Achievement Unlocked 11.12.09: Modern Warfare 2 Rules The Week

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 11.12.2009

It's all about Modern Warfare 2 (including HD video) and Dragon Age: Origins in this week's Achievement Unlocked. Plus a look at EA's financial struggles and the layoffs that might start to reverse that decline, Ken Kutaragi's new company, and Natal leaks reveal details, this week in The Business.

Modern Warfare 2

A life-saving grab!

Modern Warfare 2 devoured my week, once I got Xbox Live again (more on that in This Week in Achievements) at any rate, and it's a safe bet that's just the first week of about four-six months (more with DLC) that the game will take from me.

The Achievement list is much the same as that of the original Modern Warfare - achievable, but difficult, with no online Achievements (aside from possibly Spec Ops, though those can be gotten in split-screen).

There's some small-scale collection (two Achievements worth a combined 20 Gamerscore) for finding 22 and 45 enemy intel items hidden in levels, but the rest simply require skill (and occasionally a little luck) to unlock.

That's not to say they'll be easy, of course. Getting all the Spec Ops stars may be a challenge on par with the Mile High Club Achievement from the first game. There will undoubtedly be YouTube videos of strategies for each Op posted soon (if they're not up already) but even then it's going to take some serious skill to nail down all 69 stars.

As for the game itself - amazing. Infinity Ward spruced up the graphics while also expanding the map size and adding multiplayer height planes to battle from. Where the first game featured a few second story buildings, this time around there will be enemies on the ground, in second floor windows, on third floor balconies or rooftops. It's far harder to cover everything and far easier to be caught flatfooted if you're not careful to stick near cover.

In short, the game got more challenging without feeling especially cheap. There's no endlessly spawning 'monster closets' this time around, for example, and I never hit a single instance of the now infamous grenade spam. Sure, you'll sometimes get a grenade thrown near you, but even then they're not as deadly accurate as they were in past Call of Duty games. With grenades now rolling when they hit the ground, they'll sometimes roll on by and miss you entirely.

Modern Warfare 2

Getting a taxi in this town is murder!

Those two improvements are offset by AI that's more intelligent. They'll retreat in the face of overpowering firepower, but tend to try and flank instead of flee. There's more ambush attempts this time around, perhaps because the more detailed environments allow for more ambush potential.

I won't give any story spoilers, but I'll say that I enjoyed all of the roughly six and a half hours (on Hardened, it'll be a little longer on Veteran) that the campaign entailed. Infinty Ward even top the ending of the last Modern Warfare, something I didn't believe was going to happen.

As for the multiplayer, I'm torn. The new maps are overwhelming at first, with so many levels of battle and avenues of entry into locations that it's much harder to lock down a 'good' strategy than it was in past Call of Duty games. Some maps are easier to learn than others, with Terminal and Afghan being on the easier side of the spectrum, while Favela and Invasion lurk on the opposite end of it.

The Perks are outstanding once again, though it would have been nice to get a more detailed introduction to the new system. Perks can now be leveled into Perk Pro mode, for example, essentially making each a combination of two Perks. A radar-jamming ability called Scramble also slows the detonation of claymores when it's been upgraded to Scramble Pro, for example.

This small tweak adds some life to the game as you level Perks, but also introduces much-needed variety. It's harder to choose one uber-Perk loadout this time around, with more that suit different situations. An assault class that fights up close will benefit greatly from Scavenger, for example, keeping their ammo supply replenished constantly. Someone who relies on the sniper rifle, however, will get no benefit from it whatsoever.

Then there's customizable Killstreaks and Deathstreaks. You can unlock up to 15 Killstreaks, equipping three at any time, and four Deathstreaks (including much-maligned Martyrdom) from which you can choose one to be active. Killstreaks are triggered at points dependent on how powerful they are (UAV takes three kills, while the game-ending Tactical Nuke takes a 25 kill streak) while Deathstreaks kick in after a certain number of deaths without a kill.

Modern Warfare 2 also has Spec Ops mode, which allows both online and split-screen play. Great addition, though some of the missions are going to be murder on Veteran.

It's unfortunate the game doesn't include a replay mode, as there are countless amazing encounters that would be great (and free) PR for the title. Hopefully that's in the cards for the next title.

The opening week's play on Xbox Live has been solid. A few rough patches here and there as the wrong host gets chosen and the game lags to start, but it quickly switches hosts and resolves the issue. Something that'll likely get smoother with time. The new restrictions on party chat haven't been popular - and seem a little inconsistent. I can't talk in a party while in Team Deathmatch, but can in Mercenary Team Deathmatch...which I can't join in a party? The PS3 version has had a rougher ride, with friends unable to play together at all and Trophies not being awarded due to a bug with the 1.01 update. Expect an update soon on that front, according to Infinity Ward, though their history of patching isn't great so we'll see what this time brings.


EA tries to find its way out of a financial hit, while putting some of the blame on Nintendo; Ken Kutaragi has a new start-up, while Fox has yet another slip-up; and Microsoft's motion controls might not be the overprice abomination people expected...all that this week in The Business.

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EA Stock Down After Financial Results

EA's stock price tumbled over 6 per cent, Tuesday, after the release of the software giant's less-than-stellar financial results. Those fiscal statements, which showed continuing losses, were offset by an EA action plan that includes cutting over 1,500 jobs.

In a way, it's unfortunate for gamers that EA is suffering these losses. The company had, for the most part, turned away from its 'evil ways' in recent years, focusing on new IP and not simply milking established IP. They passed the Evil Empire moniker to Activision, and it's apparently costin them.

