So lately I haven't been playing as well as I have in the past. And while I consider myself good, there have got to be better players out there. I'm sort of attributing it to how little I've played in the past 3 weeks. After buying and playing Red Dead for 2-3 weeks and then working on finishing up Forza 3's achievements I haven't had a lot of quality Call of Duty time. And coming back from that is tough. I get discouraged easily if I'm not winning and I die a lot, as I'm sure anyone does. Most of the time I end up rage quitting, something I need to stop doing.
But I was playing tonight and I joined a game of Team Deathmatch Express and Carnival was the map. Ugh, I don't like Carnival, this was after I had rage quit on it in a game of HQ Pro. Needless to say I voted to skip, and it passed. But the resulting map was Wasteland. While I hate this map as well I like to force myself to play it (if the rest of the lobby wants too as well) so I can learn how to play more efficiently on it.
I started off with my UMP45, rushing the other team as usual. Now, keep in mind I'm level 27 on the 3rd Prestige, so I don't have Ninja Pro yet, a key ingredient to my play-style. Long story short the UMP wasn't working out for me. So I switch to the TAR-21 and continue to get worked. But then as if given to me by the gods I switched to the M4 and began to destroy the other team. (Okay, it wasn't that dramatic, but work with me a little, everyone beefs up they're war stories a little bit, right?) Right away a Predator Missile, one kill off that and another off of a FAMAS I picked up and I have my Harriers. That easily got me my 11 kill streak, the Chopper Gunner. (Not my 11 kill streak of choice, but I'm going for the emblem.) That got me a lot of kills on such an open map.
The game starts coming to a close and I had just respawned with my M4 after dying. I see a bunch of red dots in the caves, so I line up looking down the trench closest to the Church and see a few guys running back and fourth. One sees me. And we trade fire.
I don't know about you, but I've developed a natural tendency to strafe back and fourth while shooting to make a harder target over my years of playing COD. I picked it up just playing against other people who did it. It really does make you a hard to hit target. I ended up killing the guy in the Game Winning Kill Cam. What's his reaction? (Unprovoked, mind you.) "Aw, yeah, look at you, glitchin' all around." I'm not even sure how I would do what he said, the game wasn't laggy at all.
I'm trying to make two points with this post. One is about the game and how switching your gun can make a world of difference when you're playing poorly. The second is how outrageous people can be when they lose. I am commonly accused of cheating when my team wins and I'm up top. I suppose it's human nature, to rationalize why you lost to yourself. People just happen to say it out loud more often than not, and usually in a manner that isn't so friendly. Ever since listening to an Xbox Live Enforcement speech at PAX East 2010 I've carried myself a little differently, attempting to be a more positive influence in the community. It's tough though. (I've linked it here, give it a listen when you have a chance, maybe you'll take something away from it like I did.)
That out of the way I'd like to wrap up by talking about how key it is to switch guns when you're playing poorly. I know a lot of my friends make a load-out and just play that the whole game. How I work is I make all my load-outs playable, and I pick one to start the game, usually the gun I'm working on, currently the TAR-21. I play with it. If I do well I keep using it. If I do bad I switch to a backup, usually a gun I know I'm good with. I remember loving the TAR-21, but every time I come back to using it I need to get used to the bounce until the I get the silencer, then things calm down a bit. But range can still be an issue sometimes, especially against guns like the M16. But keep this in mind when you play, and try it out. Leave a comment if it helps, especially if anyone accuses you of cheating when you win.
Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
Monday, June 21, 2010
Barebones - First Impressions
Amazing. Put simply, these playlists are great. I'm not sure I'll be playing them as much as I thought though, mainly because I'm still working on Prestige Challenges, and this kills any hopes of finishing those. I did play a few games though, and boy did I enjoy them.
