Review - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Part One)

[fortifythamind]

start up the game..... wait a few miniutes, then select which gamemode you want...... and BAM! there u go. i had the same problem

[TheCryoScales]

You do realize that Steam doesn't require you to be online to play singleplayer.

You just need to log in, as soon as you do that you can select "Go Offline" and it doesn't care if your connected at all. Even if your internet cuts out the game still keeps going and you can even relaunch it no matter what. As long as you dont quit Steam it doesn't matter

[DWTerminator]

Singleplayer is a tiny portion of MW2, ergo it's kinda idiotic to go into offline mode.

[TheMetalguitarguy]

I've been so wrapped up in TES - this reminded me how awesome the MW series is

[gracjan1230]

Ranking in priv matches was kind of stupid since you could spend a whole day whit your friend which would just stand there and do nothing and you would level up 

[25894641]

1st is Mw2 than cod4, cod BO, cod5, cod 2, cod uo, cod 1

[Kurzxclan]

@25894641 your fucking stupid.

[LeShorte]

I don't mind Black Ops, but MW2 on the PC was...no. Give Black Ops a try. They just need to patch the performance and release mod tools and SP dev console...

The SP on Black Ops is the best in any CoD. Ever. MP is more or less an actual PC version of MW2, but nothing new. Co-op is bad IMO, I'm not a fan of zombies.

[DWTerminator]

Black Ops is definitely a massive improvement over MW2, but it's got its own flaws that are slowly being fixed (and I applaud Treyarch on actually fixing them).

[LeShorte]

@DWTerminator

Indeed. The performance has gone from 15-ish fps for me on release day to around 50fps with the latest patch. This is all max settings, 1600x900, no v-sync.

[DWTerminator]

I had a similar performance boost with the latest patch... but I'm running at 1024x768.

[fredfredmanfilms]

the reson why they choose 69 stars was to be perverted and to see if anyone picked up on it because infinity ward are a bunch of pervs

[DWTerminator]

They probably just thought it was funny. Juvenile humor. -_-

[fredfredmanfilms]

@DWTerminator welll i herd black ops for pc was infite times better because they put it in terms of pc and they listend to pc ussers

[DWTerminator]

No doubt Black Ops is better than MW2 on PC... but it's still got a ton of problems (mostly performance and lag issues).

[gondule]

CoD is the new madden :P shittier every year CoD 3 sealed its fate once WaW came out i knew there would not be a good cod game ever again. least i can still play CoD 1 2 4.

[DWTerminator]

CoD's not QUITE as bad as Madden yet... at least they *do* make changes to more than just a roster. MW2's main problem is that it's far too console-ized for its own good. I hate to admit it, but going back to CoD4 & W@W from MW2 was very difficult. Having to unlearn your built in lag adjustment is a pain...

I haven't been able to play CoD3 much, but it's certainly the worst of the series. Granted, it was only given 8 months to be made, so you can't expect much.

[100Ultimate]

They fixed the long time to find a game, and the lag, I think, because When I played it(even though I only got to play for 1 weekend) it didnt lag at all on my computer, and I found games quickly. Then again, is this the steam version? If not, that may be the difference.

[DWTerminator]

Steam is required to play the game regardless, so it doesn't factor in. You played it when they had a free weekend, I take it? Whenever they have those there's a large influx of new players, so more games become available, making it quicker.

It still takes forever to find a game normally. It's still horrendously laggy. The system is inherently crap.

[100Ultimate]

@DWTerminator Well, okay, but, I still got NO lag while playing. And I played almost non-stop while I had it, so..... Maybe lower the graphics settings? I still thought it was fun, so...

