It's been just over 3 months since the highly anticipated release of Modern Warfare 2 (called MW2 for short). In this sequel Infinity Ward (IW) decided to not have a public beta test as they did in the first game. The reasoning was that they wouldn't need to do a tiresome public beta if an internal "professional tester" beta was deemed sufficient.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/101/1015777p1.html
Within a few short weeks issues started arising at an alarming rate. The host issue that plagued the first modern warfare was more apparent than ever. Unlike many other multiplayer games, Infinity Ward goes the less expensive route and does not have their own servers for players. As such, a certain Xbox live subscriber will be given host rights and therefore also given about a 2 second lead time ahead of everyone else.
This issue wasn't addressed and still plagues the game to this day. It's openly known that the host gets superior reaction times, damage output, wins in all tiebreakers, etc.
Even more troubling, players were only using certain equipment loadouts even though there are hundreds if not thousands of options. This points to an unbalanced game. First came the Dual 1887 shotguns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2IZd26F43I
Observe how the person doesn't even have to aim the guns in order to score instant kills. Just point in the general area and boom.
It's funny to think that not only could the Terminator not reload as fast as these guys are reloading two guns at the same time, but also humorous that in over 120 years of gun making technological improvements, the 1887 shotgun is better than any gun ever created in history.
After this slipped through the professional testing at IW, the cheaters stepped in. The first widely spread cheat was the javelin glitch. Essentially a player would arm himself like a suicide bomber and run around the board. When he would die a massive explosive would happen, killing people in a wide area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-nYVHyQWc
After a few weeks of this glitch ruining the integrity of the game, and a complete embarrassment for the quality control process at Infinity Ward, they managed to rush a patch through Microsoft.
Let's give IW a get out of jail free card for that, sometimes a few bugs make it through no matter what the testing process.
However, more cheats followed. Specifically the one that has ruined more games for more people is the care package glitch. With no one way to find out specifically who is actually performing the cheat, it is a major game changer the likes that has never been seen in multiplayer games before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Y6kuRHAqY
You can't tell who is performing it unless you see it for yourself, so reporting it is very difficult.
You might be able to tell by stats, but if the player is sharing all his care packages with his teammates, their stats go up and his do not. So, merely picking who is in first place doesn't really say who is cheating for certain. He could share some, and not others, and keep everyone relatively equal on the stats.
The other cheat is the unlimited emergency airdrop, which is also referenced on Youtube above. Four care packages at once, for as long as the match lasts.
The third cheat is the speed glitch when using certain care packages. This isn't the best video to show how fast you run, but it will do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQMNzTkw_vE
Notice at the 1:45 mark that not only does it make you run faster, you also are hunched over, making targeting you that much harder. Most users of this cheat will add commando pro and start the killing spree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxtXK6sYBcA
I am glad that IW is at least willing to address these issues with a patch. But after 90+ days of allowing cheaters to destroy the credibility of their game, stating that their QA process was superior to the previous testing methods, and much more, I have to admit I am done with this game. While I am a huge fan of IW and the Modern Warfare series, something has changed at Infinity Ward for the worse.
Apparently I am told a patch was pushed out today that addresses some but not all of these issues. For me, 3 months to fix obvious blatant cheating is too long for a game that sold 7 million copies its first day.
Modern Warfare 2 was widely successful because of the game play balance, graphics, pacing, and wealth of options from MW one (COD4). I won't be as naive for MW3. Infinity Ward is obviously a company that now has turned to making more of a profit from its fans at the expense of making quality games that are fair and balanced.
Lets say that even with all the various options chosen for MW2, night vision goggles, new Xboxes, etc, that there were "just" 60 a copy in revenue from MW2.
Before costs, sales of Modern Warfare 2 at that price accoung for 720,000,000. That's right, 720 million dollars. A company with that kind of revenue stream has no excuse to allow these types of cheats in their game, let alone have a quality control department that allowed them to slip through testing in the first place.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Friday, December 11, 2009
What I Recently Wrote to Whataburger
Dear Whataburger,
Please stop assuming all customers that are paying for their meal with cash are using counterfeit bills. Recently I purchased a Sausage Bob (breakfast on a bun) and handed the cashier a $5 bill. The cashier then checked the bill for authenticity using one of those counterfeit markers.
I have an issue with assuming that all customers that pay cash are guilty until proven innocent. After all, I don't force you to allow me to watch you make my meal from scratch after hearing horror stories of what is done to fast food while the customer is not watching. I trust that your minimum wage workers are not spitting, urinating, or placing some other type of bodily fluid into my mayonnaise.
