Hey all. I'm back from a very long suspension, but rest assured, I was NOT taken captive by a rogue band of rebellious monkeys hoping to get secret information on... screw it, the punchline was small British people. Ha ha ha. Guess what? The part where I said "... screw it, the punch line was small British people" was actually part of the joke. I didn't cut any of it out! So, do you get it? Do you find it funny? Of course you don't! Because it's British humor! It's never funny! But if you don't get it, apparently you're really stupid. That's what they say, anyway. Speakin' of them British folk, didn't Lord of the Rings have quite a few of them? Well, I don't think the actual actors were all British, but they all had British accents, especially Pippin. Pippin the Wee Scottish Hobbit. But then... Scottish isn't British! 
No matter, I associate most all Euopean people who speak English primarily as 'Brits' anyway.
MODERN WARFARE 2DEVOLOPED BYINFINIY WARD AND PUBLISHED BY CRAPTIVISION
See, I wrote all that in giant, bold, big lettering, because Modern Warfare 2 deserves it, and it did actually surprise me by how awesome it was. I expected nothing more than Call of Duty 4 1/2, with another 5 hour campaign and new multiplayer stuff and well... that's what Modern Warfare 2 is. But to be blunt, it is much, MUCH better than Modern Warfare, because everything has been done better. So without further ado, a Modern Warfare 2 review!
Warning: The writer does not claim responsibility for making fun of Activision by calling them 'Craptivision', and wishes to establish the fact that Activision did that to it's self, and Bobby Kotick should go ------------ himself. (MESSAGE ALTERED FOR FEAR OF MODERATION) Any possible references to living individuals IS intended, asto make him/her/or otherwise copyrighted material feel bad about itself/himself/herself.
The biggest game of the year, and perhaps all time, has stormed onto store shelves awaited for by millions. Analysts predict the game could reach over 7 million copies sold by year's end! It is, of course, another cheerful, kid-friendly, vibrant, colorful, and generally good natured game from Infinity Ward, and it's Modern Warfare 2. Mow down terrorists with heavy machine guns, watch as innocent astronauts get exploded from space by EMP bombs, massacre hundreds of innocent civilians in an airport, defend a crumbling Washington DC from an army of Russians, and DIE! All light hearted fun!
In all seriousness, Modern Warfare 2 is the latest in the Call of Duty series, and is easily the most violent of the series, and perhaps the most violent FPS of all time, it's one of those games that really earns it's M rating. The stakes are higher than ever, the intensity has ramped to it's peak, and the production values are high enough to put every third world country out of poverty. But why do that when you can give rich people ridiculously violent shooting games that partially take place in third world countries?
The single player is once again fairly short, but filled with so much, intensity, action, and events, more probably happens than in most regular sized FPSs. It takes place after the events of Call of Duty 4, following the events of Imran Zakhaev's death at the hands of Soap MacTavish and his squad. Now the cold-hearted killer Makarov, Zakky's right hand man, has taken the reigns in destroying the world in the name of restoring Mother Russia to her former Soviet glory. Death, doom, and destruction follow in Makarov's path, and you have to kill him.
His army of Russian-curse-spewing Russians and turban-bound Afghan terrorists are taking the fight all over the world killing everything in their path, including cities, soldiers, and civilians alike. The story is extremely dark, and it takes a lot of twists and turns, if a bit ridiculous sometimes, but in the end, the world is left worse than it started, and you eventually lose sight of who you're supposed to be rooting for. It's very powerful stuff conveying a lot of ideas with untapped potential and exploring and analyzing them, and the game fully realizes the harshness of war, and how bad it really is. Combat and soldiers aren't glorified in Modern Warfare 2, they'respeculated and made out as what they really are, and morales aren't dealt with in absolutes, everything is handled in shades of grey.
I won't spoil anything important, but I will say there are some jaw-dropping moments, some heart-breaking moments, and some downright disturbing moments. The Washington DC levels in particular were a mixture of all 3 things, creating a strange sense of weariness afterwards, posing the question "What if America was attacked, and how would I react?" Being a citizen of America and generally a patriot, it was pretty thought-provoking. There is a lot more memorable stuff and action going on than in Modern Warfare 1, and there is absolutely NO filler. Actually, the game might have benefited from some filler! Just a level or two, some really basic ones, with little to nothing to advance the plot or blow your mind, just get from point A to point B while shooting stuff, just for a breather. But nope, there is absolutely no down time or unremarkable levels here, just constant, intense, and meaningful combat throughout varied levels. That said, while the story is good, it gets muddled sometimes through the pre-mission briefings, which are generally the means of advancing the story, and while the ending kicks ass, it's also a cliff hanger. Modern Warfare 3 inbound!
