Yes, we played it. Here's what you want to know about.
This map is called Favela.Let's get the obvious stuff about Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer out of the way. Yes, it still runs at 60 frames per second. Yes, you rank up from match to match, constantly unlocking new weapons and special abilities as you go. You pull the left trigger to zoom in. Anyone who spent more than a few minutes online with the first Modern Warfare knows exactly how the action will feel in the sequel. On top of that core action, Infinity Ward has been busy layering a dizzying amount of new trinkets, goodies, doodads and whirligigs onto the already elaborate create-a-class framework from before. Actually, there's so many small new additions to the gameplay that I need to itemize them.
Customizable Kill Streaks. Possibly the most anticipated new feature is a pretty darn cool one. You now unlock kill streaks as you rank up, and though you can still only take three into a match with you at one time, you can at least have some control over how many kills you need to rack up to use them. Some of the kill streak rewards require three, four, five, six, seven, nine kills… In addition to old favorites like the UAV, there are things like a care package that's parachuted in and grants you a random upgrade; stationary sentry guns you can put down to beef up defenses, especially in objective-based games; and of course the AC130 gunship, which requires 11 kills to use (and which, consequently, I did not see). Best of all, it seems like kill streaks stack, since I was able to use my five-kill Predator missile, then immediately activate the four-kill care package right afterwards.
Death Streaks. Death streaks? Yes, you will now be rewarded for dying too many times in a row, in an effort to prevent frustration for those just getting into Modern Warfare 2. The only two in the demo I played were Painkiller, which starts you with a triple health boost after you're killed three times without making any kills of your own, and Copycat, which lets you use the loadout and perks of the last guy who killed you for one life.
Secondary Weapons Replace Pistols. No more piddly sidearms. Well, not quite true; pistols are still in there if you want them, but you can pass up the lo' Desert Eagle in favor of tactical shotguns, automatic machine pistols, and other nice gear to augment your primary rifle. All these secondary weapons can take attachments just like the primaries can, so if you want to throw a suppressor or digital camo on your shotgun, more power to ya.
Fancy New Equipment Instead of Grenades. Toss out your frag grenades, if you want, and replace them with some nifty gear that serves a variety of other purposes. Perhaps you would prefer Semtex timed sticky explosives? How about some throwing knives? The most abstract but perhaps coolest piece of equipment I saw was the tactical insertion, which looks like a typical flare when you throw it down. In practice, it acts as a mobile, single-use spawn point, so anytime you're moving into a heated area, throw one down and that's where you'll restart if you die.
This one is Highrise.Experience Boosts Galore. It seems like you get experience point bonuses for doing damn near anything in the new game. I'm not just talking headshots; any stylish or meaningful kill is going to give you some kind of experience boost. Kill a guy just before he's about to get a kill streak? Bonus. Take out the guy who just killed you? Bonus. Get the last kill in a match? Bonus. IW says the leveling (which now caps at level 70) has been tweaked to take the faster accumulation of points into account, and you'll get something gameplay-related for prestiging this time around. They aren't saying what, though.
Callsigns. Infinity Ward has been playing a lot of Street Fighter IV. The title and emblem system from that game is reproduced almost exactly here, with dozens upon dozens of descriptive phrases you can unlock and slap on your profile to give other players a sense of exactly how you've been putting it down online. The titles and emblems you can get will correspond to your behaviors, so if you spend a lot of time camping or you rack up a ton of melee kills, everyone will know it. The titles I saw in this demo version
NO BETA. THERE IS NO OPEN OR PUBLIC BETA PLANNED FOR MODERN WARFARE 2. NEITHER OF US (YOU OR ME) WILL PLAY IT UNTIL IT'S OUT. THAT'S KIND OF A BUMMER. INFINITY WARD PLEASE RECONSIDER.
I think it's safe to say nobody expected a stark reinvention of the wheel with Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer, just a long and thoughtful list of subtle improvements, tweaks, and additions to an already winning formula. And that's exactly what this looks like. I overheard a pretty funny, apt comment at this event that the only bad thing about Modern Warfare 2 is, it's not coming out for another two months. Yeah, that guy pretty much had it right.
