Time Spent

Single Player: 6.11 hours.
Co-Op: 6.2 hours.
Multiplayer: 20 hours.

Single Player (Brief)

Short and sweet, but with massive plot holes. It continues 5 years after MW1, and Zakhaev's lieutenants called Makrov is causing chaos in the world. Lots of sequences are scripted, and I was playing on Veteran mode (hardest), which probably extended the life of the single player experience by several hours (meaning SP is very very short). Still, I did not die a lot, and there were only several areas that I had trouble with due to time limits and what say you gimmicks. Ultimately however, the SP is action packed, that was cool "events", but simply too short for being memorable. I almost want to say, as far as story goes, L4D has a better background and setup.

Notable gameplay gimmicks

1. On one level you briefly play like a SEAL swimming up to the oil rig.
2. You briefly get to see the astronaut's view of the nuke going off from outer space.
3. You briefly get to drive a snow mobile.
4. You shoot a bunch of civilians, really slowly.
5. Blowing open doors gives you bullet time scenes to surprise people (but only certain doors)
6. Certain enemies have riot shields making them almost immune to bullets. I found this interesting as unloading an entire machine gun into a guy's shield didn't even faze him. This must be a magic riot shield.

Some plot notes (and spoilers and ending)

Here is a random picture of some of the guns in MW2 on a rack



As the undercover CIA agent, you mow down a bunch of civilians. Some people said this was boring (the entire sequence is done with walking in effect). But at the end of this level, Makarov shoots you (the american under cover) as he is one step ahead of the game. This makes the Russians and new ultra nationalist government think the Americans were behind the attack. Far fetched, but sure, what the hell. Makarov then goes into hiding now that his plan has moved into action. AND THEN...

This causes the Russia to invade the United States as they also decoded one of the ACS modules that allows them to slip through the aerospace defense network. I was surprised by the sudden plot twists and lol'd. This reminded me of the "what if the Nazi's won" scenario and the US was pushed back to fighting on their homelands. Anyways, Washington gets raped by Russians and you spend some time fighting the Ivan off.

Other notables include Captain Price firing a nuke from a Russian Sub at Washington which detonates above the atmosphere. This causes an EMP to disable most of the East Coast as well as destroy the International Space Station and kill the astronauts stationed there. With all Russian equipment disabled for their invading force, they inevitably lose the war. Also it looks bad when Russians nuke another country...or something.

This makes Price and Soap rogue special forces. General Shepard, who owns Task Force 141 (which Price and Soap are part of), becomes a warhero as he guessed Price was going to set a nuke off and warned the US military. He is handed a blank check to go after Makarov. Price and Soap then attempt to kill Makarov at two safehouse areas, only to discover that Shepard wants them dead. Soap's men, Ghost and Roach are both killed by the general (who shoots them at point blank), while Soap and Price escape from the other safehouse area. Makarov has only revealed himself because he wants to kill Price (for killing his former boss Zakarev). Price however makes a deal with Makarov to learn where Shepard is hiding.

Soap and Price then attack Shepard's secret location in Afghanistan (to hide from Makarov) and kill a ton of US special forces or some type of merc or hire (not clear) and the like. Shepard then attempts to escape via boat, which is then driven off a waterfall only to be caught by a helicopter. Price then shoots the helicopter and it crash lands as Price and Soap fall off the same waterfall in a different boat.

The ending sequence has you (Soap) losing a melee fight with Shepard and then being stabbed in the right lung on the ground. Shepard is about to execute you when Price comes out of nowhere (also surviving the boat crash off waterfall) and kicks Sephard's out of his hand. They ensue in a melee fight only for you to see Price slowly losing. You attempt to crawl over to the gun but Shepard kicks it away and boot stomps you so that you blackout. When you regain conscience, Shepard just knocked Price to the ground and is on top of him beating his face into a pulp. This is when you are prompted to press "E" to pull the knife out of your chest. When you do, you throw it into Shepard's face.

Nikolai comes in on his chopper to save Price and yourself as you are injured. All three agree to go into hiding paving the way for the next MW series.

