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Ok, I was gonna put together a review for the whole of the new MW2 game, but I’ve spent the entire weekend on multiplayer and only managed about half of the single player! Read on for the review…

With this version of Call Of Duty, Infinity Ward have completely re-designed the online multiplayer portion of the PC version.  Most PC multiplayer games allow for dedicated servers to be setup. This basically means there’s a computer somewhere with a copy of the game on it running as a server. The owner of the server can set it up with rules, mods and maps that they decide. This has been scrapped for MW2 in favor of a match making system more akin to that of console games. Rather than dedicated servers being setup, the games are run on a p2p service. Say you are going for a game of Team Deathmatch. You select the game mode from the main menu and you are then entered into a lobby system. IWNET (InfinityWards game matching server) then finds other players with similar skill levels, location and a ping rates which are ment to allow for the smoothest game play. Once the server finds all the players it then checks through for the best “host player”, this host’s computer basically becomes the server that everyone else connects to. You’d never know if it was you though as its designed to be invisible.

This brings about some plus and minus points. Dedicated servers are good as alot of the servers are in big data centres meaning they have fast connections and guaranteed uptimes. Also they allow for a lot more people to play at a time and also allows the owner to install their own mods etc. The down side is you have to hunt through a long list of servers to find one you want to play, then try them to see if the rules suit you. This is ok when you have found a couple of servers you like but I always found it a little intimidating if you tried a server with a few weirdo’s on it. For a newbie to online gaming this is less than ideal. With COD4 the server list was also very untidy with server owners giving the servers some very odd and colourful names!

With MW2’s multiplayer, you simply select the game type you want, wait for the system to find some players and off you go. I am yet to really find any issues with this, I’ve always had relatively good ping rates and not been at all hampered by the P2P system. I did check in on the Official forums a couple of days back and I was amazed the amount of people moaning about the lack of dedicated servers, then having a go at anyone that suggested the system actually worked well. These people are also trying to get others to boycott buying the game. So moaning about a game they don’t own! Alot of the complaints about the limitations of the system just don’t apply to the actual game. Yes 18 players is quite a bit less than the 64 offered by COD4, but it still works, there’s more than enough people on the server so it doesn’t feel lonely, ping rates are great, load times are great. Yes I do miss the bigger games, but I don’t think this detracts from the overall quality of the InfinityWards implementation.

So whats new? Well other than new maps and the new system already discussed. There is now the addition of titles and emblems to make things a little more personal. You now get a bigger selection of kill streak bonuses, not just UAV, Airstrike and Helicopter, but also Harriers, bombers, precision missiles, sentry guns (very funny to watch) and an AC130! (think the mission from COD4 where you’re in the aircraft bombing the ground!) and quite a few others. Think that sounds unfair? Well equip the Stinger rocket launcher and take em down! There’s also new perks and a slightly different way of managing your classes, all big improvements on COD4.

All in all, it is a very enjoyable multiplayer game, something I felt the more recent COD5 lacked. Yes it has a few bits missing but don’t let that detract from the enjoyable game play and to those “boycotting”, just try playing it!