COD MW2 - No PB support and Dedicated Servers

[Michowski]

Well online is really good. Almost everybody has green which is awesome ping. Single player is really good. Its like urban warfare. Civilians running around everywere, enemy on rooftops. Theres a knock off burger king lol. Overall im happy so far. Already rank 5 after 2 maps.

[John Planet]

Well online is really good.

Good. An actual opinion from a person who's bothered to play the game. I'll be picking it up on the way to work. Anything else you'd like to add, Mic?

[Easybeat]

Well online is really good. Almost everybody has green which is awesome ping. Single player is really good. Its like urban warfare. Civilians running around everywere, enemy on rooftops. Theres a knock off burger king lol. Overall im happy so far. Already rank 5 after 2 maps.

Okay thanks but I was after a few more details.

As for reviews I have been reading around several places where I trust the people and they are a mixed bag. The 2 constants appear to be an improvement in graphics and that the maps are pretty good as for the other stuff the views are very polarised. I mapped a lot for CoD4 so i was looking forward to mod tools hence my disappoitnment but I am still interested in impartial reviews (which are tough to find)


******THIS IS NOT MY REVIEW******
Courtesy of
Made by happYevil
@ iw forum

Multiplayer:
-P2P-
I think we can all agree my PC is solid, my connection is great and I'm not exactly in New Zealand. I knew 100%, right away when I was or was not host, I ended up hosting most of the time which was great and lag free (YAY!) but more than once in just a 2 hour period I was tapped into a guy who was unable to host. As an FPS player for over 10 years I am incredibly attuned to changes in latency so minor changes will sometimes bother me. Be that as it may, these were not minor. Visual stuttering, animation delays, etc.

-Matchmaking-
The Matchmaking is really fast initially which is great but slows down considerably after the first game. When the first game ends your matchmaking system decides it's intermission time and makes you wait a few seconds for a new round. This is not an option but isn't too bad considering there was always a wait in the original as well. However, if anyone leaves during this time it finds more people and extends your wait time to 60 additional seconds. On a few occasions I was literally waiting to get into a game for a good 5 minutes before I got to play. There does not appear to be the ability to drop-in once a match has started.

My main issue with matchmaking, however, is the lack of filters so you can't get the specific game type and settings combos you want. There is a preset list of game types and combos to chose from (like in Halo if you have ever played) and that's what you get.

I have not tried private match yet to comment on that although I can tell you it does have the options they claimed. However you cannot make a publicly visible private match which also means that you cannot search for private matches to join one. They are invite only. Basically, if your friends aren't on/playing then you're stuck with the presets.

-Gameplay-
To be fair I have not unlocked ALL game modes, you unlock them as you rank up (which is stupid if you ask me), but so far I feel like I'm playing an arcade machine. I took one sniper shot from long range, that got a head shot, and I got so many popups I lost count telling me such things as I stopped a kill streak, got a head shot, got revenge, "one shot one kill", etc. I must say it is EXTREMELY irritating since I'm hearing more achievement notices than gunshots or footsteps.

Most maps are 8-12 players, "free for all" is capped 6-10. Maps appear to be arranged for specific player counts as well so you cannot play an 18 player game on a 10 player map.

Maps are extremely well designed and very fun to play. Destructible windows and flying debris really do add a lot to the gameplay. They are "larger" in the sense that you can go almost anywhere you can see. In the skyscraper level you can even blast out the windows at the edge of the map and fall to your death if you wish.

Guns feel too "spammy". There don't seem to be nearly as many precision weapons as before. All snipers have clips and most are semi-auto taking out some of the options snipers (such as myself) had in the original. This was not a huge loss to me since I preferred the semi-auto snipers personally but I know many people that enjoyed how guns like the R700 played. The fully automatic shotguns are the same way although the option of pump, lever and double barreled shotguns and they all work pretty good.

The additional attachments are all really nice and the silencers on sniper rifles is more than welcome. In general they did a great job making sure we can have our weapons the way we want them.

