MW Spec Ops, Perks, etc.

I watched a Spec Ops vid on YouTube, and, tho supposedly Veteran difficulty, it seemed rather easy. The dude playing had access to Predator drone missiles. He lasted 4 waves before he got caught with his pants down; an enemy climbed up the ladder to his perch (a rooftop apparently surveying an airport) while he was trying to launch another drone. He was playing solo, so perhaps that accounts for the apparent ease up until he screwed the pooch. I'm a bit ambivalent about Spec Ops. I like the concept, but it's a bit rankling that only 2 players are allowed. I usually play with 3, so that means one of us will be a bystander to fun. Infinity Ward says that the Spec Ops missions were just not fun with more than 2 players. The missions, they say, played best with 2, and more players turned the missions into grabasstic clusterfvcks. Hmmmm. Right. Not to be cynical, but that sounds pretty dubious. I'll reserve final judgment until I play the missions myself... with one friend left out in the cold.

By now, most people interested in MW2 will have seen the playlists. It's a bit rankling that that there are only 2 or 3 hardcore playlists. The IW guys have made a habit of muttering under their breath some BS about not "bifurcating the community." Hmmm. All I play is hardcore. So, those playlists that aren't HC are of almost no interest to me. That means I'll play less, not more. What IW is doing there to hardcore players involves an "F" and a "U" and a "C", but it's not "bifurcating". The perks also seem a bit annoying to me as a hardcore player, too. If the current list seen out in the wild is to be believed, the 2nd tier Cold-Blooded perk will shield you from UAVs, being seen by C-130s, etc., but you'll need the 3rd Tier Ninja perk to be invisible to the heartbeat sensor. That means no 3rd tier Steady Aim perk for spray and prayers like me, if I want maximum concealment. The Bling attachment will be interesting. I have to wonder how IW balanced using optics and silencers, assuming using both are allowed. There are rumors (confirmed?) of silenced sniper rifles. How are those going to be balanced... Unless, of course, the killcam is in all playlists. *shudder* I hate that frackin' killcam. Bad enough that I get fragged by some Timmy; I get to relive the experience, too.

There are reports all over the web about MW2 being the biggest game launch ever, with revenues exceeding $500 million US in the first week. I've already done my part by pre-ordering 4 copies for the Xbox 360: Three as birthday gifts and one for yours truly. I feel a bit torn by that since, as a former PC player, I sympathize with the way the PC mod/mapping crowd is getting screwed by the changes in MW2 versus CoD4. No dedicated servers, no mods, no custom maps, and a 9v9 limit on all platforms is a lot to swallow. On that note, here are the day's links from my personal gaming blog, Joker961's HQ:

• GameSpy collected MW2 videos, including map-related tips.

• 1Up's forums have a thread asking for 1Up forum members' reactions to Modern Warfare 2 thus far. Here's a slice: paolo iii Legendary_Warrior says, "i'm not purchasing this because it's a pro-imperialist homophobic murder simulator." Judging from paolo iii's forum avatar, he has some issues.

• While we're on the subject of videos, CVG claims to have found a leaked MW2 TV spot on YouTube.

• Courtesy of BASHandSlash and gamer LaGgY_42o here's the chat log from yesterday's Best Buy live chat with Infinity Ward devs/reps. A lot of questions were simply dodged.

• Also on BASHandSlash, Activision has an educational guide for parents to help them optimize the video game experience of their children. Most hilarious quote from the article: "Activision is committed to providing consumers with guidelines and information to help them determine which video games are most appropriate for their families," said Mike Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing.