After the Hype: Modern Warfare 2

This is the first of something I'm considering doing for all the games I review (Yes, I'm acutely aware that so far it's just 2).

You see, I recently noticed that despite my massive praise for MW2, I don't actually play it anymore. Which lead to me to think, Do I still think the same of games after the initial hype of "OMG I'm finally playing >insert new game title here
So here goes:

Modern Warfare 2. I read online yesterday that it has made over $1 billion since it was sold not too long ago in November last year. This figure didn't surprise me at all. For two reasons. 1: It was so hyped up that it successfully managed to make pretty much every other game hoping to release last year piss themselves and delay until this year. And 2: It cost 45 fucking quid. For the STANDARD edition.

To some extent, it is deserving of all the praise it gets. The single player story is epic in most sense of the word. The narrative is gripping and not completely unplausable (once you get over the fact that every guy named "Ramirez" seemingly does everything, and you are, wherever you happen to be, always "Oscar Mike"). The Spec-Ops missions are an original idea which are quite enjoyable. The first time round.

The thing is, they marketed the Spec-ops missions as these epic action sequences (which, to be fair, they are) and could be played over and over again.

I disagree. This could be due to the fact that me and my brother decided to play them through on Veteran first time round (hardcore, I know), but personally, I think it's due to MW2's biggest flaw.

Replayability.

You may have noticed that I didn't mention the Online multiplayer in the paragraph up there, so let's talk about that.

Online multiplayer is pretty much the big thing in gaming right now. It's considered to be the main replay value of any game which supports it. But I view it as something that detracts focus and attention away from the single player story. Case in point: Look at Halo 3. That's hardly a gripping story... Anyway, MW2 is actually and exception to this rule, it still has a very good single player, even if the plot is a bit all over the place. But it's online multiplayer has also seen a massive overhaul since CoD4.

This had me a little worried about it to be honest, because there's only so many changes you can make to something, and it still feel familiar. It turned out to be the least of my worries. Oh all the new guns and perks and killstreaks all work fine. But it's the glitches and bugs and a little something called Party Chat which completely shat on my fun here.

It seems to me that for every patch and update that Infinity Ward release, it brings with it more tales of woe and unlimited ammo. To my knowledge most have been fixed now, but by now it's too late. I no longer really care. I don't play it anymore. The main replay factor this game has seemed rushed and buggy and it drove me away. And it's the same flaws that stop me coming back. My friends no longer play it, so why should I?

See, I like playing with my friends online, I don't play multiplayer without them normally, so taking away Party Chat? Rookie move IW. Now this is turning into a bit of a rant, so I'll wrap this up.

From a technical standpoint, Modern Warfare 2 is better in every way than CoD4. Improved Graphics, AI, textures, sounds etc. But for some reason, it lacks. Some of the fun and character of it is gone. I can't really explain it, but there is something missing when you think back to all the time you spent on Modern Warfare 1, and then realise that this just isn't as fun, or enjoyable. Especially online.

So this week it has hit the $1 billion mark, but what I want to see, is how many people are still playing compared to the first week of release?

If I were to score this now? I'd have to score it twice. From the technical side, and from a fun side. For the former, I suspect the score would remain the same as my initial review, but for the latter... I'd give it about a 6/10. 6 because it can be fun with friends, but glitches and a sense of lacking bring it down.