We already know we won't be getting any campaign co-op in Modern Warfare 2 when it launches this fall. Instead players will be teaming up in a mode called Special Forces, which as been described as something similar to the Mile High scenario in Call of Duty 4.
If you've paid close attention to our database entries for the game, you'll notice that we've only listed the game as a two player co-op title. We've had a lot of folks send us notes that this wasn't correct, and the game was four player, but all information up until this point seemed to point otherwise. Today, Infinity Ward has confirmed Modern Warfare 2 will feature co-op for two players.
Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling had this to say:
“Two player seemed to be the magic number for co-op. That’s when it stayed really fun and intense without becoming a clusterf**k of things. We just found that two-players was the most fun.”
Really? In a tactical game things become a crowded? Interesting for sure. Bowling also weighs in on why there isn't cooperative play through the story.
He said: “We don’t do co-op in our story because we’re crafting a very specific experience and we don’t want to ruin that by cramming co-op into it. We take the moments that work really well with co-op, we bring them out and we put them in Special Ops.”
That gets me pretty excited for the Special Ops mode, I can't wait to see what Infinity Ward has planned.
Source: Link 
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txshurricane at 08:50 AM on 6.23.2009
While I am looking forward to Special Ops the most, I am supremely pissed about the two-player co-op. One of the screenshots shows what looks to be six friendlies, plus enemies shooting from off-screen. Bad move! 
BigBadBob113 at 08:53 AM on 6.23.2009
I think thats pretty horrible indeed. Its a real shame. 
smurphster at 09:41 AM on 6.23.2009
how about you give us at least 4 player and let US decide what we like? sheesh... this one fell off my maybe list. i'm sick of developers deciding that we don't really want what we ask for. 
rafoca at 10:18 AM on 6.23.2009
I really hate this kind of excuse: “We don’t do co-op in our story because we’re crafting a very specific experience and we don’t want to ruin that by cramming co-op into it. We take the moments that work really well with co-op, we bring them out and we put them in Special Ops.”They never admit they won´t make co-op campaign because it is much harder to do. What a shame.
I was recently talking to a game developer and he said that is harder making 2 players co-op campaign than a crowded deathmatch.
SWAT_Wombat at 10:35 AM on 6.23.2009
Ugh, this is why I ended up playing the Zombies co-op mode much more than the rest of World at War. Will Special Forces become the next Nazi Zombies? smurphster at 10:48 AM on 6.23.2009
i don't know if i buy that either. bungie and epic sure make it look easy. maybe if CoD games weren't so scripted it wouldn't be as hard to include co-op.
justabaldguy at 10:49 AM on 6.23.2009
This one's off the radar for now. Gimped co-op mode is one thing, but keeping it to only 2 players? Not for me. 
SecretAsianManz at 11:15 AM on 6.23.2009
I remember the original CoD games were themed around the idea that "No one fights alone". I know that this technically isn't a CoD game, but I wish they kept that theme going with good co-op. horror_spooky at 11:39 AM on 6.23.2009
I respect Infinity Ward for not making a co-op mode for the campaign. World at War is horridly unbalanced if you play one-player and it's just annoying throughout most of the campaign. Then if you play with four-players, the game is FAR too easy. This way everything will be far more balanced. smurphster at 12:07 PM on 6.23.2009
or they could balance it with 4 player...
txshurricane at 01:40 PM on 6.23.2009
You like being stripped of options? Let me ask you this: would you pay the same amount for a car without power windows and a tape deck as you would for a car with power doors/windows, CD deck, and sunroof?
Jackel at 01:58 PM on 6.23.2009
You are being way too simplistic here.
In your analogy, it would be like buying a Geo with power windows / cd player / sunroof for the same price as a BMW w/out the extras.
Some people might want the Geo, but others might want the BMW.
Each addition costs Infinity Ward money.
So instead of being a jack of all trades they have gone for focus on the campaign / 2 player co-op.
Yes, it sucks that it won't have 4 player co-op. But if it means that the rest of the game is that much better, I'll accept that.
Lun4tic at 02:30 PM on 6.23.2009
There are dozens of great co-op games that feature cinematic content during game play. At this point, saying "it just doesn't fit" is like saying "we're just too lazy". txshurricane at 02:57 PM on 6.23.2009
Am I? Why can I get World at War on the COD4 engine with TWO four-player co-op modes, and I can't get ONE four-player mode for Modern Warfare 2? I'm not even talking about the lack of a co-op campaign...
