Monday, December 28, 2009

One Prestige Later: favorite maps, load outs, and other random bits

Yes! Another MW2 post! Well, I haven't finished Spirit Tracks yet, so I'm holding off on that for a while. But I have finally prestiged, which is when you hit the level cap (in this case, 70) and decide, "I'm so good, I'll do the rest of the world a favor and reset all my stats and do it all over fresh!"

Hard to believe it's only been about a month and it's surprising just how much you learn in only a month.There are things I love to do in MW2 (like freerunning and stabbing saps) and things I absolutely hate (the map Derail and big maps that encourage sniping) but all in all I've found my niche in any team. I've finally prestiged, so I've lost all my settled load outs but in return, have gained a new set of challenges to complete and a new custom class slot to adapt to the situation.

Fav maps
Skidrow, Terminal, Scrapyard, and Favela are my favorite maps. These maps have certain points that allow for long range combat, but these maps limit players mostly to close and medium range combat due to hallways, small quarters, and generally claustrophobic environments. This is important because my favorite weapons are SMGs and I generally like to stay on the move and constantly flank. Camping and even general defense bore me, and these maps have quick corners and alternate routes I can exploit to make offense more interesting.

Hated maps
Derail, Highrise, and Wasteland are my least favorite maps. I generally even drop out if these pass the vote. These maps are hard to be mobile in because these are generally sniper's paradise type maps. Big, drawn out flat terrain making you sitting ducks. Maps like Wasteland generally have only one or two safe ways to cross, so snipers can camp their respectively zones while everyone who isn't a sniper can guard the last pathways.

The weapons
The AK-47 is unlocked at the last level for a reason. Decreased recoil compared to its CoD4 appearance, but the damage is about the same and much clearer iron sights too. If you don't prestige, this gun is every bit as good as a gun unlocked last should be. Asides from that, the only AR I really click with is the SCAR-H and the TAR-21. The SCAR-H has a small clip and long reload animation, but it's strong and very accurate. The iron sights are clear too, making it a good candidate for the extended mags mod to fix the small clip problem. The TAR-21 on the other hand has a high ROF and high damage, but problematic accuracy. In bursts, it works. In CQB, it's awesome.
Of course, I'm all about the SMGs. The UMP is like the spiritual successor to the MP5. Strong, compact, but some bad recoil compared to other SMGs. A good stealth weapon since it's so powerful, it retains that power even when restrained by a silencer. I'm a loyalist to the P90, the "Bullet Laser" as I call it. High ROF and little recoil and most of all, a big mag to take care of those big groups.
The cool thing is that all the weapons have a place for use. Even the normally risky handguns which either have good damage but low clips or low damage but good clips. Even the lowly M9 pistol has a place being dual wielded, or as I do mostly, with a tactical knife (with the Commando Pro perk).
And yes, the perks. Even though the classic Stopping Power is as useful as ever (especially with the absence of Juggernaut) the other perks like Danger Close, Cold Blooded, and Lightweight are very good competition for fun builds, like the knifer build:

Any SMG
Any pistol w/Tac Knife
Any set of equipment and secondaries
Marathon Pro
Lightweight Pro
Commando Pro

This very mobile build is meant for constant movement, flanking, and knifing. It's useless going toe to toe with enemies who in all likelihood are using Stopping Power. With the speed of Marathon and Lightweight, you can take the long, unexpected way around and stab them in the back.

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