When people do speak as the average person does, its only in the most hackneyed, tired of action movie cliches, with “those hostages won't rescue themselves” being my favorite by far. It's utterly incomprehensible, and every single person in the game speaks like this. The problem is that in Infinity Ward’s almost erotic fixation with military procedure and lingo (taken from military sources, probably, but also from pop culture like “Generation Kill”), Infinity Ward forgot to put more than a word or two of human dialogue into anybody's mouth. Everyone everywhere is always "oscar mike," or every single enemy is “danger close.” This isn't to say that military jargon, shop talk, and slang don't have a place in dramatic fiction. Everyone talks using the caricature of a caricature of a caricature of military slang and shop talk. The dialogue is obtuse in the extreme, moving from topic to topic with alacrity, refusing to acknowledge that its language and execution obscure all but the simplest epithets and declarations. Even a problematic trip to Brazil (opening with a hugely annoying mission) salvages itself somewhat, delivering a tense, alarming firefight through a crowded market where sight lines are crap and the enemies are plentiful.Įven these deft touches, though, are undermined by the company's unsteady, encroaching sense of dramatic timing and exposition. Likewise, its depiction of a long firefight through a capital in ruins is tense, desperate, and perfectly paced. The idea of a massive invasion blasting apart and disfiguring everyday America is a potent one, although as I'll explain later, IW's execution of this interesting situation leaves much to be desired. Infinity Ward has mastered the art of pretentious (not because it is in any way intelligent, but because it thinks it is saying anything of worth or import) military drama, just as it has mastered the art of the contemporary linear military shooter.Īs an “entertaining” piece of military schlock, Modern Warfare 2 hits a few good notes here and there.
There are other ways to put this, but none of them communicate my full disgust with the separate parts of this product, and its heft and intention as a whole entity. The plot, writing, and characters of Modern Warfare 2 are all wretched. It shouldn't be surprising that people think this kind of storytelling is important, but it’s surprising that the unfortunate disconnect between gameplay, setting and writing is explained away, excused, and sometimes lauded. To play this game (and to listen to its developers discuss the single and multiplayer) is to witness the work of people who honestly believe the characters and story they've created are deserving of further installments. Infinity Ward themselves seem to be doggedly resisting this change. One wonders when IW will drop all the pretense and just release a multiplayer-only game. Aside from the genre (FPS), this is more and more a pure RPG leveling experience. Playing Modern Warfare 2, you can see the changes and signs. It's an old joke by now that IW moves Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer closer and closer to MMO status with each release. It's built as a multiplayer juggernaut, and its single player is like some kind of vestigial malformed appendage: it sticks around almost out of habit. We may natter on about FPS narrative conceits, forced participation, and issues of player agency, but this game doesn't care. For them, the game lives and dies by its multiplayer. Most notable among them were the “F.A.G.S.” scandal (and Infinity Ward's response to such criticisms), the lack of dedicated servers, and, of course, the “No Russian” level.Īs Michael Abbott points out, while a small slice of the hardcore demographic and gaming press took offense, a large portion of the game's potential customers were either unaware of or unmoved by any of those issues. The game's release may have been highly lucrative (750 million dollars, the last time I checked), but it was also fraught with controversy. Infinity Ward's Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has come and gone, although it isn't really gone: it lives on, unstoppable, powered by XBL and the PSN.