Review: Up all night for 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'

Editor's Note:"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," a video game by Activision Blizzard Inc., was released at midnight last night. The game is expected to to be an entertainment blockbuster and fans are expected to spend at least half a billion dollars on the game in the first week. Two gaming fans from The Day's information technology department waited in line last night to get their hands on copies of the game and try it out. Here are their reviews.

The Xbox gamer: Shane Dixon

Being a Generation X male, I was one of the first generations growing up with computers and video games. Today's games are a far cry from "Pong" and the early, or should I say classic, Atari 2600 games. So when the executive editor walked into my department asking if anyone was going to the midnight release for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," a sudden impromptu discussion erupted amongst the group. Well, we're all gamers and we only differ on the choice of game platforms we use; three PC gamers and two Xbox 360 gamers. So that is where this review begins.

Having played the whole "Call of Duty" series, it was a natural choice for me to say sure, I'll volunteer to get no sleep, to play for four, maybe even six hours and write a review, why not. After all, this was not the first midnight release or no sleep until you finish the campaign night in my life! So off I went to a GameStop store in the Crystal Mall and reserved a copy for my Xbox 360, Then I went home looking to count the hours until I went back to get my new game! While I was there I found out that close to 1,000 copies were pre-ordered at the mall GameStop stores alone, so I was expecting a big crowd for the 12 a.m. release.

So at 11 p.m. I pick up my co-reviewer and off we go to the mall. Well my conservative estimate is 500-600 people were there for the release at the three stores. By my account that would be enough people to form a line from one end of the mall to the other.

From 11 p.m. to midnight, I got to see demos of the game which helped pass the time and got to stand in line, a long line… Well the mood was one of excitement and impatience, the crowd varied from 18 to well around my age - and by that I would just tell you one of my screen names is CT-Relic. So once I got my copy, we left. On the walk to the car we watched the other cars zooming out of the parking lot, eager to get home to play! After a quick side trip to drop off the other reviewer, I arrive home, check the clock and fire up the game. It's now 12:35 a.m....

Now I always play through a campaign first rather then just going online to play. Especially as I have just hours to attempt to finish the campaign and write this blog so all that fun multi-player online play will wait for a bit.

Like most games, selecting a campaign mode starts you off in training. Now I realize this is necessary, but being a veteran of this game series, and having just replayed "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" on the hardest level, it was a slow start to the game. Luckily the first mission picks up quickly.

Well, I should say all the hype and marketing videos lead me to hope the graphics would be better, but as my co blogger reminded me, "the platform didn't change, just the game." So my first note is the graphics are good and the game play is smooth so far.

In mission one, I am KIA 3 times, all for rookie mistakes! Perhaps this is a sign of things to come…

From the desert town in Humvees from Mission 1, you quickly move onto Mission 2 at a northern flight base in the snow. Missions 1 and 2 go by quickly, leading to what perhaps has brought the most controversy to this game. Now this is the point I should mention that there are two warnings about content that may be considered unsuitable before the game gets going. So you are given options to bypass these scenes when the game begins. Mission 3 is one of those scenes, where you play the role of a terrorist.

So getting through that level and two more, I find that I am now defending Virginia from an invasion. This level clearly reminds me of a 1980's movie, "Red Dawn."

As my eyelids begin to close, I wonder what will come next and with the clock reading 4:30 a.m., I am signing off. So far the game has kept me interested and the updated missions continue the "Call of Duty" series nicely. I do suspect however, that I'll be getting no sleep tomorrow evening!

The PC gamer: Samar Rattan

I am a big fan of the first-person shooter genre, especially on the PC. I like everything that Infinity Ward / Activision has thrown at us from the "Call of Duty" series to the much loved "Modern Warfare."

When I heard that "Modern Warfare 2" was coming, you could say I was a little excited. When I was told that I would have an opportunity to write about my experience on launch night, well, that was just plain cool.

So I ran home, launched the Steam client on my computer, and took out my wallet to buy a digital download copy of the game. The download would run for a few hours and unlock as the clock struck midnight. Easy right?

Turns out that digital downloads are not going to be available until Nov 13, three days after the official launch. WHAT? Yup, turns out that for some reason direct downloads are not available and I would have to buy a boxed copy from the store. Strike one against the PC. I was tempted to buy the game online anyway, install it, and set the clock on my computer ahead by three days. Unfortunately the DRM is probably smart enough to figure out that trick. I could also try to find some hacked game online, but that would not be ethical.

So I headed to the local game store at the mall to pre-order the game for $60. They tell me to come back at midnight to pick it up. I asked if they can just give me the game now. They said no. I asked if I could throw in an extra $20. They still said no.

Close to midnight my co-worker and I head to the mall to collect our pre-purchased games. He is picking up the Xbox version, I am picking up the PC version.

There are Humvees in the parking lot. (Ok, that's a little creepy.) I get inside and get in line. I look around and estimate that there are about 500 people waiting across three different stores. The average age is in the low 20s with a 80/20 male female split. The staff at the game store is handing out energy drinks. The National Guard that made an appearance in Humvees is handing out MREs. (What is this a recruiting station?) I'm a 33-year-old grown man. What am I doing waiting in line for a video game at midnight? With energy drink in hand I struck up a conversation with a fellow 30-something who was buying the game for his little brother. His wife does not let him game. I should mention that love my understanding wife very very much.

An informal poll with the people in the line revels that out of the 500 people in the mall, I was one of maybe five buying the PC version. Apparently tonight is console night, with the PC gaming crowd soundly sleeping. Strike two against the PC.

At midnight the game store staff did a quick job of getting everyone their game and getting them out of the mall.

Install time.

The install took about 20 minutes. I assume that everyone with the console copy was already gaming.

I started by first playing the game in campaign mode. The game is beautifully done. The graphics are amazing and I was able to run full resolution without having the latest and greatest hardware. In case anyone was wondering, it ran very smoothly on Windows 7. Some of the characters from the first "Modern Warfare" made an appearance, but the graphics, improved AI, and attention to detail is what really made a difference. It looks and feels better that the original. I played through a few levels and generally enjoyed it.

Things get interesting in the online gaming mode which is almost the same as in the original "Modern Warfare."

A little back story here. The PC gamer community is up in arms about not being able to customize the game. Unlike the original "Modern Warfare" (and every other PC game before that) there is going to be no modding, no kicking people out that are causing problems, no in-game consoles, no custom maps, no control over hosts, and a 9-to-9 player cap.

The PC community likes to customize their games and police themselves. This is part of what makes the gaming experience a lot of fun. Seems like Infinity Ward wants to remove the PC gaming experience from the PC. Not sure what the rationale is, but judging from the console to PC ratios while waiting in line, I think they are catering to the bigger audience. Strike three against the PC.

I like the game a lot, but because of reduced PC support I'm not sure it should cost $60. I'm sure the campaign is good, and the graphics are amazing, but they are not worth more than $40 to $50 at the most. The online gaming has been crippled so much that besides some new maps, there is nothing new. If you want great graphics and a good campaign, I say go for it. If online gaming is what you want out of this, stick with the original "Modern Warfare" or wait till the price drops to $19.99. That or wait till Infinity Ward lifts all the restrictions, which is probably not going to happen.