But what would Call of Duty be without gameplay? A movie. One much like... any modern military movie, I guess. I haven't really seen any. Killing stuff by aiming with great reflexes is the name of the game as with all Call of Duty games, looking down your sights and constantly being on the move is key to survival. You kill your adverseries with a huge arsenal of weapons at your disposal, like the SCAR, dual wield Uzis, Glocks, MP5s, P90s, throwing knifes, claymores, and whatever other modernized weapondry your heart desires. These weapons all have unique and crazy add-ons like silencers, ACOG sights, holographic sights (my favorite), heart beat sensors (think Halo 3 motion tracker), and many more. It really hasn't changed much since Call of Duty 4 because it didn't really need to, and I honestly don't know how it could of, but it does add a lot more variety with new weapons, add-ons, and cool sections of the single player like turret sections when inside helicopters, and surprisingly fun vehicle sections, though there are only three. It still controls excellently, the gameplay is very fluid and streamlined, AI is improved, no more respawning enemies, more balance, and more of everything good. What more could you want? Well actually, I would have liked an arcade mode for the single player with online leaderboards, like in Call of Duty 4, which I enjoyed very much. Why the hell did they take that out?
When you've had your fill of gloom and doom in the campaign, you can always take things to the more simple, but incredibly fun Spec-Ops mode, a series of tons of little mini-challenges where you work to improve your score alone or with a friend. These challenges are mostly taken from the single player and are usually the most exciting sequences. For instance, the snow mobile level where you try and get the fastest time going down the mountain, or one where you go witha certain someonethrough the snowy forest picking off enemy patrols with your sniper, or the incredible AC-130 mission, where one player uses the AC-130 guns to guide the other player through the level. It's an awesome addition and stands out from the now extremely popular and somewhat tiresomeHoard-like modes as seen in Terrorist Hunt, Hoard Mode, Nazi Zombies, Survival, and Firefight. Props to IW for trying something new.
Then, there's the incredibly deep and very fun multiplayer, which is a huge step above Call of Duty 4, and mostly because of one thing: Balance. Balancing was a pretty big issue in Call of Duty 4, where winning was really dependant on who had the better perks, and some weapons were obviously better and more effective than others, as well as constant grenade spam. It would have been two times better if they had just gotten rid of Martydrom, but they went the extra mile and overhauled the perk and killstreak system so nothing works more in favor of certain players or the other. Granted, it can get a bit unfair when you get slammed by a Predator missile strike that was impossible to avoid, but other than that, it's a lot more balanced and based on... *gasp* skill! Another cool thing is that the maps are all very well done. There are only two maps out of the however-many-maps there are as of right now that I don't like, whereas in Call of Duty 4 I liked half the maps, and I hated the other half. Here, it's just a slight disgruntle towardsonly two. There are also new modes, like Capture the Flag, which is pretty self explanatory. So overall, the multiplayer is just an excellent offering and I can finally say Halo 3 has some competition on the console front.
In the end, Modern Warfare 2 exceeded my expectations by delivering a fantasic shooter with great new content and then some, and makes other action games look bad in comparison just because of how much more there is in Modern Warfare 2 and how massively large the production values are, and is only slightly marred by a somewhat convoluted story and lack of an arcade mode. If you like shooters on consoles then Modern Warfare 2 is a no-brainer, go pick it up.
9/10
More awesome, super manly blog titles! First off, I'd like to apolagize and say Mass Effect 2 was the true number 5, and GoW3 should be kicked off the list. I am, of course, speaking of my recent "Most Hyped Games of 2010" list. Anyway, I'm sick. I have a cough and thus was dismissed from school. My body is aching, my nose is stuffed up and I can hardly breathe through it, I have to have a cough fit every 3 minutes, but it's a great day so far. I've been playing Super Mario Bros. 3, Earthbound, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and A Link to the Past, as well as watching all Season 3 of South Park, as opposed to being in school. Speaking of which, is it Thursday or Friday? I totally forgot.