The first game I played was CTF on Vacant. Began with the TAR-21 with a Silencer on it, but that wasn't working out, ended up switching to a UMP45 and rushing the other team. I got their flag (the one inside) with about 10 seconds left, needless to say I didn't make it. Switch sides. I kept rushing out on the right side trying to flank and capture, but that was a mistake. It gained me kills, but it was too far to run back with the flag. I ended up capturing from the left in a blaze of glory with 30 seconds left. I ran it back through the enemy, killed the guy grabbing our flag, returned and captured before his Martyrdom grenade blew me to hell. Ended up 30-11 with the only capture of the game. Lots of fun.
It was really funny the first 5 kill streak I got though, the thought that entered my head was, "Wait, no Predator Missile? Umm...Duh! Barebones!" Funny how you get used to things.
That was my taste of Objective Barebones Pro. Now onto plain-old Barebones Pro. This is, again for those of you who didn't read my first post about these playlists, TDM and FFA played with 4-8 players.
Now, I love the mix up of Team Death Match and Free For All, it provides you the frantic fun of FFA as well as the team based strategy of TDM, a great flavor for a playlist. I have one big gripe with it though, the 4-8 player limit. And this is what's going to make me not play the game type alone (which is usually how I play.) While it's okay for FFA, the TDM games feel too small. It's like playing Team Tactical.
So my main point to be made to IW is this: Can we bump up the player limit of Barebones Pro to the standard 8-12 of TDM? We had 12 person FFA's in Moshpit. Please?
So, until next time (which will be in a few minutes, going to write another post about how I've been playing lately) I highly suggest you check out the new playlists if your platform is the Xbox 360, they're worth playing at least once, especially if you don't like having to shoot down all the harriers and choppers for your team all the time. When you do finally play them, leave a comment, let me know what you think.
Remember, Go Deep. Go Hard. (Yes, I'm going to sign off with that everytime, get used to it. =P)
-K1ng K00p4
The first game I played was CTF on Vacant. Began with the TAR-21 with a Silencer on it, but that wasn't working out, ended up switching to a UMP45 and rushing the other team. I got their flag (the one inside) with about 10 seconds left, needless to say I didn't make it. Switch sides. I kept rushing out on the right side trying to flank and capture, but that was a mistake. It gained me kills, but it was too far to run back with the flag. I ended up capturing from the left in a blaze of glory with 30 seconds left. I ran it back through the enemy, killed the guy grabbing our flag, returned and captured before his Martyrdom grenade blew me to hell. Ended up 30-11 with the only capture of the game. Lots of fun.
It was really funny the first 5 kill streak I got though, the thought that entered my head was, "Wait, no Predator Missile? Umm...Duh! Barebones!" Funny how you get used to things.
That was my taste of Objective Barebones Pro. Now onto plain-old Barebones Pro. This is, again for those of you who didn't read my first post about these playlists, TDM and FFA played with 4-8 players.
Now, I love the mix up of Team Death Match and Free For All, it provides you the frantic fun of FFA as well as the team based strategy of TDM, a great flavor for a playlist. I have one big gripe with it though, the 4-8 player limit. And this is what's going to make me not play the game type alone (which is usually how I play.) While it's okay for FFA, the TDM games feel too small. It's like playing Team Tactical.
So my main point to be made to IW is this: Can we bump up the player limit of Barebones Pro to the standard 8-12 of TDM? We had 12 person FFA's in Moshpit. Please?
So, until next time (which will be in a few minutes, going to write another post about how I've been playing lately) I highly suggest you check out the new playlists if your platform is the Xbox 360, they're worth playing at least once, especially if you don't like having to shoot down all the harriers and choppers for your team all the time. When you do finally play them, leave a comment, let me know what you think.
Remember, Go Deep. Go Hard. (Yes, I'm going to sign off with that everytime, get used to it. =P)
-K1ng K00p4
Barebones
http://fourzerotwo.com/post/723560718/barebonespro
This just posted, I literally watched it pop up in my feed reader. Barebones Pro and Objective Barebones Pro are two new playlists on MW2. (Currently Xbox 360 only, PS3 gets it when the Resurgence Map Pack is released the week of July 6th.) These playlists have been built around one thing the community was asking for, no kill streaks.
