It’s here, it’s finally here! We all have been waiting so long for this game. Writing a review for a game like this feels almost pointless at times. Though a good friend back east (and some shady retailer dealings in NY) had already claimed me a copy a week prior I still braved my local game store with the BSR crew to pick up their copies. “Standing room only” doesn’t even begin to describe the situation we faced. The hype was there, but did the game deliver? I’d say minus a few polish issues hells yes it did, the bags under my eyes definitely prove that fact.
SPOILER ALERT: I’m going talk about whatever I want and it may or may not contain spoilers.
I will preface this review with the statement that the team from Infinity Ward took every consideration for their audience in building this game. They literally built two separate paths to help you avoid the “offensive content” involved in the story. This alone is more than enough proof of that. The character models looked a little bit better than the original Modern Warfare, but the animation and motion felt so much faster. Whether chasing a weapons dealer through the streets of Brazil, or making myself uncomfortable slaughtering civilians in a Russian airport, the action is heart-pounding. I found myself loving the character development, and actually congratulating myself as I accomplished achievements and missions. The vast amount of weapons, and creative use of them warms the heart of any shooter enthusiast. From heart-beat monitors to a lap-top that drops direct strike missiles (yeah I lost a multi-player game or two against those ). Infinity ward really spent a solid amount of time giving you a diverse experience, with a diverse play style, and loads of weapons.
During single player I loved the different strategies I was forced to employ against my AI opponents, I only wish that my counterparts were as smart as the competition. Several times a Russian soldier would sneak up behind me while I was defending various fast food establishments, and the 3 soldiers who played supposedly on my team decided that the enemy behind me shooting me in the ass wasn’t important enough to deal with.
For the most part, I feel this was still better than the game playing itself like it did during the original Modern Warfare. I remember doing sessions on the lower difficulties where we would just watch the AI kill each other off as we ran check-point to check-point. Also a few times, I would kill a guy standing on a roof he would fall off said roof and glue himself to the side of the building. This gravity defying tactic was probably the only glitch I encountered in the 12 hours of gameplay. For a triple A title such as this, with as much pressure being put on it, I can honestly say that’s an impressive mark. Seeing as it is a random occurrence, not too shabby Infinity Ward, not to shabby.
The perks handed out during multi-player have become more explosive and exciting. My favorite being the nuclear bomb given to anyone who can get a 25 kill streak. ( I’m sure the joke at their studio is if the dude gets a 25 streak he doesn’t need the nuke anyway.)
All in all I think Infinity Ward lived up to the expectations developed after the release of Modern Warfare 1. This game easily brings shooter fans an excellent title to grind out their XBox Live, Playstation Network, or PC reputation on. New comers as well will find cutting their teeth on this won’t be as painful as trying to dive head first into a Rainbow 6 vegas online match. Minus the slap to the PC crew with their limited multi-player, undedicated servers, and price hike, I feel this is a perfect buy for the Holidays.