Daimon's Lair

Okay, so I'm far from the only person who's going to be commenting on this game (perhaps one of the biggest of all time) but doing it serves two purposes: (1) it satisfies my current all-consuming addiction to the game; (2) helps to resurrect a blog that I've sorely neglected.

Since release day delivery at 1 p.m. (for once Amazon's service came on time!), I've put in about two hours on campaign and probably close to eight on multiplayer. Where has that gotten me? I'll break my impressions into two parts:

First off, the campaign. We've all been warned that this game--like its predecessor--is a fairly short experience. Furthermore, its story is supposed to be less cohesive and a bit far-stretched. I just started Act II (of 3) but I can see these criticisms.

Still, though, what I was looking for was something supplied by the previous game: an action title that pushed the boundaries. Call of Duty 4 was a revolutionary title in many ways, but one of my favorite aspects was the novel aspects to its story. Beginning in "Charlie Don't Surf" you see a war against Islamic radicals. Then Kamarov introduces you to the "new" Russia. A nuclear blast goes off, killing one of the POV characters (!). All of this combines over the course of the (brief) campaign to create a dystopian view of the modern battlefield. Accurate--painfully accurate--to the realities of the present, but with a distinctly dark twist.

Modern Warfare 2 takes that dystopian vision and turns it up to "11".

*SPOILERS*
Early in the game you discover that the efforts to preserve Russia against the ultra-nationalists utterly failed (even though it was a military success). The terrorist Imran Zakhaev is now lionized as the hero of the new Russia (!).

The scope of global terror is greater, more destructive, and smarter. This will be a difficult war to win, one which demands sacrifices--something that MW2 provides early and often.

The campaign has taken me (so far) from Kasakhstan to Moscow, to Rio de Janeiro. But the way it begins is awesome: in Afghanistan. Unlike the "generic" Middle East setting of the first game, you start in an actual theater of the War on Terror. I can understand (some of) the controversy surrounding another developer's "Three Days in Fallujah", but it's refreshing to see a developer avoid PC and have an Islamic nemesis hailing from a real country. No white-washing here.

I can already see how far-fetched the story could become as the game progresses, but it's already given me what I loved from the first-game: a story that pushes the boundaries, but not through adult content (though, of course, this is far from a kid's game).

Multiplayer has so far been nothing short of addictive. I enjoy the gameplay of COD4 but I only recently got into it (as opposed to Halo 3), partly in preparation for MW2's release. I'm not good (at all) but I started to enjoy it. COD4 was my first introduction to class-based multiplayer and, quite frankly, it annoyed me. Weapon unlocks and the lack of skill-based matchmaking was something foreign to me after so long in the Halo-verse.

MW2 uses the same basic formula, but it's so much better. Weapon unlocks take about the same time, but there's more challenges to complete, and more exp bonuses. It seems like just about every match I get a bonus for something (like making a kill after dying three or more times, which happens a lot). The constant gratification of that, plus the addition of "accolades" (MW2's take on Halo 3's medals), makes it a more involving experience this time around--less an exp slog like COD4 was, for me.

My current favorite weapon is the tried and true M-4 that I fully unlocked in COD4. Once I get it mastered (all unlocks--and there are twice as many this time around), I'll explore some other classes. Right now I'm still having fun experimenting with different perk combinations (again, more of these) and learning maps.

Last night I had a few moments of rather good success, even being the MVP on a couple teams (during losing efforts, I have to add). Believe my current killstreak best is five. Not great but respectable. Which brings up something I love that they changed in MW2. Once you earn a killstreak reward, you own it--even if you die. It seemed like I would earn a UAV in COD4 and then immediately die. This time around, I can call it in after I respawn.

The basic formula remains the same, but the numerous tweaks and additions make it that much better. Dare I say, another aspect turned up to "11"?

And there's still a whole other aspect of the game I haven't even started on yet!