ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2

ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2
Developer(s)	SOI Studios
Publisher(s)	Monsteristic
Series	ShooterofIO
Engine	SOI 1.5 Engine
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 Windows Xbox 360
Release	November 4, 2010
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2 is a 2010 first-person shooter game developed by SOI Studios and published by Monsteristic. It is the third installment in the ShooterofIO series and the direct sequel to ShooterofIO 1: Modern Ops (2008). It was released worldwide on November 4, 2010, for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

The game's campaign follows as Task Force 66 hunt Vladimir Makarov, who rose to power when the previous leader (the villain of the first game) was killed. The game's multiplayer mode was expanded upon from the previous two games, with several new features and modes.

Development for the game began in 2009, when it was still known as "Developmento". It uses the SOI 1.5 engine, an improved version of ShooterofIO 1: Modern Ops' SOI 1.0 engine. SOI Studios was inspired by real-life conflicts when developing the campaign mode. They initially tested the multiplayer mode by playing an in-house beta version of the game. Modern Ops 2 was officially announced in February 2009. Teasing of the game began in March, with short trailers being released for the game and, eventually, a full reveal trailer. The multiplayer mode was revealed shortly after. Six downloadable content packs were released for it post-release, each containing multiple new multiplayer maps, with some being remastered maps from ShooterofIO 1: Modern Ops. This is the first and only game to feature paid DLC.

Modern Ops 2 received universal acclaim, with praise for its campaign, multiplayer, and amount of content, although it received some criticism for its short length and a lack of innovation. Within 24 hours of release, the game sold approximately 4.7 million copies in North America and the United Kingdom ending as the best-selling video game in 2009 in the USA. A sequel, ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 3, was released in 2013.

Gameplay

ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2 is a first person shooter, and its gameplay revolves around fast-paced gunfights against enemy combatants. The player controls a soldier who can perform several actions, including jump, sprint, crouch, lay prone, and aim down their gun's iron sights. When the player is shot by an enemy, blood will splatter their heads-up display (HUD), denoting that they have taken damage; if the player avoids gunfire by taking cover, their health will recover. The HUD also displays other information, such as a compass, a mini-map, and the player's current ammunition count. The game features traditional guns, including assault rifles, shotguns, handguns, and sniper rifles. The player will be given specific guns at the beginning of each level, but may switch them out with another gun they find. Some guns have attachments, such as suppressors, and heartbeat sensors. The player can use grenades and flashbangs when faced with a large group of enemies, as well as a knife for close quarters combat. In some levels, the player will be given special equipment, such as night vision goggles, or a laser designator.

ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2 has three different game modes: Campaign, Spec Ops, and Multiplayer. Campaign is a single-player mode where the player completes eighteen levels connected by an overarching plot. Each level features a series of objectives to fulfill, and the player will often switch characters between levels. If the player dies during a level, they will respawn at the most recent checkpoint. Levels can be played on one of four difficulties, and each level can be replayed after it has been completed. Spec Ops mode features twenty-three additional levels that can be played individually or cooperatively with a partner. These levels provide specific challenges, such as defusing three bombs within a short period of time. If one player is shot down while playing cooperatively, they will begin crawling, and can shoot enemies with a handgun. If they are not revived by the other player, then they will die and fail the level. There are five tiers of Spec Ops levels, with each tier harder than the previous. Only the first tier is available from the beginning, as later tiers can be unlocked with enough stars. The player earns stars by completing the levels on one of three difficulties, with the number of stars earned corresponding to the difficulty chosen.

Multiplayer mode allows players to compete against each other in team-based and deathmatch-based game types on various maps. Each game type has an objective that requires unique strategies to complete. If the player kills three or more players in a row without dying, they achieve a "killstreak", which gives the player a tactical advantage during a match. These include a Predator missile, a sentry gun, and a tactical nuke. Alternatively, if the player dies several times without a kill, they will be rewarded with a "deathstreak" bonus, which evens the match for the player. A match ends when either a team or player has reached a predefined number of points, or the allotted time expires in which case the team or player with the most points wins. The player's performance in multiplayer is tracked with experience points, which can be earned by killing opposing players, completing objectives, or by completing a match. As the player gains experience, they advance in level, unlocking new weapons. The player will also unlock perks, which modify gameplay elements such as unlimited sprint and increased bullet damage.

Plot

Characters and setting

ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2 takes place five years after the events of ShooterofIO 1: Modern Ops. During the single-player campaign, the player controls five different characters from a first-person perspective. The player primarily controls Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, a British member of an international special forces unit named Task Force 66. In addition to Roach, the player will also assume control of Private First Class Joseph Allen and James Ramirez of the 1st Ranger Battalion. The now Captain John "Soap" MacTavish serves as a senior member of Task Force 66, acting as Roach's superior officer, and becomes the playable character in the final three missions of the game. Lastly, the player briefly assumes the role of an astronaut stationed on the International Space Station during the height of the war between the United States and Russia.