CO-OP

CO-OP is a series of short action events that you and a friend can play (or you can play by yourself). There are 69 "stars" to unlock. Each tier of co-op events have a difficulty grouping, and each event in that grouping have their own difficulty assessment. For example: Echo is easier than Delta, but the Delta first event may be "Tough", while the last Echo event might be "Challenging". Each event has 3 stars, and there are 5 tiers or so.

To unlock higher tiers, you need more stars. You gain stars by completing events under certain times and the such. This is fun only when played in short sessions (like 1 hour or so) and with a friend. The unlocks here do not apply to Singleplayer or Multiplayer.

You can spend more time in Co-Op than singleplayer, so I guess dropping the entire single player campaign wasn't a complete fail. Otherwise, next is Multiplayer, the section I'm sure we're most interested in.

Multiplayer

Ranking System

This is more of a leveling system. You cant customize until you are level 5 or something. You can't play all the game modes until you are level 20 or something. And of course, you can access most of the weapons unless you are X level, with the AK being level 70 (I never understood what the fascination with the AK is in this world, but oh well. I for one think there are a lot better guns than it for it to be level 70).

Each gun has a bunch of unlocks. For example, killing X people will unlock silencer or red dot sight. However, some unlocks also require you to use unlocks from kills. So to get heartbeat sensor you need X kills with silencer. Or to get a holographic sight, you need a red dot sight.

Here is a nice at a glance unlocks page (though its missing some stuff below): http://modernwarfare247.com/news/multiplayer-unlocks

Example Unlocks

Assault Rifles

Kills: Grenade Launcher -> Silencer -> Red Dot -> ACOG -> FMJ

Special Unlocks:

Grenade Launcher -> Underslung Shotgun
Silencer -> Heartbeat Sensor
ACOG -> Thermal
FMJ -> Extended Clips

Similarly, Submachine Guns, Pistols, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, Light Machine Guns, have similar or the same kinds of Unlocks.



This means you can have a silenced shotgun, or a pistol with FMJ (Full Metal Jacket). Lighter weapons have Akimbo as an unlock (SMGs, Pistols). Assault Rifles have grenade launchers and shotgun attachments as their unique unlock. Light Machine Guns have grips for example.

Perks

Furthermore, Perks also have "unlocks". When you use a perk enough, it becomes "Pro", adding a second bonus. Below is a Perks list.

http://www.themodernwarfare2.com/mw2/multiplayer/perks/

Killstreak Unlocks

Also, as you level up you can customize your kill streaks. The # of kills needed doesnt change, but you can select which kinds of kill streaks you will want.

http://www.themodernwarfare2.com/mw2...r/killstreaks/

Needless to say, most people won't be getting 25 kills or some number in a row without hacking. Therefore the majority of kill streaks are unnecessary to unlock or consider using (beyond 11 for example).

Maps

There are 18 maps. Not all of them are designed for all gameplay types.

http://www.themodernwarfare2.com/mw2/multiplayer/maps/


Gameplay Types

Ripped this because I didn't feel like typing it all out. And therefore this list is not realy com

* Team Deathmatch (+Hardcore)
o 6 vs 6
* Free-For-All
Mercenary Deathmatch (No Teams allowed)
* Domination
* Ground Wars
o 9 vs 9
o A mix of Team Deathmatch and Dominiation
* Sabotage
* Headquarters (+ Pro)
o Faster paced HQ with more penalty to dying
* Search and Destroy (+Hardcore)
* Capture The Flag
* 3 Person Team Deathmatch* (+Hardcore)
o 6 vs 6
o Play in 3rd person view
* 3 Person Cagematch Hardcore*
o 1 vs 1
o Play in 3rd person view
Team Death Match Express
Mixed Bag

There are a few others liked "Mixed Bag" and what not that has random game modes. +Hardcore means (less or no hud), increased bullet damage, and sometimes no respawn depending on the game mode. I don't really remember the other 1-2 modes I'm missing off the top of my head.

