Not-so-Spec Ops, Links

    I watched the MW2 DLC train wreck yesterday for a few hours. It seemed mostly like a Microsoft issue, tho I suppose everyone at this point reflexively slags off Infinity Ward. Like many gamers, I have a serious love-hate thing going with Infinity Ward. They sure make a great game - and that's part of the problem. When so many aspects of a game are so astounding, all the problems inevitably spawned (no pun intended) by the combination of complex code and human fallibility seem all the more galling. There's a whiff of arrogance from the IW folks from time to time, tho perhaps that's just my own prejudice. Even now, it's incomprehensible how so many basic multiplayer flaws carried over from CoD4 to MW2.
    It's probably moot, since Activision and Infinity Ward are well aware that there are enough CoD addicts to keep both of them in the black forevermore.
    I didn't play the new maps, except for an abortive run-thru on Bailout to look at the map. Instead, I played Spec Ops hypnotically for a few hours, enjoying trying out O Cristo Redemptor with different weapons I picked up from the dead enemies. I did a run with the Akimbo Uzis to pick up the "Look, Ma! Two Hands!" achivement, and that kinda got me rolling. A run with the Ranger double-barrelled shotgun was immense fun, I can tell you. There's something savagely satisfying about that Ranger, especially when you down two or three enemies with one blast. I did runs with the AA-12, and the Uzi, but  my fave is the Glock machine pistol. I had a really good time mowing down Militia guys with that little bullet hose.
    I wish that Infinity Ward had made co-op for more than two players. With the essentially cheating aimbot enemies on the map, more players wouldn't ruin the experience. Au contraire, it would even the playing field, since the CoD doctrine on difficulty is giving the enemies unerring aim and giving you a bazillion of them to contend with. Another improvement would have been to allow you to pick your own weapon loadout for each co-op scenario. Some Spec Ops levels, like Body Count, already have a variety of weapons laid out at the start for you to choose from. On O Cristo Redemptor, for example, I'd rather start with an SMG than the TAR-21 holo, which is the default starting weapon.
    Another funny thing, playing the same level over and over again, is that the difficulty level seems to mysteriously ramp up at random. I'll play an easy run thru, and the next one will weirdly have the enemy swarming all over me. There's some slight randomness in the AI paths; for instance, sometimes the Militia will go across the roofs from left-to-right relative to your initial spawn point. Other times, they'll assault through the alley on your left. Sometimes, they'll come left, center, and right, and you're screwed, even on regular difficulty. One time, the AI douches seemed to deliberately target the red barrels near me to blow me up... Great. Now, I'm even getting pwned offline. :D

 

After all the problems Infinity Ward has had with Modern Warfare 2 glitching and cheating, you would think that extra attention would be paid to ensuring that the title update and the DLC were delivered seamlessly. Well, it was not to be. The DLC delivery on Xbox Live was the proverbial Mongolian clusterfuck. Someone at Xbox Live, it appears, was asleep at the switch, and a title update necessary for the roll out of the DLC wasn't released. The results were unplayable maps that looked like this:

     As this blog was being prepared the morning of 30 March, MajorNelson and TheVowel were updating on Twitter as Microsoft engineers tried to get things straightened out. It was 3:12 PM EST US before TheVowel tweeted that Xbox Live match-making had been fixed. As late as 6:40 PM EST, The Vowel reported that Xbox Live was experiencing account and billing issues, tho. Here's an overall rundown on the problem from Xbox Live's blog. 
    Content-wise, there already appears to be a rush to judgment. The Money Times has an article up alleging that a majority of players are dissatisfied with the new maps. Dubblejord, whose Salvage TDM YouTube video is linked below, says he found the map pack not worth the 1200 Microsoft points because they could only be played in the Bonus playlist. Today, Infinity Ward and Xbox Live are integrating the new maps into all playlists. And double XP will be extended to all playlists, as well. Perhaps that will sweeten folks' dispositions.



    On to the links:
Featured MW2 YouTube Video

• GameTrailers:  Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package DLC: Salvage Gameplay, Bailout Gameplay.

    More Gaming Links:

• Kotaku: Halo Fans In For "Something Big" This Week, Bungie Teases.
• Kotaku: Wii Upscaler Review: Can The Wii Really Do High Definition?
• Edge Online: Activision appoints new COO.
• CVG: Hardcore: The badass side-scroller shooter that never was.
• GameSetWatch thru Slashdot Games: Decrying the Excessive Emulation of Reality In Games.
• Edge Online: Splinter Cell Dev: Pandering To Hardcore Fans Restricts Industry.
• IGN Daily Fix for 29 March 2010 with the luscious Jessica Chobot.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• PCWorld thru Slashdot: Self-Destructing USB Stick.
• TorrentFreak thru Slashdot: Warner Brothers Hiring Undercover Anti-Pirates.

PS.