Is Modern Warfare 2 Over-Rated by Critics or Under-Rated by Users?
Filed under: Feature 39 ResponsesBy Ravi Sinha
With all the problems Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been encountering, the lines are getting blurred between the nuisances and actual issues. First came the crib that it didn’t look much different from the original. Next, Activision lashed out at Sony for not reducing the price of their console – shortly after, they hiked the price of MW2, thus earning boycotts galore (all AWOL when it sold it’s millions on day one). Then came the lack of dedicated servers, wherein the game would rely solely on the matchmaking process of finding online games. This spelled death for multiplayer clans and those wanting to play online with their friends. The “No Russian” controversy also insured that the mainstream media took seething notice of MW2. Needless to say, anybody and everybody has a reason to dislike Activision/Infinity Ward these days.
On Penny Arcade the other day, Mike “Gabe” Krahulik stated the following:
“I tried the single player campaign but got bored with it pretty fast. The game just feels old to me, like I’ve played this game a hundred times before. It’s a FPS without any kind of cover system and to me that just feels very dated. I’ve shot all these ambiguously foreign guys in other games for the same convoluted reasons…Where the single player campaign felt old and dated to me the multiplayer actually feels fresh and interesting.”
Skimming through several reviews online, reading between the lines of the massive praise some sites had, the consensus was pretty much equal: “You’ve played this before, shot these dudes before. It’s not even that long. But it’s fun. Oh, and great multiplayer.” There were many titles which I personally felt were unfairly awarded great reviews because of this very saying. Gears of War 2, Halo 3: ODST, Left4Dead, even Killzone 2, you name it. Other titles, like Resistance 2, faced the opposite charge – that of not having a very popular multiplayer and thus enduring a certain shaft by gamers in general. Even though the single-player has the most impressive scale we’ve see in an FPS yet.
Just recently, I came across the following review aggregates for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 across all major categories on Metacritic. PC fans may not have their dedicated servers, hence the low User Rating aggregate of 1.4 (based on an average of a whopping 1839 votes). PS3 fans may still be angered by Activision’s previous complaints of withdrawing support for Sony’s PS3 if the company didn’t reduce it’s price. Hence you have an aggregate User Rating of 4.9 based on an average of 477 votes. Then what about the Xbox 360? A console considered to be the de facto choice for FPS fans, with the Gears and Halo franchises, not to mention the rabid popularity of these titles (and even the original MW) on Xbox LIVE, sees it’s version of MW2 with an aggregate User Rating of 5.5 based on an average of 825 votes (and rising).
All of which is irrelevant, of course. For all the hundreds of users who state their dislike of the game, publicly, on the internet, there are millions upon millions of customers, and potentials, who love the game to bits. Hell, the original Modern Warfare and World at War ranked at no. 2 and 3 respectively in LIVE activity on October for October 26th (figures revealed last week on November 3). And a peek at some users recent activity indicates MW2 will steal the top spot.
Are games in this generation judged simply based on their multiplayer? That sure as hell doesn’t stop the single-player hype. Are the controversies and glitches coming back to haunt Activision? Not many critics seem to have been faced with the same glitches, though a buggy review copy isn’t exactly what most reviewers get (and vice versa). Are these just the rants of the few and the far between? Or has Modern Warfare 2 simply killed off all innovation, and we’re seeing the last signs of rebellion from a gamer base that has come to bask in Hollywood sequences of flash and fury?
Whatever side you may be on, at least you can be sure the sides are the same. You’ll either madly love Modern Warfare 2 or hate it deeply. And neither critics nor other users could convince you to switch by their own logic.
39 Responses to “Is Modern Warfare 2 Over-Rated by Critics or Under-Rated by Users?”
i rented mw2 just another shooter to throw on the pile.
