Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Modern Wednesday: Modern Warfare 1&2

Modern Wednesday 2

Recently I have been slacking off, but there have been good reasons for it! Seriously, things have been going on. However that is no excuse to not update my blog. So without further ado, Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

The Call of Duty franchise is synonymous with recreating battles that have actually happened. OK, so it’s just been World War II. In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the folks over at Infinity Ward decide to make up their own war, which is somewhat similar to the war that’s going on right now.


The story of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare follows two separate characters. One a British S.A.S, the other a U. S. Marine. The story goes that there is terror in the middle east and the terrorists have weapons of mass destruction, it’s confirmed this time. The opening mission has players boarding on a large boat and taking out Russian terrorists to find the weapon in question. In an instant, players are thrown from fighting off the Russians to running for their lives, as the ship is attacked by enemy fighter jets, and they have to get off before it goes under. This is the kind of experience that only a Call of Duty game can provide.

So with all of this modern warfare and modern technology the gameplay has changed drastically from the past Call of Duty games. Players can have multiple attachments added to their gun for an extra assist in taking down the bad guys. Also, with night vision, flash grenades, C4 explosives, claymores, rocket propelled grenades, M203 grenade launchers, and silencers players are more than well equipped to take on the enemy. CoD: Modern Warfare has set the standard for how we play an FPS on our consoles. Suck it Halo! With the “snap to” auto aim system, players can methodically kill a squad of enemies in less than five seconds. Quickly pulling the left trigger, then the right to lock on to an enemy then fire at an enemy, in itself, creates an intense energetic game atmosphere.

Speaking of atmosphere, the atmosphere of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, in the single player, can range from hectic to eerie, in the too quiet kind of sense. Enemies are seem to be around every corner. Especially during the sequences in the campaign when players take on the role of a U.S. Marine, who blindly charge in to battle. Call of Duty creates a brilliant contrast with it’s mission selection and arrangement. With the frequent switching back from the gun-ho Marines, to the quiet, methodical British S.A.S. agents sets a rollercoaster of up and downs. There are still the signature monumental moments in the single player of Call of Duty games. Whether it be taking down a helicopter, blowing up a monstrously large power line to cut the power at the enemy base, or shooting a target from over a mile away with a fifty caliber rifle, this game has moments that you remember.

There’s also multiplayer, which also set the standard for modern FPS games on consoles. Call of Duty - 2, Halo -0. There’s the standard fare of multiplayer game types: deathmatch, capture the flag, search and destroy, and the like. Call of Duty sets itself apart from other shooters by having weapon load outs which players can customize and earn new items and abilities to customize the load outs. Call of Duty, has a host of weaponry, attachments and abilities to create dynamic and effective classes. Another feature of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer is it’s kill streak rewards. If a player is doing well, he or she can call in radar at 3 kills, air strikes at 5 and attack helicopters at 7 kills. All of these elements create an intense multiplayer experience.

All in all Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a fantastic game, with an epic single player and a superb multiplayer. This game is belongs in any fan of shooters library.



Modern Warfare 2

Those crazy British S.A.S. agents are at it again in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Modern Warfare 2 is the first direct sequel of any Call of Duty game, following the same characters and the same story line.

The story line picks up right after the first game, with Imram Zakaev finally dead, his right hand man, who happens to even more crazy than him. Makarov, the aforementioned crazy, is on the loose, and tearing things up. Players must once again take on the roles of both a British S.A.S and a U.S. Marine. Modern Warfare 2 also has players taking on the role of a C.I.A. agent, who goes under cover and follows Makarov. This is not as good of an idea as it sounds, as the C.I.A agent is found out, killed, and framed for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians that were killed in an attack lead by Makarov himself. This angers the Russian military, so they launch an attack on the U.S. directly.

The gameplay hasn’t changed a lick since the first Modern Warfare game, and that’s not a bad thing. There’s more attachments for guns, there’s new levels, yet only a five hour single player campaign. The campaign isn’t half bad, but I wish that there was more to it. It’s plain to see that with the success and the popularity that the Infinity Ward team spent a majority of their time on the multiplayer, again, not a bad thing. It’s just that the single player of the first game was so good, I wish that I could have seen a bit more of the original genius shine forth a bit more in the second time around.

The single player game of Modern Warfare 2 has the same sort of shock value and pacing as the first game, just in half the time. Which is impressive. It’s somewhat surreal and horrifying when players are fighting their way through a nice neighborhood on U.S. soil, or are forced to watch at Makarov and his men mow down countless civilians in an airport. This is war, it’s not pretty or glorious, and the Modern Warfare series states that plainly. However all that “war is hell” stuff is tossed right out the window when multiplayer is in town.

Multiplayer is the main focus, and most likely the reason that many people have purchased the game itself. With new weapons, perks, attachments, and even kill streaks Modern Warfare 2 is how competitive multiplayer is done. Players can level up and unlock new weapons, perks, and the kill streaks. Each kill streak has it’s own value, ranging from 3 kills without dying, to 25 kills without dying. New kill streaks include, but are not limited to: stealth bomber, an air strike that goes across an entire map, chopper gunner, allowing the player to control the helicopter, a Pavelow attack helicopter, like the attack helicopter, but can take more punishment, about as much as it can dole out. However, I am not a huge fan of the map design of the multiplayer. They’re all too small and feel more like an arena than a setting for a battle. Some work, some don’t.

All in all, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a solid game, which redefines the way we play multiplayer FPS games. The sad thing is that’s all it does. The story is somewhat weak and it’s just too darn short. It feels more like Counter-Strike than a Call of Duty game. But, because the multiplayer is so addicting and well done, I can forgive it.

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