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Harken82 Reviews the gamecubist's MW2 Review
Modern Warfare 2 is possibly one of the first moments where legions of gamers are making an ethical choice. Other games have had these elements – SMT: Nocturne, a game I reviewed a while back, also has these choices. The Fable games, Jade Empire, Fallout, Demon’s Souls etc. – they all have these choices.
The difference with Modern Warfare 2 and other games is that while other games with these “ethics†system is that MW2 doesn’t lampoon us with game mechanics based around our choice. There’s no obvious “ok if I help this guy I’ll get Pure White WT and I won’t get my ass beat as much†– there is no hidden (or not so hidden) counter keeping tally.
It truly just asks us, as a player, what we would do if placed in this character’s shoes. No more, no less.
I agree with this entirely. That moment, in the airport, where you actually have to decide, is one of the most truly gutting moments of any game I have ever played. That moment where you think "it doesn't matter, it's just a game" but then you think "but these people are civilians, what does this say about me?"
You make an intelligent point there, and I agree. MW2 has one level where you make a moral choice. It doesn't affect you, or the remainder of the game, or how others react to you -- but in my opinion, is leagues ahead of the entire story's worth of arbitrary moral systems like those in Fable or Jade Empire.
You can see now why I say Modern Warfare 2 lacks “tensionâ€. COD4 has tension by slowing it down, having moments where you just observe, moments to think. When you have no reference for a “slow†moment, how can you know how tension feels? It all feels too similar.
So very true, gamecubist. I describe the single player as "you are crossing the road with Michael Bay", and I stand by that. The diner / car park mission is very much "oh I think I saw a Stinger in a diner across the street" every five minutes. The whole thing feels like a sequence of pops and bangs stringing you between explosions.
It looks nice and sounds furious. The score tries to inject a bit too much melodrama, trying to frame the action, but this isn’t Rez. I don’t rely solely on music to establish the action; I demand intelligent design as well!
I agree with this as well -- the music is very Hollywood and is another example of game developers copying the bad and insulting habits of film makers. Film makers believe that viewers need every moment in the story to be explained by an emotional cue from the musical score. We need to be credited with a touch more intelligence I think.
Spec-Ops is brilliant. Playing it a few times with friends, it echoes COD4 game design. It has pacing; playing with a friend, you truly feel moments of desperation, running to save your partner, cover him while he makes a run for it. It’s intelligently designed to support two players, and this is why it was spun off into its own mode leaving the story single-player only. I know when I first heard news of no story co-op mode, I was disappointed, because Gears of War and its sequel have incredible co-op campaigns. But this works to. It’s so bite sized, and with the mechanics of CoD remain as strong as ever, it works for gameplay sessions of any length.
SpecOps is the best thing about the game, in my eyes. We have had sooooooo much fun with it. Sniper Fi alone is worth several hours of laughing so hard your kidneys ache. SpecOps is my favourite part of MW2. The single player is obnoxious and shallow, and multi is stressful with the MW2 community as it is. I can only press Mute so many times before it's time to calm down by playing Lego Batman for a while. What I will say about multi is that the weapon collecting system is still awesome. I don't play it enough to comment, but some say it's a bit unbalanced.
Modern Warfare 2 is a game of the times. Game design these days encourages razor-sharp game mechanics that can lead to fully developed multiplayer suites, and Modern Warfare 2 nails this. It also has an incredibly weak single player campaign, frustrating for players like me who absolutely adored Infinity Ward’s common sense approach to COD4.
Solid summary. Glad you were even-handed with it -- I bet the MW2-bots weren't too happy, but at least you did an honest and constructive review.
One tip:
Ratings
Graphics: A Bold and brash, endlessly detailed.
Sound: A The music is a bit over-driven, but it’s fitting given the overblown nature of the campaign. Guns sound like guns.
Gameplay: A Snappy control, with enough “fuck yeah!†feedback to get you immersed.
Replayability: B The single player is rubbish, but the other components of the game – Spec-Ops and Multiplayer – can last you a very, very long time.
OVERALL: B+ A game of today, enjoyable today. Timeless like COD4? No.
Don't do this. People skip to the bottom of a review to find the scores -- they'd rather read for 5 seconds than one minute, and don't care that they've completely missed the point. Don't give the ADD sufferers a chance to skip your review...!
So yeah -- I like it. It's in another world to some of the reviews we are unlucky enough to read, some even on respected websites or in so-called 'impartial' games magazines.
Love ya for not succumbing to the MW2 brainwash which seems to have engulfed the world!
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