If game developers have to make everyone happy, they need to develop a game with a long FPS title with something original about it, have new multiplayer modes and see to it that a lot of people are playing it, they also need to release it for all platforms and no version should be inferior to the other, should be released internationally on the same date.. Hmmm come to think of it, does any of the recent games meet that criteria. The way I see it, if people want to criticise, they’ll find a reason to do so, no matter how good the game is.
user review is never trustable. you get a bunch of haters who have never played the game who write a review based on the bad things they heard about the game. also too many people just give a game a ten and say OMGWTFBBQ BESTEEST GAMME THEER EVA WAS ONN DU EEARTH. real critics have a process on how they review games and have also play through the whole game to see if they like it not just 3 minutes at their friends house. even great games like gta get super low scores because people who hear there is no jetpack so they rage and write bad reviews. why would you trust a review that was probably writen by a five year old anyway?
MW2 is the most overrated game in the history of video games.
it only has one good level, the snow level.
that level was so much fun and really got your heart pounding, everything after that is boring as bat shit!
and the storyline is all over the place, never have i played a game that has so many problems linking one level to the next.
i honestly came to the end of the game saying who the %$#@ is that?
what the %$#@ just happened.
why am i suppose to kill this guy, i thought he was on our side.
this game has the worst storyline in a video game ever!
even though, i must say that “it has no cover system, thats dated” excuse is complete BS.
so ^%$%$#@# what if it does not have a cover system?
just because 99.9999999999% of games have one, this has to also?
resistance 2 has no cover system so does that mean thats dated?
that has to be the lamest most ridiculous excuse i have ever heard
MW2 is a fantastic game, both single player and multiplayer. easily the game of the year, and possibly generation IMO. a few reasons why people are saying its overrated and giving it bad user ratings:
1. the sony fanboys. never underestimate how far they will go to make the PS3 look good. they all want uncharted 2 to be called the best game ever, let alone this generation, so they want to tell as many people as they can, as loudly and as often as they can, how bad modern warfare 2 is. even though its on the PS3 too, theyre resorting to the type of rubbish that they usually reserver for the latest halo or gears of war – they dont want the best game of the year also being on the 360.
2. PC fanboys, and even lots of regular PC players – no dedicated servers, no mods, no hacks. that says it all as to why theyre angry.
3. 360 users that DONT live in the USA. im from australia, and Live generally treats me well as lots of developers know its a good idea to do region based filtering for online play. apparently Infinity Ward are NOT one of those developers.
the first day i got the game, it hadnt been released in the US yet. the online play was great, everyone in every game had full green connection, cause we were all aussies. then the millions upon millions of US players got their copies, and the floodgates opened. for the last 2 days i havent been able to get a green connection, even when there are only 2 americans in a match with the rest being from australia – somehow one of the americans gets host! it leaves us all with red lag, and we either have to quit or have our characters randomly jump around the level, have to shoot someone and then hope they stay still for 5 seconds so our bullets hit them when they come on, and all the while listen to the americans whinging about how we need to get better internet. WE DONT NEED BETTER INTERNET, WE JUST NEED TO NOT BE MADE TO PLAY AGAINST PEOPLE THAT ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD WHEN WE COULD JUST PLAY WITH PEOPLE 10 MINS DOWN THE ROAD!
@Joe
You sound insane with either paranoia about the hatred of MW2, or just stupid. I remember a time where a developer couldn’t get away with these kinds of release atrocities.
FYI I have both systems and have played both Uncharted 2 and MW2, neither have my GotY vote.
Pay no attention to the user reviews – that’s merely a result of angry, virgin PC gamers crying about MW2′s lack of dedicated servers. Maybe if PC gaming wasn’t dead IW would give a rats ass, but they don’t and this is the only way PC gamers can get their revenge………..pathetic, really.
PC gaming is far from dead.
it offers so many things console games dont, i cant see how thats dead?
Very well made points, as a newcomer to this series with this game, I’ve enjoyed the local multiplayer and spec-ops immensly (don’t have internet in my flat), but couldn’t really get into the story that much, and I felt like I was trying to kid myself a bit that it’s really worth the 95 metacritic score it’s got. Don’t get me wrong, its still a great game, but not the shiny pinnacle of gaming some people are saying.
PS had to say after you mentioned Resistance 2 not having great online multiplayer, personaly, I think it’s the best online shooter I’ve ever played, a perfect mix of precise shooting a la modern warfare, and crazy, halo-esque arcadey weapons and madness (30v30 deathmatch=incredible!)