Barebones Pro consists of TDM and FFA, 4-8 players and no kill streaks. Objective Barebones Pro runs Domination, Demolition, HQ Pro, and CTF, all again with no kill streaks.
I haven't played them yet, but I plan to do so soon and I'll post my feedback as soon as I get enough time in each. From the sounds of it I'll be playing these alot, they keep S&D out and those pesky Harriers away.
I'll see you on the battlefield, remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
This just posted, I literally watched it pop up in my feed reader. Barebones Pro and Objective Barebones Pro are two new playlists on MW2. (Currently Xbox 360 only, PS3 gets it when the Resurgence Map Pack is released the week of July 6th.) These playlists have been built around one thing the community was asking for, no kill streaks.
Barebones Pro consists of TDM and FFA, 4-8 players and no kill streaks. Objective Barebones Pro runs Domination, Demolition, HQ Pro, and CTF, all again with no kill streaks.
I haven't played them yet, but I plan to do so soon and I'll post my feedback as soon as I get enough time in each. From the sounds of it I'll be playing these alot, they keep S&D out and those pesky Harriers away.
I'll see you on the battlefield, remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Strike - First Impressions
Okay, so I finally got to play Strike. God I love that map. I just want to extend my thanks to IW for bringing back those loving memories.
Anyway, tears gathered lets get back on topic. Strike. Great map. I loved it in the original. The MW2 engine does change things up a bit though. The obvious thing is color. I was actually discussing this with a player on Xbox Live last night. In COD4 the level was tan. All tan. Everywhere. I loved it, so much that I customized a Linux theme that was tan and had the MW2 box art as a main wallpaper on my dual head setup. Strike now, and I'll use that player's words here, "Looks like a poorly decorated bathroom." I thought it was a funny description. I'm not sure what kind of bathrooms he goes in, but I get what he means. There's color to it, and it's gritty. And I love it. The MW2 engine never ceases to amaze me, especially in these old maps that we all know and love.
It's not all praise though. It's probably the fact that it's MW2 and everything is a little different, but everything just feels bigger to me. It's like that feeling you get if you ever walk around your old high school and you think, "Wow, this place is tiny, it used to feel so big when I was 16," except the opposite. It makes me want to pop in my COD4 disk and try and compare. I imagine the guys over at IW used the same wire frames, but maybe things got tweaked, I dunno. It just feels a little off to me. But don't get me wrong, it's still the great map it used to be. It's just like all these remakes of games though, you just can't top the original.
That being said, remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
Anyway, tears gathered lets get back on topic. Strike. Great map. I loved it in the original. The MW2 engine does change things up a bit though. The obvious thing is color. I was actually discussing this with a player on Xbox Live last night. In COD4 the level was tan. All tan. Everywhere. I loved it, so much that I customized a Linux theme that was tan and had the MW2 box art as a main wallpaper on my dual head setup. Strike now, and I'll use that player's words here, "Looks like a poorly decorated bathroom." I thought it was a funny description. I'm not sure what kind of bathrooms he goes in, but I get what he means. There's color to it, and it's gritty. And I love it. The MW2 engine never ceases to amaze me, especially in these old maps that we all know and love.
It's not all praise though. It's probably the fact that it's MW2 and everything is a little different, but everything just feels bigger to me. It's like that feeling you get if you ever walk around your old high school and you think, "Wow, this place is tiny, it used to feel so big when I was 16," except the opposite. It makes me want to pop in my COD4 disk and try and compare. I imagine the guys over at IW used the same wire frames, but maybe things got tweaked, I dunno. It just feels a little off to me. But don't get me wrong, it's still the great map it used to be. It's just like all these remakes of games though, you just can't top the original.
