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In "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," Infinity Ward's answer to all the demands for co-op play was Spec Ops mode. The mode basically featured a variety of encounters set across sections of the single player game which you could play with another person, with varied objectives like "Get to Point A without being spotted" or "Defend this point using airstrikes for 5 minutes." It was actually one hell of a fun mode, and it's returning in "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" in the form of Spec Ops Mission. But there's a new kind of Spec Ops mode in the new game: Survival.


Spec Ops Survival is all about, well, survival. You and a buddy can play split screen or online, taking on wave after wave of invading soldiers across every multiplayer map in the game. It's like Horde mode in "Gears of War 2," but with one major twist: money. Killing enemies will earn you money which you can spend at computers scattered across the map. These computers let you buy guns and ammo, and you can upgrade the guns you already have, but there's more than just weaponry.

You can also purchase equipment and support. Equipment includes stuff like the Last Stand perk, which lets you revive yourself from being downed if you get a kill with your pistol. Other perks include more armor or placable auto turrets.

There's also air support to purchase. Guided missiles and air strikes are predictable additions, but you can also purchase a Delta Squad, a group of AI-controlled soldiers that fast-ropes down from a Blackhawk chopper to help out in the battle. Many of these upgrades require a certain Spec Ops level, separate from your multiplayer level, which goes up the more you play the mode.

Meanwhile your enemies are getting harder and harder after each wave. Pretty soon you're facing attack dogs with explosives strapped to them and juggernauts with riot shields. It gets pretty hairy pretty fast, but it's the kind of mode that has the potential to never get old, as you're constantly trying to beat your best wave. It's also considerably more friendly to newbies, at least compared to the often harsh Zombies mode of "Black Ops."

Spec Ops Survival is another indication that "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" won't be pulling any punches in this installment. Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer are still keeping true multiplayer close to the vest, but expect more info on that front to be released in the coming months.

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Where to begin? Survival can be played online with a buddy, of course, or split screen local, or even solo (where it's just you against the incoming troops). The basic goal, again, is just to survive as long as possible. But as you play this match, you earn money (actual virtual dollars, not COD points as in Black Ops multiplayer) that you can then spend at a series of in-map stores. After the first match, a gun store opens up, and then a few matches later, an equipment store appears, and finally an "air support" store shows up as well.

Money earned in the match (for kills, teammate revives, and various other actions) can be spent in these stores on all of the various things a Modern Warfare soldier would usually carry. The gun store holds a number of weapons which you can not only buy, but then upgrade with various sights or add-ons. There's also an option to re-purchase ammo, in case you run out. The equipment store is packed in with things like frag grenades and tripmines, and even turrets and C4.

The air support store is probably the most interesting -- for a significant amount of money (and after it opens up on the map, around wave 3), you can buy some air support attacks, including a new reward called "Delta Squad." When used, that will summon a group of four AI soldiers to the map via helicopter that serve as your allies, shooting alongside you for as long as they live.

Some of these purchases are governed by progression level, and I was told that this time around, Spec Ops has its own experience and level progression, completely separate from the multiplayer progression. While the balance and rewards on that aren't completely locked down yet, one of the highest level rewards was the option to buy a "Riot Shield Squad" in the air support store, which means you'd be calling down riot shield officers rather than just soldiers.
You will probably need everything you can buy and then some -- the enemies start out with just shotguns (which you can grab off the ground to upgrade your starting pistol), and get harder from there. Guard dogs are back in the mix again and not one but two assault helicopters showed up about five waves in. Later, there are soldiers equipped with C4 that explodes when they die, and after that there are dogs equipped with the same rigs. That's right: Dynamite dogs. And on the very last wave that we made it to, I learned that the Juggernaut, the blast suit-wearing badass from Modern Warfare 2, is back.

Doing well across waves (getting headshots, rocking a solid accuracy rating, and taking less damage) gets you more money to spend on in-match items, and Survival also has two onscreen challenge meters to try and fill. The Rampage challenge, for example, rewards you when you kill a bunch of enemies in a row, both with extra cash and with an actual visual explosion of dollar bills in the game world. When you fill up a meter by pulling off Rampages, the reward goes up. Don't pull off Rampages, and the meter will slowly drain out. I also saw a Kill Streak challenge (where you fill the meter by killing multiple enemies without being damaged), and there are a few others in the mix from round to round.

You can share money with your co-op partner if they need some extra cash, and you can revive them if they happen to fall (fallen players can summon their partners to help by pressing Y). There are at least a few difficulty levels to play with, though it wasn't clear how many. And on one more mysterious note, there was an armor value at the bottom of the screen that started at 100, and fell as I got shot. It's unclear whether that's something just for this mode or if it's a gamewide thing, but the Activision rep didn't provide comment.

Was it fun? It was -- the mechanics of Modern Warfare were familiar, and the incoming enemy soldiers provided a different challenge than what you'd find in the single- or multiplayer modes. Admittedly, the action was a little wackier than what we've seen from Infinity Ward in the past (the explosion of cash on a Rampage definitely takes you out of the military simulation of it all, not to mention the dynamite dogs), but even playing with an Activision employee provided thrills I think that would only be expanded upon by playing with a good friend. And the cash/store balance seemed fun -- every time I felt like I'd gotten used to a certain weapon or piece of equipment purchased, I had earned just enough money to head back to the store and pick up something newer and better.

There's not a ton of innovation in the actual mode itself, but of course it's Horde mode painted with the Modern Warfare brush. As one part of the much larger scheme of Modern Warfare 3, Spec Ops Survival is a good fit.


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