Keep the pedal to the floor on those party chat complaints in Modern Warfare 2!  According to Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling, they hear you loud and clear on the complaints from the community.  Whether hearing is the same as acting, well that's yet to be seen, but for those of you annoyed by the lack of party chat options in certain multiplayer play lists on the Xbox 360 - scream to the heavens:  

"For the love of Soap MacTavish give us our party chat!"

The lack of party chat was done in part to prevent cheaters in different multiplayer game types.  Basically these punks would jump onto the opposing team calling out their teammates positions to their friends on the other team in party chat.  For most of us, we're unaffected by this decision because we're too busy playing Spec-Ops in co-op!

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Maximus Milkimus

Before you get all riled up, Star Wars fans, take note: no, it will not. Of course not! But what better way to illustrate just how HUGE the Call of Duty franchise might be in the next couple of years? Both have sold ridiculously high unit counts, and if the below story is true: both are being stretched across every thinkable medium.

You heard about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's opening day records. Today, Activision boasts that their new favorite poster child has completely destroyed every previously held first-five-day record, not only in video game sales but box office sales as well. Titles like Grand Theft Auto IV, The Dark Knight, and the Harry Potter film series have been named as having fallen to the new entertainment giant.

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As you well know, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has dropped into the homes of more than 4.7 million people, shattering sales records and scoring completely in the green on metadata sites. But how does the co-op stack up? Read our review.

"Watch me hit this unsuspecting dude with No Matchmaking... Kapow! Heh."
 

Ah, Modern Warfare 2. The epitome of all that is unfair. Take a perfectly good formula, gimp it, insult the consumers...and then sit back and laugh as you sell 4.7 million copies in one day. Watch Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare crash the PlayStation Network in 2007, and then act surprised when it happens again in 2009. Tout your campaign as being so important that it can't support the interference of multiplayer co-op players, then copy/paste the same missions to a side mode called Special Ops...and furthermore encourage players to skip an integral plot point via the most controversial playable scene this year.

Okay, you get the point. Too many great minds in one place seems to have caused quite the tangle at Infinity Ward, but at least the gameplay remains intact. Our review is coming next week, so I'll save the rest of the soap box speech until then.

In the meantime, tell us what you think of Special Ops. Do you like the mission variety? Is it smooth online? And more importantly: are you ready for Spec Ops DLC? According to Infinity Ward, future extra co-op missions are a distinct possibility. What do you think?

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When we found out that Halo 3: ODST's Firefight mode didn't support matchmaking, we were quite bummed to say the least.  If you haven't fired up Modern Warfare 2's  Spec-Ops cooperative mode yet on the 360 or PS3, we've got a bit of a downer for you - there's no matchmaking.

Bungie had an excuse for not including it, stating it was an engine limitation, an excuse we don't accept by the way.  Infinity Ward on the other hand hasn't stated why there's no matchmaking in this mode.  

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hit stores yesterday, and already the internet is abuzz with excitement, and people mysteriously skipping class or work to play. The sales from these excited gamers will be celebrated by military veterans, as publisher Activision-Blizzard's "Call of Duty Endowment" (CODE) will be donating $1 million toward boosting employment for unemployed Vets.
 

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Despite releasing today to retail outlets and even requiring Valve's Steam service to play, Modern Warfare 2 will not be playable until Thurdsday at 12AM if you pre-ordered via Steam.

We're not quite sure what's going on here, but after the whole Left 4 Dead 2 demo fiasco we're beginning to lose faith in consistent delivery of a timely product on steam.  Luckily if you did pick up the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, despite your trepidation to certain decisions, the game is still playable.  You may have to wait a little longer for some co-op action if your buddy decided to go the complete digital route. 

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It's Modern Warfare week for co-op gamers with Modern Warfare 2 hitting the 360, PS3, and PC with it's two player Spec-Ops co-op mode and Modern Warfare Reflex hitting the Wii with it's two campaign co-op mode.

Modern Warfare 2 offers two player split screen and online co-op through 23 missions.  These missions are quick offerings that differ from the story and offer various objectives like racing, survival, and laser targeting.   There's three versions of the game to choose from with normal, hardened and night vision goggle edtion.  [Get it @ Amazon] 

Modern Warfare Reflex offers two player same screen co-op on the Wii through the story of the first Modern Warfare title in this shooter.  Player one has full control while player two has their own cross hair and limited control.  [Get it @ Amazon]

Phantasy Star 0 offers four player co-op via local wi-fi or online via the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.  Players team up to complete quests, chat with "visual chat" and take part in three different modes of play. [Get it @ Amazon]

Sigh.  Sometimes I have to wonder what the heck is going on over at Infinity Ward and other developers that make a decision like this.  According to the Telegraph review of Modern Warfare 2, the game's only cooperative mode Special Ops, is only playable after completing the game's single player campaign.

Update:  Please see the update below, it looks like the Guardian review was wrong.  Co-Op is available without completing the single player game first.  "Spec Ops is a major portion of the game and is available from the start,"  Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward community manager told us, "It asks you if you want to play Spec Ops when you beat the game."  This is where it seems the confusion may have happened.

At least it sounds like Spec-Ops will be worth the wait.

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Modern Warfare 2 hits the Xbox 360 this Tuesday, November 10th. To celebrate we're going to have a special Xbox Live Co-Op night this Thursday, November 12th. We'll be checking out the 23 spec ops missions in the game's two player co-op mode.