This map is called Favela.Let's get the obvious stuff about Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer out of the way. Yes, it still runs at 60 frames per second. Yes, you rank up from match to match, constantly unlocking new weapons and special abilities as you go. You pull the left trigger to zoom in. Anyone who spent more than a few minutes online with the first Modern Warfare knows exactly how the action will feel in the sequel. On top of that core action, Infinity Ward has been busy layering a dizzying amount of new trinkets, goodies, doodads and whirligigs onto the already elaborate create-a-class framework from before. Actually, there's so many small new additions to the gameplay that I need to itemize them.
Customizable Kill Streaks. Possibly the most anticipated new feature is a pretty darn cool one. You now unlock kill streaks as you rank up, and though you can still only take three into a match with you at one time, you can at least have some control over how many kills you need to rack up to use them. Some of the kill streak rewards require three, four, five, six, seven, nine kills… In addition to old favorites like the UAV, there are things like a care package that's parachuted in and grants you a random upgrade; stationary sentry guns you can put down to beef up defenses, especially in objective-based games; and of course the AC130 gunship, which requires 11 kills to use (and which, consequently, I did not see). Best of all, it seems like kill streaks stack, since I was able to use my five-kill Predator missile, then immediately activate the four-kill care package right afterwards.
Death Streaks. Death streaks? Yes, you will now be rewarded for dying too many times in a row, in an effort to prevent frustration for those just getting into Modern Warfare 2. The only two in the demo I played were Painkiller, which starts you with a triple health boost after you're killed three times without making any kills of your own, and Copycat, which lets you use the loadout and perks of the last guy who killed you for one life.
Secondary Weapons Replace Pistols. No more piddly sidearms. Well, not quite true; pistols are still in there if you want them, but you can pass up the lo' Desert Eagle in favor of tactical shotguns, automatic machine pistols, and other nice gear to augment your primary rifle. All these secondary weapons can take attachments just like the primaries can, so if you want to throw a suppressor or digital camo on your shotgun, more power to ya.
Fancy New Equipment Instead of Grenades. Toss out your frag grenades, if you want, and replace them with some nifty gear that serves a variety of other purposes. Perhaps you would prefer Semtex timed sticky explosives? How about some throwing knives? The most abstract but perhaps coolest piece of equipment I saw was the tactical insertion, which looks like a typical flare when you throw it down. In practice, it acts as a mobile, single-use spawn point, so anytime you're moving into a heated area, throw one down and that's where you'll restart if you die.
This one is Highrise.Experience Boosts Galore. It seems like you get experience point bonuses for doing damn near anything in the new game. I'm not just talking headshots; any stylish or meaningful kill is going to give you some kind of experience boost. Kill a guy just before he's about to get a kill streak? Bonus. Take out the guy who just killed you? Bonus. Get the last kill in a match? Bonus. IW says the leveling (which now caps at level 70) has been tweaked to take the faster accumulation of points into account, and you'll get something gameplay-related for prestiging this time around. They aren't saying what, though.
Callsigns. Infinity Ward has been playing a lot of Street Fighter IV. The title and emblem system from that game is reproduced almost exactly here, with dozens upon dozens of descriptive phrases you can unlock and slap on your profile to give other players a sense of exactly how you've been putting it down online. The titles and emblems you can get will correspond to your behaviors, so if you spend a lot of time camping or you rack up a ton of melee kills, everyone will know it. The titles I saw in this demo version
NO BETA. THERE IS NO OPEN OR PUBLIC BETA PLANNED FOR MODERN WARFARE 2. NEITHER OF US (YOU OR ME) WILL PLAY IT UNTIL IT'S OUT. THAT'S KIND OF A BUMMER. INFINITY WARD PLEASE RECONSIDER.
I think it's safe to say nobody expected a stark reinvention of the wheel with Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer, just a long and thoughtful list of subtle improvements, tweaks, and additions to an already winning formula. And that's exactly what this looks like. I overheard a pretty funny, apt comment at this event that the only bad thing about Modern Warfare 2 is, it's not coming out for another two months. Yeah, that guy pretty much had it right.
