Modern Warfare 2 Game Informer Scans

Game Informer Modern Warfare 2 Scans

Here are the details from this months (June 2009) Game Informer Magazine 10 page exclusive Modern Warfare 2 article. Although Infinity Ward didn’t reveal much information on the Multiplayer side of things, enough detail was supplied to quench the Call of Duty gamers thirst for all things Modern Warfare 2 …

Soap is back in the game as a “grizzled vet” NPC.

Single player enemies will have “customized” weapons similar to the multiplayer component of Call of Duty 4.

Enemies in certain levels will be hiding among civilians, its your job to pick them out. Snipers will hide in shanties as they attempt to pick you off.

The ice mission shown to Game Informer demonstrated the game’s open-ended approach to combat, showing how stealth can be implemented if the player chooses.

Players will alternate using the two triggers to climb ice-walls.

Another demoed area shows an enormous desert setting where Task Force 141 drops into a wasteland and must navigate a “lengthy trek” to a fully-rendered valley with scattered caves, reminiscent of Iron Man.

While the gameplay is open-ended, the story is “on-rails”.

Co-op apparently won’t exist in Story Mode.

Infinity Ward realizes that the “invisible line” where enemies will stop coming in Call of Duty 4 wasn’t great, so they’re trying hard to eliminate that.

“Special Ops Mode” is a major part of Modern Warfare 2, a series of missions in the spirit of the Mile High Club from Call of Duty 4. It will also have 2 player co-op in this mode where you and a friend get to breach an enemy stronghold with teamwork. Gears of War style bleed-out-and-partner-revive will be used.

Movable turrets will be used in Special Foces Mode and Single Player, no official word on online use.

MIGs can be blown up like cars in the first game, often killing entire groups of nearby enemies.

Riot shields will be implemented in the game.

Zakhaev’s former associate, Makarov, is the “new face of global terrorism.”

Snowmobiles are used as a form of escape in the demonstration. Unclear whether or not the player will drive, shoot, or both.

Infinity Ward wants to implement an accomplishment system to online, as they want to make their players famous.

Online mode will use a “Live-Patching” system, where Infinity Ward can manipulate spawn logic or certain parts of a multiplayer map without doing a full-blown patch.

Infinty Ward is focusing on details for Modern Warfare 2, citing iced-up tire treads in the Russian level.

Modern Warfare 2 will run at 60 frames-per-second, with better detail than Call of Duty 4.

Swimming mode enabled.

A ‘Stealthy’ Oil pipeline Scuba Mission will be included in campaign mode.

A level will definetly be based in Rio De Janeiro.

Siberian Level will feature in campaign mode.

Vehicles (e.g. Trucks, Tanks etc.) will be introduced into the Modern Era.

A ‘Helicopter Based’ Level will be featured.

An Oil Tanker level will also be featured.

Ken Lally (Wesker from Resident Evil 5) will be voice acting. Most likely as a Russian villain

Special Ops Mode

If you had to pick one thing to differentiate Modern Warfare 2 from its predecessor, the new Special Ops is the obvious choice. Accessed from the main menu, this mode combines several of the defining features of Modern Warfare. “They’re in the spirit of Mile High Club,” West explains, calling out the incredible X-Box 360 achievement granted for completing the bonus airplane hijack level from the first game on Veteran difficulty.

Infinity Ward investigates many more ideas than could possibly fit in the single-player game, so the developer ends up with a lot of cool scenarios that don’t fit in the campaign for one reason or another.

“You get attached to these great moments and you don’t want to lose them even though they might be a touch too hard or too easy. Now you can take that and make it a special op,” says West. “It gives us the opportunity to do lots of different types of things, and also things that may have been difficulty peaks in the past.” Free of the constraints of narrative and difficulty curve, the designers can create one-of missions that would never exist otherwise. It’s too early in the development process to say how many Special Ops scenarios will be included out of the box, but West assures us that the mod is a major part of Modern Warfare 2.

Seeing Special Ops in action is an eye-opener. Using a breaching charge to force entry into the showers of a hostile base, the player has a few seconds of slow motion to take advantage of the shock and confusion. As soon as normal gameplay speed resumes, it’s on. Catwalks on either side of the rectangular room host enemy overwatch. Riot shields provide ample cover for advancing hostiles. A few alcoves along the wall are relatively safe, but nasty fields of fire and flanking bad guys constantly deny protection to the player. It’s a good thing you can bring a friend along.

“We did a lot of co-op stuff early that we were interested in, and it didn’t work with the story mode at all,” West says. “It made a lot more sense here.” Many Special Ops levels are designed specifically with two-player co-op in mind. The “showers” map we saw practically demands it – there’s no way to approach it without a buddy to watch your back. On the other hand, the way you look at a room drastically changes when you have a human partner. From basic tactics like bounding between cover to more advanced approaches like suppression and overwatch, the player’s toolbox is hugely expanded in co-op.

Modern Warfare 2 makes adapting to the cooperative experience easy. A colored arrow shows your partner relative position to you, while a mini-map in the corner of the screen displays both your locations. Downed players slowly bleed out, giving their partners a chance to revive them if they can avoid getting shot will bandaging their comrade.

Infinity Ward declined to discuss whether Special Ops co-op can be played with friends online, how it ties into the upgraded community site and downloadable content possibilities, but these ideas are such no-brainers that official word os hardly required.

Modern Warfare 2 Pictures