Aside from super killer retro games and my sickness, I'd like to announce that I discovered something truly amazing. I've discovered how velcro works! Yes, the mythical fuzzy stuff that sticks, but isn't really sticky. For millenia, this ancient wonder of stickiness has baffled the human mind, but my friends, I know how it works. Observe:
One end of the velcro is a series of tiny hooks, which are prickly to the touch. The other end is a bunch of fuzzy hairs. Now what happens is this: When you press the two together, the hairs latch on to the hooks, and the hooks firmly grasp the hairs. Thus, a reliable sticky solution for anything that need be stuck. I nowawait my Nobel Prize for a breackthrough discovery.
It's 5:14 PM right now, and it's pitch black outside, and according the weather, freezing. Chicago: Gotta' love it. 
Jeez, the least we could get is snow.Well, that would be really bad now that I think about it, since I'm sick, and I wouldn't be able to go outside. Well screw that, had it snowed today, and school was closed, I would have frollicked outside anyway. Actually, I don't live in the city of Chicago, I live 30 minutes away in a suburb part of the Chicago area.
That's all. Thanks for reading, please comment, and PM me if you want to know a great guy on YouTube who does Nintendo centric Let's Plays. No annoying accents or anything, unless slight southern accents bother you. I out.
I thought that title might appeal to you. 
Speaking of guns, explosions, women, and money, GTA4 is awesome. Now, on to LISTS.... Don't you love other people's lists? They only represent their opinion and not your own, and therefore are worthless. But whatever, here is my TOP 5 MOST HYPED GAMES OF 2010:
5: Metroid: Other M
4: Super Mario Galaxy 2
3: God of War III
2: Halo: Reach
1: Final Fantasy 13
Yes, FF13 is my most hyped game. It WILL be awesome. Mark my words...
----------------------------------
Halloween!
I hate it.
Why?
Because of trick-or-treaters, namely little kids who demand you give them candy without thanking you, or obnoxious teenagers who also demand candy or they'll egg your house. So I'm just not answering the door.
But I hope you have fun.
...Just don't stop at my house.
----------------------------------
South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play!
I thought I should try and get this game out there. It's a really fun tower defense/action/co-op game. I'm on Hells Pass Hospital level right now, it's a lot of fun. Basically it's like any tower defense game, but a lot more fast paced and you have more direct control of your playfield. You can choose from any number of South Park characters to play as, like Cartman, Kenny, Timmy, Wendy, etc. You directly control these characters and you serve as a mobil tower yourself. You can throw snowballs at oncoming waves of evil beings, and charge your snowball to make a yellow snowball, which does extra damage. If you do enough damage to evil beings, you can use a special ability (each character has a unique one) that can help you in a time of desperation.
You must also plant different types of towers and walls to impede the beings' progress. There are cannons, cherry bomb launchers, missile launchers, and standard walls, as well as many others. You can upgrade these towers by simply going up to them and pressing X, then selecting upgrade, as long as you have enough coins, which you collect from destroyed beings.
The story is extremely simple: South Park is being invaded by deadly beings, ranging from old people to gingers to little garden gnomes,and you must stop them before they destroy South Park. There is some great new voicework for the game, and it can be downright hilarious sometimes, as you'd expect from South Park (like when the chinese City Wok owner starts ranting on about his City Wall, only he says city like... ya know...). Unfortunately, there isn't any original animation, but the story is told through little comic panels, which is plausible. There are quite a few levels in the campaign to play, as well as 3 difficulties. You can go back to these levels to increase your score and get higher trophies. As you go on, you collect videos, pictures, and biographies from the South Park show and about the game. For even more replay value, there is a challenge mode where things get ridiculously hard and you have to survive as long as you can.
The best part of the game is 4 player co-op. It's hella fun with friends, but if you don't have any, you can always just join other people's games from around the world. It's definately best played co-op, so get a few friends to come along fro the ride too!
What can I say about Let's Go Tower Defense Play? For just $10, you can't go wrong with such a sizeable and fun package. Ladies and gentlemen, the first really good South Park game is here, and it's on the Xbox Live Arcade for just 800 points. Get spending.
--------------------------------------------
That's all folks. Thanks for reading.
