Get your copy of the original Modern Warfare. Transfer over all the excellent, finely polished game mechanics, improve them a bit, and then trade out the depth, pacing and subtlety of the original and replace them with large doses of stupidity and an increased emphasis on fancy explosion graphics.
Congratulations, you might as well have Modern Warfare 2! The original modern warfare, in summary, was a seemingly straight-out bang-bang shooter. It had all this brilliant gameplay, and get this: a brilliant story! Seriously, I was surprised as well! The story of the original was omnipresent, you could really see the effects of what went on unfolding as you progressed. It drove the game along with the right amount of grip - it didn't conspicuously vanish from time to time (As stories so often do in these games), and was used for a hell of a lot more than simply stringing shootouts together. What's more, it had some true poignancy to it. The original contained some very harrowing scenes and some very disturbing behaviour on the part of both sides, which formed an interesting commentary on the nature of war WITHOUT being clichéd, forced, or over sincere. (it's just a shame that a million hyperactive FPS fans interpreted it all as "YEAH KILL THE TERRORISTS WIV MAH GUN LOL"). Throw in some excellent characters, that you genuinely care about and there you go!
What an awful shame then, that Modern Warfare 2 goes completely overboard, with a serious, brooding grimace, while it's older brother looks on ashamed. It tries to force a shocked reaction with all the subtlety of flashing a big "YOU ARE SHOCKED NOW" sign in front of your face, while you actually just stroll around joyfully wasting civilians in an airport (a disturbingly satisfying section) wondering when the shock will set in. The second level has you ramp a jet-ski over a chasm. The story makes not a single bit of sense. Russia INVADES America. So much for that interesting Russian civil war idea, then! let's just turn them into generic Big Bads! I WOULD bang on about some of the most mind-numbingly stupid, overblown, embarrassingly overwrought and contrived reasons for more dramatic set pieces, but then I'd be spoiling the fun too much for those who haven't yet played it. The really striking thing about this game is that IT STILL TRIES TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. It's like some hardened General, standing on the battle lines saluting his fallen soldiers, while wearing a pink frilly dress. It doesn't just dive off the deep end, it does it with an anchor tied round it's feet and a heroic face on. You do owe it to yourself to play this game if you are REMOTELY into FPS games - the aforementioned set pieces to keep a tight hold on you as you fight through the game - in fact, only after you take a step back do you realise how laughable the whole thing was. At least the story is by no means bad - it certainly holds your interest, and it most definitely keeps the excellent gameplay going in a really smooth way. It's an astoundingly thrilling experience playing this, and when you're finished, you'll realise what an astoundingly idiotic one it was too. (ESPECIALLY compared to the very mature and meaningful tone of the previous instalment). I suppose that counts for something, right?
Congratulations, you might as well have Modern Warfare 2! The original modern warfare, in summary, was a seemingly straight-out bang-bang shooter. It had all this brilliant gameplay, and get this: a brilliant story! Seriously, I was surprised as well! The story of the original was omnipresent, you could really see the effects of what went on unfolding as you progressed. It drove the game along with the right amount of grip - it didn't conspicuously vanish from time to time (As stories so often do in these games), and was used for a hell of a lot more than simply stringing shootouts together. What's more, it had some true poignancy to it. The original contained some very harrowing scenes and some very disturbing behaviour on the part of both sides, which formed an interesting commentary on the nature of war WITHOUT being clichéd, forced, or over sincere. (it's just a shame that a million hyperactive FPS fans interpreted it all as "YEAH KILL THE TERRORISTS WIV MAH GUN LOL"). Throw in some excellent characters, that you genuinely care about and there you go!
What an awful shame then, that Modern Warfare 2 goes completely overboard, with a serious, brooding grimace, while it's older brother looks on ashamed. It tries to force a shocked reaction with all the subtlety of flashing a big "YOU ARE SHOCKED NOW" sign in front of your face, while you actually just stroll around joyfully wasting civilians in an airport (a disturbingly satisfying section) wondering when the shock will set in. The second level has you ramp a jet-ski over a chasm. The story makes not a single bit of sense. Russia INVADES America. So much for that interesting Russian civil war idea, then! let's just turn them into generic Big Bads! I WOULD bang on about some of the most mind-numbingly stupid, overblown, embarrassingly overwrought and contrived reasons for more dramatic set pieces, but then I'd be spoiling the fun too much for those who haven't yet played it. The really striking thing about this game is that IT STILL TRIES TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. It's like some hardened General, standing on the battle lines saluting his fallen soldiers, while wearing a pink frilly dress. It doesn't just dive off the deep end, it does it with an anchor tied round it's feet and a heroic face on. You do owe it to yourself to play this game if you are REMOTELY into FPS games - the aforementioned set pieces to keep a tight hold on you as you fight through the game - in fact, only after you take a step back do you realise how laughable the whole thing was. At least the story is by no means bad - it certainly holds your interest, and it most definitely keeps the excellent gameplay going in a really smooth way. It's an astoundingly thrilling experience playing this, and when you're finished, you'll realise what an astoundingly idiotic one it was too. (ESPECIALLY compared to the very mature and meaningful tone of the previous instalment). I suppose that counts for something, right?