Originally Posted by Princess Kate  Ok, so, I bought the game and finished the single player.
I found the multi-player in COD4:MW almost unplayable, and full of racist and sexist comments from the XBOXers. Not my cup of tea. With that said, the single player campaign was one of the best most cinematic campaigns I've ever played through. Sure it was scripted within an inch of it's life, but it was fun! Fun, and very tense. There are some remarkable moments in that game, and some of the levels are all time classics.
So I came to MW2 expecting more of the same: flawlessly executed if highly scripted first person adventuring, based upon realistic conflicts that might be found in the modern world. The sequel, while fun, was also a big disappointment if I'm being honest with myself.
First, the good: The Afghanistan level. This is what I wanted the rest of the game to be, basically. Tense, scripted action that makes me feel like I'm a part of the War on Terror. I loved the training level, where you're helping the local forces "stand up so we can stand down". I loved that the Afghan troop in the first fighting level is ignoring everyone and eating a chocolate bar. I LOVED the fact that they stole all the terminology from "GENERATION KILL". Bogeys are now "foot mobiles", a touch I especially liked . (I am a big GKill fan). I was surprised but ultimately happy that they even blatantly ripped off dialog from GKill, as much of the in game chatter in that first level is flat out lifted from the HBO miniseries. I guess if they were going to save time on writing for that level though, you wish they'd have spent more time on the rest of the story so that it didn't ruin the game.... (more on that later)
The rest of the levels were generally fun enough, but no single on was a stand out in the way almost every level of MW1 is a classic. Some were just "good", but not particularly great.
Things that were OK: The new "breach" mechanic. Maybe they should have used it once, and never again. I much preferred the MW1 mechanic where you actually had to aim and throw a flash bang yourself around the corner and then quickly line up your shots. This turns it into an impossible to fail mini game.... there seem to be alot of those.
The ice climbing was cool, but barely a game. In fact, you don't even need to latch on when you do the big jump, press nothing and the game saves you anyway. I wish the climbing were a bit more like mirrors edge, so that you could look around once you have your picks in and be impressed by the heights. The game did a great work with the graphics on the mountain, but then once you start to climb you just stare at an ice wall for 50 seconds till you finish.
What about that cool section where you lower yourself by rope to knife a guy? That was awesome! Till I played it a second time and realized that no game play was involved. As soon as you latch on, the whole "hold RT to brake while descending" mechanic was a lie, and the game did it automatically for you. If in fact you didn't hold RT to brake, nothing bad would happen. You wouldn't crash. You wouldn't give your position away. In fact, the entire exercise was nothing more than a cleverly disguised cinematic. Fun the first time, but something with absolutely no replay value.
The game was full of this, and I found it kind of annoying.
THE BAD: The entire middle section of the game. The Russian invasion was the stuff of fantasy, not "modern warfare". If they ever DID invade, it would not be with a million paratroopers, and tanks. It would be with nukes, drones, and a navy blockade. That entire part of the game killed my enthusiasm and the sense of realism the series had worked so hard to build. It's like I was suddenly playing a very well put together level of "TURNING POINT: FALL OF LIBERTRY". Not only that, but those levels themselves were also the least fun to play of the bunch. There is material for a good level, when it comes to the subject of an attack on the capitol, but you need to do it in day time and as part of fighting off a particularly well organized terror attack. The Russian invasion stupidity was nearly game killing
The plot flew off the rails, and my interest in the story never really recovered. As I played, I kept thinking of all the stuff they could have done that would've been cooler. How about a day time level in the mountains of Afghanistan, where you sneak in to a Taliban camp to laser-tag a target for a drone attack? Once the attack happens you're chased by the entire taliban to the evac point. I have a million of similar ideas, joint missions with the Chinese, black ops in Mexico, etc. Any one of these would have made more sense in the context of "modern warfare" than a WW2 esque paratroop invasion of TGI-Fridays.
PS If the game was going to court controversy, I much rather would have had a level where you're fighting against a terror attack on grand central station, or the capitol, or something like that. The stupid airport slaughter level barely involved any game play, and has zero replay value. A giant waste of time.
PS: What about a level that takes place during a gas attack? You have to run around in that bulky gas mask and suit, which might obscure your vision somewhat, as people who don't have masks die around you? I'm full of more good ideas than Infinity Ward apparently....
PPS: I loved the graphics on the space station level, but would have appreciated some sort of thing where you have to maneuver to one side of the station from another, or done anything in space other than "Look to the right. Ok, now die. Thanks for playing"
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