Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of my favorite shooters, but its single-player campaign did have a few issues, most notable among them being the respawning enemies that would only cease after players crossed an invisible line. I've never understood why this has ever been considered a good design choice, but it seems that, fortunately, Infinity Ward has finally got the message.
"We are aware of it and we're actively trying to eliminate it," states Infinity Ward president and CCO Jason West. "I think we agree that it's not very good."
West's confession comes courtesy of the latest Game Informer, where Modern Warfare 2 had a big intel blowout. Other tidbits of info include the fact that players will be taking orders from Captain "Soap" MacTavish, the silent player character from the original Modern Warfare, while tracking down a Russian madman known as Makarov.
Infinity Ward is still keeping a lid on multiplayer details, although we do know that a co-op mode, Special Forces, will be available, and that the developer is looking at ways to make notable online players "famous" for their in-game accomplishments. Sounds interesting, but right now we have no idea what they mean.
Still, great news on that respawning stuff. Now, if only we can just stop the AI from grenade-spamming all the time.
Contest:
6:00 PM on 05.19.2009
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And it was always my understanding that the infinitely respawning enemies were there to add to the feeling of chaoness and desperation in the warzone. Definitely made sense when the series was in its WWII roots, when there were thousands of soldiers all caught up in battle, but now... not so much. Good to hear they're trying to evolve it.
So yeah, I totally agree with you on the "No infinite grenades" remark. This is a wonderful step forward for the series if they can at least get rid of the endless waves of baddies.
oh lets not turn the game into Counter-Strike...
that's why they have search and destroy
As I can't understand how it's possible. Surely you could just sit there if you're really struggling to advance and wait for ages until you've killed the finite amount of enemies.
Also I did bring this up in my blog of leaked pictures but they got taken down from Giant Bomb/N4G, it said it on the Game Informer images.
Waves enemies coming out of one small shack was always annoying. You didn't know when you were supposed to sit back and kill everything or push forward.
It was a horrible design choice.
-_-
"Hey Mr Panzershrek, I see you up there, take a bullet!"
"Oh, someone has come to take your place! Take that!"
"Another buddy, eh? Well have another bullet."
"Another one? Hang on. OH, wait, yes you're respawning, this isn't real, I'm playing a fucking video game, my suspended disbelief is thoroughly smashed into the ground. I guess I'll just dodge the missiles and run head first into the Germans to the next checkpoint, just like in real life."
On a side note, the official military guidelines on "what to do when you hear a grenade fall nearby" is to search for it and throw it back.
I think the "invisible line" is a great design choice as it applies a type of pressure for player to push forward.
I'm not saying it needs to be in every level but completely removing this "line" will simplify the game to camping or out-waiting the spawns (which I realize is a perfectly valid option in some situations). But for the other situations like charging an enemy base or rushing to protect a downed vehicle; the game will suffer when that feeling of being overwhelmed is gone due to limited enemy spawns.
I'm not saying there should never be a large wave of enemies that ceases when you cross an invisible line, simply that I believe the never-ending part was a bit weird and too much of a video game gimmick. If they want to make it realistic then there has to be a limit somewhere. Make it 200 guys, but not a million+ 'til I die or cross the line.
oh joy juggernaut and poop grenades! wow i can hardly fucking wait.
I despise people who say game companies should remove a function entirely just because they don't like it when it could easily be set as an option to be turned on or off for those people who -- horrors! -- actually do like respawning multiplayer!
Who bets Treyarch doesn't get the memo and has infinite spawns in their next CoD title? Any takers?
Uhh what? What the hell are you talking about?
And thank fucking god, I hated the CoD series because of that bullshit, I'll give 2 a try now.
Otherwise, I'm all for it and I'm sure a slight increase in difficulty is probably negligible when you consider the enemy will soon be depleted.