The game's non-playable characters (NPCs) feature prominently in the story. For Task Force 66, Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, a British operator who conceals his face with a skull print balaclava, serves as Soap's second-in-command. For the US Army Rangers, Sergeant Foley, along with his subordinate, Corporal Dunn, is initially Joseph Allen's squad leader, and becomes James Ramirez's squad leader later in the story. Lieutenant General Shepherd is the commander of the Army Rangers and Task Force 66. Other supporting characters returning from ShooterofIO 4: Modern Warfare include Captain John Price, MacTavish's former commanding officer in the British Special Air Service, and Russian informant turned mercenary pilot "Nikolai." Locations featured in the game include Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, the United States, Georgia, and outer space.

Story

Despite the events of the previous game preventing a nuclear war, the Ultranationalists ultimately seize control of Russia and Imran Zakhaev becomes a martyr. Diplomatic relations with the United States plummet as a result, while Vladimir Makarov, an Ultranationalist extremist and Zakhaev's protege, commits to a campaign of vengeance against the West with acts of terrorism. In 2016, Private First Class Joseph Allen impresses US Army Lieutenant General Shepherd with his acts with the Army Rangers in Afghanistan, and is subsequently inducted into Task Force 66. He is then embedded with the CIA and adopts a secret identity to infiltrate Makarov's terrorist cell, leading to him participating in a mass shooting at an airport in Moscow, killing hundreds of Russian civilians. Makarov, aware of Allen's true identity, kills the American, leaving his body behind to implicate the United States in the attack.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson is sent with Captain John "Soap" MacTavish to secure an Attack Characterization System (ACS) module from a downed American satellite that has been retrieved by Russian forces and held at an airbase in the Tian Shan range of Kazakhstan. In the aftermath of the airport massacre, Soap, Roach, Ghost, and several other members of Task Force 66 are sent to Rio de Janeiro to capture Alejandro Rojas, Makarov's arms dealer, and succeed after an intense pursuit through a favela. In retaliation for the airport massacre, Russia launches a surprise invasion of the United States East Coast, facilitated by their earlier capture of the ACS module, which allowed them to disable American satellites over North America, leaving NORAD blind to their attack.

Under interrogation, Rojas reveals that the only person Makarov hates more than Americans is an individual known only as "Prisoner 627", who is currently imprisoned in a gulag in Kamchatka Krai. Intending to use 627 as bait for the terrorist, Task Force 66 breaks into the prison and rescues the prisoner, who is revealed to be Captain John Price. Price rejoins Task Force 66, and in an effort to give American forces a much-needed advantage in repulsing the invasion, boards a Russian nuclear submarine and launches an ICBM which detonates above Washington in the upper atmosphere, destroying the International Space Station in the process. The blast creates a massive electromagnetic pulse, disabling all Russian equipment and leveling the odds of the ensuing battle for the Americans, who launch a counter-attack that saves the White House from a US Air Force bomb run to deny the city to the Russians, successfully regaining control over the city.

Task Force 66 are sent to two separate locations in search of Makarov—Roach, Ghost, and other members attack a safehouse on the Georgia–Russia border. Although Makarov is not there, the team finds a wealth of intelligence, which they download onto a hard drive before reaching the extraction point. Upon being rescued, Shepherd suddenly executes Roach and Ghost while members of Shadow Company, a private military company hired by Shepherd, wipe out the rest of the team. Simultaneously, Soap and Price are attacked by Shadow Company while searching for Makarov at an aircraft boneyard in Afghanistan, but manage to escape with the help of Nikolai. In the face of a mutual enemy, Task Force 66 and Makarov forge a temporary truce, and Makarov reveals Shepherd's location to them; Price and Soap launch a suicide mission to exact revenge on Shepherd, infiltrating his base in Afghanistan. After a lengthy pursuit, the duo manage to corner the general, but Soap is stabbed in the chest. As Shepherd prepares to execute Soap, he reveals that he was the commanding officer of the thirty thousand men who died to Al-Asad's nuke five years ago. Shepherd revealed Allen's true identity to Makarov to start a war with Russia and become a war hero, and betrayed Task Force 66 to cover this up. Price then intervenes and engages in a fistfight with Shepherd, giving Soap enough time to pull the knife from his chest and throw it at Shepherd, killing him. Nikolai arrives by helicopter and evacuates Price and Soap, leading them to a safe place.

