Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Catch-All

larrymadill wrote:

I wouldn't say Michael Bay. The single player campaign actually managed to get some emotions out of me. Michael Bay films generally don't get that reaction from me, instead I feel like I am being beaten over the head with a plastic dildo by coke addict.

To me the single player game reminded me more of a really good Tony Scott film from the 80s or early 90s.

Perhaps. To me the plot and the campaign as a whole became very tongue-in-cheek. I was even shouting one-liners and sarcastic zings during the game. "Soap, he's getting away! Go full speed ahead!" "YES THAT IS WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING OLD CHAP!" This is of course what I do whenever I watch a Michael Bay extravaganza of 'splosions and elaborate set-piece scenes. Which is what the single-player campaign turned out to be in my opinion.

This is not to knock the game, by the way. I think it succeeds admirably in evoking emotion out of me--perhaps not the one it was going for but all the same. This works much better in the video game media than movies, I think. I was, in short, entertained.

The story is definitely ridiculous but ...

Spoiler:

The premise of high placed Officials in the U.S. manipulating intelligence to start a war for their own purposes isn't that far off. It's happened twice in U.S. history -- Vietnam and Iraq in 2002. So it is kind of refreshing for Infinity Ward to kind of acknowledge it in a game.

But everything else is just ... bizarre. Especially when the Russians invade Virginia and Upper Maryland, and it turns into Red Dawn. C'mon, in real life that happens, we're all dead or radioactive mutants in 2 hours.

Also made me wonder what the hell else was going on in the world of the game at that time. Just how whacked out a President we'd have to have and Russia would have to have to let an international incident get that far, for instance. And what the hell where the Russians doing in Upper Maryland to begin with? What was their military objective? It makes no sense.

At a certain point I just went along with it, threw my hands up, and said, WHEE!

93_confirmed wrote:

I'm having too much fun in MP to post my impressions but had to share wonderful news. I just unlocked a suppressor for the Barrett .50 Sniper Rifle. *shivers with orgasmic delight* Let me repeat that...A SUPPRESSOR FOR MY BELOVED .50 CAL.

I'm just glad the maps are big enough now that you can really go to work as a sniper and not get shanked every five minutes.

larrymadill wrote:

The story is definitely ridiculous but ...

Spoiler:

The premise of high placed Officials in the U.S. manipulating intelligence to start a war for their own purposes isn't that far off. It's happened twice in U.S. history -- Vietnam and Iraq in 2002. So it is kind of refreshing for Infinity Ward to kind of acknowledge it in a game.

But everything else is just ... bizarre. Especially when the Russians invade Virginia and Upper Maryland, and it turns into Red Dawn. C'mon, in real life that happens, we're all dead or radioactive mutants in 2 hours.

Also made me wonder what the hell else was going on in the world of the game at that time. Just how whacked out a President we'd have to have and Russia would have to have to let an international incident get that far, for instance. And what the hell where the Russians doing in Upper Maryland to begin with? What was their military objective? It makes no sense.

At a certain point I just went along with it, threw my hands up, and said, WHEE!

93_confirmed wrote:

I'm having too much fun in MP to post my impressions but had to share wonderful news. I just unlocked a suppressor for the Barrett .50 Sniper Rifle. *shivers with orgasmic delight* Let me repeat that...A SUPPRESSOR FOR MY BELOVED .50 CAL.

I'm just glad the maps are big enough now that you can really go to work as a sniper and not get shanked every five minutes.

No doubt. The only thing that's bothering me about being a sniper is that you can only get one Claymore and if I'm not mistaken, it takes up your secondary weapon slot. Lame if it's true.

I really enjoyed the single-player campaign. I completed it on Normal difficulty in roughly one sitting (not including a pause for lunch and bathroom breaks) which took a little over 6 hours. Normal difficulty seems a bit too easy. Thought about playing it on Hardened, but my training course time was pretty bad (haven't yet mastered reloading or quickly switching to your sidearm).

I really like that Infinity Ward toned down the infinite-spawning enemies, and "klink-klink" grenade spamming as compared to the previous COD's. Instead, to keep pushing you forward, they have the enemy AI constantly flanking you, and even spawning behind you at times. I feel this is far more progressive than the first Modern Warfare.

