Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review

So, this is my virgin post, and I have chosen to review the Playstation 3 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hereafter referred to as MW2. I know that this game has been out on the market for several months, and that there are already innumerable reviews on this product, but this will be my own spin on this review. So, here is how it will work with game reviews. I will not be following a particular format as of yet, but you can expect my reviewing style to change a bit as I do more of these. For now, I will break this review into two sections: single player campaign and multiplayer experience.


Graphics

The presentation value on the graphics of this game were outstanding for both the campaign and for the multi-player experience. The game squeezes out an impressive HD experience that broadcasts in true 1080p that really pushes the envelope for any first person shooter titles that will follow. Everything has been crafted well in this game from the facial expressions of the characters, to the environments that you will traverse as you try to survive this dangerous and beautiful game. Blood spurts from wounded or dipatched enemies in a very realistic way that doesn't seem overdone or underplayed, and the character animations are fantastic and seem true to their real life counterparts thanks to the motion capture techniques used to create them.

Gun models were near perfect in this title and they seemed very true to their real life counterparts. The lighting effects were realistic, and nothing was hidden in fog or deep shadows (unless the level you were playing took you through fog or deep shadows). With that said, there should have been a greater degree of environmental destruction as you go through the game. All too often I kept thinking during the multi-player maps that a tactical air strike should have leveled some buildings or at least left the ground cratered or something. Sure, you can break some glass, or scatter paper with the concussive blast of your AR, but it just didn't convey a sense of how destructive war really is. Environments should evolve as you move through them. With those complaints aside, the game is dazzling on many levels, and it is hard to ignore the apparent craftsmanship that it took to make it so.

Sound

I was a bit disappointed in this category. The dialogue in this game features some strong language, and the multi-player community is notoriously potty-mouthed so beware. I was pleased with the way that the voice acting was played out, and every character was fleshed out well and they conveyed emotions effectively, but where were the chaotic sounds of warfare? Sure, there was gunfire, but it doesn't really sound all that realistic. Having fired some military weapons in real life, the experience is deafening. If you shoot a shotgun in an enclosed space, you could very well be hearing bells for the next few hours. It seemed to me that the sounds of the weapons played up the mechanics of the devices rather than the miniature explosions they created as a result. All too often it felt more like I was firing an automatic cap gun rather than an automatic machinegun. Perhaps it would have resounded more accurately through a full Dolby 5.1 sound system with the base turned up, but not all of us can accomplish such a feat with sensitive neighbors around and below us. Environmental sound effects were good, and close calls resulted in ricochets and the whine of a bullet traveling far too close to your dome, but they could have been better.

Control

Using the PS3 controller was second nature in this production. I thought the default control scheme was well thought out, and efficient. Movements were well synchronized, and the sensitivity of your flight controls is tweakable so that you may find your own comfort zone. Force feedback with the PS3 controller was also well used, and I never felt that it was over or under utilized. The only complaint I have is with the sprint feature which is present in both the XBOX 360 and PS3 versions of the game. In order to sprint, you have to click down the left control stick, and you run for short distances. I felt that it would have been better suited having been placed on the less thumb-cramping shoulder buttons, but then you would have to ruin the effectiveness of the functions already assigned there. It is a minor inconvenience, and you soon learn to adapt.

Campaign

Ah yes, the controversial campaign. It has been a noticeable trend lately that the campaigns in first person shooting games have been growing shorter and shorter. This game is no exception to this trend with the completion time rounding out at approximately 6 hours on the hardest difficulty. However, I feel that the experience of the single-player campaign was enjoyable, and I played through it several times on different difficulty levels. There were some unbelievable points, but also some memorable scenes that I will come back to over and over again. The campaign might not have the highest replay value of any game I have played, but there is the multi-player component that will take care of that shortcoming.

Multi-Player

Ok, now here is the meat and potatoes of what this game is really all about. There are two multi-player portions to this game: Special Ops mode, and local or online multi-player mode. Special Ops mode presents challenging objective-based gameplay missions that you can take on alone or with a friend. As you progress through the missions, you are rewarded with stars that pay out based on the difficulty level you choose that unlock further challenges. I found this to be very enjoyable, and most rewarding when you play with a friend. The objectives reward teamwork tactics, and most of the levels you play through are taken directly from the campaign or from the Call of Duty 4 campaign. All in all, it took longer to complete all of the challenges at the highest difficulty in this mode than it did to complete the campaign. I didn't really find anything that this mode was lacking. The objectives were challenging if not fully innovative, and they held a relatively high amount of replay value.

The online or local multi-player mode probably holds the most addict friendly amount of replay value that this game has to offer. Players are rewarded for dispatching their foes with XP that allows them to rank up their characters and unlock cool new weapons, mods, and perks that change your player's lethal capabilities. There are several modes of online play available that include capture the flag, domination or territories challenges, team deathmatch, and free for all challenges. There is quite a bit of variety here, and several challenging maps to play with as you enter MW2's matchmaking system. There are just a few complaints that I have about the multi-player system. My first gripe is about the matchmaking system itself. Having just started my multi-player career, I was pitted instantly against players who have been obvious veterans of the system for many months. This made for a somewhat frustrating experience until I learned some of the tactics that my adversaries had come to know with far more experience than I had. Believe me, the campaign does not prepare you for the multi-player scene.

After several humiliating defeats that left me longing for a more "Haloesque" matchmaking scheme, I finally began killing more than I was killed. That was a turning point for me as I could finally enjoy playing the maps instead of spending most of my time watching my own demise through the game's killcam system. My second gripe is with the map selection system. There are many maps included with the game for the multi-player experience that are designed for different modes of play, but it often feels that the selection programming often only lets you play 2 or 3 maps per sitting on any regular basis. I played mercenary deathmatch for 3 weeks before discovering that there were 2 maps that I had not played before in this mode. When I finally did play on one, I was completely lost again, because I had no idea how the map was laid out. I have not played that map more than once, but it seems that I play the map "derailed" at least 4 or 5 times during a 2 hour session. There needs to be more randomization here, or perhaps an enhancement that makes sure you don't play the same maps more than twice during a regular rotation.

My final gripe is a common one that deals with the stability of the servers used for this game type. It seems an all to common event when you are playing that some part of the system cannot keep up with the heavy load the game generates during play, and you are sent back to the game lobby in the middle of the match. It would be far less annoying if you were allowed to keep any XP or rewards earned during the play of the crashed session, but you are not. There were also some lag issues that popped up intermittently during gameplay regardless of my connection quality that created some frustration, but such is to be expected. However, the rest of the experience was excellent, if not a tad too addictive. It is hard to resist playing just a little longer so that you may level up, or complete a weapons challenge even though you know you have more pressing matters to attend to (ahem, work).



Overall Impressions


MW2 is a force to be reckoned with in the gaming community despite the words of its harshest critics. Some complain that it is not real enough, or that it doesn't place enough emphasis on squad-based gameplay, and that may be true. However, MW2 is a very good first person game at its core. What it lacks in originality it makes up for in the way that it has honed the successful techniques of its predecessors. Of course there is always room for improvement, but let's see this game for what it is. The presentation of the title cannot be ignored, and the game has a lot of replay value that will keep fans coming back for more.