Modern Warfare 2 has divided the gaming world since its release in November. Boasting a ridiculous amount of commercial success and media coverage many are envious of, it has received poor acceptance from longtime, upset over its casual makeover and over-complication of the core gameplay. So, how could Infinity Ward improve upon the game to accommodate the needs of everyone?
5. Bring Back Party Chat
Removing the ability to speak in a party is one of the more pressing matters to fans, upset that a key feature they pay for with their Xbox Live subscription is void simply because they want to play a game they enjoy. Like a child being hushed by his mother whilst watching TV, all you can do is abandon the social aspect and get on with the task at hand. Now, if Infinity Ward allowed party chat for all game modes excluding Search and Destroy, we would see a happier gaming community. And who knows, people might venture out of FFA and Ground War with their new found freedom.
4. New Gamemodes
Welcome return of Capture The Flag, but new original gamemodes would be good!
At the heart of the multiplayer, the gamemodes are the most important factor as to whether the player has fun. Yes, I enjoy killing enemies but I prefer tactical play, no matter how limited in an arcade shooter. So, whilst we got a few nice additions from Third Person gamemodes as well as Capture the Flag but at the expense of the much loved Team Tactical (we have 3rd person, why not 1st?). Plus, with the vast majority of the gamemodes being reused since Call of Duty on the PC, we could do with some new material to keep things interesting. Lets hope the ‘Global Thermonucleaur War’ game found on the disc is not just an abandoned idea.
3. Um… What Level?!
With many new killstreaks raining death upon us in the form of Harriers, Pavelows, Chopper Gunners and the infamous AC130, you’d expect us to be able to defend ourselves… right? Well, our default launcher is a single round weakling, likely to do less damage than throwing a knife at all but a UAV. With the first ‘decent’ launcher arriving at level 30 in the form of a Stinger Missile, it’s a long wait before we can defend ourselves. The inability to run around regardless of enemy air support doesn’t arrive until level 25 with Cold Blooded. For anyone who even is thinking of prestiging, and especially new players to the game, the grief of being introduced to your death streak almost indefinitely is a harrowing experience and I doubt much fun. Perhaps a better launcher from start would be an obvious choice, or improving the use of the AT4, which is woeful outside of free-fire.
2. Boosters Need To Be Booted
We’ve all been there, playing through a game when suddenly, someone on your team or the opponents uses a Nuke. This is such a regular ordeal the common response is to expect boosting. However, despite my lack of programming knowledge, the little that I do know would let me hazard a guess that Infinity Ward could easily do one of the following;
- If the game notes that Person A is killing Person B (and no-one else) for more than 5 kills in a row (excluding Cage Match), then either boot Person A or void their killstreaks. Better yet, make it so that at least 2 kills before your first 7 or higher killstreak must be different victims.
- Tactical Insertion is the method used by many boosters, surely limiting the number of times you can be killed by the same person when ‘inserting’ or even limiting the number of Insertion placements to 2 per minute.
- With regards to Riot Shield boosting, considering (as you get killed in Richochet) that the game has an algorithm that detects if you are hitting a team mate, firing at them for a prolonged period causes death.
- Go all out and block One Man Army from being used alongside Riot Shields, as what (non-boosting) player would pick a Riot Shield without a secondary weapon?
1. Dedicated Servers
Call of Duty is an innovative FPS series, boasting the likes of Perks, Killcams and the most efficient ranking system. So, why not go one further and provide console dedicated servers, as well as reinstating the ones they removed for PC. We’ve played with the p2p servers for too long, and as their is no consequence for someone dashboarding or turning off their Xbox as a host, our game is ruined. As well, for a globally enjoyed game without local search, lag is an evident issue that can leave many non-US players frustrated and upset at not being able to play the game as they should. After over a billion made, the cost of dedicated servers, even for only a year, the main lifespan of the multiplayer, would surely be but a drop in the sea.
Closing Note
The game is seemingly doing fine on its own, hundreds of thousands of players still working towards the next prestige and going at all the challenges for their weapons. However, with all the dismay from the real fans, those who have been here since the days before Modern Warfare 1, a few key improvements to prevent their beloved becoming more than just a family friendly FPS (regardless of the rating) would be nice. Recoil and sway anyone?
