Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Multiplayer: Colon: Subtitle – 11/25/09

I’ve already discussed the single player of ModWar2, and wanted to touch on the multiplayer. The whole idea of the multiplayer is based on the idea of progression. The game is designed to reward you for playing it as much as possible. Get a kill? Get experience points. Get a long distance kill? Get an award for the distance and even more experience points than for just an average kill. Get a bunch of experience points? Level up. Level up? Unlock a new weapon, perk, or other reward.

Infinity Ward has crafted a complex system of carrots on strings to pull the player from level 1 to level 75, and then back around again, if the player chooses to go into “prestige mode.” The problem with the system of unlocks is that it never changes once you’ve gone through once, so the excitement of unlocking some new gadget or weapon that you never had before is gone or faded. What happens then is that the player is forced to enjoy the game on its own merits as opposed to the joy derived from unlocks. From my experience, it doesn’t hold up against shooters that don’t have as complex a system of unlocking.