Friday, March 19, 2010
By Sean Yeates
News Editor
and Max Votey
Opinion Editor
Out of the incredible variety of games that can be found, first-person shooters are by far the most popular. Games like Halo have been the face of interactive entertainment to popular culture and have become a facet of life for a huge number of people as opposed to a nerdy fringe.
Currently, the big first-person shooters in competition are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which, combined, made about as much as “Avatar” at a much lower cost than the movie and with continuing strong sales into the foreseeable future.
The first of these, Modern Warfare 2, has been out longer and is better known to first-person shooter fans. Its gameplay is reminiscent of the old but incredibly popular game Counterstrike in that it creates an incredibly fast-paced experience. It focuses on the individual—achieving the highest possible kill to death ratio regardless of whether the rest of the team wins or loses the round.
Modern Warfare 2 emphasizes high-quality graphics and addicting gameplay.
Dying is easy but very rarely keeps the player from combat for long. Online play is balanced between incredible kill streaks and depressing droughts.
Online players gain levels over time, unlocking guns and abilities along the way. However, at the maximum level, it is possible to throw away all earned weapons and achievements and restart from level one again.
However, Modern Warfare 2 is far from perfect. There are a limited number of maps and nearly all of them are claustrophobic.
There are also noticeable issues with balance. Certain weapon combinations allow players with little to no skills to wreak havoc and frustrate more skilled players. This is exacerbated by hackers and other boorish players, who create a generally negative online community.
Bad Company 2 is an offspring of one of the most prestigious first-person shooter pedigrees, with ancestors like Battlefield 1942, which revolutionized online multiplayer for shooter games.
It practically forces players to cooperate by putting them into squads. Each is given a number of tools that allows it to cooperate, such as the ability to respawn next to living squad members.
There are four different classes to play as in Bad Company 2, each with different weapons and skills, but no single one is too powerful. The large maps give players more freedom. One of the best aspects is that destructible environments change the battlefield as the fights progress.
Bad Company 2’s server system can be slow and confusing. Electronic Art’s multiplayer support has a history of irresponsive technology, often making it hard to play together with friends. This is a shame, because playing in a squad of reliable friends is one of the best ways to have fun.
It also shares the same problem as Modern Warfare 2 in that the number of maps is limited, which leaves little variety in the direction of battle.
Between the two, Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the better choice because of the dynamic destructible environments and fluid teamwork-based gameplay. However, gamers who enjoy an addicting roller coaster ride will prefer Modern Warfare 2.
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