Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 6/10

Disclaimer: I think it’s safe to assume that everyone who wants to finish this has finished it by now, but slowpokes should proceed with caution as this review does contain significant spoilers...


Hot on the heels of the overwhelming international success that was CoD4, Modern Warfare 2 fails to excite all but the most blind, obsessive followers of the Call of Duty series. Pathetically incompetent matchmaking servers, a dysfunctional invite system, nonsensical host migration and with lag on a whole new level of frustrating, MW2 almost forced players to dive headfirst into the single player campaign as the only working component of the game at release. But with those missions finishing faster than the average teenage boy holding the controller, the fun soon dried up in this rather underwhelming FPS...

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Single Player
MW2 proves yet again that contrary to the idiom, the best things do not always come in small packages. Single player is choc full of action, variation and awesomeness... and so it damn well should be. For 4-6 hours of gameplay I’d expect nothing short of an orgasmic, enthralling cinematic experience that exceeds even the most outlandish hype-fuelled expectations, but it seems the success of CoD4 got to Infinity Ward’s heads a bit as they overestimated their ability to compensate for brevity with quality.

The story is hard to follow but the basic gist goes something like this: Russians are bad terrorists, Americans are courageous heroes. No, really. And you thought the Cold War ended decades ago?
To be honest, I tuned out for large parts of the mission briefings and vital information that may have aided me in comprehending this bizarre storyline, but in all seriousness it isn’t all bad. Once you get your head around it, it begins to make sense and whilst it remains ridiculous, it soon becomes evident that the rumours involving special needs children on work experience writing the script for MW2 weren’t entirely true.

The introductory mission at an Afghani training camp is an eye-catching introduction and the lack of idiotic enemies makes it a joy to explore. The area is crawling with life- from guys playing basketball, to repairmen working on hummers, and plenty of soldiers just bumming around enjoying a moment of peace. Once the training is over though, the **** hits the fan and it’s all systems go. Mission locations span the globe for reasons unknown to me, but eventually the game settles on Russians, led by a pleasant chap by the name of Vladimir Makarov, as the bad guys of choice (how original...). The main storyline really begins to unfold just a few missions in, with the moderately confronting and well publicised mission by the name of ‘No Russian’. It is here that the plot gets a much needed kick up the butt, and it’s actually very well scripted. Basically, a group of Russians (including an American double agent) go through a Russian airport on a civilian killing spree in an unceremonious display of Russian ruthlessness. It’s a great little bloodbath and I feel genuinely sorry for the pussies who opted to skip the level. In the end, all but the betrayed and wounded American escape unharmed, leaving the Russian military with a convenient excuse to conclude that this was the act of American terrorists.

All's fair in love and war...

And of course, once those Bears from the Eastern Bloc are angered it doesn’t take much for them to want to flex their military muscle, so naturally it follows that within a very short timeframe you’ll find the vast majority of USA up in flames and occupied by Soviet troops. The end of the story does include an interesting twist of betrayal, but essentially the plot just outlines an excuse for USA and Russia to compare sizes. Cue some overly dramatic music, a war torn American suburbia jam-packed with as many prominent landmarks as their graphic artists could be bothered squeezing in, and objectives that Superman would struggle to complete in a world with any degree of realism, and you’ve got the perfect setting for some epic heroic action from the main protagonist as he sets about saving the day, complete with a final scene that may spark déjà vu in players of the original.

Washington DC's tourist attractions prove themselves yet again as fine bullet catchers

Storyline aside, the gameplay in single player is, for the most part, fantastic. Whilst it lacks themes from CoD4 that were proven winners, most notably the Chernobyl sniper mission, MW2 still mixes it up with a great array of enjoyable gaming in the form of vehicular action, stealth, the good old Rambo-esque spray and pray, and even non-combat activities such as a rock climbing scene. Realism is largely absent from many missions, with a seemingly (and very frustrating) unlimited supply of enemies and hence a very lenient health regeneration system. It’s almost impossible for the poor bastards to take you down if they’re in your field of vision thanks to the automatic targeting that MW2 allows and the fact that a wild combination of melee spam and a shower of bullets tends to take them out with relative ease. Of course, being outnumbered 100:1 does lend itself to flanking, and you’ll often find yourself shot to pieces from behind by a sly Middle-Easterner who has discovered that standing stationary in his predetermined position or running towards you screaming about infidels are not generally components of a successful plan. I guess countless bad guys are IW’s attempt at compensating for a largely inept AI...

