call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2 posts

The Call of Duty game franchise that began with Infinity Ward's first game in the shooter series in 2003 has established a pattern in its later releases. Infinity Ward works on the games that are released in the odd-numbered years (Call of Duty 2 in 2005, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009). Developer Treyarch has handled the games in even-numbered years (Call of Duty 3 in 2006 and Call of Duty: World at War in 2008).

Now comes word that publisher Activision is prepping a third development team to work on more Call of Duty titles. The rumor comes from the Los Angeles Times web site which does not identify which developer has been contracted to do these duties. The story also says that Activision is considering some kind of massively multiplayer Call of Duty game although it sounds like this is more of an idea than an actual project that's underway.

All right. It's time to separate the men from the geeks. You may have read a bunch of reviews of how great Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is but we bet that most of them have concentrated on the console versions. After all of the hubbub about no dedicated servers, no mod tools and only 18 players allowed online, can Infinity Ward's latest first-person shooter be any good on the PC?

Actually, there's quite a bit to like about the game as it turns out... but many of our concerns regarding the PC port of Modern Warfare 2 also proved to be true.

Check out all Modern Warfare 2 downloads

Oh boy. Here we go again. First, Infinity Ward manages to make lots of hardcore PC gamers upset by not supporting dedicated servers for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2. Then a pretty brutal scene from the upcoming FPS (that has a plot point that we won't go into here) is leaked into the Internet. Now a new promo video for the game on YouTube has a statement that may (or may not) have some homophobic connotations.

The video itself is just a bit of a goof as it shows a virtual version of Philadelphia Phillis pitcher Cole Hamels (a known fan of Infinity Ward's previous games) getting blown up by a hailstorm of grenades. However the "sponsor" that is written out at the end of the video can be taken to be . . . something else when you use the first letter of each word.

Naturally we have emailed Activision and Infinity Ward to find out if that "hidden" message was intentional.

Update: The video has now been pulled from YouTube

To: The Modern Warfare 2 Team at Infinity Ward

There's been a massive amount of buzz about the upcoming release of Modern Warfare 2. Unfortunately, as you know, not all of it has been good, especially from the PC community. It started out slow but about 12 days ago it reached its peak when your community manager Robert Bowling dropped a bombshell that the PC version would no longer have a dedicated server system for multiplayer. Instead, you guys are creating your own peer-to-peer matchmaking system called IWNet.

Some folks have read a lot into this decision but believe it or not in some respects we think your decisions are good for the PC community. While some hardcore PC gamers may not wish to admit it there are "average" PC gamers, we understand that some people don't want to deal with the hassle of browsing for a low ping server. They just want to jump in a game for some quick multiplayer matches.

Modern Warfare 2 is now less that two weeks from release but already leaked footage from the full game have hit the Interwebs. One video in particular seems to show a scene that could get more people upset than the recent reveal that Washington DC is a battleground in the game.

We don't like spoiling major plot points, so if you don't want to know what happens in this allegedly leaked footage, read no further. For the rest of you we will see you after the jump:

While we wait to see if Infinity Ward will stick to their guns or capitulate to the massive fan outcry against Modern Warfare 2's dumping of dedicated servers for the PC version, they are still doing press for the upcoming present day first person shooter. With the game due for release on November 10, many people are asking what the developer has next up their sleeves.

IGN's UK division chatted with Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling who states, "Right now we don't have a clue what our next game is going to be, and we won't know what it will be until we finish with Modern Warfare 2, which won't be for a while . . ." By "finish" he means not only releasing the full game but also getting feedback from fans and then creating the planned downloadable content releases.

The cries of "Foul" by hardcore fans of the Call of Duty shooter franchise over the dumping of dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 have been reported on extensively for the past couple of days. Now Game Informer has some more info on why developer Infinity Ward decided to make such a move. The studio's heads Jason West and Vince Zampella stated they simply wanted to make the multiplayer gameplay experience easier to get into for the average PC gamer.

In fact they state they have received their own feedback from PC players that cheaters, the high skill levels and even the community itself have made playing previous Call of Duty games online harder than normal. West is quoted as saying, "We thought maybe it would be cool if the fans could play the game." Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling hinted that was the main reason behind the move for Modern Warfare 2 when the news broke about the lack of dedicated servers in the shooter.

Both men said that their new IWnet matchmaking service will help the average PC gamer play online and find people they can play with their same skill set. As far as the hardcore PC players, they stated the only thing they lose in this new setup is playing on servers with third party mods; they can still set up private games in the matchmaking service. West said some dedicated servers fans may be upset because they won't be able to charge for their servers in Modern Warfare 2, saying, "It's a little dubious. Some of the people complaining are complaining with their pocketbook." West also discounted having both the IWNet service and dedicated servers at the same time, saying it would, "bifurcate the community."

Update: Robert Bowling goes into details on how IWNet will work on his personal web site. He states their system "will automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection as well as matching you with players of your same SKILL." He also states IWnet will have features like friends lists that will let players "see when your friends are online, and invite them to your Party."

Online petitions are kind of like 50 cents nowadays. Having both will get you a call on a pay phone and not much else. However the revelation that developer Infinity Ward won't release a dedicated online multiplayer server for their FPS Modern Warfare 2 has generated a ton of angry online petition signers.

The Petitiononline.com web site has nearly 80,000 signers (at the moment) who feel that this move from allowing dedicated servers to having Infinity Ward run their own matchmaking service for the PC port is a step in the wrong direction for the Modern Warfare 2 online community. In truth, no matter how you feel about this decision, the fact that Infinity Ward kept this major change to itself until just three weeks before the game comes out smells to us like they knew it wouldn't be a popular move. We've tried to contact Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling for comment but so far we have yet to receive a response.

If one believes the messages that some of the hardcore fans of the Call of Duty series have posted on message boards, this is a dark weekend for people who wanted to get the PC port on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. According to a pod cast on fan site BashandSlash.com, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has confirmed that the PC version of their upcoming first person shooter won't have dedicated server support.

Instead, Bowling said that Infinity Ward will be handling all the multiplayer servers for the game themselves under their own IW.net system for matchmaking and server support. He did say there will be private server support for players who wanted to create their own custom matches. IW.net will be run in conjunction with Steam which will include VAC anti-cheating support.

Naturally the news of no dedicated server support has many hardcore fans of the previous games in an uproar, especially those folks who have set up dedicated servers for previous games in the series (and even charging money for hosting those servers) and won't be able to do so for Modern Warfare 2. Bowling admits this is a big change but says the reason for their moves is to give the average PC gamer a better experience playing the game online. Bowling admitted that he did not know about the status for mod support for the PC version or if such mods could be hosted by the new IW.net.

By the way, Bowling also stated that the PC version of the game is not delayed and is still scheduled for a November 10 release. A number of web sites posted up unconfirmed reports of a delay a couple of weeks ago but we choose not to report on those rumors since there was no real proof of a delay.

If you hate going outside as much as we do and prefer to get your PC games via (legal) download sites, you will be happy to know that Activision's highly anticipated shooter Modern Warfare 2 will be released on Steam. This confirmation comes from Robert Bowling of the game's developer Infinity Ward in a chat with VG247.com

Of course the bigger question is not if the game will be made available via Steam but when. So far there's no listing on Steam to pre-order the game. Activision also has a history of releasing the PC versions of their titles late on the download sites. Indeed it was only this week that Wolfenstein appeared on Steam and Direct2Drive, nearly two months after the game shipped to the brick and mortar stores.