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The Podcats: THREE (Uncharted 3, BF3, MW3)

Why has Uncharted 3 not impressed me? Why has Battlefield 3 not lasted that long? Why has Modern Warf… HOST MIGRATION… Synchronizing Game…are 3 kept peer-to-peer Multiplayer on PC?

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Review: Modern Warfare 2

Reviewed on Xbox 360 and PC. Also on PS3. Developed by Infinity Ward. Published by Activision

Call of Duty’s beginnings as more or less a straight copy of Medal of Honor Allied Assault (which was more or less made by most of IW when they were at 2015) don’t really set the scene for this latest game. Call of Duty was never a popular franchise with the hardcore player who were more interested in Counterstrike, Quake III, Battlefield and Unreal games. It was a hit, but with the people who enjoyed Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers- a more casual type of PC gamer. It was a mainstream hit, but always looked down on by people who were in clans or lugged their 21 inch CRT monitors to LAN parties, fragfests and virginal circle-jerks. All that changed with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which ditched the WWII setting of the previous CoD games and sold more copies than a street vendor in Moscow selling genuine Rolex watches.

CoD4 was a surprise hit with the hardcore and even the Treyarch WWII-based World at War sold well. So MW2 was so big that almost every publisher put back a large number of their biggest titles to early 2010 just to get out of MW2′s way. But how does it play?

SINGLE PLAYER (may contains traces of nuts and spoilers)
The single player story had a lot to live up to. The WWII CoD games had a basic story to get you into a mission but the overall theme was “defeat the Axis powers before the end of 1945.” CoD4, not being based on anything in particular (parallel to the current wars around the world), need a more defined story. MW2 takes that, runs with it, amps up to 11, char-grills it, over-inflates the bouncy castle and just generally makes the stakes higher. Before we had a nuke going off in an unnamed Middle Eastern country of GAFghanistan, a main character dieing and a race to stop things getting worse. In MW2, it gets worse. An undercover American operative being implicated in a terrorist massacre of civilians in Moscow causes an all-out war. The story is told in two parts with half of the game played from the perspective of SAS operatives and the other half as a US army Private attempting to de-red dawnify the Continental United States. The scale of the story is rather undersold since most of the set-up is done in the form of rather dry voice overs during the loading screens that lack the punch of the similar screens during WaW’s load screens. And it’s way too tempting to just skip these as soon as possible.

The actual game itself is great even though it’s the same as the original MW. Just different settings and perhaps a tad more over the top in its scale. The game is intense for most of the time you’re playing, which isn’t all that long. IW have thrown in a lot of things to mix things up constantly, from snow mobiles to rafting. But mainly, there are lots of levels that make you think “Hmm, I did this on CoD4.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Graphics are crisp and clear with a constant 60fps on 360 and since it’s an enhanced version of the engine used on CoD4, it will run well on most medium spec computers. Sound is the usual fantastic mix of effects and voice, now with added Hans Zimmer music. Even though the game on consoles runs at technically a sub HD resolution, there is very little to indicate low resolution. It looks crisp and runs smoother than peanut butter at a gigolo convention. The only major gripe is the jam gun the enemies fire at you. This is the new blood effect that splatters across the screen to let you know you’ve been injured. Fall from a reasonable height and you will tear a major artery in your eyes.

MULTIPLAYER
Well, since a large number of people skipped the single player of CoD4 entirely and have been playing the multiplayer fairly solidly for two years, you’d think IW would just make new maps and be done (after all, that’s more or less what Treyarch did for WaW). But no. IW have ramped it up to the nth degree. CoD 4: MW’s ranking and perks system helped extend the appeal of the multiplayer modes in this post WoW/ achievement whore world we live. MW2 takes that, jolts it 50, 000 volts up each leg and give it a raise. Now you have a far bigger combination of perks and weapon options, customization kill streaks, emblems (though I’ve yet to see anyone not use the pot leaf), tags and so forth. So not only can you select which killstreak rewards you receive, you can also have a deathstreak, which helps you out if you get spawn-raped by a camping sniper noob who’s been playing for 17 hours and hates the game. This thing will have legs since the number of combinations means it will be a while before everyone just uses the same three or four combos as they did in CoD4.

