite any (probably fair) criticisms of SP length/content, the MP looks great, and contrary to your prediction MW2 is a strong contender for 360 GotY. If Uncharted 2 was on the 360, or Dragon Age was as good as the PC version, then maybe it would be less strong.

But as it is it's foolish to deny that it's a strong, and probably the main, contender. AC2 or L4D2 (that's coming out soon I think - a dark horse?) are the only possibilities because nothing out yet this year (Forza 3, ODST) can beat it.

It's only a candidate from fanboys.

The more balanced reviews I've read back up my impressions from previews: more of the same, it's good, nothing groundbreaking nor is it GOTY.

How can something truly be GOTY when it's the same **** you've played in other years?

[DrSpike]

Well I'm off now to play the probable 360 GotY.