That being said, remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
Friday, June 4, 2010
The Resurgence Map Pack - First Impressions
So yesterday I went out to Gamestop and picked up 1600 Microsoft Points to get the Resurgence Map Pack. After a rather quick download I was all ready to be blown away by the awesome feeling that I get when I play a new map.
The first thing I like to do is just load up a private match and run around the new maps with a Marathon/Lightweight class, just to get a feel for the maps; so that's what I did.
Carnival
First up was Carnival. It took me a while to find the giant clown mouth that is the entrance to the Fun Haus, but when I did I couldn't help but smile. It's located in the middle of the map, roughly. The best thing to me though was the roller coaster, it's just so cool that you can run up it, granted you can't get to it's highest drop, but the awe factor when I first came upon was, well...awesome.
Everything else on the map seems pretty standard, the castle is a hell of a spot to hold out, as any castle should be. I found my self destroying people (once I played an actual game) who were trying to disarm the bomb while I was posted up on top with an ACR.
One fun thing that I found was a Zoltar machine in the Fun Haus, you know that fortune teller. Anyway, it's made up to look like Captain Price, or at least that's what I took from it. Of course the first thing I do is shoot it, and there's a nice death animation with sparks and everything. Good work IW, it's the small things in life that matter, right?
Fuel
Fuel is uh...big to say the least. And by big I mean absolutely massive. Even massive might be an understatement. I hear people comparing it to as if you took overgrown and added a second overgrown right next to it. It's that big. (I've also heard the comparison of derailed+overgrown=fuel, that might be pushing it though.)
There is just so much to do on this map. It took me a minute in a half to sprint around the edge of the map the first time I loaded it up. When I actually got to play it on the Resurgence playlist I was baffled at where people were when they were shooting me. They weren't kidding when they said this map has long site lines. The one thing to watch for on this map is snipers, they can and will be anywhere and everywhere.
Trailer Park
Ugh. This map. What do I say about this map? I was actually looking forward to this one the most (other than Strike) out of all five of the maps. It's got what I like, narrow corridors and tight paths, perfect for what I do, which is sprint around with an SMG. I thought it'd be another Salvage for me. (I love Salvage.) But I was wrong.
The map is good, don't get me wrong, it just hasn't played out the way I wanted it to. The first game I played on it was a very, very long game of Headquarters. I went 61-20, which is good, but it just didn't feel good to me.
I think what bugs me the most are the long site lines around the edges of the map. I love, love, love just doing laps around maps, flanking and surprising my enemies. But there isn't a lot of cover to help me out when I'm hugging the edges of this level.
Well, you might ask, why don't you go through the middle? Where all the trailers are? Surely you're sprinting SMG tactics might work there? I have one response to that. Shotguns. If you're going into a trailer, you better bring one, or prepare to be shot by one, because it's going to happen.
Bottom line on this map is that it's good, but based off of one night of playing it, I personally don't like it. I hope my feelings change.
Vacant
Oh boy, I have a long history with this map. For those of you who don't know, it was one of the three beta maps for COD4:MW, along with Overgrown and Crash. This is the map that began my play style. This is where I started sprinting around with a silenced Mini-Uzi dominating those who stood in my way. Boy that's a thing of the past, huh?
So far I've only played two or three games on vacant. And each of those few times the hallways have been riddled with shotguns. Like I said in my introduction post, I can appreciate most any play style, but I have a special place in my heart for shotguns and one day I'll rant about those too. But until then, I'm going to avoid the hallways of the Russian office complex in which I, as a Call of Duty player, was born.
Strike
Strike was a classic map in COD4:MW. I couldn't get enough of it at one point. I loved the urban feel of it, with it's tan color. Sadly I can't comment on it yet, as I haven't loaded it up in a private match and each time it's come up while I'm playing the Resurgence playlist it's been skipped or the host leaves and we merge with a different group. While that makes me sad I'll be sure to post my feelings about this remake when I play it.