New perks and kill streak rewards are too powerful. I have not experienced a nuke yet but I have used the predator, heli, turret, harrier and air strike. The heli and air strike are the same as ever. The harrier is very similar to a heli. The Turret is incredibly powerful and I would put it right up there with the rest of the top tier kill streak bonuses. The only real difference is that it's easier to kill and a smaller vision circle. That being said it appears to have a huge sight range in front of itself, shooting at things a significant distance away.

Finally, concerning the multi-player, this is more of an FYI. But this game will use your steam friends list (and groups list if you are in any groups) which can be a plus or minus depending on how you like to organize yourself. For me it's actually kinda nice.

==================================================

Closing:
The game isn't BAD, but it definitely isn't great nor is it even close to the level COD4 was on. It feels 100% like a console port and I have played both versions (the xbox360 version more so far). The first thing that clued me in was that when I entered the Single player it started playing the intro video before giving me the option to set up my graphics settings, the game then crashed after I set my settings up for no apparent reason other than that I set the graphics in the middle of the game rather than from a main menu. It felt and looked very much like an afterthought. Once you do start the campaign though, if you back out, you will be brought to a campaign main menu and you will not have to change the settings in game again.

I still think it needs dedicated servers and such. But on the whole I think it needs more than that to live up to the name of it's predecessor. If IW chooses to add dedicated servers and mods they may get lucky and the rest of the problems could fix themselves (since modders would do it).

If you are here for single player and some entertaining co-op play then this game is very good. Although as of right now the multiplayer feels severely lacking to me.

[Gunslinger]

I installed today, it won't let me play, says "the steam servers too are too busy to handle your request, please try again in a few minutes"

edit: reboot solved the issue...

[Michowski]

Ok well ive been playing this for about 9 hours so far. I gotta say ive only had 2 hosts that lagged but besides that the other dozens or even hundreds have been 100% perfect. The multiplayer is setup so awesome and I really regret what I said before about it flopping. The way it works is if you want to play with your friends, you for 1 have to have em added on your steam friends. Then what you do is setup a party and your friends join through you by right clicking your name. Once you've got everyone in the party, you click find game and choose what you want to play (tdm, s@d, ctf). Click that and you and your party are all on a team and it automatically fills up the lobby and off you go. It literally took less then 30 seconds from the time you clicked find game till your were shooting the enemy everytime.

Single player has been really fun. Its really urban settings were your going through neighborhoods that remind you of any normal town around you. It pretty much picks up right were cod4 ended. When I dont have anyone on for multi il definatly be getting back into my single player game. Some of the first few missions were definatly fun. Overall id recommend this game. The only thing that im gonna have to get used to is the no leaning. Besides that this game is gonna be another BIG hit. Ive got zero complaints. They dont need dedicated servers. I think people just are scared because of how much different the setup is compared to everything else but IW did good and made a really awesome game, single player and multiplayer. Im gonna finish eating and get back into there. Il hit rank 30 before days end for sure. Im currently at 22 now .

[Greenfox]

MP feels like a console port... graphics are horrible ~_~ and there's like a bug or something that freezes up randomly...

[shoopdawoopa]

I have been playing and its been pretty fun, I played around 20 games and only had 1 bad host. The games still seem really fun and the new perks and kill streaks rock!

[Locke]

I have been playing and its been pretty fun, I played around 20 games and only had 1 bad host. The games still seem really fun and the new perks and kill streaks rock!

So you only had problems 5% of the time? This is still fail.

[RAW-Raptor22]

Its messed up that IW lost touch so much. Especially being the same team behind such PC classics like MOH:AA and the original Call of Duty.

[Michowski]

For those curious how the mutli actually looks, heres a vid of me just connecting to a random game. http://www.xfire.com/video/18848a/

[003]

Bump! We are only 500 signatures away from 200,000 !! Let's make the final push to make that happen! Spread the word!

[John Planet]

Installing the retail now, and for the record, the install is from the DVD's not through Steam.

Edit: Zero problems so far with SP. Very intense and beautiful in terms of graphics.

