Modern Warfare 2 Review
Let me first begin with a few of the amazing details that Modern Warfare 2 has captured that most games would fail to even think about adding. The thermal scopes, one particular aspect of the game that I love, especially when playing the campaign. When the enemies would throw smoke and the only thing able to see them was the thermal scope, that was just unbelievable. Not to mention the incredible AI and how the bodies fall, they seem to mimic reality almost perfectly. The addition of the machine pistol is another bonus in my opinion when it comes to the online aspect of this game. With all the controversy over modded controllers people finally don't need to worry about a potential firefight being lost due to someone's more expensive controller (although I'm sure these controllers will still be used with some snipers and other single guns).
The campaign was just as incredible as the first Modern Warfare and was just the right length for people to play a few times over and not get too bored with it. With the mixture of stealth and assault to the perfect blend. The addition of more vehicles and harder enemies (Juggernauts) Modern Warfare 2 has one of the best campaigns of all time (imo). With the addition of predator missiles and other computer controlled missiles Modern Warfare 2 hit its mark perfectly on capturing how actual modern warfare is being fought. Spec Ops is another great feature in and of itself with the only drawback being that only 2 players can partake on the challenges at hand.
Now onto what I think actually makes the Modern Warfare 2 experience a little worse than its predecessor. Silenced sniper rifles are something that I wished was available for CoD4 and now that I actually have them, I don't care for them much. In a Team Death-Match type of setting, someone could essentially just sit in a corner with their radar jammer and only be visible on a predator missile view or from an AC130 gunship unless they're cloaked from those as well. All the new types of air support completely ruin the MP experience in my opinion because with the dreaded 25 kill streak nuke that completely shuts down the game and gives that team the win seems a little excessive to me. The other air support seem a little more user friendly than CoD4 with the addition of cams and user controller vehicles. With an air strike from CoD4 you could take out a few people with a UAV present, with a chopper, maybe 5-10. But in Modern Warfare 2 you can die 4-8 times alone just from an experienced player at the hands of an AC-130. Getting kills in MW2 is much easier if you sustain a big streak. Don't get me wrong I love getting my air support but with all the different types of air support I think that they went a little over the edge.
Now onto what most of the people on this site will feel is the most important aspect of the game. Achievements. The achievements in MW2 seem MUCH simpler than its predecessor. The veteran achievements were a cakewalk compared to CoD4 especially with the enemies not respawning as they had in the previous CoD games. The Spec Ops achievements are the only thing that might be a problem to players who aren't familiar with the first person shooting or CoD games. All in all, 1000g is definitely much more attainable than that of CoD4.
Replay value is very high due to the huge online community of dedicated gamers. The only problem with those people are the loud mouth, obnoxious, often swearing and using racial slurs: the dreaded 10-12 year old. The campaign can be played multiple times and will still not disappoint. Prestiging on the other hand might be a thing of the past, many gamers I have talked to see no point in prestiging another 10 times for absolutely nothing except the brag factor.
All in all I give this game a 9 out of 10 for all the great features. I'd give it a 10 if it had the same type of leaderboards as W@W. As Jackson has already made an article about this I won't go into much detail, but lets all keep our fingers crossed and hope they make this available soon as well an online stat page. So everyone keep using that Bling that we've all been waiting for and keep that kill death ratio up. If I failed to mention any aspects of the game that you feel need recognition just start up a discussion; but keep it on topic please or STD or Mini will stab you (not deep at first, unless you don't listen to them). Hope you all enjoyed this review and I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
Thanks XbA!