[DWTerminator]

I think you have lag confused with overall game performance. Lag is caused entirely by the internet connection, meaning if the client's internet speed is slow, it'll lag. If the host's is slow, it'll also lag. Peer to peer has that problem. Performance is measured in frames per second (fps, known also as framerate). Generally, anything over 60FPS is considered excellent. Above 30FPS is usually playable. MW2 runs perfectly fine apart from a couple maps/missions, but that's due to bad optimization

[100Ultimate]

@DWTerminator Again, okay, I get you there, but, it didnt lag. So.....Maybe I was just lucky. Also, I just realized I say "so...." alot. O_O

[DWTerminator]

You're one of the lucky ones. The majority of PC players have anywhere between fairly noticeable and barely playable levels of lag. I was generally towards the latter end of the spectrum.

I say "ya know" a lot. Everyone says something constantly without noticing it (for a lot of people these days it's "like").

[117mastacheif117]

im just wondering the cod modern warfare 2 for pc if it is on steam is their like servers like counter strike source or its just like rooms u can join and play?

[DWTerminator]

It's peer to peer with matchmaking. Not like Counter-Strike's dedicated servers and server browser. Basically you click on a playlist and the game finds some random lobby for you to play in, and one of the players is the host of the game (so he/she's got no lag while the rest of the players generally have a ton of it).

[R1DDL3RS]

The PC is superior to any console for FPS, XBOX360 is a 4year old hardware engine, PC rigs can be really up to date really quickly, and I dont see microsoft making an xbox720? Aswell, Wolfenstein 3D (the grand-daddy of all fps) wasn't released on consoles so.....Anyone who owns a console for FPS is stupid!

[DWTerminator]

To be fair, Wolf3D has been released on nearly every single platform out there... but it was on PC first.

And yes, PC is infinitely superior to console.

[GTAfan421]

@R1DDL3RS The only reason I would play ANY FPS on a console is because of the online community. My friends dont buy games for their computers, even though Ive looked at most of their computers myself and all but one of my friends have enough power to play at LEAST on medium settings on MW2, but they refuse to believe that it would be better on PC.

[iscrewy]

@R1DDL3RS

PC's aren't good for playing certain FPS's. Like halo 3 and over. Like Killzone 2. Like Resistance 1 & 2.

[DWTerminator]

You say that, but that's only because those haven't been released on PC for marketing reasons. Halo 2 was a disaster on PC (Vista only, buggy as hell, *still* can't be run on max settings due to engine problems), so they didn't even bother with porting anything from Halo 3 on. Killzone and Resistance are PS exclusives simply to draw support for the console, much like Halo is for the Xbox nothing more.

[iscrewy]

@DWTerminator

Didn't Microsoft buy Halo somewhere in between 2 and 3?

[DWTerminator]

Nope. They bought Bungie in 2001, which was the year Halo 1 was released (and hence why it was an Xbox exclusive at the time).

[WarfighterStudios1]

The online is also good, of course. Like it always is when Infinity Wards does the job. Activision always screws the game up. Call Of Duty 3, World At War where awful. All together a good game though.

[DWTerminator]

3 was terrible, and World at War was mediocre (it just suffered from terrible balancing and some stupid inclusions really). MW2's online is awful to be honest. I've stopped playing it altogether because I can't stand the broken matchmaking and lack of the game modes I want. If I wanted arcade and matchmaking, I'd have gotten it on 360.

Singleplayer's solid, but overly cliched, over-the-top, and short. SpecOps is pretty good though.

[WarfighterStudios1]

True. It's just extremely over-rated. I think the story is the only strong suit.

[GTAfan421]

@WarfighterStudios1 It is. The fact that they choose such a ball brained multiplayer matchmaker, and KNEW about it was rediculous. I stopped buying the games after MW1 because I played WAW at a friends house and I hated the fuck out of the multiplayer. I'll get invited to MW2 on my 360, and I only had the damn game for a week, because I borrowed it from a friend and gave it back after beating the singleplayer, and finding out how shitty the multi was.

