[PC] [360] [PS3] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

[ashn0d]

MTV Multiplayer brings word that Activision confirmed a new Call of Duty title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, among other titles.

No other details were announced.

[Bradford]

Well, technically, the "announcement" you linked to was later dismissed as speculation, but yeah, apparently yesterday they announced it for real.

[Bradford]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBJcOy6iuUc&fmt=18

First multiplayer video. In part, it is highlighting "custom killstreaks" as a new feature, including the ability to whip out a laptop, call in an AC130 gunship, and then personally control the cannons (like that one level from the Call of Duty 4 single player campaign). Other players can shoot missiles at the AC130 to try to take it down. Presumably, you are totally helpless while using the laptop.

Also, official site is http://modernwarfare2.com/

(Title of the thread should be amended to include "[PC] [360] [PS3]".)

[MjFrancis]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/flag-runner-modern-warfare/55322

Short but sweet Capture the Flag game video.

[ibanezninja]

http://bashandslash.com/index.php?optio ... &Itemid=69

The Xboxification of MW2 is pretty much official. Instead of dedicated servers they will be using a matchmaking P2P service which is 100% inferior to all except the uneducated rabble who can't understand how the dedicated server system works. It also cuts out custom maps and mods allowing Infinity Ward the option to sell small bits of DLC to the PC consumer.

[Choking]

http://kotaku.com/5390491/modern-warfar ... s-no-rumor

I wonder why Infinity Ward thought this would be a good utilization of its time.

Also, it seems as though this game's title is now "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." This situation does not appear to confuse Kotaku to the level that Bioshock 2 did, lol.

[faceplant]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009 ... hought.ars

It just gets worse. No recording, no console, you can't vote to kick players, and you can't choose who hosts.

[another Riposte]

Perhaps worse of all is that there will be no leaning. That has to be the most blatant Xboxification of the series yet. The PC version always allowed you to lean and the console versions never did. Well, I guess they solved that problem, lol.

[pajari]

Even on the PC these games stopped being interesting directly after the United Offensive expansion pack (which was great actually, for the sprawling proto-Battlefield multiplayer). Consolization is going to happen of course but there are other, far better series which are still going strong and will remain PC-only. ARMA is what I'm thinking of here specifically.

[icycalm]

Consolization is going to happen of course

"Of course" my ass. Take that back to gamefaqs.

[Choking]

I've been playing this game in short bursts over the past week.

The campaign, even on the hardest difficulty (veteran), is much easier than previous Call of Duty games. Enemies rarely pose a threat anymore, because you're given so many tools to aid you. There are heartbeat sensor attachments for guns, a laptop that calls in missile strikes, riot shields that absorb an unlimited amount of bullets, and in one level, a laser sight attachment that paints targets for a tank.

In Call of Duty 4, enemies would infinitely respawn until you hit an invisible checkpoint in the level. As far as I can tell, that does not exist in this game, so sitting behind a solid piece of cover and popping a few shots every once in a while is an effective tactic.

The multiplayer has been improved, with the exception of the third-person mode, which is shit and controls awkwardly:

- There is now duel-wielding for certain guns.

- There are many more weapon attachments -- holographic sights, bigger magazines, grips (to lessen recoil), heartbeat sensors, etc.

- You can now upgrade perks with added benefits.

- There are now "deathstreaks". Basically, if you suck and die a certain amount of times in a row without a kill, you get one of four rewards (depending on which one you've chosen beforehand). This is actually a good solution to one problem from Call of Duty 4: the prevalence of the Martyrdom perk, which dropped a live frag grenade every time you died. Now it's been demoted to a deathstreak reward, so random frag kills are less common. Another annoying perk from CoD4, Last Stand, has also been demoted to a deathstreak reward.

- Killstreaks have been expanded a great deal. Now there is a list of potential killstreak rewards, and you choose three to take with you into a match. Some of the new ones include the ability to place sentry guns, an air-dropped package that contains a random killstreak reward (and can also kill opponents if it lands on them), and a tactical nuke that ends the match and makes you the winner. There are also three types of helicopter killstreaks and three types of air strikes, instead of the one of each found in CoD4.

- Secondary weapons have been expanded to include shotguns and rocket launchers in addition to hand guns. The advantage of having a rocket launcher as a secondary weapon is that UAVs and helicopters can be shot down, at the expense of having only one weapon.

- Items such as frag grenades and C4 have been moved to a section in create-a-class called "equipment", which also includes new additions such as throwing knives, plastic explosives, and tactical insertions.

- Riot shields can be used in multiplayer, in exchange for a primary weapon.

[another Riposte]

Actually Last Stand is still in the game as a perk. Final Stand is a deathstreak which acts like a Last Stand where you can use all your weapons and equipment. You will stand up and return to normal if you can remain alive long enough.

[Pulviriza]

- There are now "deathstreaks". Basically, if you suck and die a certain amount of times in a row without a kill, you get one of four rewards (depending on which one you've chosen beforehand). This is actually a good solution to one problem from Call of Duty 4: the prevalence of the Martyrdom perk, which dropped a live frag grenade every time you died. Now it's been demoted to a deathstreak reward, so random frag kills are less common. Another annoying perk from CoD4, Last Stand, has also been demoted to a deathstreak reward.

In the series, you level up with experience you get for kills and from certain challenges. Another thing they did is give you experience for sucking as well as other stupid things, making this more accessible than a Wii game. For example, you earn experience for lowest average altitude for example, and another one is longest time spent looking at the killcam. I have not played this, it is a lot of podcasts (By which I mean all of them) and all their talking of this game makes me REALLY REALLY ANGRY and has taught me all these factoids.

[icycalm]

In the series, you level up with experience you get for kills and from certain challenges.

For example, you earn experience for lowest average altitude for example

I have not played this, it is a lot of podcasts (By which I mean all of them)

Impossible to understand what the hell he is babbling about. Banned.

[Bradford]

In the series, you level up with experience you get for kills and from certain challenges.

What he meant was, in the online multiplayer portion of the game, you are awarded experience points for a variety of activities, including killing opponents and completing pre-set challenges. There are 770 experience levels, an increase over COD4 which had 605, and WaW which had 715.*

Another thing they did is give you experience for sucking . . . .

This is mostly false. The only example I can think of is that if you have had a streak of deaths (3 or 4 deaths in a row with no kills by you), you are awarded 100 XP as a bonus for the first kill you get after that. However, the normal amount of experience points you get per kill is either 50 or 100, depending upon the type of match, so it's a pretty trivial bonus. Also, it isn't exactly "experience for sucking," depending on how you define the phrase.

For example, you earn experience for lowest average altitude for example, and another one is longest time spent looking at the killcam.

This appears to be completely false. He is referring to the game awarding you "accolades," which you may browse in a menu which also keeps a count of how many times you have been awarded each. I can find no confirmation that you get any experience points or any other kind of reward for these. I think they are just supposed to be amusing - at the end of each match you can see which accolades you or any other player received in that match.

*Edit: Corrected total number of levels available in MW2. There are 70 levels available, plus an additional ten "Prestige Modes" which means you get to start over from level 1, resetting everything you've unlocked, in exchange for the Prestige Mode icon (a new one for each of the ten times you enter Prestige Mode) in place of your rank insignia and access to challenges and other unlockables exclusive to Prestige Mode. My original math accounted for 75 levels - not sure what I was thinking.

[icycalm]

http://www.ghetto-overlord.com/Blog/?p=1476

[icycalm]

http://www.ghetto-overlord.com/Blog/?p=1508