November 10, 2009 was supposed to be the day that changed gaming. Finally, the ultimate FPS was coming and gaming would unite in a massive multiplayer experience the likes of which the world has never seen. It actually happened. Then, the other shoe dropped. Glitches, hacks, cheating, the dismantling of a studio, lawsuits, and the eventual partial abandonment of the fastest selling game of all time all overshadowed the game itself. We finally got our first piece of DLC from Activision for MW2 and it does not make the gamer feel much better about the game than we did a few weeks ago.
By now, all of the Day 1 glitches have been worked out, so that will have zero effect of the score. What will have an effect is the cost of the map pack, the content within, and the options granted. To start things off, the map pack is 15 bucks. Not cheap, but not too overpriced for 5 new maps. Except, they are not all new. There are three brand new maps: Bailout, Salvage, and Storm. They are good, if not very good. I find it hard to recommend which map for which game because we all play differently. What is not hard is to say what is disappointing.
The other 2 maps are Crash and Overgrown. Two favorites from MW1, but should not be celebrated as new. It is not like new vehicles were added. The maps are basically the same, just in the new title. Second, there are NO new perks or achievements. You can play the new maps only in 2 playlists: one standard and one hardcore.
Is this a bad set of maps? No, they are well done, varied, and offer more game play of this awesome game. Is it worth 15 bucks? I have to say no way. 3 new maps, 2 redone maps, no new perks or ranks, and barely any new game modes? It seems as if the Stimulus Package title was tongue-in-cheek and took money-out-of-wallet.
[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]
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$15 for a map pack is too much money. The amount of people who bought this only tells Activision and everyone else that this price is acceptable. Expect to have your wallets lightened on all future content.
You can also play the map pack in any regular game play list and from my personal experience they seem to pop up more often than the old maps. My big problem is the new matchmaking system that came out along side of the new map packs. Prior to the update I could find a game in under 30 seconds no problem (it would search and I would see about 44/50 games available) now I have to search for about 5 minutes to find a game. And when I finally do it says there’s only 1 or 2 good games available out of 50. On top of that it seems like they can’t make a good match either. I feel like its a crap shoot on who I’m paired with; either a game of junk players or a game where I’m lucky if I can snag a UAV. But maybe that’s just my personal experience and can be blamed on my schools not-so-good internet? But the system did work for me before… I’m just sayin’.
My whole feeling on this subject can be summed up with one word, “Meh.” Although, not great, it was enough. And it won’t stop me from still playing every night either… I wish we could’ve gotten more new stuff, but something is better than nothing.