LobsterMobster wrote:
Edwin wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Yeah, so... It's a good game and I'm enjoying it but at every turn Infinity Ward seems to be scolding me for buying the PC version. It's a very bare-bones port. I couldn't even get into "options" without starting a campaign, and when you click "multiplayer" it closes down and starts up a separate application (with separate configuration files). I half expect the options screen to have, "Tip: This would have been easier if you just got the XBox version" on the bottom.

All versions of CoD have always had two executables for SP and MP. Even Splinter Cell was like that.

Yeah, I remember Splinter Cell doing that. I guess I just felt like it's a "Splinter Cell Era" thing that companies don't do anymore.

It makes sense from a programming stance though. That way someone does mess up SP while toying around with MP code.

93_confirmed wrote:

I'm having too much fun in MP to post my impressions but had to share wonderful news. I just unlocked a suppressor for the Barrett .50 Sniper Rifle. *shivers with orgasmic delight* Let me repeat that...A SUPPRESSOR FOR MY BELOVED .50 CAL.

EDIT: *drool*...*orgasm*...*screams with glee*...*orgasm*....*faints*

Does it go thwip now?

(Goddammit, I just went there to get the link but ended up reading another half-dozen entries.)

Gravey wrote:
93_confirmed wrote:

I'm having too much fun in MP to post my impressions but had to share wonderful news. I just unlocked a suppressor for the Barrett .50 Sniper Rifle. *shivers with orgasmic delight* Let me repeat that...A SUPPRESSOR FOR MY BELOVED .50 CAL.

EDIT: *drool*...*orgasm*...*screams with glee*...*orgasm*....*faints*

Does it go thwip now?

(Goddammit, I just went there to get the link but ended up reading another half-dozen entries.)

It sure does. The suppressor is about a foot long.

I played a bunch of multiplayer last night, so I only did the first 3 missions of the single player campaign. It's very comfortable so far, I'm also playing it on normal and since I struggled through most of COD4 on Veteran it seems quite easy.

What is everyone's reaction to the "No Russian" level? I hadn't watched any of the pre-release videos of it, but there were enough descriptions floating around that I had a pretty good idea what to expect. In context I actually didn't react to it very much at all, which bothers me vaguely. I was somehow able to keep my moral high ground in the first section by not killing anyone until the FSB guys showed up, and then I was forced to kill them to proceed, which bothered me a bit more, but it was easy to shoot someone who was actually shooting at me. But watching these guys mow down the ordinary people was more like a cutscene for me. The fact that I could walk around didn't really change it for me, since I wasn't participating.

OMFG...the top guy on my team (57-7 on Domination) just detonated the tactical nuke. *underwear change needed*

shuref00t wrote:

I really enjoyed the single-player campaign. I completed it on Normal difficulty in roughly one sitting (not including a pause for lunch and bathroom breaks) which took a little over 6 hours. Normal difficulty seems a bit too easy. Thought about playing it on Hardened, but my training course time was pretty bad (haven't yet mastered reloading or quickly switching to your sidearm).

Took me 5 hours, 3 minutes, and 47 seconds. While I enjoyed individual missions, I was left asking "How?" and more importantly "Why?" way too often on the whole. Credit where it's due, though--Lance f*cking Henriksen!

Oh well, time to get demolished in MP.

EDIT: Have now played a match, I'd like to change "get demolished" to "bask in the warmth of the brotherhood of man".

It's hard to imagine an airport without children.

DudleySmith wrote:

What is everyone's reaction to the "No Russian" level? I hadn't watched any of the pre-release videos of it, but there were enough descriptions floating around that I had a pretty good idea what to expect. In context I actually didn't react to it very much at all, which bothers me vaguely. I was somehow able to keep my moral high ground in the first section by not killing anyone until the FSB guys showed up, and then I was forced to kill them to proceed, which bothered me a bit more, but it was easy to shoot someone who was actually shooting at me. But watching these guys mow down the ordinary people was more like a cutscene for me. The fact that I could walk around didn't really change it for me, since I wasn't participating.

Honestly? I didn't feel anything either. When I mentioned the lack of context earlier, this is the scene that sticks out the most. I feel that ironically it came both too early, and too late. I say Too late, because I feel it should have been the prologue--the very first act of violence you see in the game, to maximize the shock. As it stands, it's chapter 3 or 4, right? While it remains shocking, it's muted by all the blazing action that came before. And I say Too early, because it's just so abrupt--BOOM! You're undercover now, and at the airport. "No Russian" is the first and only thing said before it starts, right? I wasn't in the headspace of undercover guy, I hadn't even had the chance.

