New Medal of Honour Announced; Box-Art Revealed

EA announced their latest Medal of Honour game today (I know it says Honor, but that is the American spelling) by releasing the box art.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it is set in the modern day, and is likely to be EA’s answer to the overwhelming success of Modern Warfare 2.

Imaginatively titled “Medal of Honor” (just for you Americans), it centres around the  ‘Tier 1 Operators’, which we assume to be similar to the Task Force 141 in Modern Warfare 2. I’m sure more details will be released in due course.

See the box art here: Medal of Honour Box Art

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Overview

 

Title: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
 

Release Date: 10^th November 2009 (Worldwide)
 

Developer/Publisher: Infinity Ward/Activision
 

Genre: Shooter
 

Platform[s]: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Storyline

 

Set five years after the death of Imran Zakhaev (Call of Duty 4’s main antagonist), the Ultranationalist party has taken control of Russia and starts attacking the US. A terrorist called Makarov (one of Zakhaev’s former generals) heads up the attacks, and it’s down to Soap and a host of new characters (along with an old favourite) to hunt Makarov and shut him down. Kicking off in Afghanistan and taking in many locations around the world from Washington D.C. to the Caucasus Mountains in Russia, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is an epic tale of battle, honour and betrayal that will – quite simply – blow your socks off, put them back on and then blow them off again, just for a laugh. And you will love every single bloody minute of it.

Gameplay

First of all, the basics: MW2 plays exactly the same as CoD4, and despite a change to the HUD everything else remains the same. In case you haven’t played CoD4 (apparently there’s still a couple of you out there), LS controls movement, RS is the “look” function, RT is your (often hair) trigger, LT aims, LB and RB launch differing types of grenade, and the face buttons reload and switch weapons. MW2 also employs the same squad-based FPS action as the first outing, using increasingly impressive set-pieces and situations to move the action along – which, being honest, left a lot of gamers wondering if things could get any better after Zakhaev had been dispatched and, as it stands right now, let me be the first to tell you that things are precisely 153% better. Let’s get this straight, MW2 rocks. Not just in the “oooh, that’s quite good” way either, this is full-on-rock-and-roll “Ozzy Osbourne just jumped on stage with Kurt Cobain and Keith Moon and nailed a 20-minute long rendition of the best bit in Stairway To Heaven” rocks.

The game starts with the standard training level, but instead of treating you like the newcomer, you’re instructing a group of new recruits at an Army base in Afghanistan. Wandering around the base post-training, the attention to detail becomes clear – soldiers play basketball, fix trucks, smoke and trade small talk, adding to the level of realism and helping you feel like you’re actually part of a living, breathing unit. This follows throughout the main campaign, and with increasingly hair-raising moments thrown at you (sometimes relentlessly), coupled with the sound of gunfire, Hans Zimmer’s superb soundtrack and your comrades voices backing you up in your headset we can honestly say we’ve never experienced anything quite as epic or immersive.

Although the game suffers from the tried and tested “CoD respawning enemies” factor, Infinity Ward have reworked the AI so your quarry will now actively hunt you down and attempt to push you towards the next checkpoint – although at times it’s all too easy to become pinned down and overwhelmed by the sheer number of bullets flying at you, and popping in and out of cover to take your foes down usually ends in death from an opposite angle. It’s usually impossible to take out every enemy in a section (unless you’re particularly skilled), and running away is sometimes the best form of defence. Which begs the question, where did the 20-odd guys who were just trying to shoot your face off disappear to after you ran into the next street?! It’s a minor quibble however, as the next street is usually full of more enemies, and the action can be so frantic you really need to keep your wits about you and be aware of your surroundings in order to progress.

It is possible to just blast through the game in as gung-ho a manner as possible, but in order to stay alive you need to adapt tactically to each situation, and we’d actively encourage you to do so in order to get the most from the game. Dying over and over again in the same place for the same reasons can get old rather too quickly. For instance, in one stage you’re pitched into darkness without night vision, and the area fills with bad guys with laser sights on their weapons – firing at the source of multiple red dots and keeping your location secret is a tough call and requires a bit of subtlety and a keen aiming eye to pull it off, whereas just steaming in will get you torn to shreds. It’s the knowing which tactic to employ in each situation that’s the kicker, and from time to time things can descend into a little bit of trial and error, but it keeps the campaign fresh and exciting and the whole thing will keep you on your toes until the final (shocking) stages of the game.