A fast-paced snowmobile mission adds a new element to Single Player mission variety

All of this wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the inescapable fact that the length of the single player action is inexcusably short. Really, really short. I understand that MW2 is marketed as a multiplayer game, but no other developer could produce such an unsatisfactorily brief campaign and get away with it, so why should IW be immune from criticism of their SP? Fallout 3 gave me well over a hundred hours of fun without the need for an internet connection, I got my money’s worth out of Borderlands, GTA too, even Assassins Creed can join the list... I couldn’t care less how pretty IW think their environments look, how epic they think their story is, or how ‘cinematic’ the game was; I can’t help but conclude that it sucked. If I want just a couple hours of a ‘cinematic experience’ I’ll hire a damn movie, but I pay a fortune for games because I expect a reasonable amount of entertainment out of them. On this front, MW2 failed miserably.

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Multiplayer
Multiplayer, we’re led to believe, is where the action’s at. This is the game mode that had thousands of salivating nerds lining up for hours and getting their heads shaven in the middle of the night in a delirium of anticipation. And, for the first few weeks at least, it joined Single Player in miserable failure.

Fundamentally, little changed from CoD4 to MW2- Essentially it’s just the same game repackaged with the same modes, new killstreaks, refined perks, and different weapons and maps. You shoot stuff, level up, unlock stuff to make shooting stuff easier, go ‘Prestige’, and do it all over again. This is no slur on IW though, and if anything they ventured a little too far from the perfection that CoD4 offered. ‘If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.’

Maps are generally bigger, and pretty much every weapon can be silenced. As a fan of snipers, this was music to my ears, but it seems I underestimated the tendency for campers to proliferate in these optimum conditions. Invisible to any and all methods of detection (seriously... you can silence your footsteps, somehow reduce your body’s core temperature, and even avoid the fictional technology of heartbeat sensors by muffling your ticker), MW2 is a camper’s delight. Not even the best players in the world have a chance against a silenced automatic shotgun in the hands of a virtually non-existent **** with just his eyes poking above a stairwell. With no deterrent except the sadistically satisfying insults from their slain enemies, I’m actually quite surprised that anyone bothers to run around in this game at all. To add insult to injury, they might even throw a knife at you...yes, a freakin knife. Because as you know, every soldier out there is trained in the art of knife throwing and can toss them a good 50 yards with lethal force each and every time, and MW2 prides itself on realism. ‘Tactical Insertions’ are another failed concept that simply lure fools into telling enemies where they will next spawn as soon as they die, so inevitably these glowing red beacons will have up to three guys with their crosshairs fixed firmly at them at any one point, waiting to double the poor bastard’s misery. I could go on about the lack of balance in this game, but I think the technical side of things deserves a lot more attention.

When it works, multiplayer shares many similarities with that of CoD4

Dogged by an invite system that was incapable of actually inviting people; 3rd party matchmaking servers that, when they were even functional, decided that Americans were the best hosts for everyone the world over; fun-sucking glitches; a total lack of logic in game mechanics; counter-intuitive host migration... it all leads to an absolutely terrible experience. The first few weeks of this game were nothing short of nightmarish for Aussie players, as the hopeless matchmaking led inevitably to a room full of foreigners. Watching them bounce around the map and having to time bullets so that your target actually runs into them is not what I expect in what even the developers would like to consider to be the most highly anticipated online game ever. And if, by some miracle, you manage to find a lobby with a few fellow Aussies within, it takes but one American to join and the moronic host migration function kicks into gear, handing hosting to the solitary yank because we all know how cranky they can get if their games aren’t perfect. Climbing into rocks is still possible in MW2, because apparently IW thought it was such a fun idea in CoD4. But don’t confuse that with manoeuvrability, since MW2 basically strips the player of any freedom to jump and explore maps in a lazy effort to reduce the chance of people finding glitches. Screw glitches; if I want to jump on a dumpster to look over a wall I should be able to, especially if I can jump on five of the other exact same dumpsters in the exact same map. Then we’ve got the ‘Javelin Glitch’, which turns you into a suicide bomber; unlimited ‘Care Packages’ which gift you an infinite number of bonus rewards that can have a devastating effect; and even a glitch that allows you to run around at super speed, knifing people like a headless chook, which could be funny except the developers lacked the sense of humour to set it to the Benny Hill theme music.

AC130 Gunships are awesome if you're in the driving seat, but require swift attention if you're on the receiving end

Not all is lost in MW2’s multiplayer though. The variation and customisation available in killstreaks is a great touch, though I still question the viability of a game-ending tactical nuke. All sorts of air support are on offer, which is a brilliant idea to improve on the effective but monotonous air-strike and helicopter combo that was available in CoD4. From remote-controlled predator missiles, to radar jammers, and even the ability to control an AC130 gunship, the rewards really do offer an enticing incentive to string some kills together. The availability of anti-air rocket launchers adds a whole new element to the game, and must be used quickly and efficiently to bring down the powerful enemy ordinance. My only gripe here is that some of the perks border on a lack of realism that really takes away from the authenticity of the experience, such as an automatic turret and EMPs. Weapons in MW2 provide a good mix of the old and the new, with eternal favourites such as the AK47 and continually overpowered M16 making an appearance alongside a number of new introductions in all categories.