The netcode is probably a bit better than CoD4 and WaW, but the matchmaking still is a pain since it will routinely hook you up to a game where everyone else in another country- something that doesn’t make the game all that much fun. They could learn a thing for two from Bungie when making peer-to-peer networked games work. Of course, MW2 also brings the PC player into a realm they don’t normally visit: p2p networking without the latest episode of Lost to show for it. In my brief playthough on PC game online, I had no issues, but I did only play two rounds. The problem is you can’t play on a dedicated server as you can for most other PC games, nor can you choose what server you are on- It’s all Matchmaking with one player as the host (whether they like it or not). So far the main issue is listening to the whingeing of the master race (though they have a point- the best online console experiences -Halo 3 aside- have been those with the dedicated server model). My CoD4-playing colleagues at work have been entertaining me with their attempts at playing the game together at lunch. They don’t want to play private games since they won’t get XP. Oh well. Infinity Ward! You got some ‘splaining to do!

There’s also a third mode called Spec Ops which can either be played solo or coop (either splitscreen or online). I haven’t tried it since I can’t see any reason to play this with so much crap in Multiplayer to unlock.

So there you have it. Game of the Year? Well, it’s certainly the shooter of the year and the multiplayer game of the year, for me at least. It’s knocked down on PC simply there’s no reason for the basic server stuff to have been stripped out unless Activision want to start charging for maps on PC as well. Which is likely.

Controller1.com rating 3/3 on console (2/3 on PC)

NOW PLAYING: TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD, CoD4: MW, 1943

I’ve never been a huge Tomb Raider fan but I did get through most of Tomb Raider Legend and enjoy it for the most part. Underworld was cheap so I picked it up and have been going through it rather languidly. That is to say. I’m playing it because I have nothing else to play and I’m not really compelled by it.

Don’t get me wrong, its very well made and I’ve found it quite polished but I’m not champing at the bit to play it like some other games I’ve been playing this year (Fallout 3, Infamous and Red Faction). I think I’m over exploration and constantly falling, not to my doom, but down to a lower level that requires a lengthy hike to get back to where I was. So I’m done with it already (it was a cheapie).

Here are some pics in lieu of me wasting any more time on Tomb Raider (click on the segment to see the full pic)

I’m waiting for Call of Juarez to show up and to see whether Wolfenstein is worth getting so I’m in a gaming-lite mode. I was ging through CoD4 SP again, this time on PC, but then the PC decided to lose my save game and I thought “fuck that.” I had a day off work this week so I popped in CoD2 (360) for a play of the SP campaign. Wasn’t feeling it but then I had played the single player manay times and the first half of the game has had a lot more playtime than the end of the game. Oh well.

So really Battlefield 1943 has been getting the most playtime though I’m starting to get a little frustrated. It seems 360 players locally are meant to be on local servers but this is not the case just yet and I find the one thing that dents my enthusiasm for online games is lag induced by a Host in another country. Last night the Japanese team were based in Japan. Awkward much? I must have been playing all seven 360 owners in Japan. And they were quite good.

Trials HD is likely to be purchased over the weekend. I’m working on a video ATM and Trials seems perfect to pop in and out of while I need to Render files.

We’re securing some more people to interview in our “The Developer” series in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

NOW PLAYING- MULTIBALL! MORE PEGGLE! NO MORE BANJO!

Possibly the lst time controller1.com posts about god damned Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. We’ve reviewed it. We’ve focus tested it and now we bury it. I post about it because it its now gone. The spectre of playing  it any more has lifted and now we can concentrate on the road ahead.

So I guess I’ve been dividing my game playing time between CoD WaW on 360 and CoD4 MW again on PC. Yes, I’ve got back to playing Modern Warfare. This is about the 6th time I’ve resumed playing it. Through a set of circumstances too circumspect to subscribe to in order to circumvent the circumference of, er, um. Basically, on PC, I’ve had to restart several times, so I’ve never reached level 55. I think the highest I got was about level 40 on 360 but on the current PC install, I’m at 35. I still don’t have any of the fancy guns like the Barret 50 cal or the P90 or the G3K. I still don’t have the three frag grenades perk which makes Wet Work such a ‘nade fest. I also don’t have my favourite perk, overkill- which gives you two primary weapons.

I’ve written way too many times about CoD so here’s some Peggle. Peggle
I am still playing Peggle. I’ve barely touched World of Goo so far and I’d like to play more of it. How do I break the Peggle hold? Are there Peggle interventions? Peggle Exorcists? Peggaholics Anonymous?
“Hello my name is George and I’m a unicorn.”

Prince of Persia is the last 2008 single player game on my pile. It sits worryingly unplayed. The little I have played was good, but not enough to suck me in. Maybe over Easter. Maybe not.

NOW PLAYING: CoD, CoD, DoD and Peggle,

Its one of those weeks. I just don’t feel like playing Single player games (Peggle aside) right now. So I’ve been playing a variety of multiplayer games online. Killzone 2 was not enthralling enough to keep hooked so I went back to a few old standbys. Its pretty barren for new games over the next few months so its a good time to indulge in MP shenanigans.