[ass23ful]

3 is really buggy i got on a turret and when i shot it nothing happened it just went foward and back like my chareter was humping it

[WarfighterStudios1]

This is essentially the best Call of Duty of the series except the first Modern Warfare of course. I have absolutely no complaints about the story except one little detail. I wasn't crazy about the multiple story-lines in both games. Now since I grew more partial to Soap, Price, Gaz and their whole group I just wanted to see them. I didn't really enjoy the Marine/Army missions either way. I thought the weapons where not as goot as the first Modern Warfare's but there...alright.

[PCGamer122]

you shouldn't stop buying call of duty games.....it's not activision's fault is infinity wards fault, jsut dont buy infinity ward games

[DWTerminator]

Of course it's IW's fault, but it's also Activision's. Look at CoD3 and W@W. Both had short development cycles and ended up being crappy, but were made just to get another CoD game out and make money off it. They're already throwing the idea of subscription fees around (like World of Warcraft's $15/month fee), and they obviously don't care about anything but their beloved Xbox 360 anymore. Why should I have to buy a game on a system I don't even like (360) just to have the "full experience?"

[PCGamer122]

ok your saying this like its on 360 there is ps3 to..... the ps3 version is great to and its not just 360 games that activision makes

[DWTerminator]

Even PS3 has issues that 360 doesn't (mostly minor stuff or the service not working), all of which can be attributed to lazy porting. Their majority market is 360.

Activision doesn't make games. It's a publisher that has stock in several game developing studios. They go for what sells, and that means a multi-platform release, but generally that happens with favoritism on one particular system (in MW2's case, 360).

[PCGamer122]

dud ur wrong

ps3 is essiantally a 360 with a different case

i own a ps3 and my best friend(hes like my freakin bro) owns a 360 and they are the EXACT same excpet 360 has more connection problems

[DWTerminator]

Hardware is not the same as a 360 except for the graphics chip. The cell cpu in a PS3 is 8-cores, hence you have slightly better performance on a PS3 than a 360. It's also a ton harder to program for than a 360, hence why ports tend to have several bugs in them. It also runs Blu-Ray discs, which are 25-50GB of storage (360 is still DVD's/HD-DVD's).

I'll agree that Xbox Live disconnects a lot, but that's mostly due to running it through a router and/or an already crappy connection.

[PCGamer122]

im just saying that they are bassically the same

im not comparing hardware

im comparing ideas(such as same idea of online community, same idea of controls, ect.)

they are essentially the same if you compare there concepts(NOT hardware)

[StyleXstudios]

niec review but i have it on the 360 and i think the multiplayer is awesome!!

[DWTerminator]

Precisely why you like it.

PC: Horrendous lag all the time, bad optimization (means bad performance in several places), barely functional anti-cheat, and matchmaking that doesn't even work (I've spend 20 minutes straight waiting for it to find a game, which it never did, so I just quit) all kill the experience. Give me a server browser and dedicated servers any day.

[seahawks12thfan]

Which is why I tend to stay away from most PC games because of the lag. Plus I just got a PS3, lol. But good review.

[DWTerminator]

Generally PC games *don't* have much lag... but that's if you have a server browser and dedicated servers. A recent slate of games for some reason (probably control over dlc) crapped out on that, so we get lackluster online gaming.

[xDEADLOCKEDx2468]

Well that's your fault because your to lazy to close your dammed programs that connect to the internet.

[DWTerminator]

No, it's a result of relying on somebody else's internet connection for your gaming. The algorithm for choosing a host is completely broken in MW2, as it is in most games on PC that don't use dedicated servers. A commercial internet connection is always going to provide far better performance than Joe the Gamer's home internet connection, where if you don't have at least 2mb/s upload (which is actually VERY high speed for most USA-based ISP's), you're going to lag everyone else badly.

[xDEADLOCKEDx2468]

@DWTerminator Why can't they just make dedicated servers......

[DWTerminator]

1. They refuse to believe that they're wrong about anything.

2. That would allow custom content to be made. They don't want anything to compete with their DLC.

3. They really don't give a flying **** about the PC market at all. It's microscopic compared to the 360 and PS3 markets, really, which is sad.

