"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" has just completed its official launch weekend after a week of campaign early access, but its reputation is ...... Looks good; Warzone 2.0 is still slated for release on November 16, but CoD's basic multiplayer is an institution, and despite a few reports of crashes, the boys of Autumn seem to be enjoying QuickScope to their hearts' content. [Crashes are at the top of the list on the MW2 subreddit bugs and issues megathread (opens in new tab), and in the comments of this post on redditor DemonOfLight (opens in new tab) players exchange horror stories Almost all of the negative Steam reviews of MW2 (opens in new tab) cite crashes as the reason for the thumbs down (MW2 currently remains in "Mixed" status). Roger that; PC Gamer's Morgan Park encountered about nine such multiplayer crashes over the weekend, which is hardly ideal.

In addition to the overall stability issues, MW2 has a few more minor technical problems. There's a graphical glitch that causes a void mass to fill the field of view, which I've seen in a post by Reddit user Cannabisaurus (opens in a new tab) and in a quick scope video of a sniper by FaZe Bams (opens in a new tab). Also, according to Polygon (opens in new tab), attachment tuning and ping sending have been disabled because the former causes crashes and the latter effectively allows for enemy permatracking.

There are already rumors about hackers and overpowered weapons, but these discussions seem to come in like the tide of CoD, and the meta has no time to settle down. Early favorites include the MW2 M4, AK, MP5, and, curiously, a very easily unlocked (level 7) sniper rifle (here called the SPR 208). Seems a lot of streamers are upset about something called SBMM (opens in new tab)... Super Smash Bros Melee Melee" Who can say.

That said, CoD is famous for a reason, and people seem to enjoy it. Don't let anyone tell you different: exploding car maps, Santa Seña (open in new tab) absolutely rule. It shows the kind of playfulness and experimentation I associate with legendary old CoD maps like Nuketown and Rust.

I love seeing people running around, firing guns, and just getting into it in CoD, and Modern Warfare 2 seems to really prioritize that kind of aggressive play. The FaZe Bams video linked earlier makes me want to saw off my sniper rifle and go guns blazing myself, and PC Gamer's Morgan Park makes the most of Modern Warfare 2's anti-camper drill charge.

The outlook is good for the post-launch weekend of Modern Warfare 2. The standard multiplayer is as strong as ever, and we'll see how "Warzone 2" stands up when it launches on November 16.