[Blacky]

I played MP and graphics looks exactly like a ps3 or xbox running 1080p...SP looks better though...

[gr8golf]

I have been playing and its been pretty fun, I played around 20 games and only had 1 bad host. The games still seem really fun and the new perks and kill streaks rock!

So you only had problems 5% of the time? This is still fail.

LOL - this guy just reported that he bought the game and likes what he sees - and the reply is still hating.

[003]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have 200,000+ signatures on the petition.

[PaganII]

Already signed
I'm skipping this game because of the No Ded Server issue. I love the custom maps made by the CoD community. 1 server I play on has 70 custom WaW maps!
And I bought Wolfenstein when it came out ha ha.
Here is Graphics Performance Review http://www.techspot.com/article/219-...u-performance/
No comment about gameplay. How diplomatic!

[s0lid]

!!
They said cheats are not possible to use, they'll ban every cheater... But what i'm seeing?
Working Aimbot and WH 1Day after release? Fail



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MdSwgKtSYg

[Starscream]

!!
They said cheats are not possible to use, they'll ban every cheater... But what i'm seeing?
Working Aimbot and WH 1Day after release? Fail



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MdSwgKtSYg

wasnt the other reason for most of their crap to combat piracy?
Because there is so much piracy on the PC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8354166.stm

already 600.000+ 360s banned this year.

And thats only the people dumb enough to mod their xbox and go online with it.

M8 at work told me that part of the banning is that savegames become corrupted and the HDD becomes useless. Not shure if thats true tho.

[gr8golf]

I love the custom maps made by the CoD community. 1 server I play on has 70 custom WaW maps! [/url]
No comment about gameplay. How diplomatic!

Whoa - what is this server?

[Blacky]

^ interested to know as well :O

[Locke]

LOL - this guy just reported that he bought the game and likes what he sees - and the reply is still hating.

Well for ME losing 5% of my play time is fail. It may not be for "that guy" I can play TF2/ bf2/ bf2142/ UT/ UT2004 for HOURS w/o a SINGLE internet problem. That places my % of fail FAR below 5%.

Some may do better than 5%, but some will def. do worse.

[John Planet]

So, if you have any server/connection problems, EVER, you respond by getting horribly angry and screaming "FAIL-FAIL-FAIL!!!" I take my game time seriously as well, but I don't expect perfection Locke, especially with a brand new game.

[Think]

This is a good explanation to why dedicated servers are a must for PC gamers:

Why Dedicated Servers in MW2 is Important to PC Gamers

From: dotdosh.com

With the recent announcement that instead of dedicated servers for online play there would be a matchmaking service like on the console variants of MW2, there has been a uprising of discontent from fans with the announcement on the internet today. From posting on the Infinity Ward forums and other forums showing their discontent, to numerous petitions online (with over 42K signatures so far), to canceling their pre-orders and threatening to not buy the game and pirate it because of IW got rid of dedicated servers and replaced it with a matchmaking option. So with all this madness going on, why are dedicated servers something PC gamers really care and need about to go and do all this?

As a PC gamer myself, I bought the original MW for the PC and played countless hours killing people online and having fun doing it.I would start the game, look for the usual server that I would join, and when I joined I would see the usual people in there and we would play the game. With the decision to replace dedicated servers with a matchmaking service, it would not be the same.

Changing to a matchmaking service makes the PC version more like the console version. This can cause many things to be different that would be normal to other PC games that have dedicated servers. The following things are a result of this happening:

Matchmaking issues


When I start up CoD:MW or almost any other multi-player game I just click on the “Join Game” button and I can look for the usual server that I go to and play with the usual people that play on there. With the change to matchmaking, you would no longer be able to chose what server you can go to and what people you will play with. You will be playing with people that is your rank, but that does not mean that they are not noobs and non-team players or not. Every time you play, there will be a new set of people there playing with you.

Latency = Higher

Dedicated servers are run by providers that have a huge amount of upload/download speed and bandwidth. They have upload speeds of over 100 MBits/sec and with high upload speeds, it keeps ping down. With matchmaking the end user has to run the server and not everyone has 100 MBits/sec upload connections, let alone 10 MBits/sec or 5 MBits/sec. This will cause the ping to increase not a lot, but enough to make it lag and have horrible hit registration.

