Modern Warfare 2: A Cynical View

Critical Gamer Writes: The following article comprised of dangerously opinionated views will contain SPOILERS covering the whole of Modern Warfare 2's story and should be read at your own risk. This is your only warning.

What follows is not a review of Modern Warfare 2, at least not in the conventional sense. A review is an opinion, but a good review balances up an opinion against the masses. A good review may point out flaws, but at the same time suggest the type of person who wouldn't mind them or offer balance with what was good. The following article will not be so balanced and will only focus on flaws, at least for the most part.

[Jockie]

There's plenty to be cynical about and normally I'm as cynical and snarky as the next person. But I've been bloody addicted to the MP since I installed the thing, hard to tear myself away.

[scruffy_bear]

MP is so addicted can stop playing it, but the single player was so short took me 6 hours on Vet mode :(

[Syronicus]

Single player is ok and almost Michael Bay movie over the top but the MP is simply addictive and awesome. Great title for this year.

[retrofly]

I cant MP down, apart from when I have to work :(. Level 65 and loving it still :P

[nycredude]

I don't see the draw of the mp. I couldn't get into the mp for cod4 and this is just the same. It's too much running and gunning and it's so damn easy to kill people it's comical. Just spray and pray and you will most likely get a kill. Does it have some kind of autoaim or something? I much prefer socom's mp as it requires some patience, teamwork, and more skills.

[jjohan35]

I personally don't find it addicting. I thought the first MW was much more addicting than the second.

[RussDeBuss]

...thought i had missed something in the game, so i checked the net and wiki etc. for a wright up on the story and found nothing new, this article sums it up completly..for a game that uses a just a modified engine from the last game, took 2 yrs to develop, has multiplayer that is very similar(although adictive as cr*ck) to the last game, the single player is just dumb..
if i didn't get this game for £26 thanks to the supermarket price war i would be well pi**ed off.

it's like they forgot to put a level in there. it's missing something to tie the 1st short 3 quarters of the game to the last short quarter.

and graphics are lame,

****SPOILER*********not much though

when in afghan at end of game, juat like old times i think, when you are sniping in the dust storm with price, look at the shaddows of prices sniper rifle on the ground when he is prone. it looks like they made it with lego. wtf..i didn't pay much attention but i'm sure there are lots of bits like that in the game..

it's not even mainly about the single player being short, although it does suck they wanted to charge over the top for this game, but it's the fact that the story is incomplete, unfinished, lazy..

and online servers or what ever it is sucks....keep getting drpped from games cos the host leaves and it can't always migrate the game

[Rocket Sauce]

It pretty much is a Michael Bay movie...the prison level was taken 100% from The Rock.

[Cubes]

If I didn't have an internet connection this game would be the biggest rip-off of all time. For the single player experience to last 4-6 hours is shocking. What have Infinity Ward been up to in the last 2 years? I mean half the multiplayer levels use textures and items from the previous Modern Warfare! It is a great game, especially the multiplayer, but they need to beef up the single player to make the game worth the money. I was lucky to only fork out £26 for it, but I feel sorry for those who payed the full RRP.

[Jim Crikey]

Acivision show some consideration to gamers? You're kidding right?

[scruffy_bear]

yeah acivision love us gamers

[Flik182]

You're right, the single player needs beefing up. I'm just worried that it'll be via overpriced DLC that 'honestly wasn't planned from the start'. 7.5 million people spending 800 MS pts/9.99 on PSN should help them buy another jewel encrusted statue of satan for the office.

[scruffy_bear]

My biggest fear is to find out the whole story we going to have to get overpriced DLC

[redsquad]

That's one of many reasons I won't buy MW2 - I'm an SP campaign person first, so feel I'm getting well and truly shafted with this game.

[unknown_gamer]

I was so disappoint with the single player couldn't believe it was so short and this article is right the plot was full of holes :(

[Maddens Raiders]

"What have Infinity Ward been up to in the last 2 years? I mean half the multiplayer levels use textures and items from the previous Modern Warfare!"

these questions were definitely not on the minds of prominent "review sites"... +bub

[mastiffchild]

There's loads of issues with mosty games and MW2 is just the same. whast makes it different, gowever, s the fact Acti made us all know they felt this was different. This was a PREMIOM title with a premium price tag on PC and in the EU(whether a retailer was sucking it up for you or not they still get that extra they asked for you know).

