Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3 - Review

[Ohio Joe]

Where to begin on this one...

I know there is a single player game because it had a big bad warning about one of the levels being offensive and did I want to skip it (I said no) but really, I got this for the multi-player. I might do the single player at some point but not today :D

I really don't often dig the multi-player aspects of most games unless I'm playing with friends. Too many assholes online and I just really don't want to be bothered with them. Another reason is that I am often a mediocre player at best and it is not much fun when you just get stomped on over and over. With regards to the assholes, this does not seem to be the big of a deal in MW2. 99% of the assholes are assholes because they have a headset and you have to listen to them. This is easily solved by the handy mute function so you don't have to listen to their drivel. The getting stomped on a regular basis part is a little more complex but also not that big of an issue.

The multi-player is first and foremost a FPS but there are also character/weapon building elements that can put you on equal footing... or at least keep you off your knees long enough to get in some good satisfying kills. This has the added benefit of attracting other mediocre players that you sometimes get in games with and you end up kicking some serious ass :D

That said, you are still going to die... a lot... but really, you don't walk away from it with a frustrated feeling because you have killed... a lot. I actually find it very satisfying even though I die twice as often as I kill.

Characters - Once you reach level 4 (that happens very quickly), you can create customized characters. Outfit it with primary and secondary weapons and that handy secondary weapon, plus your grenades and perks, and you create your own super soldier. I find that on different maps I prefer different weapons. Sometimes that sniper rifle so I can look for a nice sniping position and explode some heads with a light Machine gun as a secondary to get me there. Other times I want that up close and personal attack that only a sub machine gun and a shotgun can give me. Some maps really need a little of both, so I'll go for the assault rifles with a rocket launcher back-up to get rid of those pesky aircraft that can get called in. Whatever you like, there are more then enough options.

Perks - Perks are further refinements to your character to tweak it just how you like it. They range from "marathon" to run faster, to "slight of hand" to reload faster, to "scavenger" so you can pick up more ammo (it really sucks to be on a great kill streak only to run out of ammo). You can assign three perks to each character you create and change them between games as you want.

Kill streak rewards - A kill streak reward is something you get when you kill a certain number of people in a row without dying. There are a total of 15 kill streak rewards and you can assign three of them. They vary in power from UAV (see enemies on radar) to a tactical nuke. They also vary on how many enemies you have to kill in a row to get them, 3 for a UAV to 25 for the nuke.

Maps - I'm not sure how many maps there are... I think about 6 or 7. There are also two add-ons that each contain 5 more multi-player maps for 14.99 each... cough cough... bite me... cough cough. The maps are all pretty big and well designed. In MW1 it seemed that most maps really only worked well for one weapon type and bringing a sub-machine gun to a sniper fight just never worked out to well. These maps are much better designed. There are lots of sniper positions but they all have more then one entrance so the sniper can be gotten to but if a sniper can stay on the move and get to another position, he can get another shot. This makes for a nice mix and you don't end up with games where one weapon type dominates.

Graphics - The animations and physics are top notch, really well done. The way a body goes down by a head shot or is thrown in an explosion... well, it just never gets old :D Running in 1080p... nuf said.

Game types - You name it, it's in here. Straight up death match, teams, capture the flag, domination, sabotage and on and on. They also range from 4 player to 18 player. Keep to the smaller games if your internet connection is low or you just die from lag.

Bottom Line - There are a few minor nits I have with it. The manual... it blows. It tells you next to nothing and does not bother to explain very well what it does tell you. The assholes. Mute works but really I would prefer people would stop showing them how to use the internet. In game instructions. Most of it you figure out but especially the game type descriptions could be better. The rankings. They are totally screwed, either their database has serious issues they need to address or people are hacking. If the former, it's shameful, get someone with a little experience and fix it, if the latter, ban these people and wipe their scores, you know who they are, do it. These things aside, this game is a ton of fun and I see myself playing this one for a very long time.

[Ohio Joe]

1. arrrrrrrrgh.... This game is being badly hacked

http://www.infinityward.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=371760

Fuck you Infinity Ward! The games screwed so just play with friends... are you shitting me? The games screwed but it is not our fault.... are you shitting me? The games screwed but don't worry there are just a few of them out there?.... Do you play your own fucking game?

Fuck you Infinity Ward... Just Fuck you.

You know, I was annoyed when I saw the leader boards were screwed but it is far worse then I thought, this game is seriously fucked, the entire online experience is screwed. It would be bad enough if it was limited to people having god mode, unlimited ammo or maxed out weapons and perks but it is even worse then that, far worse. They have the ability to totally screw your character and eliminate what you have achieved. Weapons, gone. Stats, gone. Custom characters, gone. Challenges, gone. They are even putting in foul terms as your "clan tag"... yes, even foul by my admittedly low standards, words even I don't use.

You can't stop it because you have no idea who is running this hack and it takes effect as you join a game. You enter the game and instead of holding your weapon of choice, you have a smoke grenade. Or perhaps you just start dying over and over again. Or perhaps you now have a banner running across the top of your screen advertising some scam site. Regardless of the particular attack, you are screwed.

Then... to top it off, fucking Infinity Wards just throws their hands up and says they can do nothing until Sony does something. I call bullshit. Get your programmers to work and patch your own fucking security holes. And fucking ban the people cheating. It's not like it is hard to determine who they are, just take a look at your fucking leader boards.

grrrr, I'm really fucking pissed off about this.