No more BIG games.

With matchmaking you won’t be able to set up big games because of the latency and performance issues from the user hosting the server. The users connection would not be able to handle a big server, so server sizes will be going down.

Cheating

With punkbuster being removed and in it’s place VAC, the game is now more prone to cheating. Punkbuster is a good, but annoying method to counteract cheating, instead of leaving it in they replaced it with something worse. You can see other games like Counter Strike and how easy it is to cheat when using VAC. Cheating makes the game less fun and if you can’t win it’s worthless to you.

No custom content or mods.

You won’t be able to set up a game with custom maps or mods because there are no dedicated servers to run them on. Since there is no SDK and no dedicated servers there will be no custom content. Since there would be no custom content they can nail you with map packs for a price.

Map Packs+Patches (DLC) on the PC may not be free anymore.

Game developers and publishers create DLC on the consoles because there is nothing more that users can do with what came with the actual game. In order to give them more they charge them for more. With the PC, people would create mods and maps for free for users to play with. With no custom content for MW2, Infinity Ward and Activision can now charge you for extras. Where they would be free for games that are open to the community (L4D, CS, and more), it can now be something that they can make some money off of.

Lack of Control over rules, etc.

In a dedicated server scenario, the person that is running the server can ban anyone that they want. In a Matchmaking system, everyone has to vote on whether or not the person they want kicked should be or not, it’s not the same as an instant ban against the person. You can also control the game exactly the way that you want it on a dedicated server, like rules, map configurations, mods, etc.

No clan servers

Clans will no longer have a place where they can call home. They won’t have a place where they can just go and play with their fellow clan members and just do whatever. Clans won’t be able to run private servers where they can train or practice or just play with custom rules on purpose for specific scenarios/etc. With this change it will just make things harder for everyone.

These are just some of the main reasons why PC gamers want dedicated servers over a matchmaking system. There is however a bigger picture behind why this is happening. Infinity Ward and Activison and ALL the other game developers and publishers are starting to not care for the PC gaming group. Instead of putting time and effort into the PC version of the game, they are just porting the game directly from consoles and not caring what happens to the PC version. Patches are usually released latter than the console version and so are map packs. With the dedicated servers being removed Infinity Ward is putting one of the final nails in the coffin of PC gaming as we knew it, which was open and filled with support.

Maybe in the end of the battle between PC Gamers and Infinity Ward/Activison we might get a compromise of options to have both Dedicated Servers and Matchmaking service, but hopes for that are slim. With the petition growing ever so largely, all we can do is hope that change will happen for both the game and the way that the PC is viewed as a gaming platform

http://swerequest.se/articles.php?article_id=137

PS...I will not buy the game

[Locke]

So, if you have any server/connection problems, EVER, you respond by getting horribly angry and screaming "FAIL-FAIL-FAIL!!!" I take my game time seriously as well, but I don't expect perfection Locke, especially with a brand new game.

Dude,

Its not your job to tell me what I should perceive for myself as far as what is quality and what is not. MANY MANY people stopped buying american cars for the quality issue; it was their prerogative to determine what quality is. I believe that the description of only having issues with one game indicated that the entire game was laggy, not one moment.

Losing 5% of game time is not acceptable for me due to lag. Especially when a MP twitch game like MW2 means that it is essentially unplayable from a competitive stand point.

Online issues happen from time to time for various reasons, but when 5% of lost time results form the game itself, that is not acceptable for me. For others, depending on where they live it could be 10%.

It would be like watching TV and having a 3-6min snipped lost from every 60min show.

[John Planet]

Dude,

Its not your job to tell me what I should perceive for myself as far as what is quality and what is not.

Can you read or is it a matter of not being able to control your emotions? I don't give a rats arse about your perceptions, or your obviously damaged sense of priorites. As for the rest of your breezy, addlepated diatribe, who asked you?