When Activision announced a few weeks ago that the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 would not make use of dedicated servers the international gaming community expressed outrage.
Despite a 180,000 signature petition, Activision held firm in its resolve to make use of Steam in conjunction with IWnet, claiming the new system would provide a better and more accessible multiplayer experience for the majority of gamers.
Apart from the general complaints voiced by the global gaming community, local gamers voiced their own set of concerns. The primary concern was that without locally hosted servers, gamers would be faced with the high latencies associated with international gaming servers.
The game was finally released today to a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. While there is little question that Infinity Ward will deliver a solid single player experience, the true value proposition of all Call of Duty games is the multiplayer. If the online component is crippled for local gamers, then it remains to be seen if Modern Warfare 2 will be as successful in SA as its predecessor.
With this in mind, we anxiously installed the game and immediately jumped into the multiplayer. Initial impressions were positive, as Inifinity Ward seemed to have developed a solid match making service.
The protocol supposedly searches for other online gamers that the player is able to ping at less than 100ms, a promising start. Unfortunately, once in the game, all hopes of lag free gameplay go out the window.
Unlike dedicated servers, which illustrate player latency in terms of milliseconds, MW2 simply gives players a vague indication of their signal strength, similar to the mechanism employed in the Windows wireless strength indicator.
When playing on a modest 384kb ADSL line using IS bandwidth, we had 2 bars at best, and at worst 1. This translates to an estimated latency of around 250ms, and provides an experience that not many will find acceptable.
While it would seem that the worst fears of local PC gamers are being realized, it is still possible to play privately hosted games with friends. This allows players to connect directly to friends in SA and provides acceptable latencies.
The driving force behind the popularity of Call of Duty 4 however, are the low latency local public servers. Without the ability to easily drop into a low latency online match, the future of MW2 remains precarious for local PC gamers.
Update
The emergence of a quickly growing Modern Warfare 2 STEAM community presents a potential way forward for PC gamers. We will be testing out the multiplayer using this group later, and will report back as soon as a conclusion can be drawn.
Discuss MW2 multiplayer in SA in the forums
Loading ...
