Modern Warfare 2 Impressions: It’s Like Jack Bauer, But With the Word “Shit”

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I beat Modern Warfare 2 this morning. Sort of. With a FPS like MW2, is saying I finished the single-player campaign the same thing as saying you’re done with a meal when you finish your appetizer? I mean, I assume that any serious player is just getting going when they finish off the story mode.

It’s a pretty dope game, but I think it peaks a bit early. I felt the same way about Uncharted 2. I like my final episode, chapter, whatever, to be stacked with awesomeness. And if you rocket your hardest load two hours prior to it, even if what you’re experiencing is awesome, you’ve already jumped the shark.

For me, nothing topped the nuclear blast and the fallout in Washington. Everything after that was simple “sweet” as opposed to “holy fucking shit.”

It’s the same reason I’ve began to tune out of 24 every season right around thirteen episodes in the past few years. Take aside the fact that every season is practically the same – you know, just like Modern Warfare, it’s a couple of rogue dudes going against the government to truly save the world. But also, right around the thirteenth episode of a season of 24, Jack has already:

  • Ate a live dog
  • Shot a reputable member of the CIA
  • Yelled at his daughter
  • Gotten cancer
  • Cured his own cancer
  • Shot three-thousand terrorists
  • Betrayed the president
  • Won the love of the president
  • Impregnated the president
  • …A male president
  • Killed the baby with his mind powers
  • And set off thirteen nuclear devices

So I don’t blame the writers of 24, or Modern Warfare 2, or even Uncharted. They seem so eager to throw the kitchen sink at you, that about 3/4ths of the way through, they’re all…”Uh…well, now what?” Like I said though, I wasn’t let down, I just found that the story peaks a bit before the end.

If you want, and I hope you don’t, we could discuss the best way to craft a narrative, and detail arcing motions. I know that dramatic structure has the climax in the middle, but as anyone who has masturbated knows, we prefer our climax closer to the end.

What do you guys think? If you’ve played through the game, I’d love to hear your take on the single-player. I should reiterate that I loved the game, and I am hankering to play through it again. And like I said, every critique I have towards the single-player mode seems irrelevant, since it seems to be merely the offering to whet the palette.