Each stage is distinct and memorable in it’s own right, asking you to provide predator missile support whilst defending a Burger Town restaurant in one or zipping down the side of a snowy mountain in a skidoo in another, and the set-pieces are sometimes ridiculously epic…I know we just mentioned about the closing stages of the game being shocking, but we can’t enthuse about MW2’s story and diversity enough. It’s a rip-snorting adventure that careers you from situation to situation in a fantastic fashion and it’s all too easy to become wrapped up in its “filmic” qualities.

But we do feel that the Single Player game might be slightly overlooked in favour of the (albeit superb) Multiplayer option. Building on the perks system of the original, MW2 offers a heap of new perks (including ‘pro’ versions), callsigns, emblems, attachments and killstreaks to mess around with – and all can be customized to suit you and your preferred playing style. These are unlocked by completing challenges or getting to a certain rank in multiplayer, and for every kill, condition met or game won you receive XP, adding to your overall ranking level. All the usual Team Deathmatch and Free For All match types return, but IW have thrown in some new games in the form of Moshpit (a randomly selected ‘playlist’ of three games), Team Deathmatch Express (offering a shorter time in the lobby between games) and a new Third-Person mode in the Free For All and One on One games, which pulls things out of the standard FPS view and means you can see your CoD character on screen for the first time. Although it sounds like it shouldn’t work, it does – and it manages to keep the same fast pacing as the rest of the multiplayer options and offers another fresh aspect to the game.

Added to this is the new Special Ops mode, a series of challenges that can be tackled singularly or in co-op, and range from Horde style endurance tests to protecting your comrades with an AC-130. It’s a brilliant addition to an already stellar package, and we guarantee you’ll want to rinse the mode to get the max amount of stars for each mission, and the kudos from your peers, of course!

Graphics

If CoD4 is the attractive older sister, then MW2 is the drop-dead gorgeous younger sibling you just knew would turn out to be way more attractive. The levels are varied and beautiful, and in HD they are glorious. Dust kicks up in sunlight, gun barrels flare and things catch on fire, causing a heat haze to rise. If things weren’t so hectic it would be quite easy to spend a fair bit of time wandering around exploring and seeing all the little touches each level has to offer (such as the Army base in the opening training section or the chickens frantically thrashing about in their cages during the Rio De Janeiro stage), and some of the vistas on offer are stunning. The characters look chunky and individual, and the lip-syncing and motion-capture is absolutely spot on. The only minor complaint we have is the dodgy “bobbing” animation NPC’s seem to have when running up stairs in the main campaign, but strangely enough this either doesn’t happen or isn’t noticeable during Multiplayer. You can really tell that Infinity Ward have stepped up their graphics engine for this one, and it’s hard to believe our faithful grey boxes haven’t given up the ghost processing all the beauty.

Audio

Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer provides the musical score for MW2, and it compliments each situation magnificently. From points of relative serenity to the most frantic of shootouts, Zimmer’s accompaniment adds an extra layer of sheen on to an already polished title. At points it’s both beautiful and poignant and makes some of the more dramatic set pieces a completely emotional experience. The voice acting is superb – every character you come across feels like a real person, and never once is the script clichéd, stereotypical or hackneyed. If MW2 had been pitched as a film we suspect Hollywood would be fighting amongst itself for it – and with all the old cast reprising their roles and some of the new guard (Lance Henriksen, for example) providing vocal duties you will find yourself caring about each and every character within the game. You will notice incidental noises like explosions, bullet ricochets and birds singing in the trees during a particularly frantic battle scene and you’ll wonder just how much there is going on that you really haven’t noticed.

Overall Score & Replayability

Modern Warfare 2 is the most hotly anticipated game of 2009 – if not the decade – and judging by the success of CoD4, it’s not hard to imagine Infinity Ward have attempted to pull out all the stops to go one better by making MW2 an even more epic, enjoyable and immersive experience. While we all knew IW would pull it off with ease, there has always been the small voice in the back of everyone’s mind saying “What if it’s rubbish? What if it doesn’t live up to the hype?”, and I’m pleased to say that that voice is now well and truly silenced by an M4A1 with an ACOG Sight.

Despite the general shortness of the excellent main campaign (on average it’s taken the VGR team around 5 ½ hours to complete), it’s so ridiculously epic that it doesn’t feel like you’ve been cheated at all. Add to this the enemy intel items you need to hunt down in each level and the Veteran difficulty mode to unlock, you won’t mind returning to it again and again. However, Multiplayer is the real jewel in MW2’s crown, with its refined customization options and sheer addictiveness; we can see it holding us over until MW3 inevitably rears its wonderful head. Don’t look at MW2 like another FPS or another instalment in the CoD series – look at it as it deserves to be: a beautiful piece of modern interactive entertainment. Purchase instantly.

