Modern Warfare 2

Editor's note: This is a review of the multiplayer portion of the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 - our opinion of the single player campaign outlined in our console review remains consistent here in the PC version of the game.

The Big Question
When Infinity Ward ran their review event for Modern Warfare 2, there was a distinct lack of "PC" in the air. The media attending weren't specifically console oriented in most cases - but The Question gave it away. On the way to the venue, in between playing sessions, at dinner The Question was asked several times, by several different people. And that's to me alone.

The Question: "so what's the big deal about dedicated servers anyway?". It wasn't being asked mockingly or out of spite - the fact is most of the media attending plain didn't realise the impact of not having dedicated servers. The most common follow-up question after I would explain why dedicated servers were important was "but it works fine for Xbox Live, so why are PC gamers panicking?"

I did my best to avoid looking like a zealot, but it's not easy explaining to someone whose sole diet is McDonalds the benefits of filet mignon. After all - it's less convenient, and hell, I like the taste of my Big Mac! Millions can't be wrong, right?

Well, Modern Warfare 2 is here, and now we know why it was mission impossible to get your hands on a PC version of the game before release. Single player aside - and it's an amazing, albeit shorter experience than gamers might be used to - we're going to talk about multiplayer and the score we have given it is a reflection on how the game handles multiplayer. If you want a non-multiplayer specific review or rating - the console review is the ultimate source of knowledge as in single player mode the PC version is essentially a direct port of the Xbox 360 one.

Same same, but different
The problem with Modern Warfare 2 on PC is that multiplayer too seems to be a direct port of the Xbox 360 version. We knew it was coming, but seeing it with your own two eyes still kills a part of you. Forget a numeric ping indicator to tell you what your connection speed is - now you have a four bar system - like a phone's signal quality. In theory, the more bars, the better your connect. However we're going to say right now if you're used to playing with a decent ping and you're not sitting on four bars - your gaming will suffer noticeably.

The way the game handles netcode is if anything more sketchy than the Xbox 360. Get a game with two bars on it on Xbox Live, and its reasonably playable. Three bars on Live and you've got little excuse. Four bars? Well that's primo. On PC (for the record my net connection is a DSL one, with 1 Mb upstream) things get shaken up a little. My very first game, the game shuffled hosts as we were in the lobby, with me ending up the lucky host in a 12 player game of team deathmatch. Tabbing to check the scoreboard periodically, most were on three or four bars barring a couple of unfortunates. My connection was (obviously) perfect. And while I spent most of the game tweaking key bindings and non-essential video settings, when I did start hunting other players the laggy ones had a big disadvantage. Everything happening on my screen was the "source of truth" - while they were getting the news distinctly second hand. It didn't stop me being outscored, killed and generally beat on by skilled players - but I definitely had a clear edge over the other players. The playing field was anything but level.

The following game, I got a taste of two bars, which is not a taste you want to remember. As I hit escape to drop from the game and pick another server with a better connection I had to stop myself and remember: "no, you can't do that in Modern Warfare 2." Every game really is rolling the dice. Perhaps your host's connection was good in the lobby, but if their sister starts watching YouTube videos, their email client kicks in, or just about any other conceivable connection-interfering setback occurs, you're in for a bumpy ride.

So I didn't bail on the game with my yellow, two bar ping substitute flickering away. And boy did I pay for it. Sprinting off at the start of the map proved difficult. I'd hit my sprint key, sprint forward a couple of steps, and slow to Modern Warfare 2's normal canter. At first I thought perhaps this was some strange, new imposition given to the full automatic "Overwatch" class, but no. What was actually happening was the lag was kicking in. I was to find with better hosts one tap of the button was all it would take to set me off and running.

My solution on laggy hosts is to hold the sprint button down for about a second - that seems to "register" with the host and you're happy. It got me thinking though - even though the rest of your commands are usually immediately shown occurring on screen - the host is obviously getting a different picture. If I round a corner and run into an enemy and make a snap shot at them - is it going to be registering in time or will it be like the sprint key - a blip quickly forgotten?

The last time PC online FPS gamers had to worry about things like these we were using dialup. Nowadays, we look at our server browser, pick a fast pinging server - preferably one we know is cheat free - and off we go. Ending up on an overseas server? It's been over a decade since we could accidentally end up somewhere foreign by accident. Prepare for it to happen a fair bit in Modern Warfare 2. In the few hours I have devoted to multiplayer to date, despite being in a hotbed of games activity - California on the US West Coast - the matchmaking software has sent me to games in England, Eastern Europe and on the other side of the country. They all usually show up as two bars. Great if you're feeling like sampling other cultures, not ideal if you want a fast, responsive first person shooter.

The games I've played on PC with three bars are not much better. You can still shudder every now and then. It's better than two, but not only would PC gamers notice something is wrong - a console player would too. Clearly three bars on MW2 PC does NOT equal three bars on MW2 console.

Ironically the one time I registered a one bar connection - during a game of Domination - I scored better than the (many) two bar rounds I've played. Maybe my connection to the host was so bad I was hard to hit, but I enjoyed getting second best score when my ping was likely in the 300-500 mark.

