People say that a game is only as good as the leading man’s tash, so judging from Captain Price’s tash we all knew this game would be friggin’ awesome.
The campaign is a direct sequel and still follows Infinity Wards signature story telling. Each mission swaps from character to character and a mission briefing kicks off each level, but this time you get to shoot up some slightly more interesting places than just a generic “bombed city” – these includes arctic bases, the streets of Rio de Janeiro and in the Motherland. The varied landscape add more open land and changes how you can tackle each mission in comparison to call of duty 4 which only let you take a specific route. As an addition, a more film like approach is taken and as a result more scripted events are used to steer the story in the way intended and in the most dramatic way possible (eat your heart out Hollywood), so much so that the first time you get to unload some mags is in the Falvela mission at the end of act 1. The big bucks film approach is seen briefly in the first game (in the surreal moment when you watch your character die after being nuked) but Modern Warfare 2 expands it and doing so changes the way the game is played, so much so I was half expecting a director to interrupt and shout, “cut cut, we need more explosions” when I was fighting on the doorstep of the Whitehouse.
The story is good, but no matter how good it is, I never felt connected with the first two characters we are introduced to, “Roach” seems to be just a name and nothing more and when he eventually died I was more bothered about ghost because we all hoped that it was Gaz in disguise. Private Allen’s character was pointless, the album filler of the modern warfare world and the only purpose I can think of that he had was the “airport scene”, and even then that whole scene was not necessary, it didn’t make me hate Makarov, I didn’t make me think about the evil in the world, it just made me angry because I couldn’t f***ing run, what kind of terrorist can’t run? It could have just been a well put together cut-scene.
However, we can’t forget about two individuals who now seem to be Infinity Ward’s only connection to the player, Soap Mactavish and Captain friggin’ Price (oh we all thought he was dead but the tash lives on!). These two characters alone make this a great game and the levels in which you play as these two are the best in the game (just as in call of duty 4, the mission in Chernobyl were you played as Lieutenant Price and his Scottish CO Captain Macmillan is a brilliant level). Best described as the bromance of modern warfare, having Price at your side again gives you the feeling that your mate has your back, the two of you against world and yes, its not very realistic that two men can take down a full army but is it supposed to be? (and anyway, look me in the eyes and tell me that with a tash like that Price couldn’t do anything).
To wrap up, it’s a step backwards for realism but a step forward in the franchise and anyway, is it meant to be realistic? I know it’s supposed to be “modern warfare” but all the moments that are seen to be unrealistic make the game exciting and make you want to keep playing. If you want realistic go and play Operation Flashpoint, where you will moan about every shot killing you.
Next up multiplayer, and guess what? The six year olds will be happy to waste their lives on this one. Basically the online we know and love from cod 4 but with a few newly added features it’s a whole other game. The care packages change the gameplay dramatically, feeling like a boy on Christmas day, you’ll be patiently waiting to see what Father Christmas’ war torn cousin brings you and then brimming with joy when its an AC130 or thinking you’d rather have a stocking full of coal when you get a counter-UAV, awww.
The killstreaks also bring a more tactical approach to the game, trying to stay alive and get those kills for the likes of the AC130 or the tactical nuke but also working with your team to coordinate you killstreaks so that “Friendly UAV online” is not coming up every five seconds. Not only does working with your team to sort out your killstreaks pay off but because of the large number of aerial vehicles, making sure your team has someone with a stinger missile or a javelin really pays off too.
Also the infamous “noobs” of the gaming world will be over the moon as a full range of weapons, equipment and perks have been included just to piss everyone else off (some of them are even good). At this point I could go through one by one each one but thanks to the custom classes I can just share what I like to call the “noob” class (thanks infinity ward J);
Primary – Riot Shield
Secondary – Model 1887 (Akimbo)
Equipment – Throwing knives (gotta love the throwing knives)
Perks – Scrambler (why do people use this, if my UAV is scrambled I know you’re there, you’re just helping me!), light weight and marathon (unlimited sprint = more chances to model people = more chances to piss people off)
Death streak – Painkiller (argh! The pill of annoyance!)
But I have to say the most satisfying moment of multiplayer is not being MVP, not getting to the highest prestige and not even getting a tactical nuke, it’s shooting down the enemies Harrier, so simple and yet so fun.
Last but not least: Spec Ops. It works is a great addition to single player and a nice break from the hectic multiplayer and at first we all thought Infinity Ward had missed a trick by only allowing two player but playing it the two man team works perfectly - the level where one is in the AC130 and the other spotting is genius and would be ruined if anymore than two players were playing.