I trust you haven't placed any mad cow meat into my food that will cause my life to end in a very painful and early manner. I trust that your employees have washed their hands, thoroughly, after dropping the deuce in the restroom.
I trust all those negative things blindly without verification, even though I have heard of other fast food chains having any and all of the above listed problems. I put my life in your hands assuming you're not feeding me tainted meat or vegetables that have salmonella, the least you can do is trust that the $5 I gave you is in fact, real.
How much money, barring over inflated statistics that certain interested parties would like you to believe, is lost daily on people paying $5 for a bob? Do you have one a day at all your locations? Since soda costs .04 - .10 a cup , charging $1.99, filling the cup with ice, and giving me less than 12 ounces of soda, you could easily cover the costs of the $5 your out on the counterfeit money. 12 ounces of soda is the same amount in a can. This makes ordering a "12 pack" from Whataburger cost almost $24. Who's the criminal here?
When you find out the bill is phony, do you call the police on the unsuspecting customer? Do you give it back to him and tell him it is fake? Does this result in the customer peeling out before the fuzz can arrive? Do you keep it and say he needs to pay another way (which goes back to him trusting your saying the money if fake and not pocketing it yourself)? Do you pull a gun on him and perform a citizen's arrest, again assuming he is guilty?
I have decided to start bringing my own counterfeit pen to verifying the change you give me the next time I visit. After all, with so many potential criminals frequenting your establishment, one can never be too careful.
Sincerely,
Name Withheld
Please stop assuming all customers that are paying for their meal with cash are using counterfeit bills. Recently I purchased a Sausage Bob (breakfast on a bun) and handed the cashier a $5 bill. The cashier then checked the bill for authenticity using one of those counterfeit markers.
I have an issue with assuming that all customers that pay cash are guilty until proven innocent. After all, I don't force you to allow me to watch you make my meal from scratch after hearing horror stories of what is done to fast food while the customer is not watching. I trust that your minimum wage workers are not spitting, urinating, or placing some other type of bodily fluid into my mayonnaise.
I trust you haven't placed any mad cow meat into my food that will cause my life to end in a very painful and early manner. I trust that your employees have washed their hands, thoroughly, after dropping the deuce in the restroom.
I trust all those negative things blindly without verification, even though I have heard of other fast food chains having any and all of the above listed problems. I put my life in your hands assuming you're not feeding me tainted meat or vegetables that have salmonella, the least you can do is trust that the $5 I gave you is in fact, real.
How much money, barring over inflated statistics that certain interested parties would like you to believe, is lost daily on people paying $5 for a bob? Do you have one a day at all your locations? Since soda costs .04 - .10 a cup , charging $1.99, filling the cup with ice, and giving me less than 12 ounces of soda, you could easily cover the costs of the $5 your out on the counterfeit money. 12 ounces of soda is the same amount in a can. This makes ordering a "12 pack" from Whataburger cost almost $24. Who's the criminal here?
When you find out the bill is phony, do you call the police on the unsuspecting customer? Do you give it back to him and tell him it is fake? Does this result in the customer peeling out before the fuzz can arrive? Do you keep it and say he needs to pay another way (which goes back to him trusting your saying the money if fake and not pocketing it yourself)? Do you pull a gun on him and perform a citizen's arrest, again assuming he is guilty?
I have decided to start bringing my own counterfeit pen to verifying the change you give me the next time I visit. After all, with so many potential criminals frequenting your establishment, one can never be too careful.
Sincerely,
Name Withheld
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Bad Food Words
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought I would mention a few words that should be removed from describing food. These words always make food sound disgusting.
They are:
Creamy
Nugget
Loaf
Corned
For example:
Creamy catfish nuggets
Corned vegetable loaf
Fish fillet loaf nuggets
My personal favorite is creamy corned catfish nugget loaf. Doesn't that sound delicous?
They are:
Creamy
Nugget
Loaf
Corned
For example:
Creamy catfish nuggets
Corned vegetable loaf
Fish fillet loaf nuggets
My personal favorite is creamy corned catfish nugget loaf. Doesn't that sound delicous?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Uncharted 2 Review
Overall 9.0
Graphics – 10.0
Gameplay – 8.5
Value - $50
Trophies - Relatively easy
Pros
Excellent voice over dialogue, good story, enjoyable variety of puzzles / combat levels, top notch graphics and sound, fun combat scenes.
Cons –
Some levels are too much of the same thing, controls aren't precise, grenade indicator lacking, direction to go in combat is sometimes hard to determine.
