Friday 13 Nov 2009

When Bioshock released in the middle of 2007, it seemed like a turning point for story telling in games, as the crafted environments were rich enough to instil a simultaneous sense of wonder and dread, giving players glimpses at strings of story dotted around the corridors and rooms of Rapture, as well as providing us with a style of gameplay that was highly free-form in nature, with ‘sandbox gameplay’ to allow for the emergence of player-created narrative (or ‘emergent gameplay,’ if you will).

At the end of that same year, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was released to rapturous acclaim, as it, too, contained a well told story that almost served as a counter-point to the techniques used in Bioshock – gameplay in Call of Duty 4 was heavily scripted, while story was relayed through extended conversations and monologues (following in the tradition of previous games from Infinity Ward), but the action was so intense, the presentation so blockbuster-like, and the revelations so shocking, no-one really cared about any of its faults and happily involved themselves in the singleplayer campaign and evolved multiplayer mode.

With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a similar approach to the story telling techniques seen in Call of Duty 4 has been employed, using the ‘captive audience’ method to deliver contextual story dumps (narrated with single sentence soliloquies bathed in overtones of melodrama) while showing hot spots related to your next mission on a tactical world map, after which you jump into the boots of a variety of soldiers to gain insight into different aspects of the same, overriding story.

Modern Warfare 2 deals with some heavy subjects, including global terrorism, what it means to be a hero, and the belief that, in any conflict, the victor writes the history books. It’s unfortunate that, as a result of the scripted nature of the game, which restricts in-game actions, these themes aren’t explored more fully, but what’s there is satisfying, intriguing and surprising, even if it is a little constrained.

The context provided by the story will take you all around the world and place you in all kinds of interesting missions - one mission will see you sneaking around in the snow hunting down enemies in blizzard-like conditions, the next might whisk you away to South America as you frantically navigate the maze of a haphazard shanty town, another mission will task you with infiltrating a terrorist-held oil rig, while another still will place you in the streets of American suburbia which has been transformed into a war zone. Before the game’s done, you’ll also have participated in a high-speed snowmobile escape scene, laid siege to an ancient feudal stronghold, and stormed on the devastated ruins of the White House.

It almost feels as though you’re playing through a series of unrelated (but somehow connected) short stories - these missions have been specifically chosen to deliver the highest impact, most explosive action sequences that the developers could create, and tell the most gripping story they could implement, even if that means taking away a degree of control from players and foregoing strict story continuity. Infinity Ward wants you to experience their story and carry out their requirements to deliver their experience, resulting in almost zero player narrative.

During a given mission, you’ll be required to carry out the game’s script to the letter, and it feels very much like what I would assume acting in a movie would be like – you’re constantly being forced to stick to the script, and if you’re unfortunate enough to not do what you’re required to do at the right time, or to not move to the correct place when necessary, you’re usually punished with death (that’s where the similarities between the game and acting ends…), leading to subsequent retries, over and over again, until you get it right.

This scripted nature even extends to the way enemies behave, as they appear in the same places and out of the same doorways and move to the same, predictable areas on successive plays of the same mission, which was a complaint levelled at Call of Duty 4, and probably should have been solved in this, the sixth iteration of the franchise. Thankfully, the ‘clown car’ problems present in Call of Duty 4 (where countless enemies would spawn from a single door until the player progressed) have been reduced in Modern Warfare 2, but there are still a few instances where you’re urged to move on through force.

Throughout the game, you’re being pulled through the experience the designers have set out for you, with very little room for improvisation. On one hand, this is necessary so players will experience the same movie-like, blockbuster action sequences, but on the other, it’s frustratingly linear as you’re funnelled down a tunnel and asked to complete objectives that aren’t immediately apparent to you, which once again leads to a quick death.