4. Dedicated servers are harder to use matchmaking with. Just look at Left 4 Dead, where the matchmaking fails despite the dedis. Granted it's on a small scale so it's not as bad as MW2.

[MrVersipellis]

Do you think this is actually a conspiracy from Activision to mean they don't have to make any more PC games AT ALL? That's what i thought at first.

[DWTerminator]

Certainly possible, though unlikely. They know they can still make money from the PC.

[MrVersipellis]

I'm not so sure... I reckon they'd get more money if would-be pirates were forced into actually paying cash for the console version..

[DWTerminator]

Pirating on the consoles is just as bad as PC. In fact, the *first* version of MW2 pirated was the 360 version. Then came PS3, then PC.

They find ways to get around it. Always have, always will.

[MrVersipellis]

I still say less people know how to pirate on consoles (even i don't). Whereas on PC you just have to torrent stuff (I've never actually done this).

[DWTerminator]

It's actually just as complicated as the PC (I don't pirate, nor do I condone it, but I know some stuff). There's more to piracy than just downloading the torrent. On PC, for instance, you'd need some sort of way to bypass the disc check, as well as the online authentication.

Piracy varies on console in terms of methods, but there's still hacking involved. I know that 360 pirates have to "flash" (some form of rudimentary hacking) their box in order to play the pirated games, for instance.

[MrVersipellis]

Well, I have a firned at school who has a hacked PSP, so i knew ypu could hack that... But I thought it was really hard to hack consoles.

[DWTerminator]

Apparently not considering how many people pirated this when it came out.

[MrVersipellis]

Well, i own it legally :)

[Zennybo0m]

Good review! i agree with your point of view.

[Medatron19]

Nice Vid!!

What i like when they made it like the console is that they decreased the amount of players playing. What i hate is how you enter in servers. It was better when you chose the server you wanted and not being thrown into one randomly. Also i agree with you that it is plain stupid that u cant level up in private servers.

IW screwed up pc gamers when they made a port of the xbox 360 game. Also when hacks will be made and be sure theyll make them how are we going to kick the hackers??

[DWTerminator]

The server system in MW2 just sucks. It. Plain. Sucks. No server browser + peer to peer + 12 player max (with 18 in ground war) = fail. I'll agree that the base maps in CoD4 didn't lend for 64 though.

Hacks were out within 2 days of the game's release. I've encountered a couple hackers already (especially rank hackers). You can't do anything about it but hope VAC bans them eventually, which is just stupid. They act like the community isn't capable of keeping servers free of hackers or something.

[Ashgamemaster]

Frist I am sorry for giving you a hard time on the Left 4 Dead stuff. I did notice the PC verson looks better then the console verson are using a LCD Screen

[DWTerminator]

Yeah, the old CRT monitors don't really showcase the true graphical power of the PC version.

I've got a simple, pretty cheap flat screen and PC games in general still look better than most console games (in some cases they look about the same).

[MrVersipellis]

My Dad has the PS3 version... It's a lot of fun. Not the greatest game ever, but fun.

[DWTerminator]

It's sad really. MW2 *could* have been *the* FPS of 2009 on PC, but stupid decisions made it pretty crappy overall.

I've simply stopped playing. Didn't even get to level 70; just stopped at 62 (after being annoyed that the desert eagle is pathetic in MW2 on PC even though it's the last pistol you unlock). It's not really all that fun since I rarely get to play with anyone I like to play with.

[MrVersipellis]

I'm afraid that other companies will start doing the same... Eek!

[DWTerminator]

They will. It's inevitable. EA had their go at it but seems to be getting out of that run (so far, at least... time will tell).

Activision Blizzard is just a money-grubbing corporation that has no interest in anything other than what will make them the most money. Bobby Kotick (their CEO) also happens to be an arsewad, so that doesn't help at all. He even said he wants to take all the fun out of making videogames.

