It's made harder by 3 new specials specifically designed to deal with retardedly effective tactics that we came up with in the first one.
No, it's not as accessible for a first-timer, but for someone who played through a few campaigns with 3 friends in the first one, it's a -perfect- step up in difficulty.
My biggest issue with the enhanced director difficulty is that the bots they give to assist you in lieu of human help are completely miserable in some sections of the game - but that was true in L4D as well. It's just much more noticeable this time around.
I would argue, as I would for many of Blizzard's games, that they are not the best innovators, but they certainly are the best at refining and perfecting other and past innovations cohesively.
There were a ton of factors all combined to create the "perfect storm" that WoW was, and still is. Quality, pace, relative lack of grind compared to the norm in 2004, and the huge amount of hype that comes from a company as big as they were with an IP as well-known as Warcraft.
You bring up a really interesting MMO, SW:G, which also had a huge amount going for it, but was laid on the shoulders of a developer who tried to do too much, ended up with too little (initially), and released a product that was still in early beta by my measures. That initial loss of goodwill was enough for me to never try coming back again.
WoW on the other hand? I've quit (taken extended breaks) four times.
I'm interested to see what BioWare does with a great license, and a very capable group of developers.
You're thinking of terminal reality, not Infinity Ward.
They hardly need a demo for this game, built on an engine that's been through two successful and critically acclaimed releases.
I wouldn't be surprised to see one after it ships though. Meeting that deadline is all that matters though, and a demo isn't going to help their sales.
I'd be excited to finally have a great app for my ps3 too, it sounds like.
Calling GOTY before something comes out isn't much better, but MW was a great game, in a generation that has seen gaming become a mature, dominant industry.
Joyswag: Xbox 360 Holiday Games Bundle
Dec 17th 2009 11:51AM (Joystiq)Review: Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)
Nov 20th 2009 10:05AM (Joystiq)No, it's not as accessible for a first-timer, but for someone who played through a few campaigns with 3 friends in the first one, it's a -perfect- step up in difficulty.
My biggest issue with the enhanced director difficulty is that the bots they give to assist you in lieu of human help are completely miserable in some sections of the game - but that was true in L4D as well. It's just much more noticeable this time around.
Joyswag: Call of Booty: Prestige Edition
Nov 12th 2009 4:52PM (Joystiq)Giving up on conquering WoW
Oct 26th 2009 5:12PM (WoW)There were a ton of factors all combined to create the "perfect storm" that WoW was, and still is. Quality, pace, relative lack of grind compared to the norm in 2004, and the huge amount of hype that comes from a company as big as they were with an IP as well-known as Warcraft.
You bring up a really interesting MMO, SW:G, which also had a huge amount going for it, but was laid on the shoulders of a developer who tried to do too much, ended up with too little (initially), and released a product that was still in early beta by my measures. That initial loss of goodwill was enough for me to never try coming back again.
WoW on the other hand? I've quit (taken extended breaks) four times.
I'm interested to see what BioWare does with a great license, and a very capable group of developers.
Devs show Steam love as Pitchford defends his criticism
Oct 20th 2009 5:52PM (Joystiq)Cataclysm: For Gnomeregan!
Oct 8th 2009 4:34PM (WoW)Joyswag: Direct2Drive's 50+ $5 games for you, dear reader [update]
Oct 7th 2009 10:00AM (Joystiq)Dead Space 2 entering production in 'next few months'
Sep 30th 2009 3:55PM (Joystiq)Infinity Ward has no plans for pre-launch Modern Warfare 2 demo
Sep 29th 2009 5:15PM (Joystiq)They hardly need a demo for this game, built on an engine that's been through two successful and critically acclaimed releases.
I wouldn't be surprised to see one after it ships though. Meeting that deadline is all that matters though, and a demo isn't going to help their sales.
Infinity Ward has no plans for pre-launch Modern Warfare 2 demo
Sep 29th 2009 5:06PM (Joystiq)Calling GOTY before something comes out isn't much better, but MW was a great game, in a generation that has seen gaming become a mature, dominant industry.