Infinity Ward used Twitter as a social experiment and asked what the community wanted to see in MW2. An overwhelming number of CUSTOMERS said "4 player co-op". Of course, this was too late into development, so Infinity Ward is feeding us this "we don't want to ruin the experience" line, forgetting that here at Co-Optimus, our experience more often than not depends on the people we play with.
So why is it that Treyarch can deliver a Geo with the extras on Infinity Ward's platform -- keeping in mind that World at War is STILL the top played game on Live -- but Infinity Ward can't deliver a BMW with the same extras?
And Infinity Ward wants to eclipse the Halo 3 launch? Pffft. Good luck, fellas...Halo 3 has a four-player co-op campaign and splitscreen online.
SwissyJim at 03:53 PM on 6.23.2009
Looks like I'll be skipping Modern Warfare 2 just like I did #1. No co-op - no purchase. And crippling it with limited 2 player co-op is as bad as not having any co-op at all. They don't give me the play I want... they don't get my money. Regardless of World at War's 'ease'... it's still a blast with my 3 buddies, on hardest, competing for the kills and points. And zombie mode... ahhh, zombie mode. Oh well... hasta la vista #2. bigDinyomouth at 04:06 PM on 6.23.2009
I love IW, but there egotistical lazy ass excuses for not giving us a lengthy campaign,story co-op, or even a 4 player co-op horde mode are really getting annoying. Are they not as efficient with time as treyarch? Can they not work there magic and make MW2 a bigger better game then cod4? Or are they just masking there laziness with arrogance?
This deal seems like its getting worse all the time, and is looking like WAW might have been the superior game for me.
I will NOT buy this game for $60 unless special forces is layed out more like a campaign mode then a horde/nazi zombie type of mode, and if its about 5 hours worth of content.
mw2 will unfortunately still sell like hotcakes....
smurphster at 04:19 PM on 6.23.2009
not to mention halo 3 has been out for two years and will soon have another game on the same engine w/ 4 player co-op etc. two years!
don't get me wrong, i like the CoD games, they just don't have the co-op and split-screen features we want. i really haven't gotten enough playtime out of any of them since my wife can't play. if they had decent split screen at least i'd probably be way more of a CoD fan.
Jackel at 04:22 PM on 6.23.2009
I'm going to preface this post by saying I haven't played either game so I'm going by what I have heard.
Just remember not everyone likes having to play with 4 people (I do), especially if they don't have extensive friend lists.
Twitter isn't exactly a quality sample of what the majority of the community wants. It is a targeted niche. I remember reading somewhere that it is like 5% of the twitter users have some high percentage of tweets.
Did the first Modern Warfare have 4 player co-op? No.
Finally, just because a game is at the top sellers doesn't mean shit. Everything I've heard about CoD5 is that the campaign is mediocre, and that the real selling point is zombie mode (co-op). What was CoD4's primary selling point? (Again I'm assuming) the multiplayer, not the co-op.
Both are legit types of gameplay.
So once again I ask you, would you rather they focus on one area (and make it great) or a bunch of different parts and make it just another generic shooter. Because while you may not agree with the choice they took, doesn't mean it is a matter of them being lazy.
Resources are not infinite.
Nuhru at 04:45 PM on 6.23.2009
I'm just glad that it will have some kinda co-op gameplay. Mostly because.. I like to play co-op games with my RL friends and it's not easy to make time so that everyone could play at the same time. bigDinyomouth at 05:24 PM on 6.23.2009
I was going to post a long response to Jackel's post but as I was finished. It turned out to be an essay of a message 0_0all i will say is I don't think the question is if we want IW to focus on "one part or a bunch of parts" of the game (pretty much singleplayer or co-op/multiplayer).
The question is why can't IW make good use of the resources and time they have?
How long does it take them to make a good 5 hour game? I know I know Rome wasn't built in a day,quality over quantity etc etc,
but let me say 2 things 1.IW already have an engine they know in and out. Unlike Cod4 where they were building an engine and a game.
2.I mean, they had 2 years to make MW2. In comparison it only took epic games
2 years to pump out gears of war 2 which has a great 10-12 hour campaign,reasonably good multiplayer,a revolutionary new horde mode, and of course 2 player co-op through out the campaign.
