Just Patch it Already

Modern Warfare 2 – it is still absorbing most of my game time. I’ve got a stack of 360 games (Xbox 360, not an actual stack of 360 games) to get through, but every time I sit down to work through them, the lure of Modern Warfare 2 draws me back. There is generally good chatter both in game and in the lobbies, and when players work together great satisfaction can be had all be it briefly, before everyone is split up in the next round (unless you are in a party of course).

But I’m getting frustrated with the online element. Why? It’s because of the infamous Unlimited Care Package glitch, that’s why.

Just like my gripe with quitters on Left 4 Dead 2 ruining multiplayer, the glitch on Modern Warfare 2 is killing the online aspect. To me it the way you activate it is like the ye olde Gamesmaster cheats of old, it requires a few perks and killstreaks being set up in advance but ultimately it’s a button click, d-pad flick here and there and WHAM – unlimited Pave Lows, airstrikes, harriers, choppers.

The frustration doesn’t just end with it occurring in game though. A quick search on the net and you find YouTube videos (to which I will NOT be linking) giving tutorials on how to exploit the glitch, forums with people making statements like “Sweet, I’m gonna try this tonight, thanks for the info dude,” and teams forming specifically to glitch in game and dominate their matches.

Why? As a lifelong gamer it puzzles me as to the reasoning behind beating a game using exploits. You buy a game to get the enjoyment of completing it off your own back, and you enter the online element to show off your honed skills to prove you are the best. The icing on the cake came last night when I received a voice message off a player (who will remain nameless). It basically offered me the chance to invite him to my team as he can ‘do the hack’ if I was so inclined. No thanks.

It is making me wary of going online until the problem is addressed. Whenever a match starts up there is that element of doubt in my mind that the opposition is going to pull a fast one and start raining fire down in order to win. I challenged one clan on the matter a few days ago. It was obvious they were doing it, they admitted in the lobby to doing it, and then failed miserably when they tried to emulate their glitching success by playing without using it.

So it clearly doesn’t make you a better player, it will ultimately get you negative feedback or reports via Xbox Live, so why bother? It will get patched eventually (Lord knows there’s been enough attempts that Infinity Ward must be getting close now) so the luxury of cheating won’t be there anymore which will put them behind those who’ve took time out to learn the maps, find their best weapon and perks combos and rank up and score using their skill alone.

I love the smell of exploit patches in the morning.