Just to obnoxiously rewrite a little, suppose this: What if the tutorial level was a sort of dark mirror of the tutorial level of CoD4--you're undercover guy, and Makarov is putting you through the course. At the end of the level, you find out you're an undercover CIA guy, and then the next level is the airport, which plays normal. I'd have had time to connect, and it would have been a shock.

And I guess they said you don't have to shoot civilians, but I was still annoyed that I had to take out the Russian cops. I took "You can just walk right through it" at face value too much.

liquid wrote:

It's hard to imagine an airport without children.

Blimey, I don't want to think about that.

I haven't finished the game yet, but I imagine it will continue in its over-the-top-stuff-explodes silliness, and this level doesn't really fit in that tone. They wanted the controversy, I'm sure. Story wise I think they could have had the same effect by having you go through the bowels of the airport with Makarov and setting a bomb somewhere, with the same denouement and then a news report style cut scene describing the carnage. I think that would have had the same story effect without breaking the tone.

All versions of CoD have always had two executables for SP and MP. Even Splinter Cell was like that.

It's also how the Quake 3 engine games do it, and MW2 has must still have some of that engine's code in it as the box says it uses technology licenced from id.

93_confirmed wrote:

I'm having too much fun in MP to post my impressions but had to share wonderful news. I just unlocked a suppressor for the Barrett .50 Sniper Rifle. *shivers with orgasmic delight* Let me repeat that...A SUPPRESSOR FOR MY BELOVED .50 CAL.

EDIT: *drool*...*orgasm*...*screams with glee*...*orgasm*....*faints*

Just wait until you have it with a thermal scope!

93_confirmed wrote:

No doubt. The only thing that's bothering me about being a sniper is that you can only get one Claymore and if I'm not mistaken, it takes up your secondary weapon slot. Lame if it's true.

Takes the place of your primary grenade. Sucks when you're used to tossing them all the time. Still if you're sniping it helps watch your back.

I want this so bad, but I have about six half-played games to be done with before I contemplate this one, not to mention no money in the budget to buy it.

usually the mp exe didn't need the disc either so which is good because I hate disc swapping.
Has anyone noticed if the exe names on pc are iwmp4.exe and iwsp4.exe. The exe's for cod4 had a 3 in them and I always thought it was a dig a cod3 being a treyarch game.

Or the 3rd and 4th IW COD games.

Tom Chick wrote a good piece on the No Russian mission.

I found that the fidelity of it in the game was no where near what it felt like on YouTube. The layers of mediation (video of screen, streamed in low res) made the whole thing seem to have a much greater sense of verisimilitude than it actually did played on my TV. I also thought that tonally it didn't really fit all that well. The rest of the game seemed like the result of a massive brain storming session in which they thought up 6 hours of awesome scenes, then made them. It just seems inconsistent with their apparent goals that "let's be a terrorist and shoot up an airport" was on the same list of bad assery as "let's do what they did in The Rock" and "Let's blow up DC & fill it with Russians".

So I picked it up - apparently the price hike did not apply to Ireland. Finished the game in 5.1 hours, not including a twenty minute break. The story is beyond stupid. I also felt that the emotional impact of the first MW was far, far higher than this one. The airport scene also felt kind of blah - like DudleySmith I didn't shoot any civilians (unlike my housemate, who took them down with a disturbing amount of glee) but the emotional impact was severely lacking. It just felt out of place.

So, all in all, a big 'meh'. Graphically, it's great. Very pretty, explosions look good, the gunplay is still as satisfying as the first, but the SP is certainly not worth the €45 euros. I'll have a look at MP tonight, and some of the spec ops missions too.

Played a few campaign missions and a couple hours of multiplayer last night. Great, great game. They've really made the multiplayer have a more arcadey/achievement feel to the action, which makes it even more addictive. Unlocking emblems, titles, new weapons, better killstreak rewards, a scrolling ticker in the lobbies to compare you with your mates. Very cool - makes you love the fact you're going to lose a lot of hours of your limited life to this game.

In other news, I'm completely overwhelmed by all the guns. Can someone point out the highlights I should be upgrading or is there a guide for that?

