After spending so much time in the future, and a quick romp in the past, Call of Duty goes back to the present. And Call of Duty: Modern Warfare does so in spectacular fashion. The campaign serves as a reboot, offering realism and authenticity not explored in this series before. The multiplayer has that remarkable Infinity Ward trademark on it. And the Special Ops mode continues where the story ends for you and friends to play cooperatively that’s been gone for far too long. This feels like a return to form for the series, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare feels like coming home.
CAMPAIGN
Last year I said that a campaign was no longer needed for this series, and Infinity Ward has proved me wrong. This year signals the return of the campaign, and it’s a great one. You’ll see returning characters in new ways, namely Captain Price as the most recognizable and memorable character from Call of Duty 4. While there are others, they’re best left to be experienced for yourself. The rest of the cast of Modern Warfare features a distinct lack of major faces and voices, which does wonders for immersion into the story and investment towards the characters.
Exploring mature themes and scenarios, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare aims to be more than empty bombast. You’re faced with a fictional threat known as Al-Qatala, meaning “The Killers” or “The Assassins” in Arabic. In addition, there’s fictional locations mixed with real, a new “Realism” difficulty that strips away the HUD, and features the world’s best audio in a game I’ve ever had my ears listen to. It left me awe-struck many times in conjunction with how good it looks. This is cap-ended by the exceptional music by Sarah Schachner.
There’s echoes of Call of Duty 4 in naming of certain missions, laying still to preserve stealth and play possum, and even gunship attacks. But Modern Warfare doesn’t rely on old tricks, you’ll have to snipe targets over 600 meters away utilizing current wind scenarios, bullet drop, and velocity to make your shots count. And navigating that challenge in a short period of time is a triumph. Environments are interactive, and you can shoot lights out to preserve stealth. This accompanied by the best implementation of night vision I’ve ever seen in a game, to the extent you can see the glow of people’s eyes when using them. You’ll be clearing houses in tight spaces while wearing these, and it borderline realistic looking, this game will have you fooled on more than one occasion.
As expected for a Call of Duty campaign, Modern Warfare clocks in at around six hours to see the end credits. There’s no collectibles this time, but the game will capture level statistics like difficulty completed, collateral damage assessment, and a reward that carries into multiplayer. Each of the fourteen missions bring something unique to the experience that nothing feels superfluous, it’s all well-executed design and storytelling. The story and writing reminds me of the CBS show, SEAL Team. There’s a human element to all of this, it’s believable, and it takes thoughtful consideration with every mission to get all the details right. This is best campaign in a Call of Duty game since Call of Duty 2: United Offensive. Looking back on this with fond memories remains to be seen, but it is a good sign there’s missions I already want to replay. And without giving anything away, this is one of the most satisfying and thrilling final missions and exciting ending cutscenes I’ve witnessed. They alone, are worth the price of admission.
COOP
In all modes, your multiplayer rank carries over. You do instead play roles that fit in to the sequence. The coop continues the story from the campaign, but it’s enough disconnected that it doesn’t spoil the story if you play it out of sequence. Only in cutscenes does it feature any of the major players to not give anything away. There are two ways to play the coop. First, there missions which are labeled “Classic Spec Ops” which are just objective-led scenarios that are a bit easier to get through, and more generic. This does not feel like the Spec Ops in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but it is thematically consistent with the campaign.
there’s four Operations that are story-led missions. You’ll pick your mission, then either play with friends or matchmake with strangers to complete missions. These missions are difficult, especially as time goes on. Players can be downed, and subsequently revived. If all players go down, it’s game over. If at least one player survives, a timer ticks down until the other dead players are brought back in as reinforcements. This is good for gameplay reasons, but given that it’s so story-led, you don’t feel truly a part of things. It’s a great way to play with others in a PvE scenario if PvP isn’t your thing.
