Currently Playing

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex
Wii
Half-Life 2
Steam

First of all, the Call of Duty update.  First of all, I got a five kill streak with my Gold Desert Eagle.  We were playing TDM on Bloc, and you know how Sniper happy everyone gets on that map.  I had decided to do a run through the building, and when I got to the end, guys kept running up the stairs.  I had already emptied my assault rifle on the run over, so I pulled out the Deagle, and somehow ran through 5 kills, until I ran out of ammo on that too.

I have discovered the trick to proper sidearm use is simply to aim down the site, for some reason it makes them almost perfectly accurate, even with the Deagle's high recoil.




As for Half-Life 2, I can't stop playing this game.  It really took a long time to get going, but ever since getting to the City 17 parts, and now the Citadel, I have trouble telling myself to quit when it is 2 in the morning and I have to be up early.

I will say, however, that this game does continue to make every effort to be un-enjoyable.  First of all, the ant-lion part is simply annoying.  Although the game does do the Portal-esque jump correction, it still is first person platforming.  I think the worst is when you try to stand on the wood pallets, and for some reason even after you make the jump, you sort of slide off.

But, then you get the control the ant-lions, and once again, the game is awesome.  Using those guys is way too much fun.

Then, you climb the mountains, go underground, etc, and the environments are awesome again.  However, you then start working with the squad...  They seem hell bent on dying, which is annoying.  And the fact that they only listen to your stay put order for 30 seconds before declaring "Follow Freeman!"

My other big gripe is that they don't explain some stuff that needs explaining, like that killing the snipers can only be done with grenades, and sometimes I have no idea where to run while some big, un-killable enemy, pounds away with its turret gun.

But of course, you then find the ammo supply crate, and taking out that big stalker is one of the more satisfying game experiences you can have.

Currently Playing

Currently Playing
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition
Wii

Played a few matches of team tactical the past two nights.  Really enjoyed both, until the lag snuck in that is.  I can't wait to get a better internet connection.

Something I was thinking about when discussing CoD4, as it is known to the rest of the world, was about Sabotage.  Obviously their version of capture the flag, they seem to have abandoned it for MW2.  However, I think Sabotage is really fun, and very frantic.  The one bomb idea is pretty nice, because it prevents people from playing stay at home defense, and it prevents "each time has the flag" standoffs.

This mix of fast moving offense and defense is part of the appeal.  On offense, you probably want ExCon, since the bomb doesn't reset when dropped, and since simply running past defenders makes sense.  But when it switches to defense, you probably want steady aim, deep impact, maybe even martyrdom.  On offense,  mobility is key, so unless you are a quick scope master, no snipers, and no LMGs.  But on defense, LMGs are really nice to have.  Defense might want claymores or C4, but these are useless on offense.

Also, the plant/defuse delay is a nice addition as well.  Even as the bomb is run into your base, you know you aren't finished yet.  Also, even when you think you are home free, there is always a chance for something to go wrong.  Two little points here.  One, most of the time, a plant is a score, I see defuses very rarely.  Two, it is really annoying when you can't plant/defuse because too many weapons are laying on the ground, and the game doesn't know if you are trying to plant or change weapons.

Having said that, I find that these games almost always end in the first 30 seconds.  Both teams rush, one team wins the firefight, then moves into the dead team's spawn, so by the time the they respawn, they are pushed into the field, and the game bomb is planted, game over.

The second problem, and this is what I ran into today, is that when your teammates don't know how to play, the game is terrible.  I was playing on what was probably the better team, but every time we got the bomb, the bomb carrier hung back.  I think he (or maybe she?) wanted to try and not die and take it all the way.  But the problem is, unless you are on a well coordinated team, this doesn't work.  First of all, noob tubes end up killing both you and your escorts in one shot.  Second of all, you have a big red target above your head, the only way to manage this is to keep moving. Third, one small mistake, and you drop the bomb, but instead of having moved it forward, it is now right in front of your base.  I even called in a chopper at one point, and we still hung around on our half of the map.

And the final move of supreme idiocy that anyone should be able to figure out.  When your teammate is defusing the bomb, DON'T STAND NEXT TO HIM!!! A grenade will kill all of you at once, especially since that is where the other team is aiming.  Also, instead, why don't you provide cover! I had the laptop out, although I really had a feeling I would die, but of course, the same grenade that got me killed three of our other guys as well...

Oh well, you play for fun anyways, and we never really got spawn trapped, and despite the lag I went 28-14, plus had some decent bomb runs.

CoD: MW2 Spec Ops

While visiting home, my brother and I jumped on some Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Spec Ops missions.  He has already cleared the game and is several prestiges deep, with a KDR over 2, but was finding the Veteran Co-ops pretty tough, especially with computer AI.  In addition, some missions simply require two players.

Particularly fun was the AC-130 escort mission.  He was on the ground while I circled overhead in the AC-130, raining death and destruction on the hostiles.  His job was to stay safe and make it to the end within the time limit.  Additionally, his laser sight made it much easier for me to locate enemies.  Man, that level is fun.

The Chopper Gunner escort was less fun.  For one, you aren't using kill streak chopper gunner with the thermal, you are using the side mounted Vulcan Chaingun.  The enemies are very hard to see, and the Chopper circles low, meaning a lot of times you just can't see the guys you are shooting.  This level took a lot of practice, but still had some awesome moments.

Finally, we played the Acceptable Losses mission in the blizzard, where you have to blow up three aircraft.  This one was less fun, as it is impossible to see enemies in the snow on the split screen.

Finally, we played the storm the estate mission, with the Juggernaughts and Ghillie Snipers.  We ended up dying on the last Juggernaught, but decided to call it a day.

The AC-130 and Chopper Gunner were both amazing co-op experiences.  My only issue is that you can't complete these without a second player, which is tough if you don't have many friends who also play.