Nov 10 2009, 06:49 PM, updated 17y ago
Mods: If you disagree with the above, you can always merge this into one of the existing threads. No hard feelings, and sorry for the inconvenience.
Anyway, first, the negatives. We learnt last month that our most anticipated release this decade would be wingclipped without dedicated servers. I was as pissed off as the rest, naturally, as that'd mean that -even if- competitive play worked, the community would have to come out of their comfort zone to get it to work, which isn't a choice many would make. Of course, IW then went on to reveal no consoles, no mod tools (officially - was only inferred prior), no features like lean, etc which just cemented the fact that the competitive community, myself included, was going to completely shun this game unless a miracle happened. Days went by and it ticked closer to launch. No change.
The bottom line is we got a glorified console port for 10USD above the usual retail price - for literally no good reason except for Activision running an experiment regarding making more money - their own words. I'd be honest with you. I got my copy yesterday semi-subsidized (can't go into the details) and I honestly, honestly would have given it a pass had I been required to pay the full amount.
The dichotomy here is interesting - We all already knew with the original dedicated server announcement that without some serious head-cracking at IW, the game wouldn't be competitive. No lean, no console etc was just more nails in a coffin 90% sealed shut. At that point my hopes for the game competitively went out the window. Yet I was still excited for the release of the game (the same way I'm looking forward to SC2 or D3, etc) because IW tells amazing stories, has amazing artists and sound engineers, and their games are always works of art.
Honestly, after playing through the SP campaign (which is completely EPIC, btw), I'd still say 'not really'. If it were priced at the usual ~45-50USD, then maybe. But caving in to Activision's get-rich-quick(er) scheme strikes me a little like lapping up their vomit and submitting. No thanks.
The question I keep running into post-purchase is, 'was it worth what I paid?'.'Would I have paid 60USD for it?'.
If the game had delivered that amazing SP experience PLUS a solid hope of being the future of competitive FPS, something that both CS and CoD4 players alike would flock to, then yes, it'd be fully worth the extra dosh.
It's still a good game. I just feel like at the moment it's an overpriced swan with its wings clipped. Whether said swan will ever fly in future, that's really up to IW and patches. The fact that a key binding for 'console' is listed in the manual strikes me that it's not something that they decided on at the start of development, just something they turned off close to the release candidate - meaning their minds may not be set in stone that much about the entire deal.
Conclusion: I'd recommend anyone holding on to their cash to still do so, try out the game at a cafe, and if only buy if you think your experience was worth USD60 along with the fact that you'd get spec ops and the ability to play pubs (lol). I personally don't. It's close - really close, but the deal sealer like I said above is not wanting to lap up Activision's vomit.
Maybe my opinion will change after playing around with the multiplayer a bit. Who knows.
Added on November 10, 2009, 6:57 pmOops, forgot to share the two main positives I got from running through SP
- SP is completely epic - it had something CoD4 didn't have - all-out war between two superpowers, except this time we're not using Garands and STG-44s all over again. CoD4 basically was a steamroll of Iraq (or whatever you believe the Al-Asad's country to be) and then a few covert ops missions. MW2's on the other hand campaign brings back paratroopers, trenches, tanks, artillery, completely blown out cityscapes, and puts all that in a modern setting introducing stuff like UAVs, nukes, terrorism.
- Sound engine is a -lot- better. Maybe I'm a little too oversensitive due to my line of work, but I felt that a lot of FPS sound engines really, really detracted from the experience. Don't get me wrong, CoD4's sound effects were awesome, but had that very plasticky quality you get from directional sound being a simple volume-based pan. MW2's seems to have environmental reverb, much better directional cues, and almost every gun is a pleasure to fire (the youtube videos don't do the sound clips justice). The only caveat is that the overall levels seem to be lower (probably to avoid clipping/distortion) but hey, that's what volume control knobs are for. Not to mention the greater dynamic range just adds to the experience anyway.
Also P.S.
Competitive? Probably not. Existing CoD4 scene is likely to stick with Promod Live 2.04 in terms of cash prize tourneys and leagues, with the occasional fun scrim (SnD or otherwise) with MW2... although the lack of people buying originals (for good reason) may be quite a big wrench in that works.
We'll see how the coming months look.
edit: Seeing as how this post is linked to on a couple of other forums and websites, some other posts of interest for quick skimming of the thread:
- multiplayer part of the review
- What's wrong with IW.net and how simple shit would fix it
- fraps done on request
This post has been edited by Falk: Nov 11 2009, 09:31 PM
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but that ******* together with a few other games are sitting in their plastic cover taunting me.....
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