I spend most of my console time playing Modern Warfare 2, I’ve been told repeatedly here that that game sucks.
-I prefer real combat (no laser swords or jump jets).
-I couldn’t care less about the solo campaign mode.
-I’d prefer it to be an online community thats still thriving.
So I ask you Dopers, what should I be playing.
I won’t recommend Medal of Honor yet as, like I mentioned in that other thread, I haven’t played it enough.
But I will recommend Battlefield Bad Company 2.
And if you like MW2 you’ll probably also like previous COD games (assuming you haven’t already got them) such as COD 4 and COD World at War.
All three mentioned games have thriving online communities (if by that you mean lots of servers and lots of people to play with)
MW2 or Reach on 360, depending on whether you want a modern shooter or arena shooter.
MW2 is a terrible PC game. It’s a fine console game.
Battlefield Bad Company and Halo:Reach have sort of the same feel to me - weapons do less damage than in Modern Warfare and the maps are larger, so the game is essentially slower paced. This has advantages in that lag has less of an effect period, and also the strategies to mitigate lag work better. It has disadvantages in that you feel like you are walking forever to get to play for 20 seconds, and that high health games make teamshooting and such work better, so it sucks when you go in by yourself.
Ultimately I like Modern Warfare 2 better than both. But MW2 definitely has more hacks, and connection matters more so some people will definitely prefer BF:BC2 or Halo Reach.
(Note than I would put Halo 3 closer to MW2 - Halo:Reach really ups the map sizes and downs the damage to make for a slower paced game)
Battlefield Bad Company 2. Hands down. No question.
Halo Reach is pretty meh, in my opinion. It’s very… Halo, and if you don’t like that (lasers and plasma guns etc etc only now they added jet packs and kits loadouts (a la BFBC2)) you won’t like Reach.
MW2 is pretty good but hacked to all hell. Also with Black Ops, the new COD coming out, the MW2 community will pretty much all move on.
Overall, my favorite online shooter is by far battlefield. The maps are big, fully destructible, loaded with vehicles. The game types are varied, the kits are varied to your play-style (sniper, assault, etc) and overall it’s just a very well done, very good game. Leveling up your kits is done very well so those of higher levels have access to better weapons, but not so much better that low levels are totally outclassed. It requires a lot of teamwork and such, too, and people generally aren’t dicks about it. ANyway, yea, BFBC2 gets my vote, hands down.
Halo: Reach is my game of choice, but I’ll probably dabble in Black Ops some time. Modern Warfare 2 is a bad game, no matter the platform.
Another vote for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, followed by the older COD4. I’m a grandpa, but can hold my own in BC2, mostly because BC2 lets me use a bit of strategy and teamwork to make up for my slower reflexes.
This rather specifically disqualifies Halo.
Another vote for Bad Company 2. It has dedicated servers, so the host advantage isn’t an issue. The destructible environments, vehicles, and large maps make it a different experience than Modern Warfare 2. I play it on X360 and have a group of older people that regularly plays on Tuesday evenings if you’re interested in joining in.
GT: SmorgasBorgnine
Yeah, but if the game is really good I can look past that fault. 
Have you tried Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2? It’s not guys-with-rifles vs. guys-with-rifles, but it’s crazy-fun, games are quick, and the community is large and thriving.
it’s not 
plenty of people will tell you it is, but really it comes down to people who like halo and people who don’t. Personally I think it’s a very mediocre shooter that stole all of it’s good points from Tribes, and has been left in the dust by most other modern FPS’s. This is obviously arguable, but yea. If you’ve played any Halo game you have the general feel for the multiplayer, it hasn’t changed much (in essence. They’ve obviously refined the experience and such).
Yeah, it’s ok. My friends like it more than I do, but I’ll play it anyway.
What the hell ever happened to games like TimeSplitters?
I think you’re wrong. I was heavily involved with competitive gaming when WaW came out, and a lot of the community stayed with call of duty 4. Treyarchs COD games just dont seem to match up with those of IF.
I think it has more to do with the period they are set in than the quality of the game… Some people just don’t like WWII games…
As for the OP… like any game, it is a matter or opinion… if you like MW2, play it… there is no 360 game that is head and shoulders better than MW2 as far as game play is concerned… my only problem with with MW2 is that it is so popular that all the hackers and assholes play it, which takes a lot of fun out of it… I play it because it is the game of choice for all my friends… I have tried others (like BF2) but none of them were so good that I would play it instead of playing with my friends…
well the thing with the IF/Treyarch thing has always been that IF moves the bar. They create the new engines, make the new innovations, etc. Treyarch comes in the next year and just polishes everything. So while they’re technically good, sometimes more polished games, the treyarch CODs just don’t measure up to the thrill of playing an IF COD cause there’s nothing new in them.