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Video Game Review: ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ Gets ‘Stimulus Package’
CHICAGO – After watching a large number of their soldiers pick up their gear and trudge off to the amazing multiplayer of “Battlefield: Bad Company 2,” Activision and Infinity Ward have made some recent moves designed to bring video game warriors back to the beloved “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2”. Xbox 360 players got the “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package” first but it’s now available on the PS3 with word of a “Resurgence Pack” hot on its heels.
Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
Multiplayer diehards know the maps of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” probably better than they know the layout of their own homes. They have spent months finding the best cover spots, blind corners, and giggle like schoolgirls when a poor noob enters their favorite level of horror. But even those who have made the game one of the most successful of all time get bored with the same old maps every day.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package
Photo credit: Activision
And so they now have the chance to add the “Stimulus Package” to their experience, finally available on PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. The map pack, which costs a steep $14.99 on the PlayStation Store and from Steam for the PC includes three completely new locations along with two fan favorites from “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package Photo credit: Activision |
The fan favorites are “Crash” and “Overgrown” and they have been imported from the earlier game for a reason. They’re both fantastic maps, particularly “Overgrown,” a setting with a number of buildings, levels, and places to hide. The new levels are “Bailout,” “Storm,” and “Salvage”.
“Bailout” is a crowded apartment complex that’s a little too small of a map. It’s one of those levels where it’s common to die as soon as you spawn and where your twitch finger better be caffeinated because you’re going to run into someone around nearly every corner. I like the idea of “room”-based levels but “Bailout” doesn’t quite work.
The best of the new maps is “Salvage,” a junkyard covered in snow. The level features a number of small buildings overlooking the yard and back alleys. The blend of tight-corridored combat and more open spaces and it’s one of the best maps in the game.
In between if “Storm,” an industrial park with a lot of ground to cover and an impending thunderstorm.
The controversy around the “Stimulus Package” has been pretty simple: it’s pricey. Paying fifteen bucks for three new maps and two old ones is pushing the price point envelope although considering how crowded they were in my time with the expansion, it doesn’t seem to be dissuading too many people. Should the package have been $10? Yes, but the maps are well-designed enough and the game still entertaining enough that I don’t think it’s a ridiculous cost. My concern is where we go from here. With DLC getting more and more popular, if a map pack like this is $15 now, will it be $20 or $25 at this point next year? Inflation is a bitch.
In an interesting move, the developers of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” are keeping the carnage coming with another map pack releasing on the Xbox Live on June 3rd and later for PC and PS3. Developed by Infinity Ward, the pack will feature five new maps, an image from each is included in the linked slideshow below. Start planning your strategy now.
By BRIAN TALLERICO |