MULTIPLAYER
Blackout (Battle Royale) is out, Ground War is in. Infinity Ward defined a generation with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare‘s multiplayer. The introduction of leveling, perk system, and kill streaks would be systems that are still used today from other developers. While there’s not a system, mode, or map that revolutionary, it is incredibly well done. The most stunning feature is that the game features cross-platform play. Meaning if you’re on PC, you can play with your friends on PS4, and Xbox One without having to double or triple dip. It’s harmonious.
New to Modern Warfare is Ground War, a 64-player (32vs32) domination mode where both teams have access to ground and air vehicles to conduct their assaults. It’s certainly reminiscent of DICE’s Battlefield series, but this is so clearly Call of Duty, there’s no mistaking the two. There’s now three maps since launch, and each feel appropriately sized and adequate for the task of housing that many players, there’s no wasted space. When all objectives are held, the game ends with a nuclear explosion. Next is Gunfight, where two teams of two battle it out on small maps with predetermined weapons in a best out of six shootout. Aside from any battle royale, Gunfight gets my heart pumping, especially when you’re partner is taken out early and it’s 1v2. I’m absolutely enamored with this one.
There is another “new” mode called Cyber Attack, where it’s an attack and defend scenario where the bomb is an EMP. It’s not very new, but it does the job but is mostly forgettable. For those who don’t want the intrusion of a HUD, there’s a Realism playlist. And of course Team Deathmatch, Domination, Free For All, and Search and Destroy. Apart from realism, there’s a hardcore playlist buried in the filter settings if that’s your thing.
I think it’s worth mentioning, Gunfight features a Final Kill camera replay, and all other modes feature a Play of the Game replay. The Call of Duty series has experimented with both of the years, but the use of both types of replays is a great way to handle it, and it works really well.
Gunsmith plays a big role in Modern Warfare. After spending time with guns, they will level like your player does. You can equip a maximum of five attachments, but some weapons have more attachments than you can use. So you have to be thoughtful with what you equip, and what attributes mean the most to you. For the first time ever, you can now edit loadouts while in a multiplayer match. So if there’s something not working for you, you can make it work with just a few clicks.
Field Upgrades take the place of specialist abilities from Black Ops 4. They offer abilities on a cooldown that are buffs, like silencing footsteps, restocking ammo, or loading more impactful rounds to ensure kills. Killstreaks return, and new ones unlock at certain level gates. Most of them you’ve seen before, but there’s new ones like deployable cover and rovers with turrets on theme to help even the odds. The game features your daily challenges, but also offers missions which unlock blueprints. Blueprints are guns with specific attachments and attributes with a rarity level. Complete the requisite steps to a mission, and you’ll have a unique gun that can be equipped into your loadouts.
PC Specs of Review System:
– Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
– Intel Core i7 6700k @ 4.2Ghz (Turbo)
– NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
– G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
– EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW 8GB GDDR5X
– Seagate 2TB Barracuda SSD SATA III 6Gb/s Internal SSD Drive
The game is absolutely stunning. I only have a GTX card, and the lighting and overall visuals are something you can’t help but stare at. With RTX you get raytracing, but even without, this is an impressive game. The cutscene visuals match that of the in-game looks, as to not be categorically different. It’s really amazing what’s been done here.
In terms of bugs, there’s very little that I’ve experienced. Sure there’s some clipping, and one time a character’s head didn’t load in during an in-engine cutscene (this is with an SSD), but that’s about it. One thing that bugged me was that there’s a constant “Mature Content Notice” each time you go to pick-up the campaign, which is mildly annoying to agree to each and every time. It’s otherwise a really finely tuned experienced.
While it doesn’t break boundaries or define this generation, it is extremely refined to be the best version of itself. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare offers an engrossing campaign along with a multiplayer suite you can’t quit. It’s a game that’s heartfelt and genuine in its presentation. I’m so terrifically excited for what’s next for the story, and the multiplayer is calling my name. Infinity Ward has cemented the Modern Warfare series as the best of Call of Duty, and this is one not to miss.
A Battle.net (PC) code was provided by the publisher for review purposes