Spec Ops
The most notable inclusion in MW2 on the multiplayer front is that of a whole new game mode under the ‘Spec Ops’ label. Offering the preferable online co-op capability, as well as single player and split screen multiplayer, this mode allows players to team up with a friend to complete 23 missions that add a very enjoyable and challenging character to the game. Missions provide a level of diversity that exceeds even that of the single player campaign, without the feeble attempt at including a plot, as players are put into a range of roles including ghillie-wearing snipers, AC130 gunners, or machine gun wielding commandos to complete the given objectives. Not only does it add an element of socialisation and teamwork (communication is almost essential for most missions) but also significantly contributes to an otherwise appalling longevity and provides an attractive foundation for future downloadable extras.

Riot shields provide excellent cover, but only in one direction, so grab a buddy and flank 'em

True to form though, even this relatively appealing mode is not immune from glitches, albeit a very minor one. Trophy whores will be glad to know that a very simple bug can be exploited to fool the game into thinking you’ve done every mission on the highest difficulty...*sigh*

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Graphics
Like a flower growing in a pot of cow ****, the graphics in this are unfittingly beautiful. Uniforms are highly detailed, weapons look photo-realistic, environments are superb... it really is very pleasing to the eye. I’m yet to see a game really pull of a realistic representation of fire though, and MW2 is sure as hell no exception, with its fire effects amongst just a small list of minor graphical mishaps in an otherwise perfect depiction of USA under attack. The graphics are so good that the rare instance of a low resolution tree texture or slight graphics tearing really stands out in the same way a small tree branch poking through your bedroom wall would cause a bit of alarm. I don’t have a whole lot else to say here, since this is in fact one area that IW excelled in, and I commend them on that effort.

Clothing, weapons, environments and structures all look gorgeous

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Summary
MW2 sells itself as an online game, and until the 5th patch it’s almost been the most disappointing online game of its generation. Still though, five patches in about as many weeks shows that IW are committed to getting it right, however incompetent. Massive fans of CoD4 will force themselves to like it, casual gamers will find multiplayer impossibly difficult and single player very unsatisfactory. Everyone else sitting somewhere in-between is praying that the supply of patches doesn’t finish up any time soon because things are starting to get on track. It’s possible we hoped for too much on the back of CoD4, but the only party to blame for that would be IW, whose bucket loads of contagious hype poisoned us with delirious expectation. CoD4 redefined the genre and had people pulling all-nighters who previously didn’t consider themselves gamers...

There is light at the end of the tunnel though. With superior graphics and the same game engine as its predecessor, MW2 has a solid foundation with a lot of room for improvement. Maybe by the time they’re up to patch 1.76 the game will finally be on a par with its older brother in an increasingly and extraordinarily popular gaming family, and I'd gladly revise my score to an 8 or 9/10 if it does so. However, as of now this title is a disappointment in my book, but I sincerely hope (and believe) that MW2 will realise its massive potential in the not too distant future.


Single player - 4
Beautiful, but fleeting. I can only liken it to prematurely ejaculating on the most attractive woman on earth- it’s great while it lasts, but I’d prefer a night of mediocrity over a few seconds of bliss.

Multiplayer - 6
It boats some exciting new additions, but seems to have forgotten its roots. Campers and balancing issues could potentially ruin the entire experience. Riddled with glitches and technical issues from the beginning, it’s got a lot of work on to save itself from The Haze Effect (ie. so overhyped that it’s acceptable to collapse in seizures of excitement but the end product is about as fun as having your left nut cut out with a butter knife)

Graphics - 9
Brilliant, but not perfect. Very easy on the eye and credit to IW for producing some quality visuals.

Sound - 3
I care little for sound, but it does seem a little lacking in this department. I miss the cracking sound of a Barrett 50 cal. striking fear into enemies on CoD4 and there are some weapons, particularly the Walther sniper rifle, that produce an almost comical noise. Weapons aside, I find multiplayer to be unnervingly quiet at times and I didn’t really appreciate the over-the-top orchestral drama in single player.

Longevity - 5
Single player is disgustingly short and multiplayer is only just starting to find its feet after an almost unplayable beginning. Spec Ops is only good for so long, and people who play for the trophies will probably find the glitch too easily exploitable to actually bother completing the missions. The recent matchmaking fix has been excellent but those weeks of frustration are not easily forgotten and there is still a lot of work to be done before gamers develop the same feverish addiction that MW induced.

OVERALL 6/10

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