Modern Warfare 2

[Jade Falcon]

At least Battlefield:Bad Company had some mroe modern Russian weapons.

The only feasible reason I can think of for having the AK-47 specifically is that to a lot of kids and so on a Kalashnikov is an Ak-47, despite what the rest of us may know.

[Artemas]

Actually, when I was younger, I thought the AK-74 was just a renamed, modernized AK-47. Just switch the numbers.

Besides that, so long as there is an AK somewhere in the title and it looked vaguely like a kalshnikov, I think that most kids would still recognize it. Of course, all they had to do to avoid confusion was to add a small discription blurb on "this is a AK-74m" and some history or whatever. I mean, to the layman, the -74 and-47 look pretty much identical, except for the plastic parts. Likewise, the newer versions could easily pass for a blackened and modernized -47. 'Cause, ya know, they are.

Some of IW's design decisions really were quite daft. Having those black SUVs would have been way better in the red dawn missions. They would actually fit in. The multiplayer weapon balance is sort of odd. Somehow the l86, which fires 5.56mm, does more damage than either the mg4 or the m240, both of which fire 7.62mm. Or their general lazyness with the ballistics system (shotguns!).

[Vympel]

Just a note, the PKP 'Pecheneg' is in service everywhere now, pictures of soldiers with it are very common.

9. BTRs do not have turrets but they have RWS systems.

The BTR-80A, yes. This is one thing IW got right, except for the small problem of the VDV not using BTR-80As, but BMDs. (In 2016 it'd be BMD-4M, minimum).

[Edward Yee]

The only feasible reason I can think of for having the AK-47 specifically is that to a lot of kids and so on a Kalashnikov is an Ak-47, despite what the rest of us may know.

This seems to be about right... how many who aren't gun aficianados can even tell AK variants apart?

*Finds it amusing in retrospect that d20 Modern's core rulebook actually referred to its generic Kalashnikov as "AKM/AK-47"*

[Jade Falcon]

Althought D20 Moderns Firearms book does at least go into a lot more detail.

[Edward Yee]

Too bad most of the weapons in that were statistically identical to the point, for abstraction reasons (as was admitted during the "9mm statistically > .45 because they both do 2d6, 5.56x45 = 7.62x39 because they both do 2d8" if I recall), that it was mostly flavor text for guns pictures and copied-over stat block rows.

Would have been nice had Modern Warfare 2 used an even more detailed weapon customizing system, i.e. each primary being relatively modular so that you could set barrel length and other aspects of the weapon besides simply attachments, but that would probably have led to paid-DLC as a necessity. ("Grind your way to level 25... or pay to buy it at level 1!")

That, and the M4A1 would probably have ended up the most common weapon in the game bar none.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Guys I got a new idea for a game it's called Call of Duty Future Warfare. The year is 2186 and the NATO (Now called the North Atlantic & Lunar Treaty Organization due to the US making their claim for the moon) and the Russian & German Ubernationalists are fighting for control of Mars. My favorite weapon is going to be the AK-47 with a 1km adjustable HUD scope with a rail launcher that fires a depleted uranium spike at 1% the speed of light. (for anti-armor purposes)

[Jade Falcon]

Guys I got a new idea for a game it's called Call of Duty Future Warfare. The year is 2186 and the NATO (Now called the North Atlantic & Lunar Treaty Organization due to the US making their claim for the moon) and the Russian & German Ubernationalists are fighting for control of Mars. My favorite weapon is going to be the AK-47 with a 1km adjustable HUD scope with a rail launcher that fires a depleted uranium spike at 1% the speed of light. (for anti-armor purposes)

Sounds like a Judge Dredd plot.

[Edward Yee]

Odd thought with no gameplay-relevance... hearing Soap talk about the "AGM Missile" reminds me of this.

[Commander 598]

Guys I got a new idea for a game it's called Call of Duty Future Warfare. The year is 2186 and the NATO (Now called the North Atlantic & Lunar Treaty Organization due to the US making their claim for the moon) and the Russian & German Ubernationalists are fighting for control of Mars. My favorite weapon is going to be the AK-47 with a 1km adjustable HUD scope with a rail launcher that fires a depleted uranium spike at 1% the speed of light. (for anti-armor purposes)

You forgot that on some missions you will be following the lead of one Captain Price.

[Artemas]

Guys I got a new idea for a game it's called Call of Duty Future Warfare. The year is 2186 and the NATO (Now called the North Atlantic & Lunar Treaty Organization due to the US making their claim for the moon) and the Russian & German Ubernationalists are fighting for control of Mars. My favorite weapon is going to be the AK-47 with a 1km adjustable HUD scope with a rail launcher that fires a depleted uranium spike at 1% the speed of light. (for anti-armor purposes)

You forgot that on some missions you will be following the lead of one Captain Price.

Who will be wearing either a red berret or a bush cap. In Spaace!