Be sure to leave your ideas for what could be improved by commenting below.
Call of Duty: Future Warfare
Now that’s a game I will play!
You forgot one more taking away killcams in non hardcore modes…i hate killcams they annoy the hell out of me. It’s not because i boost or glitch its because i like sniping and i hate my position being given away by a killcam. But my bitching aside good list and i agree with you
Or, instead of trying to teach an old dog new tricks, get a new and improved one. Say, BF:BC2?
Even with all the problems if the game had decent matchmaking I might consider returing to multi-player. When I’m level 12 and no one else is below level 50 in a match I become nothing but a target that has to camp in order to survive the AC130, Harrier, Gunship, and various care packages that become mounted weapons all at the same time. This game is NOT fun.
Hey on 2. Boosters Need To Be Booted i haven’t boosted in free for all or any game modes but i have killed 1 player in a lobby.. it was demolition and he wanted that revenge… it wasnt my fault he was dumb… i was 11-0 and he was 0-11 not my fault hes stupid. BUT what they should do is make and anti camper mod on like most computer versions have. you sit in the same spot for more than 30 seconds boom dead or kicked. Its that easy. Or if you get a nuke of the same person maybe once u get to 24 u should just die? idk BUT IW MUST FIX BOOSTING IN FREE FOR ALL
Thanks for the comments and good ideas guys. The killcam I’m not a fan of, except the game-winning one, which I think is a suberb addition to the series.
@Soulibon
GRAW style then yes, Halo style then big no!
@Val
i can’t see how they could take killcams out of core, seeing as this is one of their ‘key features’ but perhaps through more gamemodes. We have core, hardcore, how about hybrid? Some features like minimap, ammo display and the like, but no killcams and maybe no killstreaks. So many possibilities.
@Joe
Having played the Beta, certainly has potential but we’ll have to wait and see the release version and what is changed / fixed from now.
@Dirk
The matchmaking I find to be alright when I’m searching alone, but it’s when I’m in a party of 3 or more that it stars playing up, kicking people and finding poor hosts.
Great list, party chat is a definite must, especially when friends are frequently dropped from lobbies. To anyone who is annoyed with hearing people on Xbl, I have tweaked my privacy settings so I can only hear people on my friends list. It is fairly convenient but does have some drawbacks (IE can’t hear friends of friends). I also am starting to feel the need for more game modes, MW2 is getting a bit stale lately.
I’m glad someone else noticed the total lack of help at the earlier levels vs. killstreaks. It’s almost like being level 1-25 you’re meant to be cannon fodder for the killstreaks. I just prestiged last night and noticed how you are absolutely defenseless at the beginning.
These would be my suggestions to add to the list:
6. Fix the spawning and stop focusing the spawning on paybacks. It happens to everyone that someone spawns behind us, or near us, or facing us mere seconds after we kill them. Sometimes before you can relocate or reload. Some maps (Sub Base, Derail) are only 15% used, with vast areas of the maps totally ignored because all the spawning occurs on one side. Lest I mention spawning into predator missiles, or killstreaks.
7. Offer an option for Quick Match and Regular Search. It’s really irritating to join games where the enemy has a 2500 point lead and multiple killstreaks going. Equally irritating is joining when only a few seconds remain, or when a nuke timer is counting down.
8. Skill based matchmaking. Something Halo seems to have worked out fairly well, in MW2 like all others of the franchise it seems to be absolutely random. Nothing sucks more than losing a game because someone went 1-19 and had no idea that RT fired the bullets. I don’t mind playing challenging games, but I hate having unbalanced teams.
get rid of akimbo shotguns…its so annoying getting blasted by those things! they take no skill whatsoever to use
Point number 2, regarding boosting, is just ignorant and not well thought-out.
Virtually every suggestion is ridiculous, and infringing on peoples ability to play the game legitimately.