They should also sell just the MP via XBLA/PSN for like 40 bucks. I can imagine how many people would buy the digital version after the disc version, simply for the convenience of not having to make sure the disc in in the drive when the addict begins to fiend.
Not liking the Kill Streaks.. Using peoples loadout is fine. 3x health is NOT. The fast paced action of MW is what I'm looking for. Not Quake Arena. Edit: Death streaks, not kill streaks. This stuff is getting confusing!
Thanks for this Brad great read and it makes me feel like the dude in the last sentience, 2 more months is going to be nothing but, I want to play this game so freakin bad!!! Even more so now that it has all this cool stuff added to it that I didn't know of till now. I always felt as though prestige was just another cool looking medal, I hope that there are going to be cool upgrades of some sort that we will get now, at least something more than a shinny new medal.
Sucks that there is not going to be a beta.
Um Muttinus_Rump , sorry but this looks and sounds alot better than the 1st one.
" Not liking the Kill Streaks.. Using peoples loadout is fine. 3x health is NOT. The fast paced action of MW is what I'm looking for. Not Quake Arena. "
what do you mean by that last sentence? you're not saying call of duty is faster than quake right
" Not liking the Kill Streaks.. Using peoples loadout is fine. 3x health is NOT. The fast paced action of MW is what I'm looking for. Not Quake Arena. Edit: Death streaks, not kill streaks. This stuff is getting confusing! "
"Painkiller, which starts you with a triple health boost after you're killed three times without making any kills of your own".
Idk that sounds far enough for all the newbs. I am sure I will need at first too so I like the idea.
Borderland's underwhelming videos to a barrage of Modern Warfare 2 info. Talk about going from one extreme to another. Okay I'm going to stop taking jabs at Borderlands. Anyway, Modern Warfare 2 looks great. If you're someone who's paid attention to the COD4 forums you've already realized most of these updates were things the community asked for. I think it's awesome how much Infinity Ward listens to their community (other developers take notes?). They reinvented online multiplayer with Modern Warfare, and now they've made it even better. It's hard to even say how they could improve it instead of adding more stuff like they did. If there were anything more I'd want from a IW Call of Duty, I guess I'd like to see IW's take on a robust coop for 4 players. I love Nazi Zombie mode in WaW. That stuff, but with IW's quality and modern weapons. Tell me who wouldn't play that.
Nice to see that they decided to noob it up even further. thanks but no thanks some of us like games that take actual skill to play. I'll stick with the MAG beta and KZ2
LOL: I bet Brad is going to get a lot of use out of the Death Streak :P
Its funny how this community is really impressed, I am too, but the people on System Wars on Gamespot and already whinging about these features they read in this very article!!
@TimesHero: You should prolly get that condition checked out. And no I'll also be playing CSS, TF2, and maybe some ArmA. @PolyesterPimp: And how am I a fanboy because I'm not gushing with praise for changes that seemed to be designed for the lowest common denominator? And a fanboy of what exactly?
So all I have to do is die three times and I automatically have 3 times as much health as everyone else? That's fucking retarded. Also not liking the spawn point flare thing. I can basically throw it at a guy, get myself killed, and immediately spawn right next to him?
Goddamn it, I wasn't looking forward to MW2 - since it seemed to not really improve multiplayer combat. I was so wrong, turrets alone make this game buy worthy :-(
I think this game is going to be really good, but I just get bored with online shooters. I know I'm going to play a few rounds online and be done with it, mainly because I'm done with online shooters. We'll see.
" So all I have to do is die three times and I automatically have 3 times as much health as everyone else? That's fucking retarded. Also not liking the spawn point flare thing. I can basically throw it at a guy, get myself killed, and immediately spawn right next to him? What the hell "
Naw, he said you have to die 3 times while not getting any kills of your own. This will somewhat ease the pain of the many random ways you can die in this game. Like those fuckers that throw random grenades at the sky.
One problem I had with COD4 is once a player or a team starts losing, they lose and lose hard. And the winning player/team just kicks ass, odds tipping to his/their favour with the kill streaks.
The deathstreaks and multiple Kllstreak options really help balance the playing field so much more.
I thought I'd be disapointed with MW2' s multiplayer as I was with Cod4 but maybe, just maybe, they have finally fixed it.
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