Modern Warefare 2 Multiplayer

It's time to discuss the multiplayer in MW2. I am, of course, discussing the PC version here, as I refuse to play first person shooters on a console, so take that into consideration.

Loved

• More and better. If you played the first Modern Warfare to any degree, you'll be right at home in the second. It has levels, experience, challenges, and even a lot of the same weapons. That's a good thing. The first game was a blast. In the second though, they've really ratcheted everything up a notch. There are now a LOT more weapon attachments: heartbeat sensors, holographic sights, extended magazines, full metal jacket ammunition, akimbo pistols/smgs (dual wielding) as well as just more options per gun. On top of that, they seem to have done a pretty decent job of getting rid of perks from the first game that were worthless (Eavesdrop anyone?). While not all perks in the second game are created equal (I still don't see the value in SitRep), generally speaking they all have their points. Finally, there are now a ton more death streak options (and kill streaks!) that you can even customize to your liking. It's literally like they took the first game and tried to improve upon it in every way.
  
  
• Steam/Partying. I really like Steam for grouping with my friends. It works in game, I can chat with them, and pretty much everyone uses it. Since MW2 just uses Steam for grouping, it makes life really easy. I start up a MP game, invite my friends, then select the game mode we want to play. We all end up on the same team and get to play together. While this mode does not work perfectly by any stretch of the imagination (some of us connect and others don't some times), it really is a great idea and works better than it would if we all tried to get on the same team in on a dedicated server.
  
  
• Maps. Despite what Draenoth may tell you about Wasteland or Estate, there really aren't any duds in the map rotation here. I think each of them has something to offer and they are all remarkably well balanced. It is very common in domination games to control one side of the map for the half the game and then control the other side for the second half. I do find myself wishing for more at times, but the ones that exist are actually quite good.

Hated

• No dedicated servers. This has to be said in any PC review. While the match making system works okay, it just isn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination. We've had countless times where it chooses hosts in what seems like a completely arbitrary fashion (Draenoth makes a terrible host apparently, but it seems to love him for some reason). The host migration sucks (your host quits and it has to select a new one). The lack of mode types is annoying (why can't I play Hardcore Free For All?). We can't even all play Free For All on the same server. My final complaint is that they even locked down private matches which means that we can't even play our 1v1v1 games that we used to love in the first game and still get experience. While any of you fools playing on the console are used to all of these things, they each represent a significant step backwards in the world of PC gaming.
  
  
• Only 5 characters slots. This is definitely a minor quibble, but due to the ridiculously high number of weapon/attachment/perk attachments that this game sports, only have 5 slots is completely unacceptable. It's my understanding that each level of prestige unlocks another one, but to have to spend 50-100 hours to unlock a single character slot (not to mention the other annoyances of starting over), is just unacceptable.
  

I'm not going to belabor this point too much: this game is absolutely brilliant. Despite my complaints about dedicated servers (which would make the game even better than it is), it is still just an absolute blast to play. Infinity Ward really outdid themselves here. While I couldn't recommend buying the game at full price for the single player campaign alone, I could do that for the multiplayer. There are dozens to hundreds of hours worth of play time here and they are nearly all guaranteed to be a blast.