PC gaming is dead, nobody give a damn about PC gaming… you are all crying, bitching and complaining… well you know what just dont fucking play the god damn game… you dont need to boycott it you dont need to flood the internet with your bullshit.. you guys are so transparent! Obviously all you you crying complainers sayin MW2 sucks and this, and that… are just mad you wont get your way, so you cry like babies… you all know this game is the shit, you all want to play it so bad, but sinice you dont get your way you pretend like the game sucks… either play the game, or dont play teh game. do you think anybody really gives a shit?? seriously? gaming orignated on consoles, reigns on consoles, and will continiue to for the rest of your life. DEAL WITH IT OR GET A CONSOLE… these lame PC gamers have to crouch witht he space bar and reload with R lmfaooo you guys are such clowns!!!
excuse my insane amounts of errors…
Dear Boys and girls, fan boys and generally wound up bunnies!
Firstly may I start in saying that at this moment in time I’ve yet to play MW2 (I know shock horror!), so I’ll refrain from commenting on how good or bad, long or short or how orgasmic the multiplayer is. However I would like to comment on how amusing it is to read all the attention games like this get and how individuals feel the need to criticise a review here and a review there and then make absurd blanket statements of there own! All PS3 owners blah blah blah, every 360 owner thinks blah blah blah, It’s ridiculous but funny nether the less and even more amusing to see further comments reacting to these silly statements.
Lets all sit back and think about what all the fuss is about, well it is a game, a very important game with lots of money invested, a lot to live up to and even more money to make. So business wise it was important to instill the core attributes of the first game which gained universal praise of amazing atmospheric game play, story based progression (through various characters) and one hell of a fun multiplayer and from what I’ve seen this game has met all this criteria and exceeded it. It doesn’t mean it’s moved on or has some new magic game play feature, but then who said it had to?? The story maybe short, but hey the production values and detail in each level has all been wound up a notch or two. I personally prefer long single player stories because I feel it shows all aspects of the production and character design etc, but again hey that’s me and I know a lot of you out there may never even play the single missions. So come on people MW2 is a good game, you might not like it personally but here’s the crunch, try to look on games with an open and objective mind, that is to comment without distorted emotions or personal bias.
One last comment to all you publishers out there, here is a little warning – charging so much for games is going to be the death of you! We have all seen how the PS3 has struggled with price and considering what is in it almost justified the cost but it was still too high for mass consumption, The apple app store isn’t successful because it has the greatest games or apps, its because it’s cheap, very cheap in fact and that my friends is universally loved by everyone
no, just no joe, i have a ps3, and am sort of a sony fanboy, but trust me, uncharted 2 fans are not ripping down modern warfare 2, why dont you get your head out of your ass and look at what your typing, your ridiculous, uncharted 2 is a great game, but its a TPS, mw2 is a FPS, big difference there genius, and why do people rip down halo? because its not all that great, its overhyped, and its been the exact same thing litteraly since the first halo came out, now dont get me wrong, i have played all the halos, but…they are outdated, the only reason why microsoft releases another one all the time is MONEY, microsoft loves money, so much infact that they buy off just about everything, and yo blind xbox 360 retards all think its just magic, and that xbox magically gets everything, and that “teh 36o is teh besst!” I had a 360 about a year and a half ago, but it broke on the first day, so a month later, i bought a new one, and it broke on the second day, so i said screw this, im going to get a ps3, best choice i ever made, why would anyone go through more than two xboxs? i dont know, they havent fixed RROD yet you know, and PSN is not laggy, i would know, after all, i played a game with 256 people in it, and i never lagged once.
I am cheap and all about stretching my dollar. Single player does not do this for me. However, multiplayer allows me to play hours on end with different experiences every time. Multiplayer is the future, just look at the huge success of Wolrd of warcraft and other persistent online games.
David Macphail, if it wasn’t for computers, you wouldn’t have an xbox or a ps3. How would you feel if they released the 360 version with no option to change the audio, video settings on your game no to mention the option to split-screen despite the xbox/ps3 being capable of doing so? You would be right where we are noob.
