Bowling explains again why MW2's Stimulus Package is a great deal
Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has said, once again, that the Stimulus Map Pack for Modern Warfare 2 is a great value, and since it brings back two of the series' most popular maps, gamers will have more opportunities to "experience them in a completely unique new way".
"These are two of our most popular maps. There's some of the original ones that you played during the Call Of Duty 4 Beta - they were our most popular maps all through the lifespan of Modern Warfare 1," he told CVG. "So there's no question over the mileage our hardcore gamers are going to get out of these maps now that they're bringing them back into Modern Warfare 2. You get to experience them in a completely unique new way.
"Now you get them to play CTF on Crash or Demolition on Overgrown and come up with all these new tactics based on not only the new game types but the new perks, the new equipment and the new kill streaks that you have to take into account when you're playing now.
"It was really cool to bring in some maps people absolutely love to play on and have hundreds of hours of gameplay in, but then also have the experience where you come up with new tactics on familiar battlefields.
"There's definitely no doubt in my mind that these maps packs - and [Stimulus'] five maps - are definitely worth the investment. Anybody who buys them and then plays Modern Warfare 2 hardcore online is going to get their money's worth out of these maps.
"I mean, five new locations to Modern Warfare 2, with three of those brand new to the series and each of them offering their own unique kind of gameplay - no matter what kind of play style you have, you're going to get something out of these maps. I mean, whether you love the objective game based types, you're going to love Storm. It's a huge map great for objective-based, big team games.
"If you're a free-for-all kind of guy it's just all about the basics, you want to put guys down and you don't want to worry about campers and all that stuff, you're going to love Salvage - because it's geared to that type of player. We're adding a lot of variety and a lot of mileage to multiplayer with this map pack and anyone who buys it is going to see that investment is worthwhile".
As far as competition from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is concerned, Bowling seems to brush it off like chip crumbs, and uses the fact that MW2 is constantly number one on the online play charts as proof that there is nothing to fret over.
"We're not worried about it at all," he said. "I mean, we don't expect people to stop working on their games when we're working on ours. You know they have an audience that are excited about their map packs and I'm sure their excited about ours.
"You know once it hits a certain level of popularity in the mainstream that's when people start to stand back. But that doesn't mean they stop playing. I mean the numbers show that these guys are still logging on every night.
"We've been number one since launch and this map pack is going to bring even more people to playing MW2 and extend their play time. I don't see it slipping any time soon...as long as players are supporting us and enjoying the game we're going to continue supporting them with various updates and DLC and events - so you know we're going to do everything we can to make sure the community is still playing".
The Stimulus Pack is now live for Xbox 360, despite a couple snafus at launch.
There is also a Double XP Weekend that will will start tomorrow.