mw2ps3
Well it’s out, a lot of people have completed the solo campaign by now, what do they think ? what do you think ? or more importantly, what do I think !
Well where to start. My review will only be on the solo campaign, I haven’t played any other modes as of yet. I finished the game in 7hrs and 2 mins on ‘Hardened’ difficulty. I’m pretty sure that isn’t a great time at all, you could probably easy knock 1 – 2 hours off of that, well perhaps not easily, but if you were Chuck Norris. Ill Break my review down into sections so it’s easier for you to read 
Full review on the other side
Graphics/Animation – 10/10
Well it’s immediately apparent on the first level that the graphics are amazing ! ALL of the weapon models are immaculately rendered, and you get to test out a few of them during the tutorial element of the first level. Each of the different uniforms in the game, and there are a few, are really something. I found myself stopping and zooming it on shirts, helmets and all sorts of things. The texture and lighting on the clothes has come a long way since games of old. All of the environments are beautifully done, and all equally at that. I couldn’t pick a point in a map, after a lot of searching that looked less developed than any other. Well that’s a lie, if you shoot a missile from the UAV and direct it off the map, then you will find low res areas, oh well. No big deal. Smoke, explosions, water and other effects are all fantastic too, leading to an overall very believable environment.
Gameplay – 7/10
I quite enjoyed playing this game. There are lots of elements combined to bring the end result. Combat is obviously the bread and butter of the game and thus there is a huge focus on it. There is no true cover system but you will find yourself crouching behind things a lot of the time. Though in it’s absence there is an auto aiming feature (which can be disabled if you choose), It’s quite intuitive and still requires you to aim somewhere close to your target. Then when you hit L1 you look down the barrel and your aim snaps to your target. Aside from combat there are a few levels with vehicle interaction. I’ve gotta say I loved riding a jet ski haha. Weapon swapping, reloading and use of other items is very simple. Grenades are the usual L2/R2 affair. I did find sometimes it felt like enemies were just spammed at you, like an endless barrage ! But for all I know that could be due to the difficulty, I did also notice some areas were just set up like that. To stop them you had to move forward, this does however lead to a good rate of progression.
Story – 5/10
To me the story was the let down. I haven’t played the first installment of MW, perhaps that would of helped me relate to the characters. But as it was I found myself wondering who was who, over and over again. The names just didn’t stick, No sense of personality came across. I feel this is completely to do with the way the story was told. In between levels there was a ‘cutscene-esque’ short, with a fancy background and some techy looking pictures and writing popping up it didn’t really hold my attention much. The narration didn’t seem to tell much either. And the levels jumps between different characters at different places without warning, which left me very confused. I dunno, maybe I’m just the idiot ? The best part about the story was the voice acting, It was well executed and didn’t seem forced to me.
Overall – 7/10
I guess I’m going against the grain here, and I have only played the solo mode so far so don’t forget my review is only for that portion of the game. But I just couldn’t help blazing through the game with no relationship to the people in it at all. I think it feels more like a war sim with a bunch of random levels than a compelling story told through the medium of game. This is why I think I will enjoy the multiplayer and co-op a lot more. Being able to interact with people socially will be the backbone to the great gameplay for me. Aside from the lack of story I did enjoy this game, it wasn’t too long so I didn’t get bored at any point, although some of the more difficult sections were getting quiet tedious after the 10th or 20th attempt, notably the top-level of the oil rig.
So there’s what I think, let me know what you think !
Tags: activision, call of duty, modern warfare 2, ps3, review
