Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Multiplayer Mini-Review

Steam users have now had the chance to try out the multiplayer gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) on two different occasions. An attempt no doubt to boost slacking sales to try and compete with the much more popular and better Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (BC2). So I decided to share my opinions on Modern Warfare 2 with the rest of the world for anyone who is truly bored at 3AM and feels like reading it.

I make no secret of the fact I am not a fan of Modern Warfare 2. Though MW2 just feels like a horrible squeal. I am one of those gamers who hates "me too" or "clone" games. Now by that I do not mean different developers putting out similar FPS, I mean the same darn game being re-skinned, repackaged, and sold as something new.

That's where I stand on MW2. I think the last good game in the Call of Duty series was COD4, at this point, Infinity Ward and Activision are just milking a dead cow. What makes it even more sad is the fact its working. MW2 on the consoles is a very popular title, then again, it's a game well suited for consoles. However this is not about the console version, this is about the PC version.

For a PC game, this game really does suck, are far more levels than I care to talk about. I will just cover the big ones in my book. Before I get into it though, I really did try and like this game, I played it for several hours, tried out all the modes, talked with a lot of people in-game, got accused of hacking on multiple occasions. No matter how hard I tired to like it, I am afraid, it was just not meant to be. Even the fact I had no problems slicing my way though this game with ease and a 3.0+ KD average not using ANY grenade launchers, harriers, cobra's, predators, or nukes. I still just could not stand this game.

• Highly limited and repetitive gameplay. It gets old very fast.
  

Limited player numbers. Laggy hosts. No dedicated servers. You can't tell me they forgot how to write good network code. What limitations prevent the game from having more than 12 players in a game at once? I mean come on. A good PC capable of playing this game at respectable settings has far more power to handle larger game rooms than any console. As far as the lack of dedicated servers goes that's one of the largest downfalls of this game. I mean, this is a PC, not a console. I think MW2 would have benefited a lot from dedicated servers, too bad IW did not think so. I guess they failed to notice the fact the dedicated servers is the standard for just about every good retail FPS game. Then again, this is not a good game, at least, not in its PC multiplayer aspect.

You can tell this game was not coded for the PC at all. It's network code is a joke compared to other games. I can understand coding for multiple platforms, but it sure does not look like they did that here, they just coded a console game and did a crappy job "porting" it over to the PC.

Just like CoD4:MW, MW2 has air strikes, nukes, predator missiles, and they are even more spammed and powerful than the first, what kind of crack were they smoking? You can use these puppies pretty much anywhere. In an FPS game for freaking sake, not Battlefield. It's like they tried, and failed horribly, to add Battlefield aspects to the game. The maps are far too small for such items and my god can you score easy kills over and over if you know what your doing with these things. So in this respect, it's the same as the original MW, at least in MW you can modify the server to limit or remove them. In MW2 you have no choice but to play with all the under-skilled spammers.

On the flip side, some maps are actually too big for the limited number of players you can have, yet still far too small for the aforementioned overkill strikes. On some maps you find yourself spending more time running around looking for a kill than actually getting any kills. That can get rather boring.

• Probably the most unrealistic game I have ever played.

Now the game does not claim to be realistic, so that's not really a negative point in that respect. What makes it bad is the lack of realism in a game is often made up for with game balance. Not in the case of MW2. This is something I can not really describe, you pretty much have to see it first hand to know what I am talking about. This game is far from balanced and even further from realistic.

The environments are also very static. They don't really react to the gameplay at all. This is a far cry from the Bad Company 2 engine where just about everything is reactive. MW2 being a modern top-of-the-line retail game, I honestly expected much more in this respect.

• Rated M for Mature?

This is a joke right? This game feels like it was designed by kids for kids. I mean, most of the people I actually talked to in this game were very far from "mature". Sure your going to run into that in many games, but in the short time I actually played the game, I actually felt my own IQ drop.

Other than the fact its a war based FPS, there is no reason the game should have an M rating, though I know it's for the violence aspect of the game. Either way, its very easy to see that the vast majority of the player base is far from rated "M".

This game really should have been rated "S" for sucks.

• Insanely easy compared to most other "top rated" retail FPS games.

If your a regular or experienced competitive FPS player, your going to find this game so insanely easy it's not even funny. There is no real challenge anywhere. The games very repetitive nature, map design, and over gameplay, make it very easy to master in a very short time. Hence why I get bored with it so fast I guess.

