Modern Warfare 2, the latest title from Infinity Ward in the Call of Duty series (now perhaps making a cleaner break from the series with this new title) released to stellar media reviews and massive preorder sales and midnight launches.

All involved were happy except for one notable group: the PC gamers.

Earlier this year, perhaps a month or two ago, IW made the decision that dedicated server support would NOT be included in their latest title. Controversy swirled over the announcement from PC gamers for various reasons, mostly citing lag concerns over the proposed IWnet system and the inability to organize clan matches over the service, effectively crippling competitive gaming for previous COD4 fans. Apparently, after some time, the decision ceased to grate on the public’s nerves.

Until now. On media site IGN PC and reviewer Amazon.com, and probably to spread among other review sites; the vitriol has re-emerged, more starkly defined as ANGRY than ever. PC gamers have been weighing in pointedly about the lack of dedicated server support and been giving the possible blockbuster game of the year… two thumbs down. Average reader reviews on IGN have plunged to the 1.5-2.0 range, and Amazon readers have been giving it much the same treatment, with Modern Warfare 2 now earning perhaps TWO stars on average (EDIT: as of 4:54 pm on 11/11/2009, the PC edition has 121 1-star reviews on Amazon, compared with 10 5-star reviews, averaging out to actually 1.5 stars).

Now obviously these 1-star reviews are hardly justified (lack of dedicated servers would maybe bust it down to an 8/10 at worst, personally), but they do represent a fundamental discontent among the PC community for the notable lack of this feature.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Do you think this sort of public review bombing will force a change in IW’s policy? Is this undeservedly marring the launch of an otherwise stellar game?

See the original article at IGN PC.