Yo Joe i can tell your an idiot xbox fanboy are you seriously going to compare mw2 to uncharted 2 lol wow thats hilarious ill be honest mw2 multi is fun but i like playing uncharted 2 multiplayer even more and gameplay and graphics wise mw2 has nothing on U2. I would give MW2 an 8 at best the only ppl that want to see MW2 to get game of the year are xbxo fanboys that want to settle for a game of the year that isd multiplat and cant stand to see a ps3 game win game of the year as we have done year after year (LBP, MGs4, etc….) put it like this killzone 2 is way better than MW2 to me hands down and it cant even compare to U2
@Most commentators above ‘name’ guy.
Oh really? I do have all actual gaming platforms, and I don’t like new Modern Warfare 2. Am I PC or Sony fanboy? Very intresting, maybe I go turn on my X360 and play Halo 3…
MW2 is just MW1 in new skin. Storyline is stupid as hell, gameplay should be same as before but… somehow it’s fcked up also. There’s no recoil, mostly no diffrence between weapons, no ‘power’… and damn score counter covering 1/4 of the screen after killing someone… server filtering is just sux and even not worth to pee on it.
Oh, and about yelling about no dedicated servers… if you don’t know without it Halo 3 propably wouldn’t be one of best console multiplayer game.
On PC everyone have green bars too but… this is PC – we switch settings from displaying 4 bars to 10, and somehow suddenly everyone got’s 1-2 bar, and host got 10. But no… on consoles we have green bars! Game is great! Jesus Christ go play minesweeper you damn casual…. maybe you like to be fcked in ass by Activision but most players DON’T.
But anyway – if you would tell me half year ago that MW2 will just suck (like it does now) then I would just cry from laughting, and rotfling. Noone could know that.
lol what yes CoDMW2 is very fun but no game of the year lol they did nothing new or amazing jus added some maps and guns lol and new SP story that took 6hrs on vet
Anyone who says PC gaming is dead actually doesn’t know very much about the market and gaming industry, merely pretending to appear more intelligent than they really are. Take no offense by it. It may not have the large market share obviously, but a lot of the reasons for the CashBox’s, er Xbox’s, success is Microsoft’s business politics, and frankly, ingenious strategies to force companies to build around it.
seriously how is PC gaming dead?
it offers so many things console gaming does not.
what was the last console game than runs at 1080P and 60FPS o yea thats right there is none!
what was the last game that has user mods?
o yea, thats right no console game supports that.
what was the last game that supports dedicated servers?
o yea, thats right consoles are still stuck in the 19th century with their P2P bullshit!
yea, PC gaming might be more expensive to set up, but the games are so much better on pc AND there normally 10 bucks cheaper.
Over rated big time! The critics talk shit! i think cod4 is still more realistic and better. Like the guy below me said its just another shooter. ohhh and i dont like the levels as much as cod 4 too. Over hyped shite, fuck off!
@ IW Sucks – I wouldn’t give a damn if they released a buggered 360 version of the game because i own a PS3, ha! Also – get this into your head, i don’t HAVE Modern Warfare 2. I don’t even like FPS games, i just find it pathetic when teenage noobs like yourself piss and moan about something that doesn’t even effect the gameplay experience and resort to giving a game a low rating on a random website like some kind of diseased troll.
@ Name – are you completely freaking stupid??? The PS3 game “Lair” runs at native 1080p – something NO PC game has ever done or will ever do. PC retail games don’t go above 640p you dumb little troll. PC gamers haven’t even heard of “Native High – Definition” because that’s something that’s limited to the Blu – Ray format. Are you really this stupid?
Also, EVERY PS3 exclusive has dedicated servers you moron, hardly any game’s use P2P hosting – you really don’t follow the game’s industry at all, do you?
Also, game’s are better on PC??? LMAO – then why don’t YOU buy them??? Why do console exclusives ALWAYS sell better than PC exclusives if PC exclusives are better? PC devs don’t need uneducated idiots like you talking on forums all day, they need your MONEY! It’s no good is you spend all your life on the internet talking about how great PC games are and don’t even buy them. This is why most devs can’t afford to make PC exclusive’s anymore.