Countdown to annihilation
Inconsistent connection reporting aside, the way the host migration has been executed on PC is anything but smooth. In my second game ever (yes, straight to two bars) the host disconnected mid-game. What followed was not what we've seen in those YouTube videos. The game hunted around the remaining players, flashing the screen a few times until it settled on the least worst option (I was still two bars) - ten or so seconds of this took place before the game finally started counting down from five to resume play. So it's not a five second delay when the host is playing silly buggers - start at 15 and work your way upwards.



Of real concern is the fact I have already experienced a game where the host has disconnected and rather than switching to someone else - I end up booted back to the player lobby. I had plenty of advanced warning: suddenly my view started moving of its own accord and doing the kind of crazy stuff you see on LAN when somebody yanks a cable. Either my connection turned itself off and on (highly unlikely), or for whatever reason my connection got the shaft when the host went down. It would have been nice to check and see if the game was still running for the remainder of the players - but with no server browser that's impossible.

Other P2P related fun stuff I've encountered included trying to join a free for all game. First the background. The first FFA game I joined worked fine. Hanging around for the next map resulted in the map loading then suddenly my monitor powering off and switching between analogue and digital - usually what you would see if you tried to pick a resolution outside the monitor's capacity. Whatever the reason, all my alt-F4, ctrl-alt-deleting couldn't get it together so I ultimately rebooted.

Restarting MW2 I opted to jump once more into free for all. The game picks a game for me and - stop - I get a "Unable to connect to Host" error. Hmm. I try it again. Same deal - infuriatingly the lobby game flashes up for a second before giving me the error. Just long enough for me to see the people in the lobby.

I pick a game of Headquarters Pro which ultimately seemed like it was hosted out of Russia and it connects fine. Both this "Unable to connect to Host" error and the weird blanked out screen issue only occurred the once in the five or so hours of multiplayer I've racked up to date. I'm going to concede the latter error might be a legacy of running Windows 7 64bit, but god knows what prompted the other.

Of course the other new thing gamers have to concern themselves with is human nature. Not the band, but rather the fact that we're now entering a world where tantrum reigns supreme. So far I estimate maybe one in every ten rounds I am playing the host disconnects, switches or starts going haywire. Not really the best environment if you're looking to scrim in an organised fashion.

Our take on why P2P works on console FPS but not on PC
There's two main reasons why this hosting regime works on consoles, and flounders in Modern Warfare 2 PC. First is the difference in how quick you can bring your sights to bear with a mouse compared to a controller. Yes, a top controller player will be very accomplished but if you're running down a road trying to cover 360 degrees of sight lines at ground level and above a mouse will be superior. This ability to instantly bring your crosshairs over a target is pretty unforgiving on net connections. It's not enough for the host to "know" you're on target a fifth of a second later. Even in the days of QuakeWorld plenty of players rolled on dialup with sub 100 pings and clearly benefitted even with an edge of 50-60MS on the opposition.

The other reason consoles work better for this is numbers. As we're told all too often, there's a hell of a lot more console FPS gamers playing COD4 and Modern Warfare 2 than PC ones. Which means matchmaking obviously will have more options to choose from in throwing players together. Sure, when the Steam distributed version of the game comes online PC gamers will enjoy a population increase, but it's not ever going to be the same as Johnny Xbox.

What makes the above issues all the more annoying is when you're rolling along with four bars the game is such terrific fun. For real. True the weapon balance means even very good players will fall prey to the legion of noob tube wielders, campers, and people who happen to strike it lucky with care package drops, but for all of this it's really possible to have a good time. Having now bought the game for review purposes, I'll definitely be playing the PC version more than console 99% thanks to the fact keyboard and mouse is personally a lot more rewarding (and easy) for me than controllers on console.

The missing link
The irony here is the missing key to the puzzle is a feature Infinity Ward chose not to carry over from COD4. Because you can't even browse for a host with a fast connection, you have to shuffle in and out of playlists and lobbies trying to find one whose connection will remain stable all game. There's no netcode voodoo going on here, no "it's surprisingly playable with lag" miracles occurring. FPS titles are demanding on net connections. They demand a good connection to be competitive if you're playing with similarly skilled people. While game will doubtless be a blast on LAN and on occasions when you find a host with the most, I shudder to think of what lies in store for Australian gamers with limited upstream.

The bottom line for Modern Warfare 2 on PC is it's yet another lesson that what works on console doesn't always work on PC. The fears many PC gamers had about the efficiency of Infinity Ward's matchmaking software have been realised - if you can't get a four bar connection, you're not going to have fun. Yes, you can probably get by on three bars, but is this what the biggest FPS franchise in gaming has been reduced to for PC gamers? Getting by?

We're massive fans of Modern Warfare here. Even though purists and elitists may sneer, we had no problem in awarding a 10/10 for Call of Duty 4, because it was such a terrific effort on console AND PC. If you told me three months ago we would be suggesting PC gamers hold off on buying Modern Warfare 2 I would have thought you're crazy. But if you are buying this game mainly for multiplayer - especially if you're contemplating serious competitive play at a high level - that's exactly what we're saying. The single player story is great, and if your idea of multiplayer is a quick zap with mates maybe an hour or two a week then by all means - it's great for your purposes. However if you're a Counterstrike, Battlefield, ETQW or even a COD4 player looking for a serious competitive platform to move to - best wait. Wait and see if Infinity Ward can implement dedicated server support; failing that wait until early next year to see how Battlefield: Bad Company 2 turns out.