Firstly on 360, I picked up the map pack for CoD WaW, which offers three multiplayer maps and one new map for the awesome zombie Nazi mode. The maps are very nice and are a blast to play. No tanks which means one of the more common complaints is not as much of an issue as is in the main game. For a game that supposedly meant to be from Activisions ‘B’ shooter team, CoD WaW manages to offer very playable maps.

I’ve been playing a bit more PC CoD 4 Modern Warfare multiplayer and alternatively getting frustrated and enjoying myself. It basically sucks enjoyment out of a game if you just want to have some fun and you play with serious players. Apparently its considered cheating to use either the rifle grenade or the Juggernaut (extra strength) perk. The Last Stand and Martyrdom are also often frowned upon. Its not cheating children, its not even a ‘sploit. Its just that people who have level up can’t stand being killed by anyone with a lower ranking. I even dipped my toe into some Hardcore and found I played better that normal servers. Is it because I’ve been playing a lot of Day of Defeat as well?

Day of Defeat Source is such an old game with such little depth. I am still intrigued why updates to TF2 also mean updates to DoD:S but either way this is a game that has a grip on a select few who play every day. You don’t level up but choose a class and yet the in game chat isn’t full of cries of noobs with rifle grenades and rocket launchers. I mean, yes people complain about being owned by snipers and machine gunners but it’s generally restrained. There’s so much anger in CoD 4 players.

And I’ve been playing Peggle. I like Peggle. It is fun. You should play Peggle on whatever platform you have access to.

I’ve just bought World of Goo as part of MacHeist so I expect to give that a spin over the weekend. Also, there’s the Modern Warfare 2 (note no CoD) teaser and even cooler, the original Call of Duty is coming to PSN and XBLA soon. Day 1 purchase! It will be really cool to have access to all of the major Call of Duty games on Xbox 360 (since I also have CoD, 3, 4, and WaW on 360)- and 1, 2, 4 and WaW on PC as well. That’s nothing, I have one colleague who has CD 4 on PC, PS3 and PC.

CoD be praised!

NOW PLAYING- THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER

So, normally I wait until I’m done with a game before I right a review for the site. This means once the review goes up, I’m generally onto the next game. According a FAQ for Litle Big Planet, I’m about 3/4 of the way through the single player and I’ve been frustrated as hell by a specific level.

Frustrated is kind of being nice about it. It’s pissing me off. I reached a similar point in Super Mario Galaxy when I hit the mechano toy robot levels of that otherwise enjoyable game. Some people call this the shelf moment which is “the moment when you take the game out and put it back on the shelf, never to be touched again.” I felt that I had done all i was ever going to do in LBP, but something in me is saying, give it another go. I will probably do that sometime this week since I’d like to finish the game.

Next on the list is Left 4 Dead, which I’ve gotten on PC. I’m glad it cost me a whole lot less than the retail price since it’s pretty clear that it really isn’t my sort of game. I don’t know what it is about Valve multiplayer games that they never gel with me. I love the single player games like HL, HL2 and Portal, but Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2 and now this just don’t seem to be my game. I will play it for a few more sessions though since some games don’t always click with me the very first time I play.

Guitar Hero World Tour has been getting a bit of a play recently (It is the subject of our next and probably most awkward Focus Test). I’ve been mostly playing with others this last week. Yesterday, I played with some colleagues who’d never played the game before and they had a blast. We also went through some songs in the Rock Band AC DC play list. This was the only Rock Band title I was able to procure, alas too late for the Focus Test. It is very interesting to compare the two games sinc ethey basically do the exact same thing, but in a slightly different way.

And of course Call of Duty World at War has been getting a going over. I’ve been playing the Night of the Undead mode a few times this week and loving it to bits (Which is why Left 4 Dead leaving me a bit cold is surprising me). But I still can’t get online on the PC version so I’ve been playing some more CoD4 Team Deathmatch on PC. You know something? I so rarely did well on the PC servers before CoD WaW came out but In the few games I played since I came back, I’ve generally been in the top 3 of most games. Is it because the good players have migrated to WaW? We’ll see.

I’m starting to develop a pile of shame. I have more GHWT to master, and now the ACDC Rock Band (Which I assume allows me to sample the DLC for this game), Mirror’s Edge (PS3), Get some fun out of L4D, play more CoD WaW (360 and PC) and then find time for Prince of Persia, Fallout 3 and Banjo Kazooie.