The Resurgence Pack as a Whole
As a whole right now I'm not in love like I was with the Stimulus map pack. It just doesn't flow as well for me. They appear to be good maps , the layouts are solid, the design work is great. I just haven't adapted to them yet I guess is all. Which is strange because I usually do really well when no one knows the maps. Maybe I'm just put off by them because I'm at the top of a prestige and that is usually where I play the worst. Especially lately, I haven't been playing well at all.
So while this is what I took away as my first impression of the new map pack, I'm almost certain my feelings will be different once I play the maps enough. But I'm sure about one thing, these maps are good, but not as good as the Stimulus maps.
(For those of you who haven't checked out the new maps, or are still on the fence about whether or not to get them, especially after my mediocre first impressions, I urge you to check out the preview done on Inside Xbox. Check it out here.)
Always remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
The first thing I like to do is just load up a private match and run around the new maps with a Marathon/Lightweight class, just to get a feel for the maps; so that's what I did.
Carnival
First up was Carnival. It took me a while to find the giant clown mouth that is the entrance to the Fun Haus, but when I did I couldn't help but smile. It's located in the middle of the map, roughly. The best thing to me though was the roller coaster, it's just so cool that you can run up it, granted you can't get to it's highest drop, but the awe factor when I first came upon was, well...awesome.
Everything else on the map seems pretty standard, the castle is a hell of a spot to hold out, as any castle should be. I found my self destroying people (once I played an actual game) who were trying to disarm the bomb while I was posted up on top with an ACR.
One fun thing that I found was a Zoltar machine in the Fun Haus, you know that fortune teller. Anyway, it's made up to look like Captain Price, or at least that's what I took from it. Of course the first thing I do is shoot it, and there's a nice death animation with sparks and everything. Good work IW, it's the small things in life that matter, right?
Fuel
Fuel is uh...big to say the least. And by big I mean absolutely massive. Even massive might be an understatement. I hear people comparing it to as if you took overgrown and added a second overgrown right next to it. It's that big. (I've also heard the comparison of derailed+overgrown=fuel, that might be pushing it though.)
There is just so much to do on this map. It took me a minute in a half to sprint around the edge of the map the first time I loaded it up. When I actually got to play it on the Resurgence playlist I was baffled at where people were when they were shooting me. They weren't kidding when they said this map has long site lines. The one thing to watch for on this map is snipers, they can and will be anywhere and everywhere.
Trailer Park
Ugh. This map. What do I say about this map? I was actually looking forward to this one the most (other than Strike) out of all five of the maps. It's got what I like, narrow corridors and tight paths, perfect for what I do, which is sprint around with an SMG. I thought it'd be another Salvage for me. (I love Salvage.) But I was wrong.
The map is good, don't get me wrong, it just hasn't played out the way I wanted it to. The first game I played on it was a very, very long game of Headquarters. I went 61-20, which is good, but it just didn't feel good to me.
I think what bugs me the most are the long site lines around the edges of the map. I love, love, love just doing laps around maps, flanking and surprising my enemies. But there isn't a lot of cover to help me out when I'm hugging the edges of this level.
Well, you might ask, why don't you go through the middle? Where all the trailers are? Surely you're sprinting SMG tactics might work there? I have one response to that. Shotguns. If you're going into a trailer, you better bring one, or prepare to be shot by one, because it's going to happen.
Bottom line on this map is that it's good, but based off of one night of playing it, I personally don't like it. I hope my feelings change.
Vacant
Oh boy, I have a long history with this map. For those of you who don't know, it was one of the three beta maps for COD4:MW, along with Overgrown and Crash. This is the map that began my play style. This is where I started sprinting around with a silenced Mini-Uzi dominating those who stood in my way. Boy that's a thing of the past, huh?
So far I've only played two or three games on vacant. And each of those few times the hallways have been riddled with shotguns. Like I said in my introduction post, I can appreciate most any play style, but I have a special place in my heart for shotguns and one day I'll rant about those too. But until then, I'm going to avoid the hallways of the Russian office complex in which I, as a Call of Duty player, was born.