Due to the release of other games in the first-person shooter space before and after the release of Call of Duty 4, and the constant refinement this genre has undergone as games such as Halo and Bioshock give players much more freedom in their free-form, sandbox approaches to gameplay - and Bioshock in particular leading the charge as far as the evolution of videogame storytelling is concerned - Modern Warfare 2’s singleplayer campaign seems dated and restricted in comparison, despite the enormous production values, slick presentation and, at times, dark, thoughtful subject matter.

Mechanically and gameplay-wise, Modern Warfare 2 is extremely solid and satisfying, largely making up for this perceived removal of player freedom, as you wind your way through interesting, flowing, well-designed levels comprising multiple elevations, and gun down enemies with a large variety of meaty, detailed weaponry (including the ability to control missiles shot from airborne aircraft), all the while receiving excellent feedback as you unload countless rounds of ammunition into the bodies of your foes – you always know if you’ve hit or missed your target, with pleasing results.

There is, however, a strangely vicious vision kick when you’re on the receiving end of a bullet, as your vision is obscured with a flash and spray of blood, which can be extremely disorienting if you absorb multiple shots in quick succession. This method of deterring players from walking into the line of fire has been present since the original Call of Duty, and could be said to be ‘more realistic,’ but it can get highly annoying and is possibly the number one reason a lot of players will find themselves dying soon and often during a mission.

If you’re getting a little overtly annoyed during Modern Warfare 2’ singleplayer campaign, there’s always the option to swap to the extra Spec Ops co-operative (and singleplayer) challenges where you and a friend (or just you) can partake in a series of missions that, while set in the same locations as the main campaign, are decidedly separate from that mode, and more arcade-like in their reward systems – you’re awarded different star ratings depending on the time in which you complete the missions, with extra stars being awarded for completing certain objectives.

Once you’ve tried that mode out, there’s always the online (and offline, local) multiplayer mode, which depending on where your interests lie, may very well be the main reason for buying Modern Warfare 2. The game’s multiplayer is a refined, more fully featured version of Call of Duty 4’s evolved multiplayer offering, now with an almost persistent character levelling system where you rank up by scoring points during a match. These points can be earned for doing anything from killing an opponent, to the way in which you kill that opponent and your proficiency in doing so, unlocking a wide variety of play modes, over and above the standard Free For All and Team Deathmatch options, as you progress.

As you level up, you’re given access to a huge number of perks to customise and improve your character (maybe you want to be able to run faster, reload faster or move silently), while you’re also able to earn a staggering number of badges for completing specific activities and actions during a match (for almost anything you can imagine, such as staying alive for the longest amount of time, or shooting the most bullets in a round), and earn a multitude of upgrade options – Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer mode is incredibly deep.

If you consider yourself an avid online gamer (with a penchant for first-person shooters), or you’ve squeezed more hours out of Call of Duty 4’s multiplayer than you’d care to admit, Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer offering is in all likelihood the most fully featured, customisable and extensive mode of its kind available right now, all wrapped up in an assortment of levels and satisfying gunplay (that adhere to the quality standards of the singleplayer elements mentioned above) to keep you occupied for a good long while to come… or until the next Call of Duty game is released.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in many ways, has lived up to the hype that has been built up around it since it was first officially announced, and is very much the ‘holiday blockbuster’ people were expecting, even if that means that the type and quality of gameplay on offer is decidedly more scripted and limited than other entries to the first-person shooter genre.

Add to the action-packed singleplayer mode two multiplayer modes, both of which are worth more than a cursory look, and one of which is destined to take the online shooter crown (if it hasn’t already) and steal players away from Halo 3, Killzone 2 and Gears of War (as well as entries to its own franchise), and you have a complete, overflowing package that shooter fans would be remiss to miss.

Hopefully Infinity Ward’s next game can find a happy medium between player freedom (to allow for improvisation and free-form narrative) and great, explosive story telling, but until then, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the action game you want, and the multiplayer shooter you’ll need for the foreseeable future.

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Contributor:	Oliver

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