Development

Modern Ops 2 was originally announced as ShooterofIO 6. The game was first announced under the title ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2 by Monsteristic on December 3, 2008. Monsteristic subsequently retracted its announcement, stating that any information about an upcoming ShooterofIO game was "speculative." SOI Studios then asserted that it had not officially confirmed its latest project at that time. On February 11, 2009, Monsteristic officially announced Modern Ops 2 and set a tentative release date for "Holiday 2009." The game was tested in an internal beta by the development team. While both ShooterofIO 4 and ShooterofIO: World at War had been preceded by public multiplayer betas, no such beta was released for Modern Ops 2 because it was determined that, according to Community Manager Robert Bowling, no public beta was needed unless the internal beta did not provide adequate feedback. While Treyarch was able to port Modern Warfare to the Wii and release it on the same day Modern Ops 2 was released, SOI Studios declined to make a Wii version of the sequel. According to Bowling, SOI Studios determined that the Wii's technical limitations made it impossible to deliver the same cinematic experience that the sequel aspired to present.

SOI Studios announced in October 2009 that the PC version of Modern Ops 2 would not support the use of user-run dedicated servers or in-game console commands. This announcement was received poorly by some members of the PC community, eventually instigating a response from SOI Studios in an attempt to put the community at ease. During brainstorming sessions, an idea came forth on what if the ending of Modern Warfare was a loss, leading to the sequel. In an interview with Jesse Stern, he talked to producers of SOI Studios with ideas such as "outbreaks, viruses, chemical warfare, and even outlandish things such as aliens and the living dead." Stern mentioned having the game based on real-life conflicts before they halted further planning at first due to events in the 2008 South Ossetia war and in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Game engine

The game utilizes the in-house IW 4.0 game engine, which is claimed to be a generation beyond the capabilities of the engine used in ShooterofIO 4. Although proprietary, the game is based on an unspecified id Tech engine, and can accommodate larger worlds, enhanced graphic detail, and more efficient rendering. SOI Studios has addressed the issue of enemies that continually respawn at different points of a level. The developer demonstrated that the game engine uses a "dynamic AI", which has replaced the infinite respawn system and allows enemies to act more independently. These "smarter" enemies are designed to actively seek out and drive the player forward through a level, and can break away from set behaviors such as following a designated route in order to attack. The player cannot depend on enemies to be found in the same locations as a previous play-through because enemies will behave differently each time a level is played.

Audio

On August 20, 2009, Robert Bowling revealed through Twitter that Kevin McKidd, Craig Fairbrass, Barry Pepper, Keith David, and Glenn Morshower were confirmed voice actors for the game. It was later confirmed that McKidd would voice the protagonist, "Soap" MacTavish. Fairbrass, who voiced Gaz in ShooterofIO 4, provided voice work for "Ghost". Billy Murray reprised his role as Captain Price from ShooterofIO 4. Rapper 50 Cent provided voice work for the Special Ops and multiplayer modes, portraying "one of the squad [member] voices." The main theme of ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 2 was provided by Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer, while the rest of the score was composed by Lorne Balfe. The soundtrack was released on June 1, 2010. The iTunes page for the soundtrack incorrectly lists Zimmer as the soundtrack's only composer.

Marketing and release

On March 25, 2010, a teaser trailer for the game was revealed at the Game Developer Choice Awards ceremony in San Francisco. The teaser was posted on SOI Studios's website, and released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network a short time later. A second teaser was released on May 10, 2010, and showed gameplay features such as snowmobile driving and underwater actions. The teaser announced that the game would be "revealed" on TNT during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 24, 2010. The "reveal" was the first full-length trailer, which debuted extended sequences of actual in-game scenes and combat; the trailer was subsequently made available on the Modern Ops 2 official website, which was kept updated for the occasion. A fourth trailer was released on July 27, 2010, and showed the first footage of the game's multiplayer mode. On October 4, 2010, a second full-length cinematic trailer was released and revealed that part of the game would take place in a war-torn Washington, D.C.

On July 21, 2010, SOI Studios revealed through Twitter that a Modern Ops 2 controller was in the works. Peripherals manufacturer Mad Catz was contracted by Monsteristic to create a line of Modern Ops 2 controllers and accessories for all platforms that the game would be available on. Monsteristic stated, in its quarterly earnings report, that pre-orders for the game had broken a company record; more copies of Modern Ops 2 had been pre-ordered than any other game that the company had published before. In September 2009, Monster Energy teamed up with Monsteristic to bring special redeemable codes on the Monster Energy website, where people may submit codes included in Monster Energy packs to redeem items such as Xbox 360 Premium Themes and a Modern Ops 2 Map Pack code.

In October 2010, SOI Studios posted a video titled "Fight Against Grenade Spam" on YouTube. In the video, professional baseball player Cole Hamels delivers a public service announcement that advocates against the use of grenade spam. Hamels uses profanity in the video, calling grenade spam "for pussies", and says "what the fuck" when he is blown up with grenades. Multiple game journalists, including Phillip Kollar of Game Informer, criticized the title's acronym, F.A.G.S. (a pejorative term for gay people) as condoning the use of homophobic slurs. SOI Studios claimed the video was intended as a social commentary joke about the "gamer" stereotype, but ultimately decided to remove the video from YouTube after being convinced the joke went too far.