A quick foreword to say that our review for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is split into two parts; a campaign and a multiplayer review. Please note each section was reviewed independently from one another, by two different reviewers.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Campaign Review
Words by Mark Foster
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After taking a break in 2018, Call of Duty's campaign mode is back, and Modern Warfare 2019 is vying to have the biggest, best and perhaps most depressing one ever. Infinity Ward's reboot of their 2007 masterpiece barely stops to take a breath through its 5-8 hour run-time, but the difficult mix of Hollywood action flick and real-world thought-piece make it too tonally confused to offer anything new to say on its various subject matter.
Being a reboot, the game's story has a lot of familiar themes; Captain Price and a rag-tag group of heroes are out to save the world from cannibalising itself, and stop the evil ne'er-do-wells willing it on. And when I say the world, I mean the Middle East. And when I say ne'er-do-wells, I mean Russians.
From the outset, it's clear that Infinity Ward has a very clear narrative to tell. One of moral ambiguities and the blurring of what's right and wrong in a warzone. It apes real-life atrocities and secret military operations to give the story of Price and pals some real-world gravitas, and the feeling that what your doing is probably quite shady, but real wars aren't good vs bad. Sadly, it's in the telling of its morally ambiguous story, that Modern Warfare trips itself up.
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Aside from some uncomfortable situations, the story very clearly places you, the player, on the side of the 'good', and the Russian and Arabic antagonists on the side of the 'bad'. It's never really up for debate either. They use chemical weapons on children, while your team mows down terrorists on the streets of London during an attack. This wouldn't be an issue if the game didn't posture itself so adamantly that the world has changed, when the story being told hasn't.
But maybe I'm being too harsh. Call of Duty has, and always will be, a video game first and foremost. Taking a cynical eye away from the story being told, the missions themselves are incredibly enjoyable. Gameplay feels revitalised yet familiar, especially in the new 'raid' style chapters.
Far from being a chance for players to catch their breath from the run-and-gun set-piece battles we've come to expect from the series, these raids ramp up the intensity tenfold with their claustrophobic locales and one-shot-one-kill mentality. I wish Infinity Ward would have gone more down this path to truly shake up the franchise and set it apart from its predecessors, but I understand why they had to use them sparingly within the context of the campaign.
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Outside of this, there's all the hallmarks of a Modern Warfare campaign; sniping missions, people walking over you in long grass and gunship support sections all play their hand in delivering to you the story. It's satisfying to play, but I don't think any of them are going to be memorable enough to make their mark on the Call of Duty hall of fame.
Despite my hang-ups, I have to say that I did appreciate playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's single player component, and it really comes down to what you expect from an Infinity Ward campaign. While the story isn't the true reboot (by that I mean something totally different) many fans would have been hoping for, its action movie vibe will certainly entertain the steadfast CoD faithful. Those hoping for a little more moral complexity outside of the gorgeous set-piece battles will likely be left wanting in the admittedly enjoyable thrillride.
7/10
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Multiplayer Review
Words by Will McCue
The sun is setting outside and I'm eagerly leaning towards my screen, one kill away from a 'Chopper Gunner' killstreak. I frantically dash around the enemy flag, my heart is pounding, hands are sweating. I see the glint of someone aiming at me through their sniper scope in the distance - this is my chance. One well aimed flashbang to temporarily daze my target and I pop my head out of cover for just long enough to quickly line up a shot. The bright yellow '+100' pops up in the centre of my screen as I hear a satisfying ping, indicating that I got the kill. No, I'm not in 2009 playing Modern Warfare 2 with my squad. This is 2019 and the new Modern Warfare multiplayer is so very almost back to its best.
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I come from a generation of Call Of Duty players who used to rush home after school to hop on whatever the latest game was at the time, to grind all evening, only taking breaks to eat or go to the toilet. We've all seen the nostalgic memes and feel a sense of poetic adoration for the previous Modern Warfare or early Black Ops games, which is fully deserved. 'Those were the days' as the cliché goes - though perhaps we look back at those games through rose tinted glasses. Imagine if the newest instalment included the damned 'One Man Army Noob Tube' class? There would be riots!