There are a ton of "unlockables" in the game, that's a plus, but it does not go far enough to keep in fun for a gamer looking for a challenge such as myself.

I mean, I topped over a 3.0 KDR in almost every single match I played and I made level 23 in just over 4 hours easy. Playing Team Deathmatch Express for the most part.

The funny part is, I was not even trying, and I was not familiar with any of the maps. I still was able to slice through this game like a hot knife through butter. So it's not like you can come back and say "You did not like it because you sucked at it!". I think an 8 year old could master this game.

Sure, I am an "experienced" FPS player, and I have a lot of years under my belt, but come on. It should not have been that easy. Facing players level 70 (with Prestige) that should have been far better and more experienced at this games mechanics and maps than me and yet I was able to top the roster in most matches I played.

• Lack of originality.

Why should I pick Modern Warfare 2 over a different game such as Bad Company 2? The simple answer, I wont. This game offers up nothing original, its a MW clone, if you have played one you have played both. Sure it has evolved and progressed since its predecessor, but not by much. The game feels stale to me. All I could think of the entire time I was playing was, "average". There is nothing spectacular about the game in the least. its just, there, and that's about it.

• On the plus side of the coin.

The games graphics on the PC are actually pretty nice if you crank it all the way up. It can be somewhat fun in short bursts or if you feel like noob farming.

Its very easy. This may be a con for me, but not for everyone. This game is well suited for "younger" players or those who are somewhat new to modern FPS games. Its also well suited for players with a nice short attention span. The reason I say that, is this game requires less "thought" than any FPS game I have ever played. I can guarantee that most of the people that play this game religiously, based on the ones I have played with, think they are a lot better than they are. If they were to step out of MW2 and enter a different game, chances are, they would get their backsides handed to them. So the games mindless easiness is a dual edged blade.

The game really does not require that much power to run. It barely used 2 threads of my CPU and never once did it even peg either near 100%. My FPS averaged in the 190 range no matter the map or situation with it all maxed out at 1600x900. The lowest I seen was 138FPS and the max was about 280.

Closing:

If you in the market for a good retail FPS, then I would stay away from Modern Warfare 2 and go spend your money on Bad Company 2. BC2 has come a long way since I did my "First Impression" review. Sure the game still has its share of issues, but when you stand it up next to MW2, it blows it out of the water without even trying.

Heck, you could even check out one of the free to play MMOFPS out there before wasting money on this junk pile.

There is no way I would ever pay $50+ for this game. Even free I really can't stand having it infect my PC with its presence. Bad Company 2 is a much better choice if your looking for a good retail FPS. MW2 should be left to console players because its the poster child of fail on the PC in my opinion.

To me, MW2 left a gaping festering hole in the COD legacy for me. MW2 seems like such a cheap clone of the original that they tried to make better and failed. They either need to let the series die or completely start over and make a new game. One that actually brings some originality to the battlefield. Something that will make it stand out. Bad Company 2 has killer maps, better environments, War Tapes, and they are coming a long way on the items I complained about in my original review. Even though BC2 has fewer game modes and unlockables than MW2, they are still a lot better then MW2.

Now with Medal of Honor coming out this fall, I really think this series is going to go out with a dud, when it should have been a bang. Lets just hope I am wrong.

I really did do my best to give this game a chance to change my mind. I played and played hoping to find some saving grace. The entire time all I really did was make notes about how it fell short when I compared it to other games I have played or do play. Upon the end of Steam's free weekend deal, I instantly removed it from my system, for good.

Now I can see how some people may really like it, especially younger players or those far more used to console games. However, when you put this game in the hands of a hardcore old school gamer who has played just about every FPS released since 1993, and is looking for a game that will actually challenge him and make him want more, it does not impress at all and falls very short of the mark.

I did rate it a 4 out of 10, and not a flat zero, for 2 main reasons. The Spec Ops with Coop is actually a lot more fun than the multiplayer in my opinion. To stand Spec Ops alone, I would rate it about a 7 out of 10, if it was not for the fact the rest of game falling so short for me. The other reason is even though I really did not like this game, there were a very few times I actually had some fun while playing. The problem was these times were short lived and very limited. It simply could not keep me from getting bored out of my mind.

Rated: 4/10

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