I did have one idea for a mission that would have been pretty cool.
Just a short one-off where you play a Secret Service agent. Starting off with your fellow suit-equipped, sunglasses-wearing Men in Black, and armed with only a pistol and an MP5k, you need to escort a VIP (raptor?) to a helicopter. The place is swarming with AA MANPADs though, so into the armoured black SUVs you go. After getting ambushed in the streets of D.C., you bail out and fight your way through a built-up urban area to a suitable LZ (roof? park? memorial? could be a great way of seeing a before and after of war-torn Washington).
If raptor is the VIP, then the helo goes down, you and a couple other guys survive, haul raptor to the meatlocker, and then try to hold out. Similar to the ending of COD4, you eventually go down, and just as everything seems lost, some blackhawks show up, SEALs fast-rope down and secure the area, and then everything goes black.

Any other they-should-have-made-this-mission? I, for one, would have preferred some more Afghan Hijinks, like the first mission.

[Ritterin Sophia]

I felt that the entirety of the Brazil missions were superfluous and could've been replaced with some NATO Forces invading Russia in retaliation, but then that might require Infinity Ward to not be lazy and actually use real Russian equipment rather than decades old surplus that even the reserves don't use anymore.

[Artemas]

Between MW & MW2, they would have had quite a few of the right weapons for NATO forces. FAMAS for the French (like they would be included), the G36 and MG4 for the Germans (would probably get the G3 instead), L86 for the Brits (could have done some light modding work to come up with an L85, but would, hilariously, instead recieve the FN FAL), the same with those Australians with the AUG HBAR.

I don't understand the order for unlocking weapons in multiplayer. How come the M9 gets unlocked after the revolver and the .45?

[CaptHawkeye]

This point has been touched on already but holy jesus the writing in this game is so bad. It really seems like IW was going for shock value and little more. The thing is, shock value doesn't make a narrative work. It compliments a narrative, but does not replace it. The entire story feels like it was written by guys who were going "but oh man what if we did THIS!?"

I used to love Invasion USA scenarios but i'm starting to feel like I should have been careful what I wished for. Every "zomg nvade amerika" scenario i've ever seen has ultimately ended up making so little sense that it broke my suspension of disbelief. Even WiC's storyline was fucking stupid. (LoL unmarked container ships)

The gameplay really hasn't changed for all of IW's bragging that it had. The game is still 90% whack a mole with 10% AC-130 Camera/other assorted vehicle section. The respawning is just less obnoxious now.

At least the multi is still good. Somewhat cluttered, but overall, it brings enough to the formula to keep it interesting.

[Edward Yee]

I don't understand the order for unlocking weapons in multiplayer. How come the M9 gets unlocked after the revolver and the .45?

If I recall, because gameplay-wise those 3 extra rounds compared to the .45 are a pretty sweet deal, at least if you can mash "Fire" fast enough. Not sure whether the recoil and rate of fire are good enough compared to the USP .45 to warrant it being require it being level 46 though...

I used to love Invasion USA scenarios but i'm starting to feel like I should have been careful what I wished for. Every "zomg nvade amerika" scenario i've ever seen has ultimately ended up making so little sense that it broke my suspension of disbelief. Even WiC's storyline was fucking stupid. (LoL unmarked container ships)

Having problems coming up with plausible ways for the US to get physically invaded?

[PeZook]

The real problem is making a plausible scenario with America capable of being invaded and still being kicking ass as a superpower. Because it just wouldn't be fun if a game went "GOP got their wish, a massive right-wing revolution happened, America is now a bankrupt war-torn wasteland" and all you got to play with was light infantry

[CaptHawkeye]

To be honest, a modern Civil War scenario makes more sense than the typical "Russia teleports like a BILLION guys somehow" convention. Just say that the GOP finally shit a brick at the last convention, and declared a bunch of right voting states left the Union. It wouldn't be hard to write.

[PeZook]

To be honest, a modern Civil War scenario makes more sense than the typical "Russia teleports like a BILLION guys somehow" convention. Just say that the GOP finally shit a brick at the last convention, and declared a bunch of right voting states left the Union. It wouldn't be hard to write.

It would offend right wingers, though, because they think a revolution against the government will be a popular uprising of the entire Righteous American Population against Evil Government Cronies that wouldn't cause much trouble at all. And, of course, the Glorious Military would immediately join the struggle on the Only Righteous Side, making it a breeze

And think of the outrage that would happen if the game had the UN send in peacekeepers to keep America from tearing itself apart...

But man, does it sound awesome. Russian UN peacekeepers in New York!

[Artemas]

Sounds like a job for some eastern European games designer with no QA.

[Ryan Thunder]

But man, does it sound awesome. Russian UN peacekeepers in New York!

Yeah, as if anybody, much less the Russians, would want to touch the US with a ten foot pole at that point.

[Pulp Hero]

I had an idea that stemmed from my original thought a of semi plausible scenerio of an Ultra-Nationalist Russia positioning a fleet in Cuba after Castro died.

What about playing as Russian Spetsnaz who were tasked with going to America an disabling some of the defenses hours before the invasion.