- You suggest that IW ENABLE team killing? Yeah, great idea. You already end up with enough a55holes on your team that toss fire off non-silenced weapons around you when your trying to be stealthy, or troll around waiting to snatch up your care packages, now you want to give them the ability to kill you? Brilliant.
- Also, the killing of one person 5 times in a row can happen legitimately.
I’ve done this many times because often a camper will quickly return to his perch where I will promptly kill him again. If IW penalized me for killing the same camping d-bag repeatedly, I’d be furious.
- DIsable OMA with riot shields? REALLY?! Using OMA is the ONLY tolerable way to use a riot shield, because who wants to be stuck using that kit until death? OMA is a perfect solution for the crippled Riot Shield kit because you can equip the shield when necessary (to traverse a corridor that has become a gauntlet) then use OMA to switch back to a normal kit.
-Yes, there is an issue with boosters, but if you’ve played the game enough, you’ll find that the problem is not that rampant. Respectable players know where campers and boosters like to hide, so take matters into your own hands and break up the band. Call in an air strike on the boosting spot, or go take them out like men.
-I find that a lot of people are pinning their inability to be successful in this game on the “cheaters” when, in fact, most of the skilled players are still head and shoulders above the match after match.
Make it more like BF BC2
One word:
Commando.
@FrustratedGamer
The spawn system and matchmaking are a mixed bag really, sometimes they’re not too bad, sometimes darn awful! I tend to play Search and Destroy and Headquarters Pro and spawning doesn’t seem too bad (obviously no issue in SnD). Matchmaking though in Search and Destroy can see you lose even if you get 15 kills, because that one poor player gave them a care package and UAV’s.
I also had the thought that an option to only join a game whilst it’s in lobby would be a good option, as I’d rather be there from the start to influence the team than join halfway through when we’ve all but lost.
@dirtyharry
Akimbo shotguns are a bit of a pain. However, I don’t mind the Rangers as they seem quite short range compared to other shotguns. The Models however, even after the update have a little bit of range. I’d have preferred the same range and power of the pre-patch models but without the Akimbo option.
@archa1c
I don’t believe I suggest enabling team killing, do I?
And yes, my ideas are somewhat unpractical, but that is not my job. My job as a fan is to think of ideas and for the developers to do their job in finding a realistic and decent way to implement it. Of course, sometimes killing the same person a few times in a row can happen, but surely by further complicating an algorithm, they can add other variables that would determine the legitimacy.
Are you stupid?!? I already explained this to you. P2P offers a better experience than dedicated servers. You have more fun when you play on someone’s 768kb DSL line than you would on an OC3 server. We made it like this because it’s better for you.
BALANCING….thats the key issue for iw….they threw off the balance in the game with some of the guns. snd has become a shotgun fest. smg’s (apart from the ump) is underpowered . balancing their maps. there are 2 many camp spots and roofs. commando pro made steady aim useless. i have 2 many frustrations with mw2….i just live with it until i get to 10th prestige. cod4 is way better
@FrustratedGamer
The spawn system and matchmaking are a mixed bag really, sometimes they’re not too bad, sometimes darn awful! I tend to play Search and Destroy and Headquarters Pro and spawning doesn’t seem too bad (obviously no issue in SnD). Matchmaking though in Search and Destroy can see you lose even if you get 15 kills, because that one poor player gave them a care package and UAV’s.
I also had the thought that an option to only join a game whilst it’s in lobby would be a good option, as I’d rather be there from the start to influence the team than join halfway through when we’ve all but lost.
@dirtyharry
Akimbo shotguns are a bit of a pain. However, I don’t mind the Rangers as they seem quite short range compared to other shotguns. The Models however, even after the update have a little bit of range. I’d have preferred the same range and power of the pre-patch models but without the Akimbo option.
@archa1c
I don’t believe I suggest enabling team killing, do I?
And yes, my ideas are somewhat unpractical, but that is not my job. My job as a fan is to think of ideas and for the developers to do their job in finding a realistic and decent way to implement it. Of course, sometimes killing the same person a few times in a row can happen, but surely by further complicating an algorithm, they can add other variables that would determine the legitimacy.