You stay in the past if you like (Obviously your knowledge of the gaming industry is stuck there) with your last – gen graphics and no dedicated servers and low – selling games while the REAL gamers will be on their CONSOLES (Which didn’t die in the 19th century).
It’s just another shooter
ahhhh actually no ALL ps3 and 360 games run through peer to peer hence the unbelievable lag.
do some research before you go running your mouth off GG said in a interview a while before release that killzone 2 DOES NOT USE DEDICATED SERVERS!
but may for some of the competitions like the developer day they had a few weeks back.
just accept it, when it comes to features the PC is kicking the shit out of consoles.
@David
no comment – go back and masturbate while holding your DualShock o.0 what a fanboy…
Every PS3 titles have dedicated? Ahahahahahah… Oh gtfo back to school… even Killzone 2 don’t have dedicated, and that’s why actualy this game is dying on multiplayer.
Dragon Age Origins actualy IS better on PC than consoles, and it’s harder, it looks better, it handles, and that’s why I bought it for PC, not for X360, and not for PS3. Console version of DAO is just much easiest, and doesn’t have even isometrical look that is just the part of the real RPG games. (not like Mass Effect crap for casuals :/)
Oh and about Lair – one of 1st exc on PS3, it have HUGE fps drops, and even in 1080p this game still looks sux o.0 Better idea would be for you to check God of War 3 if you wanna talk about natively FHD titles.
The only one ‘completely freakin stupid’ here is you.
PC gaming is nowhere near dead. The power of a good PC blows out the performance of a PS3 and a 360. Cross platform releases are almost always better on PC with smoother gameplay, sharper visuals, and more variable options. And you can usually play with a variety of different control setups. You can tailor the game to play exactly how you want, unlike on consoles how you choose a from a list of control schemes. and as for MW, i believe the franchise is extremely overrated. Very old and repetetive. unrealistic gun physics. I mean come on how old is counter-strike 1.6 and that game still blows MW out of the water with its deep gunplay. MW is simply point and shoot. Your enemies could be on the other side of the map but hold the trigger down full-auto and they are going down. I like to work for my kills, not have them handed to me on a silver platter.
@David Macphail: “Also, EVERY PS3 exclusive has dedicated servers you moron, hardly any game’s use P2P hosting – you really don’t follow the game’s industry at all, do you?”
lol. you obviously dont, as no, not EVERY PS3 exclusive uses dedicated servers lol. Uncharted 2 is P2P, so there goes that theory.
oh and PC games have been HD for years lol. 1920×1080 is last years news – or even older – for pc gamers.
Lair was native 1080p, but boy oh boy did it suffer because of that. couldnt keep a steady framerate to save itself.
@Nick – God of War 3 is also NOT native 1080p. it is 720p, and going from the demo it wont even be 60fps.
@ David Macphail
David are you fuckn retarded u think all PC games run at 640p or sum shit PC has been HD before your ugly mum concept-ed you in a brothel (whore house, for your mentally retard brain to get a round) 1080p is 1920×1080 if u get a 30″ COMPUTER screen you can go above that (2560×1920 or some shit) . Dont feel bad your jsut a console gamer, you dont know any better.
It does kind of suck when you purchase 5 copies of the game for the sole purpose of playing LAN matches and find that every computer then needs steam and you still can’t play a LAN. Its a step backwards of about 15 years. I understand that when I’m on my console I don’t want to be choosing matches etc… but on the PC?
LOL.
I see a lot of people claiming that consoles are better because they always sell more games. Do you know why they sell more games?
Well my good sir’s that’s because you’re average Joe doesn’t know shit all about computers, Ati Radeon HD 2900 doesn’t mean jack to them and thus when they want to go Pew Pew in a video game they go out and buy a console.
Prior to consoles gaming was a secluded industry and gamers were as rare a breed as flying dodo’s.
Now any idiot with 300$ can go out an buy a console, hell now gaming is popular and gamers are no longer branded as nerds.
Just no so long ago a release such as MW 2 would have been a market failure, why? Because the game improves on so little and costs so much.
Look at Battlefield Vietnam, 1942 received loads of attention and had great sales. A rehashed version of 1942 came out and no one really cared, I remember thinking the 1942 community would die but it just got bigger.