[MrVersipellis]

Hmmm, didn't know Mr. Kotick was the CEO of the whole merged company... I thought it was only Activision. Yuck! I remember reading that interview with my jaw hanging open; he has a lot of chutzpah to say some of the things he did.

[DWTerminator]

He's little more than scum, really.

[MrVersipellis]

And scummy scum at that!

[DWTerminator]

Well, Operation Flashpoint is a pretty realistic tactical game. Definitely a niche title that a lot of people won't like at all.

BFBC2 looks like it's got a lot of emphasis on presentation with the same exact gameplay from BFBC. I don't like Bad Company, so suffice to say I probably won't like BC2.

MAG seems like a great idea that won't work too well. Don't have a PS3 (nor do I want to get one, as the controller is horrendously awkward for me), but I'll keep an eye on it to see how it goes.

[DWTerminator]

I'm surprised you like OPF2; a ton of the fans of the original hate it because it's too arcade-y and like MW2 (peer to peer doesn't work too well on PC).

I've never really liked BF all that much. the Bad Company series just has no appeal to me at all, but I'm glad to see that DICE knows where their real fans are. MW2 in its current state is just a fragment of what it *could* be.

[DWTerminator]

Competitive gaming and server companies don't even factor into MW2. If you ask me, this was probably a push to get rid of PC gamers from the series so they could focus on their beloved Xbox, but I dunno.

The singleplayer's definitely fun, but it's a bit too over-the-top at times. Multiplayer's good too, but the logistics simply kill the experience.

I have no clue why everyone at IW suddenly became 100% console gamers. PC's where all the greatest stuff often turns up.

[quesoboy88]

great review! Seriously you should to this for money!

[DWTerminator]

That'd definitely be nice (maybe get a stipend to pay for an actual website or get signed on with an online group, who knows?), but meh, I review because I like to.

Glad you liked it man.

[ADisasterpiece]

Haha, yeah. I know where it's going from here too unless Infinity Ward will learn to give their customers the product they pay for; I can imagine it now: log onto CoD:MW3 to play a good match; and get connected to one of the 11 year old wanna-be hardass-gangstas that make Xbox LIVE suck so bad.

[DWTerminator]

I've already encountered a couple annoying kids on IWNet... luckily the PC market is mostly adults, so we don't get as much of those little mic spammers. Instead, we get internet-lurking arsewads and hackers (who, hilariously, deny that they hack when they're 10th prestige, level 70 on day 3). They're just as bad.

To be honest, I half-expected the game to display a message saying "Error: you are not connected to Xbox Live" or "Error: please plug in your Xbox 360 controller."

[ADisasterpiece]

Definitely, bro. That's just what happens. Punkbuster was working out just fine for all this time in all those games, but it doesn't really matter. My whole clan now (save a few traitors) have boycotted the game. As of now we're planning on switching over to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 when it comes out. If you ever wanna hop on our CoD4 server (68.232.161.122:28960) feel free to stop by sometime!

[DWTerminator]

Might get on the server some time once I'm up to level 70 on MW2 (currently level 62 and still checking out all the features, but it's tedious to level up now, which it shouldn't be).

A lot of the sales of MW2 are going to BFBC2 I've noticed. At least DICE knows not to mess up a formula that works almost perfectly.

[Mesina2]

I hate that game!

That gameis exatly same as CoD 4 MW only with better graphic, more cliche story, no posible moding, multiplayer only on Steam, no zombie mod...

Oh and this game is like you said it's like action movie and that sucks!

That is not CoD style!

I am tired of that kind of games!

This game almost like Halo!

[DWTerminator]

To be fair, games that are like action movies aren't necessarily bad. Look at Max Payne, for instance.

CoD has been getting more and more arcade-y since IW went to Xbox. It's really irritating.

[Mesina2]

I hate $Box!

[DWTerminator]

I like a few titles on it, namely Soul Calibur IV and Force Unleashed. It's good for arcade games and stuff that just doesn't work on PC (eg. fighting games).