Modern Warfare 2 tops Xbox Live

The official charts for Xbox Live activity have just been released for the first week of November. Guess which popular first person shooter is at the top?

1. Modern Warfare 2
2.  Call of Duty 4 
3.  Halo 3 
4.  Call of Duty: WaW 
5.  Left 4 Dead 2 – Demo
6. GTA IV
7. Gears of War 2 
8. FIFA 10 
9. Halo 3: ODST 
10. Madden NFL 10

Russia recalls Modern Warfare 2

Russia has recalled all copies of Modern Warfare 2. Infinity Ward has patched the PC version in the country to get rid of the offending airport level completely, with an edited retail version due for release in stores shortly.

Russian gamers also aren’t best pleased that the game’s plot revolves around a US/Russian war, with Russia as the agressor.

In Russia, Modern Warfare 2 plays you.

Xbox Live breaks record

A new record has been set for the number of Xbox Live users online at one time, according to Microsoft mouthpiece Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson:

“We just hit a new Xbox Live record: Over TWO MILLION people connected to the service at once,” wrote Major Nelson.

The release of Modern Warfare 2 might be connected, as just under a million people were playing the game on Live yesterday.

Activision CEO makes $20 million

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick recently exercised 2 million stock options that had vested in 2000, making him over $20 million. The recent successful release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has seen Activision exceed analyst expectations, with a resulting higher stock price.

No wonder he’s smiling.

Modern Warfare 2 pricer war in UK

Competition in the UK has resulted in good news for gamers. If you’re happy to wait until tomorrow, and get up early and stand in line, you could get a copy of Modern Warfare 2 for as little as £26, £9.99 with a recent trade-in. The shops stack up like this:

• Sainsbury’s – £26
• Asda – £32
• Tesco – £37.90 (or £25 when bought with another chart game)
• HMV – £9.99 when either Forza 3, Tekken 6 or Uncharted 2 are traded in
• GAME – £25 off when the first Modern Warfare is traded in
• Blockbuster – £44.99 (or £19.99 when a ’selected game’ traded in)
• Amazon – £43.99 (PS3/360) and £34.96 (PC) – Now just £32 (Thanks SuicidalSteve)
• Game.co.uk – £44.99 (PS3/360) and £34.99 (PC)
• Gamestation.co.uk – £44.99 (PS3/360) and £34.99 (PC)
• Play.com – £44.99 (PS3/360) and £34.99 (PC)
• Simplygames.co.uk – £46.79 (PS3/360) and £35.79 (PC)
• Zavvi.co.uk – £44.95 (PS3/360) and £34.95 (PC)

So much for the £55 RRP.

Modern Warfare 2 leaderboards reset before launch

Don’t you just hate it when you have been waiting in a queue for 2 hours for the midnight launch of a game just to get it home and see people on the leaderboards with thousands of kills?  Well Infinity Ward have announced that they will reset the leaderboards for Modern Warfare 2 before the games official launch due to people getting there grubby little mitts on the title before launch.  We welcome this with open arms and hope that everyone gets a fair chance to hit the top of the leaderboards.

Modern Warfare 2 Kill Streaks Leaked

Gamepex have stumbled upon all the kill streaks available for Modern Warfare 2 thats due for release in 8 days (7 days and 12 hours to be exact and yes we are counting).  We still get UAV at 3 kills and Chopper at 7 but we also get a Tactical Nuke at 25 kills!  Looks like I’m going to camp it up then

Here’s the full list:

3 Kills — UAV
4 Kills — Care Package
4 Kills — Counter UAV
5 Kills — Sentry Gun
5 Kills — Predator Missile
6 Kills — Precision Airstrike
7 Kills — Strike
7 Kills — Attack Heli
8 Kills — Emergency Airdrop
9 Kills — Pave Low
9 Kills — Stealth Bomber
11 Kills — Chopper Gunner
11 Kills — AC-130
15 Kills — EMP
25 Kills — Tactical Nuke

Activision didn’t want Modern Warfare

Infinity Ward boss Vince Zampella has revealed that Activision didn’t want Modern Warfare, and didn’t want the developer working on a console game. In an interview with Official Playstation magazine, Zampella said:

With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War 2, but Activision really wanted it, the compromise sort of being that we’d get some dev kits for consoles in exchange for doing a World War 2 game. We always wanted to be on consoles and Activision saw us as more of a PC developer.

And something I’ll add to that, Activision also did not want Modern Warfare. They thought working on a modern game was risky and, ‘oh my god you can’t do that, it’s crazy!’ They were doing market research to show us we were wrong the whole time.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare went on to sell over 14 million copies. Modern Warfare 2 is due for world-wide release on 10 November 2009.

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