The Great Hype of Modern Warfare 2

I had some time over the past week to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The first Modern Warfare has excellent gameplay and online experience and many people had high hopes for the sequel. Unfortunately, Modern Warefare 2 offers neither.

The single player story mode felt short and took me me roughly 6-8 hours to complete. The missions are not intense and I can "run" through most of them without engaging the enemy. I can just run forward, find cover, and your wingman will move up and lay waste to anyone before you. One of the memorable moments in the first Modern Warfare was the sniper mission. It made my heart race while I tried to avoid detection and make my way to the extraction point. The sequel has 2 sniper missions and neither invoked the same emotions.

The online experience isn't at par with the first Modern Warfare but it's decent. Infinity Ward increased assault rifle damage and this translates to you dieing by a few shots. It's comparable to Hardcore Deathmatch in the first Modern Warfare. Unfortunately, this promotes camping.

What happened to night vision? Is it something I need to unlock? Was it replaced by the new heartbeat sensor?

Infinity Ward removed the ability to use party chat for certain online game modes. This makes no sense. You either remove it completely or leave it alone.

I can understand why Infinity Ward did not release a playable demo before launch day. If they did, the game wouldn't sell as well.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Last Friday, I got to play the New Super Mario Bros. Wii at a friend's home. I'm sure single player is fun but I rather enjoyed the four player mode. You and your friends will constantly, and I do mean constantly, bump into each other and lives will be lost as a result. Others may find this frustrating but I like challenge and I found their interference hilarious.

Let's face it, the Goomba and Koopa Troopa provide no challenge and I hardly die by their hands because their patterns are too predictable. But with Nintendo's new bump and grind physics, they post a threat.

Thankfully, each player has their own life pool and you have unlimited continues.

I'm not sure if I'll pick up the game when it comes out since it doesn't have online play like Mario Kart and I will only play it if someone else hops on.