It's definitely holding gaming back though. Since everything's toned down for its weak hardware and most PC games are console ports these days, it's hard to find something that'll take advantage of the PC's far superior hardware (Crysis is about all that we've got that can push systems to their limits anymore).

[Mesina2]

True, PC was never superior over consoles, but PC can't be beaten like SEGA, Atari and other dead consoles.

[DWTerminator]

Well, like any gaming system, it has its advantages and disadvantages. PC's have far more longevity than consoles do and are always the cutting-edge of hardware development, but the downside is that you need to upgrade your system every few years (granted, that's pretty easy to do, but it's better than buying a brand new console every 5 or 6 years). We unfortunately come across as elitist, however, because we've always had far more control over our gaming than consoles ever have.

[Kiryutka22]

FPS on PC are always better. .fps+controller=shit

[DWTerminator]

Well, it's playable on a controller, but it's just not the same feel as a mouse & keyboard. Slower aiming (with awful sensitivity adjustment) and clumsy controls (I mean, come on... melee is clicking the right stick on 360... that's just plain awkward) abound on consoles.

PC's have always had (and most likely always will have) better controls in RPG's, strategy games, and FPS's.

In MW2's case, there's really not much that separates the PC from the console versions... which is pathetic.

[gondule]

i agree that it is gay the once former pc dev team IW went with not implamenting dedicated servers and basicly ported the console game. but that dosen't mean the game is bad i have a pas3/360 and love it way more then cod4 and defiantly any piece of shit cod title treyarch makes. IW did a great job on MW 2 but forgot their roots and in turn lost a huge player base wich are the PC players so yeah i feel for yah but dont blame the game blame the dev team wich u kinda did but oh well great vid 5/5

[DWTerminator]

Actually, they only lost a small amount of the market. Lots of PC players bought MW2 anyway, but I've never seen any more than 130,000 total players on IWNet. Compare that to the roughly 1-million copies of CoD4 on PC and you see how big it is, but MW2's main market is 360.

I can see where they're coming from in a business sense, but still, it's stupid that they've done what they did and made it a console title even on PC. Sad considering I've stuck with the series since before the first game.

[gondule]

yeah i have been following them since the first game but once i heard IW is supporting dedicated servers i was like "hell i will just buy the 360 verison) i still have no clue why IW would betray their background it almost seems like a sign of the end of PC gaming idk maybe im being paranoid lol.

[DWTerminator]

The "end of PC gaming" has been a myth since the late 90's. It's not going to end. It's just changed. What few exclusives we *do* get tend to be either spectacular or total crap, but that's because we're a more mature audience. The console market is so huge because you can make a mediocre game and people will buy it en masse (*cough*Halo*cough*). Hence, developers and publishers go for what they know can sell more: the consoles. We tend to get mostly RTS's and MMO's these days because they sell.

[gondule]

yeah i dont even consider halo a real FPS its like a naked verison of a FPS. When i buy a FPS it needs to be great and halo dosent even come close to any of the FPS's i have played. but w/e

[DWTerminator]

To be fair, the first Halo wasn't bad (apart from being too cliched). After that it continually got worse. It never was anything other than "average" though. Far better shooters came out in the mid-90's and were far more primitive than Halo, but it got so much publicity because it was such a huge deal on the Xbox.

Games like Halo and Killzone are, however, wonderful examples of mediocre games being bought in droves.

[gondule]

couldnt agree with you more. i wish some halo nubs played quake 2 or quake arena or even duke nukem all those classic FPS games isued to play and i cant forget Unreal damn i used to play that so much also CS but i never got into CS that much.

[DWTerminator]

I'll be reviewing Duke Nukem 3D eventually, but I'm a bit biased... It's my favorite FPS of all time (for good reason, though). Unreal is amazing. I picked up the gold edition of it and rarely have I found such an atmospheric FPS as the first.

[gondule]

nice cant wait for ur review :)

[DWTerminator]

That's going to take a while, but I'll get to it eventually. I'm pretty eager to review it.