For all the talk among gamers about the need and desire for new IP, sales paint a different picture. People may say they want new IP, but they don't buy them anywhere near as readily as they buy the safe franchise titles.

It seems likely EA will recover from this economic stumble, as the company is taking the right steps - cutting costs and streamlining production. Expect to see some familiar faces, IP wise, in EA's future. With Wii sales of 'traditional' games nowhere near expectations, EA may reduce the number of games for the platform, though the EA Sports Active IP would seem likely to remain a solid moneymaker.

Credit: Games Industry

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EA Wants Nintendo To Push Third-Party Softwarep

EA CEO John Riccitiello doesn't believe his company is the only one that needs to change things up on the road to recovery, however. During the quarterly earnings call, Riccitiello was less than complimentary of Nintendo's marketing efforts on behalf of third-party developers.

With EA holding the largest share of the Wii's third-party marketshare in the quarter, Riccitiello was also not happy to see Wii sales slumping while Nintendo continued with business as usual - calling for stronger software releases as well as aggressive third-party promotion.

EA might have a lot of power, thanks to wielding a big stick of a software library, but Nintendo has always been their own company and done their own thing. Nintendo platforms haven't been havens for third-party software in quite some time, so I don't know if - even with EA's urging - that's going to change any time soon.

Credit: Edge Online

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Kutaragi Founds New Company

Ken Kutaragi, one-time Sony head and the man credited with being the father of the PlayStation brand, has founded a new company: Cyber AI Entertainment.

Alongside former Sony engineer Takashi Usuki, Kutaragi will be exploring "cutting-edge network operations" though few other details are available. Speculation included a cloud computing-based new entertainment platform. A possible competitor for the current consoles?

There's no word on Kutaragi's former commitment, a multi-game deal with a Sony/Namco game studio known as Cellius that was going to create games that used the PS3's power to its fullest. That was announced in January of 2007.

Credit: Gamasutra

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Fox Gets It Wrong Again

It didn't take long for the media - and I really only include Fox as 'the media' through the broadest of definitions - to catch wind of this and get it all wrong.

Without giving anything from the story away, and be aware that the link below contains a story spoiler, Fox's interpretation that you play as a terrorist is incorrect, as are any inferences they glean from that "fact" as well.

In any case, if playing as a terrorist in a video game was going to turn people into terrorists, Counter-Strike would have done it years ago.

Credit: Kotaku

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Natal Launch Details Leak

According to MCV UK, a behind-closed-doors tour revealed some key details of next year's Natal add-on for the Xbox 360. For starters, the release date is pegged in November. The November date could have been guessed, however, as it's historically an important month for the Xbox franchise. Both machines were launched in November, as well as Halo and Halo 2.

Less likely to be guessed were the other details - 14 games at launch, for example, though none were named. If the trend continues (though Halo 3 launched in September) it could be guessed that Halo: Reach will hit in November and be one of the titles.

Price was another wild card, with this rumor pegging it at £30-50 ($50-80 USD). If true, the device could find adopters even among those who are currently staunchly against it.

Credit: MCV UK

Dragon Age: Origins

You've got a bit of red on you...

The more observant readers might have noticed that Achievement Unlocked didn't go up last week. The question why has a simple answer - I had no Internet. My modem, for lack of a more technical term, "fried" and had to be replaced. Telus sent one out, but it was a four or five day wait without Internet access at home.

Of course this also meant no Xbox Live, which led to a realization about my preference for the 360 over the PS3 or Wii - it's all about the community. Without the ability to be connected to my friends to see what they're doing or what they've done, to chat, or to get into games together, playing just wasn't as attractive - especially a multiplayer-heavy game like Modern Warfare 2.

Instead of getting into that one, I chose to dive into BioWare's latest title - Dragon Age: Origins. As a single-player-only RPG, I figured I wouldn't be missing much with Xbox Live's rich online presence absent.

Wrong.

A few hours into the game, I traveled to a point on the map that had unlocked. Arriving there I found a single person to talk to - and that conversation led to some irritation.

You see the whole point of that quest area is to introduce the DLC content included with every new copy of the game - a golem character named (I believe) Shale. The conversation string talked about the person's acquisition of a golem control rod and ended with a reply about getting it from them that started with a (DLC) tag.

As someone who had no way to access that content, it was a slap in the face to see it in the game. I don't begrudge BioWare and EA taking content and making it 'first day free DLC' with the purchase of the game, as that's a move that's aimed at staving off piracy, rentals, and the used game market. To have it mentioned in the game, including a Marketplace pop-up to buy the content or redeem the code during that quest line, is over the line though.

That makes it too obvious that you're taking these things out just to give them back, and it's difficult to be grateful for that "free" DLC after that happens. It also leaves those who play offline forever feeling they didn't get to see and do everything they paid for.

It's a tough balance to strike, but I think by putting in an area and quest string that was pointless to anyone playing offline, BioWare went over into an area they shouldn't have.

It's a shame that the game experience has been tainted for me like that, as it's otherwise exceptional. I'd compare it to Baldur's Gate, though that's a series that console-only gamers really have little knowledge of. If you consider yourself a fan of Western RPGs, consider it a must-buy. Great story, with a ton of depth found in the character interaction and growth. The graphics are a mixed bag - some great stuff and some that's really weak - but it's not a game that you get for the graphics.


Modern Warfare 2 rules this week, so here's a trio of videos from gameplay. Expect to see some multiplayer videos next week, or check the YouTube channel to catch them earlier.

Note that the first two videos don't feature any major plot spoilers, but the third may contain an unwanted revelation for some. Click at your own peril.







If you have any questions or want to request any videos, leave a comment below. Until next week, I'm out.