Full Review
Uncharted is a great game and very fun to play. The graphics are very detailed and scenic. My only "complaint" is more a nit pick in that it seems like every character's eyeballs are reflective from too much water, almost like they are about to all cry. Maybe it's from the beauty of the game that moves them to tears. The snow falling all around, the hot sun, the details of simple things like rocks falling down a cliff, those things make the look and feel of the game great.
Story wise it is very engrossing. Every time I have played this game I have had a small audience watching me wanting to know what happens next. My family loves the character interaction and dialogue. Many times they have said it is like "watching a movie."
The level design is good for the most part. It is a mix between straight combat, puzzle solving / cliff climbing (similar to the first one), and straight climbing. I definitely got tired of sole climbing levels that seemed to go on and on. This is mostly due to the controls being strange at times. Frequently I would hold down a direction to jump, only to have Drake jump right off a ledge and plummet to his death in a direction I didn't press.
Combat is a blast. You have to conserve ammo and accuracy is rewarded. You can decide between a variety of weapons and styles to use. Keep in mind that often you will be forced out of your "comfort zone" because of ammo and be forced to use a weapon you wouldn't normally like to. I am okay with this as it makes for a more challenging and rewarding experience if you have to change things up a bit in order to succeed.
I did have a few gripes that the grenade indicator and damage origin seems to be off at times. Still though, these are very minor issues. Fighting is very fun.
Uncharted 2 has a Teen rating, but is more PG than PG-13. Violence isn't very graphic and language isn't more than you would hear on the radio. There is some language, but it is not very persistent.
I have not tried the multiplayer so I can not comment on it.
I have seen where you can purchase items for your next play though, such as unlimited ammo for certain guns. This is similar to Resident Evil 5's style. I have not tried these features out, but in RE5 this made playing through again and again much more enjoyable so I would assume a similar experience with Uncharted 2.
The length of the game bucks the current trend of $60 for a 3 hour game (Halo ODST). I have played several hours and I am not sure how far along I am with the story.
All in all a very enjoyable game that is relatively family friendly and engrossing to non gamers. Pass the popcorn and let them enjoy the show.
Graphics – 10.0
Gameplay – 8.5
Value - $50
Trophies - Relatively easy
Pros
Excellent voice over dialogue, good story, enjoyable variety of puzzles / combat levels, top notch graphics and sound, fun combat scenes.
Cons –
Some levels are too much of the same thing, controls aren't precise, grenade indicator lacking, direction to go in combat is sometimes hard to determine.
Full Review
Uncharted is a great game and very fun to play. The graphics are very detailed and scenic. My only "complaint" is more a nit pick in that it seems like every character's eyeballs are reflective from too much water, almost like they are about to all cry. Maybe it's from the beauty of the game that moves them to tears. The snow falling all around, the hot sun, the details of simple things like rocks falling down a cliff, those things make the look and feel of the game great.
Story wise it is very engrossing. Every time I have played this game I have had a small audience watching me wanting to know what happens next. My family loves the character interaction and dialogue. Many times they have said it is like "watching a movie."
The level design is good for the most part. It is a mix between straight combat, puzzle solving / cliff climbing (similar to the first one), and straight climbing. I definitely got tired of sole climbing levels that seemed to go on and on. This is mostly due to the controls being strange at times. Frequently I would hold down a direction to jump, only to have Drake jump right off a ledge and plummet to his death in a direction I didn't press.
Combat is a blast. You have to conserve ammo and accuracy is rewarded. You can decide between a variety of weapons and styles to use. Keep in mind that often you will be forced out of your "comfort zone" because of ammo and be forced to use a weapon you wouldn't normally like to. I am okay with this as it makes for a more challenging and rewarding experience if you have to change things up a bit in order to succeed.
I did have a few gripes that the grenade indicator and damage origin seems to be off at times. Still though, these are very minor issues. Fighting is very fun.
Uncharted 2 has a Teen rating, but is more PG than PG-13. Violence isn't very graphic and language isn't more than you would hear on the radio. There is some language, but it is not very persistent.
I have not tried the multiplayer so I can not comment on it.
I have seen where you can purchase items for your next play though, such as unlimited ammo for certain guns. This is similar to Resident Evil 5's style. I have not tried these features out, but in RE5 this made playing through again and again much more enjoyable so I would assume a similar experience with Uncharted 2.
The length of the game bucks the current trend of $60 for a 3 hour game (Halo ODST). I have played several hours and I am not sure how far along I am with the story.
All in all a very enjoyable game that is relatively family friendly and engrossing to non gamers. Pass the popcorn and let them enjoy the show.
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