Something like: You squad gets helicoptered out to the middle of the ocean on along the American Atlantic coast, and dropped into the water in an inflatable motorboat. You motorboat ashore and get picked up in a marked van driven by a Russian spy, who gets you onto/just outside of an American base. You sneak in (use that one part of "All Ghilled Up" from MW1, where you are running in between trucks and patrols as a basis for how the level plays out) and plant Semtex on American fighter jets and detonate it, significantly weakening American airpower in the area.

So the invasion would be supported by a Russian Naval group + Combined airdrop and amphibious landings (a BTR-80, is, I think, fully amphibious) + American Air power depleted + Russians disabling the American ACS. Still a crazy scenario, but it swings things into Russia's favor. Plus that would mean the power was playing as all of the COD big three: Russian, American, and British.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

To be honest, a modern Civil War scenario makes more sense than the typical "Russia teleports like a BILLION guys somehow" convention. Just say that the GOP finally shit a brick at the last convention, and declared a bunch of right voting states left the Union. It wouldn't be hard to write.

It would offend right wingers, though, because they think a revolution against the government will be a popular uprising of the entire Righteous American Population against Evil Government Cronies that wouldn't cause much trouble at all. And, of course, the Glorious Military would immediately join the struggle on the Only Righteous Side, making it a breeze

And think of the outrage that would happen if the game had the UN send in peacekeepers to keep America from tearing itself apart...

But man, does it sound awesome. Russian UN peacekeepers in New York!

If one has to tie such a scenario back to what happened in Modern Warfare 2, this neo-Confederacy would have to make quite a few deals with some of its devils (namely, the Russian ultranationalists) in order for its insurrection to have any real chance at success. Likewise, dividing and conquering would be a very prudent thing for the ultranationalists to do at that point, seeing as much of their initial strike force was wiped out in Washington D.C.; they'll be needing all the help they can get.

At that point, the other members of NATO then decide to fulfill their treaty obligations and send soldiers across the Atlantic to help out the Americans (closest thing you'll get to United Nations peacekeepers here); after British, French, German, and other NATO reinforcements help Ramirez, Foley, and the remaining Rangers hold the line at Washington D.C. against the combined forces of the ultranationalists and the traitors, they then go on the offensive and proceed to drive out the Russians and crush the neo-Confederates to dust. At least having actual NATO soldiers in theater can explain where stuff like the FAMAS, F2000, L86 LSW, and MG4 came from.

Maybe the final mission will involve Soap, Price, Ramirez, and Foley burning Atlanta to the ground or something like that.

[TheMuffinKing]

I have found a new appreciation for the javelin. It's almost like an airstrike on demand!

[PeZook]

So the invasion would be supported by a Russian Naval group + Combined airdrop and amphibious landings (a BTR-80, is, I think, fully amphibious) + American Air power depleted + Russians disabling the American ACS. Still a crazy scenario, but it swings things into Russia's favor. Plus that would mean the power was playing as all of the COD big three: Russian, American, and British.

Yeah, and it would only work about as long as it takes the US Navy to come over and completely cut you off from resupply. Look how much materiel it took for the Allies to organize and support the Normandy landings and the subsequent push into Germany ; You can't do this with a massively superior navy blowing up your transports at will.

Sabotage like that would only work if the Spetznaz blew up all East Coast naval bases and arsenals - that pretty much requires atomic munitions to accomplish with any degree of certainty.

And it's quite clear what happens next once a mushroom cloud erupts over Boston Harbor.

For America to be invadeable, it pretty much needs to collapse as a superpower. But since market for the game is American, with a significant percentage composed of various flavor of AMERICA FUCK YEAH idiots, I don't think it would pay to make a game where the right wing destroys the United States with their rebellion

There's so much potential for a genuinely gripping and dramatic story in that, though, even without UN peacekeepers and all that. You could have the player as an unwilling participant of the coup, having to fight former friends who joined the other side, seeing American cities burn and violence erupt on the streets over ideological lines...

CoD's formula is well-suited for grand, sweeping setpieces like that. They could really do so much better than this Clancy shit in MW2: imagine the player as a National Guardsman, standing guard at a roadblock after riots in Atlanta required your unit to be mobilized for peacekeeping. Tensions are running high, there's a traffic jam outside the checkpoint, people are growing angry, throwing insults...eventually, someone shoves a soldier inspecting a vehicle, and his buddy panics and responds by shooting the offender...people start screaming, someone fires at you from the crowd, somebody else fires back with a .50 cal, there's confusion and chaos. Eventually, you're left with a bunch of dead civilians, a burning car...and a massive sense of guilt, if the scene is done right.

You could compose something truly grand out of such scenes.

[Edward Yee]

Unfortunately, that's the problem with the MW2 writing already... the individual set piece is awesome, but it has to tie into the rest of the story which itself has to be coherent as a whole. For example, how the hell is Task Force 141 still remaining a coherent unit (under an American general's operational command, no less) when America looks bad to the rest of the world because of the Zakhaev International Airport attack?

Re: the Javelin -- isn't it better to stick with the AT-4 for anti-personnel work? I wasn't able to get the Javelin in offline play to dumb fire onto an area target on the ground, though the CoD Wikia makes it sound awesome.