The long explanation behind this comes down to a lot of reasons, particularly because this review is focused on the PC version rather than the console counterparts. The first is the games narrative and campaign, which although extremely competent in execution, lacks the substance that the original had.
To elaborate, the story begins 5 years after the events of Modern Warfare 1, where war and terror are still running amok in the world. Ultranationalists still roam free across the globe, and have essentially seized control of Russia and its people after the death of the previous games antagonist, Zakhaev. Zakhaev’s former lieutenant, Vladimir Makarov has essentially taken the lead on the terrorist organisations, and plans out several of the events that occur within Modern Warfare 2. The story sets itself up nicely, and is once more told in typical Call of Duty fashion, with you being put into the shoes of several different characters as the story progresses.
Lock and load fellas, we're getting our dedicated servers back.
Without spoiling anything, Modern Warfare 2’s story quickly makes everything escalate into a gigantic war zone, with rarely a moment to rest and almost as many enemies as you have bullets to spare. The problem however is that the story, although consistent is ultimately, quite predictable. The original Modern Warfare narrative was a well paced and clever piece, with several areas in the game that you absolutely do not see coming and continually shock you, while Modern Warfare 2 tends to ditch many of the tense and dire situations for a much more ballistic and frenetic experience. Don’t get us wrong, there are some moments in this game that make you wonder and will also shock you, but it never quite impacts you the way some areas in Modern Warfare did, which is a little disappointing.
That being said, the ballistic nature of the game is excellent throughout and should blow many minds that look for more guns and explosions. However, they also might be disappointed to find that this is as far as the game goes in its single player campaign, with much more flash and less breaks in pacing where usually, subtlety and precision are everything. Though there are some moments where the game does slow down a little and you do have to stay out of sight, it’s usually only temporary, and we feel nothing ever came close to the sheer intensity of the Pripyat level in Modern Warfare. For what is there though, most fans will be happy with, it’s just a pity that it’s also quite short (we clocked the entire campaign in just under 4 hours).
Once you’re done with the Single Player campaign, there’s Spec Ops mode and Multiplayer, which both add quite a bit of replay value to the game. Spec Ops mode basically acts much like that of the final secret area of Modern Warfare where you have to blast through areas in an extremely quick fashion or have to fend off enemies, etc. The structure is mission based and has several different areas to play through, and as a challenge, you can set several difficulty modes and each mission is assessed at the end of the level for how well you played. It also supports two player online co-op, which diversifies the mode with some levels giving co-op partners special roles such as controlling an AC-130 to give your friend covering fire. It’s an interesting and fun mode where many hours can quickly be lost, particularly because you can become so determined to beat an older score.
Take me down to the paradise city where the guns are yellow and the bullets are pretty..
Then you have the Multiplayer, which has met with a lot of controversy on the PC version. The perks and kill streak are back again, but with a far deeper setup with much more customisation and versatility than before. Killstreaks can now be modified to support several different kinds of rewards, such as a predator missile instead of an air-strike, a controllable attack helicopter, controllable AC-130’s and the list goes on as long as you keep your kill streak consistent. You don’t get all of them however, as you select one or two from your class customising and then use those accordingly, so this somewhat reduces the spammy nature of the original game.
That being said though, a large portion of the spammy nature has been removed due to the reduction in amount of players being able to play at once, which is now at 18 as opposed to the massive 32 and 64 players that Modern Warfare supported. This is immensely disappointing, as though many of the smaller maps work well and offer a focused and polished experience, the larger maps feel desolate and overall boring. Modern Warfare 2 is simply not fast enough to cover enough ground on the bigger maps to create an intense experience, so the lack of players hinders the mostly well developed multiplayer maps, and turn most of the larger maps into a far more campy kind of match.
Apart from the reduction of players though, the main controversy on the PC version lies within its lack of dedicated servers, which was ditched for a Matchmaking system, similar to consoles. Though this isn’t much of a problem for consoles considering the control scheme and somewhat slower pace, Matchmaking proves incredibly inconsistent on the PC version. To elaborate, the PC version is naturally a faster game due to more power pumping into the game and total mouse control, the extra lag that match making gives severely hinders the control and precision that PC players have always enjoyed for well over a decade. Console gamers have this eased up on them due to aim assist, which makes matchmaking much easier to handle as you don’t require near pitch perfect aim. On the PC however, the extra pacing and precise requirements of mouse control makes a game with lag become a noticeable and annoying hindrance.
A sandstorm, dusty goggles, tiny iron sights..and you can STILL see?.
And it happens often at that. Unless the hosting player has a very powerful internet connection (a somewhat uncommon thing in Australia), most players will suffer, though the host will have a clear cut advantage due to 0 ping on his end. If the host leaves, the game scrambles to find another competent enough host which breaks the pacing of the game and kicks you out of the zone often enough. The matchmaking setup is not entirely broken and tends to work sometimes, many a time you’ll be pitted in a server where you’ll get latency issues that will noticeably impact your performance. Leaving will also result in a penalty to your win/loss ratio, so you’re essentially being punished for leaving a game that isn’t working well for you in performance. We could go on about the inconsistencies of match making, but to put it bluntly, Infinity Ward made a huge mistake with the removal of dedicated servers. Sure, they’ve taken a step forward with ease of accessibility in multiplayer, but they’ve taken several steps back by trying to fix something that was never really broken.
On the technical side of things, Modern Warfare 2 looks solid, primarily due to its excellent design rather than the engine powering it all. Textures and effects are of a fairly average level of detail on the PC, with many games trouncing it in terms of overall clarity. However, the design behind it all has to be commended, as everything simply looks beautiful. Infinity Wards design team deserve a medal for essentially having shown that ‘less is more’ by implementing excellent aesthetic and atmospheric feel with an engine that wouldn’t really hold up against other PC titles otherwise. The sound is also no slouch either, with bullets flying around everywhere and a musical score composed by master composer Hans Zimmer to further enhance the atmosphere and intensity of the fire fights.
Modern Warfare 2 is a difficult game to rate, because it has such good qualities that are hurt by several other things. The Single Player game is solid, more fluent in progression and overall a stronger effort than Modern Warfare from a design perspective, however it lacks the high shock value and truly jaw dropping moments of the original to make it unforgettable. The narrative is also solid but ultimately predictable, that’s not only short lived but also has a rather abrupt ending. Spec Ops mode is excellent and serves its purpose well, while Multiplayer is an improvement from a gameplay perspective, but is massively hurt by its lack of dedicated servers and inconsistent online experience on the PC. It’s a game where it has so many highs mixed in with that many lows, that it’s difficult to recommend. If you’re playing on the console, you’re looking at an excellent package with some of the best multiplayer offering available. However for the PC users, unless you are a fan of the series or have the patience and dedication to deal with the shortcomings of the multiplayer, then Modern Warfare 2 is a try before you buy experience, as it comes with a lot of flash, but never goes off with a big bang.
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