I’d like to compare gaming to reading. You can liken the PC to intellectual/complex books such as Physics of the Impossible or Brave New World. You can liken consoles to books such as Harry Potter or Twilight, simple and easy to read.
Brave New World has been out for 70 years and I bet the first Harry Potter book has sold more. Does that mean that the market for such books is dead? No, that just means it appeals to a smaller (and smarter) market audience.
Not ALL the users rated this game purely based on fanboy rage. So MW2 appologists should stop pretending there is nothing wrong this game.
For me, this game was a bit of a letdown. The single player was awesome, while it lasted, but I really don`t understand why the game didn’t have more co-op functionality like W@W. W@W had 4 player co-op with matchmaking, but MW2 just has 2 player Spec ops with no matchmaking whatsoever. The multiplayer seemed just like your typical FPS, except it had unlockable weapons, perks, and killstreak rewards to ensure that the new players don’t stand a chance against the more skilled players. No dedicated servers means REALLY bad news for PC gamers because it leaves them helpless against hackers. On the day MW2 was released, youtube videos appeared showing wallhacks, with links showing where to get them.
I think I’ll trade this game in for something else.
PC gaming is far from dead. once you go to pc for fps you never go back. its faster and much more accurate. after trying mw2 on the xbox360, I thought it was horrible! I thought the controls were slow and badly set up and apparently those are the standards! if pc and console gamers were put in the same online servers, pc gamers would snipe you out of the water before you got a chance to freaking line up your shot! aim assist my ass! never helped me once. would I need it on a pc? fuck no! on a pc, you can actually set up your shots FAST something a console could never do.
just to clear things up
- what was the last game that has user mods?(UT3 ps3 you can download them from your ps3 browser at ut3mod.com or port them from your PC via flashdrive game also support keyboard & mouse)
as far as 1080p & dedicated servers on ps3 some games have it some games dont
but for me there is no console vs PC i cant go with out a PC or a Playstation i dont care about 360 cuz so far the games are either available on ps3 or PC or both or and 360 exclusive just dont intrest me
actually ut3 on ps3 supports user maps and mods you can download them directly from your ps3 browser at ut3mod.com and you can use usb keyboard & mouse to play as far as 1080p & dedicated servers on ps3 some games have it some games dont.
i think mw2 should b rated T because there`s not a lot of blood and not that many bad words i think they have bad jugment or they rated it M because all the ather ones wher .
Of course it’s overrated. The only people willing to defend it’s undeserving success are those who either haven’t played enough games to be able to do fair comparisons or those too blind to see otherwise. I’m also guessing it has something to do with it being a casual shooter, hence anyone and everyone can get in to it; even those who are only in to Wii-esque games.
Sorry, but even if you take the majority of reviews by critics in to mind, it averages at around 9. Thus meaning that it’s a solid game, but it’s nowhere near ground breaking, even if it’s fanboys want us to think it is. What’s more annoying is the fact that I’ve noticed a lot of companies undermine other games by giving them lower ratings than they deserve just so they can’t look better than MW2.
Modern Warfare 2 is designed for console gamers. It exists to make 12 year olds feel like unstoppable military badasses. Get shot? Just take cover and wait while your magic health regenerates and you can continue being a badass!
The people proclaiming PC gaming dead are, of course, idiots, ignoring companies like Blizzard, Maxis, and Valve. The truth is that consoles are now about four years behind PCs when it comes to graphics capability. Consoles are holding back technological progress in gaming–all they can do is run overproduced, heavily scripted military shooters designed to coddle your ego and make you feel like a military badass.
Modern Warfare 2 didnt take a lesson from halo 3 the 1st and second are almost identicle cod 4 was one of, if not, the greatest shooter of all time. Halo 2 most likely held that title before cod 4 the sequels were crap the story and multiplayer are boring because its the exact same thing
On ign modern warfare 2 graphics got a 10 while bad company 2 graphics got a lower rating. I compared the two and while mw2 graphics are not bullshit, they are not even close to being a 10, more like an 8.5-9.0. BFBC2 has better graphics thought, mainly the environment.
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