Anyways, Search and Destroy, is still S&D. This is the only game mode where you find people talking most of the time, and trying not to rush. I only played this once (due to me trying out other modes and what not), and the server had all talk on. That sucked.

Titles and Accolades

People are recognized for doing whatever they do by accolades and get also unlock call signs to create a unique identity. This comes in forms of titles and emblems. For example, you can select (not customize) different unlocked Titles and backgrounds, and emblems, which people see when they get killed by you.

Prestige actually gives you something more other than just an emblem (new custom classes, new callsigns, new accolades and new challenges)

MP Review

Ok so multiplayer is fun for me at least. Sure most people are not playing "tactical crouch" or anything remotely close to tactically except throwing grenades to clear a room. A lot of the perks (if you go up and read), allow for faster gameplay as well (like Marathon that gives you unlimited sprint).

Some people jump around corners, but this only really works against people who are not expecting it, have poor reaction time, or at within close range to get shot/sprayed down by Akimbo warriors (sawed off shotguns or 2 P90s). Most of the real fighting is done at range with assault rifles and SMGs. Since only 1 piece of equipment can be carried, grenade spam is far and few inbetween. For example:

Some equipment are as follows: Tactical Insertion, Sticky Nade, Frag Nade, Throwing Knife, Blast Shield, Claymore. There are no x2 x3 of each, just one. And you cant pick up more nades unless you also have a perk (Scavenger). Ultimately this means a lot less blowing up from nade spam, and a lot more flashbangs and stuns being thrown around (2x per each, 1x for smoke).

I have no problems using IW net for finding games by myself. I was able to get invite to party working, and when its working, there are no problems joining the party to a game. However, the party system seems to suffer from the same issues Ive seen in Borderlands, where it simply does not recognize the ports being open or something along that effect. I wish they had L4D's invite/party technology.

The lag for IWnet is minimal to none. Generally it finds a game within 90ms or lower, and it searches pretty quickly. The 5 second transfer if host drops isnt that bad either. I've never seen it fail, and it actually takes something like 10-15 seconds to transfer the data to someone else. Even when joining with a party with people 3,000 miles away, it found a medium inbetween so lag was still only at 100ms. Definitely playable.

I can see more tactical play being setup, but it will need to be organized pretty well (like getting a bunch of people on at the same time, creating a lobby, having everyone join, etc).

Unfortunately for most of you guys here, the multiplayer is about 50% run and gun (mostly running). But... You cannot shoot from the hip without the right weapon (see certain SMGs) and or steady aim. Even with steady aim, that doesn't make a lot of guns hip shootable (see Assault rifles). ADS (Aiming down the sights) is almost universally preferred unless you are running a Akimbo loadout. Even spraying 2 P90s is not effective unless within 15 feet or less (which is really close). And even at that range, it doesn't guarentee a kill without really focusing on closing the distance.

This game gives serious penalty for being hit. Aim for example gets fubar'd when you take shots, and you can only take maybe 3 hits (AR) or 6 (SMG) before going down in non-hardcore. That being said, there are advantages for spraying and advantages for aiming down the sight. More importantly in these games are having the right tools and working the map, or at least that's how I see it. Camping is...not common. There are tons of attachments that put you on the radar making hiding pretty difficult unless your own perks jam radar and make you undetectable. More often than not you are fighting against people using cover.

All in all, I enjoy the multiplayer for bring a faster pace more sensible approach compared to the previous MW1 pub multiplayer. So that is an improvement. What I don't like is the complex unlock system, but I guess that will drive some of the extended life for multiplayer (because people love unlocking stuff).

The maps are the right size for 9v9 or smaller. So in a sense, larger 12v12 type servers would be a detriment in this case. I wish there was more variation in maps for some modes, but I guess IW is holding out for DLC probably for $.

So for the few who actually read through this all:

Modern Warfare 2 Amazing Knife Throw
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cudCajMNRM0[/media]

Was it worth my $60? It's more of a question whether I make it worth $60 and keep playing it. And to that, yes, I will be playing MW2 for a bit longer.