MW2 is the biggest entertainment event of the year, the biggest game by a mile and as such it needed to be, not perfect, but certainly as damn good all round as they could make it-and it just isn't. There's the clumsy and daft things like IW and the insulting video or the controvery hogging terrorist level(which just isn't needed in any way apart from attracting press)but thje big things ae the rubbish and ill thought out story, the brevity of SP and the lack of online servers for a game which leans so heavily on it's multiplayer which means lag is worse overall and we're limited to 9v9(just not enough choice). I'm willing to accept the MP is still fun but it should've been immaculate shouldn't it?

They gave us EXACTLY the same online as last time on consoles and weaker on the PC. It's 2009. They expect more cash for this than other games and it's not really good enough to not move on from last time under the circumstances. This SHOULD be a lot more than MW1.5 and , sadly, it just isn't. I'm pretty glad I haven't bought it. Even after watching practically the whole campaign and playing a few hours of the MP at a mates I still don't feel yem,pted to deserve IW or Acti with my cash and I really thought that I'd feel left out after playing some but I really don't. Not this time.

[Jockie]

I wouldn't bet against some hideously overpriced MP map packs and the like either.

[scruffy_bear]

Theres over hideously overpriced MP map packs due before Christmas and the PC owners will have to paid too :(

[Jim Crikey]

They reckon gamers have been ASKING to pay for online content. yeah right...

[Flik182]

Reminds me of a scene from a really old Simpsons with Bart and Comic Book Guy. He opens his cash register and says "Oh, please take my money. I don't want it." Bart reaches for the money which prompts him to add; "As we are unfamiliar with sarcasm, I shall close the cash register at this point." Naturally, we players are in the role of Comic Book Guy. Yes, please take our money. We really want to spend it.

[DemonStration]

I think the criticism that the campaign is too short is unfair. People who would only want the game for the single player already seem to know to avoid the game, and it's pretty clearly not for those types of people.

When you take the entire game as a whole it's definitely worth the price tag, and it's pretty much par for the course to only have a 5-7 hour campaign in your single player/co-op/multiplayer shooter. Halo is like that, Gears is like that, and any game that isn't almost always comes with awful multiplayer.

[Tottenhamtom]

good campaign length and good multiplayer

[scruffy_bear]

Campaign is way to short even for a game based around MP

[mistajeff]

Is it too unfair to use Uncharted 2 as a counter argument? The single-player was the best campaign I've played in years, and the multiplayer is definitely up there with the best of them on console.
Halo 3 and the Gears games were all disappointments for me, then again, I'm not willing to shell out money for the ability to play online, especially when I have a PC that can get better connections for free. And a PS3, which can get equal connections for free. So I was left with only the single-player options of Halo and Gears. The only plus mini-campaigns like this gen's Halos and Gears 1 and 2 and COD5 have going for them are split-screen co-op.
At the same time, I'll always prefer quality over quantity. I'll admit that COD6's campaign didn't feel as short as it really was because of how explosive it was. If they ran out of ideas for sweet set-pieces, that's fine, but they should've made the plot fit the game's length.
**spoilers for cod6**
The emotions they managed to wrangle out of me with the No Russian level were left completely unresolved, and the Shepherd plot twist made no sense to me. From a gameplay perspective, the campaign was fantastic, I'd put it on-par with COD2 (though I would've liked more massive battles). It's no HL2 or Uncharted 2, but it's a good ride. But I'll agree with this author that the plot definitely feels lazy, and as cool as the ending was from a gameplay perspective, when the credits rolled, I was left with an "oh..." sort of feeling and a lot of questions about the plot.

[unknown_gamer]

What a waste of money this game was the single player only took me 3 hours and MP is the same as the last one :(, £44.99 for Modern Warfare 2 was a rip off :(

[jashwin]

well the mp is fun...

[Mondayding]

Tricky one this. The solo campaign I've actually stopped playing because I couldn't resist getting online for some multiplayer action. The multiplayer, at least as far as I've decided after a couple of days play, is a much better experience than the first one, and I do believe that the reason many of us picked this up was entirely for the multiplay aspect. If we are to judge it purely on the solo campaign then the question is, is it up there with the best FPS games? And I don't know coz I got as far as the end of Act II and buggered off online.

To be sure, the hype was overblown. But we're all adults (or we're meant to be according to the game's rating) and we all know that hype should be ignored. But, of course, where does that hype come from? The developers and publishers and their press offices to a certain extent, pro game mags and sites have something to answer for, but so do all the forums, fan boy sites and comment writers. Let's give this game a year and see how busy the multiplayer is then, and see if any of us have replayed the solo campaign again, just for the fun of it.

[blu_yu_away]

"The following article comprised of dangerously opinionated views"... *Sigh* since when does that constitute news?

[scruffy_bear]

Since it's filed under article and not news then it doesn't count as news, N4G does more than news