An Addendum

Immediately after my previous post, I went downstairs and completed the campaign (story-mode) for Modern Warfare 2. It's simply not as good as Modern Warfare 1. MW2 is a bit prettier and smoother, but as stories go, the sequel pales to the source. That said, the game sold almost 4 million (4,000,000) copies in a single day, making Activision (the game's publisher) more than $300 million--in a single day! As a comparison, Transformers 2 made just over $400 million between June and October.

It's a good game, and there are some multiplayer elements that I want to try, but the story forces my imagination to a place I don't want it to be. I am thrilled that games have come to a point where plot devices like this can work. I am thrilled that the airport sequence made it into the final game. Movies and books have long had implicit permission to make their consumers go to a place they'd rather not be, and video games' doing it shows the evolution of the art.

Now, my appreciating the significance and defending the developers' decision is not the same as my enjoying the fruits of their labors. Infinity Ward (MW1&2's developers) did fantastic things with an ailing genre and added some much-needed variety to a segment of games increasingly dominated by space marines and aliens. Infinity Ward has created two games that celebrate the effect an individual can have on the course of history. They've created experiences that underscore the difference between Right and Wrong, while reminding that the former is not always the easier path. If nothing else, their contribution to bringing video games beyond the waka-waka platformers of yesteryear is to be celebrated.

It's just a shame I don't much like their newest game.