Modern Warfare felt like you were playing through a movie – in an awesome way
It’s been almost four years since the original Modern Warfare came out. For some reason, this past week I’ve been feeling nostalgic, so instead of opening up Deus Ex, I decided to play through the Modern Warfare campaign for the seventh or eighth time. I aim to play through both Modern Warfare titles before the release of the third and final installment, just to get some sort of grasp on the crazy storyline that is taking place. Playing through the game, I’m incredibly impressed about what a tight campaign Modern Warfare presents. Spoiler warnings by the way, but of course if you haven’t played this game yet……
In BioShock 2, you get to play the role of a Big Daddy
I finally got to spend several hours with BioShock 2 these last few days, so I’m ready to share my impressions. If you’ve been following Leveling Down for a while, you’re probably aware that my Game of the Year in 2007 was BioShock. That was a crazy good year in gaming, so for it to beat out Halo 3, The Orange Box, Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4 for me that meant it was ridiculously good. The sequel has been handed off to 4 different developers, and there’s even multiplayer now which has learned a thing or two from Modern Warfare. Does the sequel look to carry the quality of the first or even surpass it? Read on for my impressions of BioShock 2 after playing through about a quarter of the campaign and an hour of the multiplayer. More »
Obviously my claim that Left 4 Dead 2 will ruin the holidays is a little far-fetched, but let me explain. While I didn’t love the recently released Left 4 Dead 2 demo, I think the game will still be an enjoyable co-op title. I still have it pre-ordered, yet the primary reason for my crazy accusation is this: Left 4 Dead 2 is releasing 1 week after Modern Warfare 2.
Ever sit down and think what your ideal engagement range for first person/third person shooter games is? I was musing over this thought myself recently after playing several of these games with some friends and thinking about why I’m excited for Modern Warfare 2 tomorrow. I noticed that most of my friends play differently, and for a shooter, there seems to be an ideal range that people prefer to engage enemies at. This “epiphany” may actually lead me to understand the primary reason why I am not a huge fan of hugely popular online shooters like Halo and Gears of War – my ideal range doesn’t seem to be handled the way I like.
Barring the somewhat mixed reviews describing the game as being too expensive for what it is for some people ($60 for a 4-5 hour campaign, a Horde mode,and 3 new multiplayer maps), Halo 3 ODST most likely still had phenomenal day 1 sales. How do I know? Just look at my online friend list the night of Halo 3 ODST’s release!
I’ve been slowly making my way through the campaign so far, and I’m actually digging it more than previous Halo campaigns. I’ve yet to figure out why besides its accessibility, but I’m sure after more time with it I’ll know. Still, I admit that I am somewhat shocked to see the “foothold” it has on the 360 community. I’ve yet to play a game where I look on my friends list and everyone online is playing the same game. The only other game that has potential to dominate my friends list on release day like Halo 3 ODST is Modern Warfare 2 - but even then, Halo seems to be a more uniting game for 360 owners than Call of Duty.
A recent poll conducted by OTX indicates that only about half of the Halo 3 ODST purchasers plan on picking up Modern Warfare 2, although I’m surprised that almost half of them are interested in Assassin’s Creed 2, a sequel to a single player game I found a tad repetitive. I guess I’ll just have to see on November 10 what happens to my friends list that night, so don’t let me down Modern Warfare fans!
This friends thing really is some good viral advertising for 360 games as well. I’m glad I’m a part of the club that is playing this game on release day, and if I didn’t have it, I would feel totally left out seeing everyone playing it last night. Here’s to hoping for some good Firefights and online multiplayer in the immediate future…
Infinity Ward recently released a trailer highlighting some of the multiplayer gameplay in Modern Warfare 2, and for many Call of Duty 4 fans (myself definitely included), it’s looking great. I’ve already pre-ordered the game, and I’m guessing the trailer probably got some more pre-orders going.
Things I noted from the trailer:
1. Customized Killstreaks
This is an interesting idea, since it adds on even more to the perks in customizing how you want to play. Looks like there’s a grid of 15 unlocks for that killstreak screen, so I would imagine that you would have a choice from three different killstreak rewards per killstreak. And wow, the AC130 one is for a Killstreak of 11. From the grid, it seems like each row could correspond to 3, 5, 7, 9, and finally, 11. So maybe the top row for 3 kills could be UAV, cloaking yourself for 15 seconds, or heatvision, but you would only be able to use one per row for the round. That of course begs the question why the player already has an 11 killstreak unlocked, but nothing before that.
2. Levels
In the trailer, there seems to be several levels shown: a dusty rooftops level that has some construction going on, an abandoned city setting, and an outdoor urban setting that looks to take place in Brazil since the Christ the Redeemer statue is rising up in the background. The AC130 footage briefly shows footage of a desert level, and this looks to be a small fighting area that may not be much bigger than Call of Duty 4′s Shipment level. We also see a level where the player is going through a greenhouse on a mountain - the snow-capped mountains in the background may indicate that it’s set in Europe, or even the United States. And finally, the last level shows an indoor level taking place in an office – which should please fans of Counter-Strike’s cs_office, Call of Duty 4′s Vacant, or even Rainbow Six players in general.
3. New Gear
From seconds 36-45 in the trailer, you may notice several interesting weaponry. The obvious one is the rocket launcher, which now seems to get a lockon for easier targetting. It’s about time, is all I can say. And notice that the plane is also deploying countermeasures against that rocket! Did you also see the attachment on the rifle itself? It’s a heat sensor-like thing right out of Aliens! If that thing is just a regular unlock for a weapon, I don’t know how it’s going to be possible for opposing players to be stealthy, unless there’s a perk that negates it. I think the heat/heartbeat sensor kind of made Rainbow Six games too easy, since you knew where all the terrorists were, but maybe this will be handled a bit more fairly. And of course the last section of the trailer appears to be some sort of sticky grenade. While the segment was amusing, the verdict is still out for me as to whether or not it will actually be better than a regular grenade, because for balance sake the explosion radius of the sticky grenade is probably reduced.
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