Strike
Strike was a classic map in COD4:MW. I couldn't get enough of it at one point. I loved the urban feel of it, with it's tan color. Sadly I can't comment on it yet, as I haven't loaded it up in a private match and each time it's come up while I'm playing the Resurgence playlist it's been skipped or the host leaves and we merge with a different group. While that makes me sad I'll be sure to post my feelings about this remake when I play it.
The Resurgence Pack as a Whole
As a whole right now I'm not in love like I was with the Stimulus map pack. It just doesn't flow as well for me. They appear to be good maps , the layouts are solid, the design work is great. I just haven't adapted to them yet I guess is all. Which is strange because I usually do really well when no one knows the maps. Maybe I'm just put off by them because I'm at the top of a prestige and that is usually where I play the worst. Especially lately, I haven't been playing well at all.
So while this is what I took away as my first impression of the new map pack, I'm almost certain my feelings will be different once I play the maps enough. But I'm sure about one thing, these maps are good, but not as good as the Stimulus maps.
(For those of you who haven't checked out the new maps, or are still on the fence about whether or not to get them, especially after my mediocre first impressions, I urge you to check out the preview done on Inside Xbox. Check it out here.)
Always remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Introduction
The phrase "all is fair in love and war," has been interpreted many ways. The simple meaning being that rules don't apply in love and in war.
I have modified this phrase to "all is fair in love and modern warfare," in the title of this blog in order to discuss my love/hate relationship with the Call of Duty series.
Now, I've been meaning to start this blog ever since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released. But here we are six months and twenty-four days after the street date. Looks like procrastination got the best of me again.
My goal was to use this as a platform to voice my opinions about the game; what I do and do not like about it in comparison to other games in the genre, specifically Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I would also like to discuss heavily in strategy and tactics used in the game. This could range anywhere from class load-outs to my favorite routes around a certain map. I also hope to give you a little bit of my gaming background in the future to help you better understand where I'm coming from in my discussions about the game.
Today is, in fact, the release date for the Resurgence Map Pack for MW2 on the Xbox 360. I will soon have bought and played it and will definitely be writing about it. That will probably be my next post in fact.
I want to wrap this introduction up by saying a few things about my discussions. I've already told you what I want to talk about, and those things aren't written in stone. But when I do talk about them I won't always be right and not everyone will agree with me. I think one of the best parts about playing MW2 is the diversity that can be seen in the play styles that players use. Even though I complain about "campers" I still recognize it as a valid play style. That being said I hope you enjoy the topics I bring to the table and that you hear me out in what I have to say.
Until next time, thanks for reading and remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
I have modified this phrase to "all is fair in love and modern warfare," in the title of this blog in order to discuss my love/hate relationship with the Call of Duty series.
Now, I've been meaning to start this blog ever since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released. But here we are six months and twenty-four days after the street date. Looks like procrastination got the best of me again.
My goal was to use this as a platform to voice my opinions about the game; what I do and do not like about it in comparison to other games in the genre, specifically Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I would also like to discuss heavily in strategy and tactics used in the game. This could range anywhere from class load-outs to my favorite routes around a certain map. I also hope to give you a little bit of my gaming background in the future to help you better understand where I'm coming from in my discussions about the game.
Today is, in fact, the release date for the Resurgence Map Pack for MW2 on the Xbox 360. I will soon have bought and played it and will definitely be writing about it. That will probably be my next post in fact.
I want to wrap this introduction up by saying a few things about my discussions. I've already told you what I want to talk about, and those things aren't written in stone. But when I do talk about them I won't always be right and not everyone will agree with me. I think one of the best parts about playing MW2 is the diversity that can be seen in the play styles that players use. Even though I complain about "campers" I still recognize it as a valid play style. That being said I hope you enjoy the topics I bring to the table and that you hear me out in what I have to say.
Until next time, thanks for reading and remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4
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