Played a few Spec Ops missions last night as well as a few hours of multi-player (on the 360). I really like the improvements on enemy animations and attention to detail in the levels. Some of the new level layouts are awesome however as with every new shooter there are a couple stinker ones in there as well. I can't count how many times I got taken out by one of those air to ground missiles in multiplayer.

I'm torn about the graphics. It runs really smooth but the 600p resolution still hurts it when your trying to spot & pick off that enemy in the distance. It also isn't great looking when blown up to 1080 (lots of pixels).

Also, please make spec op missions for downloadable content along with map packs. They are such a good addition to the COD series.

Skipped "No Russian" mission, but from the follow-up and the briefing to the next mission it seems like a standard CIA screw-up, which makes the biggest sense in this whole outlandish story.

Yeah during the "No Russian" scene, I didn't fire at all until outside the airport. I did feel a bit horrified by what was going on, because it would be just a horrific thing and i can imagine if it happened the full force would not hit people as far away as us Americans.

Storywise -

Spoiler:

I felt that it was a big jump for the Russians to invade because they found one American body. You have one of the biggest terrorist bad guys and the undercover guy HAD to be hanging out with him long enough to be part of that crew there should have been mounds and mounds of surveillance. Or any video cameras in the airport showing the other guys who are probably known baddies. Next thing you know Russia is like "f*ck it, let's start WW3".

I did smile when I saw the level title "Wolverines!" though. Man, I wonder how many people don't get the reference you young whipper snappers.

Rallick wrote:

So I picked it up - apparently the price hike did not apply to Ireland. Finished the game in 5.1 hours, not including a twenty minute break. The story is beyond stupid. I also felt that the emotional impact of the first MW was far, far higher than this one. The airport scene also felt kind of blah - like DudleySmith I didn't shoot any civilians (unlike my housemate, who took them down with a disturbing amount of glee) but the emotional impact was severely lacking. It just felt out of place.

So, all in all, a big 'meh'. Graphically, it's great. Very pretty, explosions look good, the gunplay is still as satisfying as the first, but the SP is certainly not worth the €45 euros. I'll have a look at MP tonight, and some of the spec ops missions too.

My thoughts exactly. I just finished the campaign in 6.5 hours in one sitting (!!!), and my basic thought trajectory went like this: training and first Afghanistan mission, very Generation Kill, things are looking very good... okay, getting into Tony Scott territory now... hm, Tom Chick is right, IW didn't earn the "No Russian" level at all, so much for the faith I had in context, thematic weight, blah blah blah... shifting firmly into Roland Emmerich territory, unfortunately... and we cap it off with a button-masher rehash of the end of COD4. Hrm.

Someone in the other catch-all was afraid IW was approaching MW2 with a more-is-more attitude, and I have to agree. I still believe COD4 succeeded despite itself as something more meaningful than an action shooter, but MW2 was just stupid. Disappointing after COD4, which was no All Quiet On The Western Front but showed at least some exploration of modern warfare that MW2 failed to live up to. I had fun shooting things, but it was otherwise an emotional flatline with all the depth and weight of a Rainbow Six story—if R6 had snowmobile chases of course.

Can someone confirm whether kills obtained from killstreak rewards get added to a current killstreak? For example, if I have a 5 killstreak and get 5 more kills with the Sentry Gun without dying, am I know at 10?

93_confirmed wrote:

Can someone confirm whether kills obtained from killstreak rewards get added to a current killstreak? For example, if I have a 5 killstreak and get 5 more kills with the Sentry Gun without dying, am I know at 10?

That's the way it was in WAW.

93_confirmed wrote:

Can someone confirm whether kills obtained from killstreak rewards get added to a current killstreak? For example, if I have a 5 killstreak and get 5 more kills with the Sentry Gun without dying, am I know at 10?

That's how it used to work so I'm pretty sure they didn't change it. Unfortunately I can't confirm it as I was never able to get more the 6 kills with the ass kicking I was taking last night. Its scary when you jump on a map for the first time (on release day no less) and people are trying to vote skip it b/c they have already played it 20 or so times!

I have a love/hate relationship with Veteran difficulty. I sometimes get boxed at a checkpoint and find it ridiculously hard to break out of it. Also, the randomness of some of the checkpoints adds to this frustration. Now, if I wasn't a total achievement whore, I wouldn't worry about it.