I got the game on Friday and cranked the SP campaign already. Was the story good? different? twists with lots of variety? was it longer than CoD4?..... in short I thought it was done well but nothing amazing.
*The length of the camaign was average. Not nearly as long as FarCry2 or FO2 is but it's longer than CoD4 and about the same length as CoD1 and CoD2. I haven't tried co-op yet but heard from SCu boys that there are connection issues. Sound is great and graphics are a cross between CoD4 and CoD2. CoD2 in sense it does the job and it does it well, but not as good as CoD4 or better. However, the maps are far bigger and much much more complex. I think the designers factored this in when making the game suitable for average computers. So if you have an average computer and funning CoD4 with medium to high settings you can do the same with CoD5 and have your game run smooth as silk and still look good.
*Story line on the russian side totally reminded me of CoD UO and CoD1. The US Marine side was different and i really liked that side of the story more. Morally, i don't like playing the russians because of the attrocities they committed during WWII against the German people (not just nazis), Ukranians, Pols, Chetchs, Romania, etc... but that is history and the victors always write it to their advantage.
*Is the game worth $100bucks for the single player alone? = No way.
Where this game shines is in its MP design. THANK GOODNESS for patch 1.1. Its 315megs and worth every bit of bandwidth. It really sorted out a lot of little things that were totally anoying. I'll start with the things that I think need improving or are just plain old bad.
Cons
*There is no real colour to speak of except when something blows up. Even the bushes seem greyish. I kinda looks like Saving Private Ryan with that greyed out dark/light greys, browns, olive drab, look about it. While I can appreciate that look in the movies and obviously watching docos on WWII as that is what is expected, I'd like to see a bit more colour in the game.
*Spawn points can be fustrating sometimes. Maps are larger by 2 or 3 times in some instances and one would think you would spawn at the back of the map right? Nope, you seem to spawn within 75 - 100 meters wherever you last died. This of course puts you in a spawn location of flanking bad guys. This can be a little fustrating but I think they did this to stem off the wahs about spawning too far away from the action.
*Movement is slower than CoD4. You don't run or sprint at the same speed. This takes getting used too.
*not enough weapon kick and not nearly enough sniper scope sway to heartrate or breathing.
*Bunny hoping is still present but not nearly as crappy as it is in CoD4
*you can't pick what your character looks like. This should be a choice for all FPS games. The type of jacket, pants, boots, helmet to some extent and camo patterns should reflect the time era but you should be able to pick it for personal flavor. Like, why can't i rip the sleaves off my us marine jacket expecially after fighting for a long time in the jungles of the south pacific? or why can't i put my "lucky strike" smokes or tooth brush in my helmet strap? Or if German why can't i dress as a paratrooper, ss officer, or whatever?
*because of the lack of colour everyone looks the same. Lots of friendly fire happens unless you can id your target by the type of helmet or chest strap etc he is wearing. This happened alot in CoD4 in the begining as well until you learn.
*night maps might as well be day maps... you can see verything.
*reload times for some guns are far to fast.
Pros:
*Maps are just the right size. COD4 should have had these sizes of maps.
*New perks to learn, new challenges to unlock, new weapons to unlock and get used too, new weapon mods to figure out, new ranks, etc...what could a middle aged Sasquatch ask for more in life??
*Head shots = 1 shot 1 kill ...sniper rifles 1 shot = 1 kill anywhere unless victom has perk.
*No more chopper haxing !!! unleashing the hounds is far better.
*pace of play is fast and fun just like cod4
*weapon balancing is almost perfect with basic weapons... unlocks unknown as haven't unlocked them yet
*new perks are fun and there are LOTS of them to choose from when unlocking.
*New MP server settings like WAR, CTF, etc are lots of fun and force players to work as teams
*vehicles are BACK...yeah baby they are back and they are fun, and well balanced. If you are a one shot bolt action rifle whore then you'll have to deal with vehicles so don't forget to select anti armor options with perks just in case.
*Maps are dynamic, much larger, less choke points, and more freedom of movement. This gives time to and space to be sneaky
*the built in server searching much much better than CoD4s... And you can now add friends and invite friends to your buddy list so when you see a friend online you can instantly join the server he is on. If you use Xfire then great, but its nice to know the mp server selection has been sorted out.
*there is hidden stuff around the MP maps in all game modes, so look for them. They are hard to find but they are all good.
Is the game worth $100 bucks just for the MP? = yes it is in my opinion. I like to divide how many hours of enjoyment by the cost of a game to determine its value. IE: If a game is $100 that kept me entertained for 10 hours before shelving it at $10 per hour, was it worth it? For me, probably not.. However, CoD4 was $90bucks + 6hours of sp i enjoyed + over a hundred hours of MP and still enjoying = just under 0.10cents an hour. Is that worth it, you better your cheap ass it is.
Last time online using the CoD5 server menu search I saw over 40 low ping servers to choose from and just under half of them were occupied or full. Unlike other recent games this one is packed full of kiwis and ozzies.
Will CoD5 be worth the $100 bucks? In all honesty I don't know if it is or not for you. You get out of this game what you put into it. I just made Staff Sergant last night and i've played over 15 hours of MP to get there so far and I've only unlocked a few things..... By going by my math this game will be cent per hour of enjoyment cost, so for me the answer is clearly YES.
If classify this game as "same old same old" as cod4 but only WWII you are not wrong. It has perks, unlocks, upgrades, kill cam, etc...just like CoD4 does. However, you could say the same about pretty much any other game that is a spin off or addition too a previous game like GTAIV, FallOut3, Crysis Warhead, FarCry2, and almost any other FPS game that is continuing an existing story but only offers better graphics and a few new toys to play with.
However, I can say this for CoD5 which you can't say for most games that come out for PC now days.... IT'S NOT DUMBED DOWN BY CONSOLE DESIGNERS