I know gow2 was designed towards co-op and mw2 towards single player, but Epic gave us 4 good modes. Can't IW at least give us a 4 player special forces mode?
to me when they give all these excuses. It just comes off as unwillingness to me.
rafoca at 05:32 PM on 6.23.2009
I am with TXSHURRICANE Also, I think this: we have so many shooters already, so why would I pick one shooter that does not feature co-op? Co-op is what differs them.
txshurricane at 07:30 PM on 6.23.2009
No, they are not. But it sure doesn't seem to be a problem for Treyarch -- a far less successful studio -- to implement as much co-op as they want. Bungie can do it. Ruffian Games can do it. Valve can do it. Capcom can do it. The Behemoth can do it. Ubisoft Montreal can do it. Rockstar can do it. Do I really need to go on?
Jackel at 10:40 PM on 6.23.2009
If the fans had asked for 8 player co-op.. Would you fault them still? Or are you just assuming that they should be the exact same as every other company out there and should automatically assume 4 player co-op is the best for the game.
I really should stop caring as I haven't played any of the games you are referencing, but I think you are drastically underestimating the amount of effort that goes into adding co-op, while at the same time focusing on the other important parts of a game. And for all I know, they are going to fuck up the rest of the game too and it is going to be a disaster. So why not wait until then to bash them on their game decisions. You might find that you enjoy the two-player co-op, more than you would 4 players.
Zonf86 at 12:36 AM on 6.24.2009
Question: Was the unreal engine built with co-operative play in mind?I askthis because both of Epics big games - UT3 and {GoW + Gow2} have not only co-op campaigns, but also the ability to play split screen - online as well.
Similarly with the Halo series.
If this is the case, then the engine that IW are using was perhaps never built with co-op in mind, so they are probably only just getting to grips with coding it in!
EDIT: Having said all that, they could have put a bit more effort into the co-op mode making it at least 4 player... I imagine they've focused a lot on the multiplayer side of things (at a cost to this co-op mode) - as that is the thing that's kept it alive most of this time.
Biohzrd451 at 02:13 AM on 6.24.2009
Well this just dropped from my radar, only two player coop? no thanks. txshurricane at 05:51 AM on 6.24.2009
Well, that's the big question, isn't it? Can Infinity Ward make us forget about our complaints?
To be honest: I'll buy this game and no doubt love it. But that shouldn't stop me from wanting more from it. When Infinity Ward makes statements in the vein of, "our story is more important than your wishlist," it's going to cause a stink. If it were a balancing issue: okay, most people can buy that. If it were a resource issue: eh, alright. But to say, "we just like it better this way, and you will, too," is supremely arrogant. This is co-op, and the weakest stories in gaming history can still make for a great co-op experience (see: Crackdown).
Zonf86 at 05:57 AM on 6.24.2009
Or Resident Evil 5...
smurphster at 06:13 AM on 6.24.2009
i think that about sums it up
and by the way, if you're adding a whole new mode for 2 players, there's nothing exponential about adding the 3rd and 4th player. once you're in the "multiplayer" dimension, you have to treat each player the same. any one of the 4 players could trigger an event while any one of the other players are in a spot that could trigger a bug. that's regardless of where the other 2 players are so 2 players on their own could trigger the same bug. basically you're increasing the chances of triggering bugs with the 3rd and 4th players, but the bugs are there nonetheless. its up to IW to catch those bugs if there are 2 OR 4 players. but regardless, what txhurricane said above pretty much trumps any feasibility issue we can come up with. if IW would just admit that they can't given some limitation (time, resources, technical etc), then that's a different story. instead they said the game is just better the way they made it. as if our opinions don't count.
bigDinyomouth at 07:45 AM on 6.24.2009
plus if 3 to 4 players is a damn "cluster fuck", then the host of the game should decide if he wants the 2 other players with him.I don't think there is 1 right or wrong answer here. Just 2 different points of views. eitherway this is a moot argument that im droping out of.
rafoca at 08:25 AM on 6.24.2009
These guys have a lot to learn from Bungie, Capcom and Epic. smurphster at 08:33 AM on 6.24.2009
so true
Brainp0wa at 08:09 AM on 6.25.2009
It was bad enough that the game is not supposed to have split-screen, but only two player co-op? Bad move IW. rafoca is right, Bungie and Epic got it goin' on. adrockamd at 09:17 AM on 11.3.2009
well...I honestly didn't find out until today that this game no longer supports 4 player coop...what a dissapointment....now I will probably wait and pick this up used.... Login to Co-Optimus to comment.
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