Players who come from the golden generation of CoD games like myself have been longing for an experience which is on par with what we played over a decade ago. Or at least something that lets us reminisce on what was a genre defining time. 2019's Modern Warfare isn't that, however I do think it's the closest we are ever going to get.
From my time with the game, I can say that there are definitely moments where it does feel like the old days, though these moments only come once or twice a match. Controlling your character feels extremely fluid while gunplay feels powerful and rewarding. The ability to fully customise your favourite weapon with a smorgasbord of attachments is a nice touch, however I don't know the first thing about a real life gun so choosing between different stocks, grips and muzzles can be a little overwhelming at first. But when you finally get your set up right, with a weapon suited perfectly to your playstyle, you can see what Infinity Ward were going for. It makes your favourite gun an extension of your sweaty fingers on the controller triggers.
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I completed the single player campaign before jumping into multiplayer, which unlocked a fully kitted out M4A1. It was good but was designed for a slow play style, where as I prefer running and gunning like a mad man, so with a few little tweaks I was good to go and top the leaderboard.
Killstreaks are also back, which admittedly were one of my favourite parts of the older games. The simplicity of the original 3, 5, 7 streaks in CoD4 and World At War worked so well and it was genuinely exciting when you got your helicopter or attack dogs. I bet you can vividly remember the first time you got a 'Tactical Nuke' in MW2 because I know I can. The rush of adrenaline when you are one kill off your streak is back in Modern Warfare and I love it. Yes, I've felt like crushing my controller a few times when dying one off a VTOL but the satisfaction when you finally get your shiny reward is unrivaled.
When I initially played Modern Warfare at a preview event there was no mini-map in the top left of the screen. You know the thing that shows where you and your team are on the map as well as enemy gunfire. Just gone for what seemed no reason. Thankfully players made their opinions clear and the developers have added it in again, though there are still no red dots on the map indicating enemy fire. For me, this slows down the pace of the game, promoting the dreaded 'camper'. It also almost defeats the purpose of using a silencer as no one can see your trigger-happy self on the mini-map.
However, the other team can definitely hear you. The sound design in Modern Warfare is exceptional. The deep thud of your bullets hitting their target mixed in with the subtle trickle of shells dropping on the ground is almost like ASMR. If you can, you need to play with a decent pair of headphones.
Modern Warfare is at its best when the action is fast: gunfire in all directions; explosions left right and centre; missiles thundering down from above and some crazy lunatic running around close combat areas with a sniper. When you're in the middle of the chaos, it's fantastic. On the other hand, when you're not, it can feel like an eternity for you to get back into the mayhem. Quite often I find myself spawning unnecessarily at the very edge of the map, leaving me to run a half marathon before even seeing an enemy player.
Perhaps this could be the fault of the maps themselves rather than the game mechanics. When you think of Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer maps, you may remember 'Backlot' or 'Crash'. If I say Modern Warfare 2, you'll immediately think of maps like 'Highrise' or 'Terminal'. These are iconic locations that are instantly recognisable to even the most casual Call Of Duty players. Unfortunately, Modern Warfare doesn't have any maps even half as good. It almost feels strange when each game loads up and I don't care for the map that I'm about to play. I haven't once thought "Aww yes, I love this map!". Sure, 'Piccadilly' looks beautiful, but it plays horribly.
Traditionally, Call Of Duty maps have been at their best when they follow the simple three channels rule. Basically, when there's one main line through the centre of the battlefield, with another way round each side so you can flank the opposition. Almost every CoD map that you can think of follows this formula, the best ones in Modern Warfare follow it loosely too. There just aren't enough "fun" maps yet. Hopefully Infinity Ward will improve on this in the upcoming free DLC.
Two big parts of the marketing for Modern Warfare were the additions of the tactical 2v2 mode 'Gunfight' and the gargantuan 32v32 'Ground War'. For what it's worth, Gunfight is a lot of fun to play. Snappy games where you have to use strategy and wit to win. If you're playing with a friend, you could easily lose a few hours without realising it. The volatility of getting a random weapon every two rounds adds to the carnage and matches can sway within mere seconds. It's great, but nowhere near as enjoyable when playing with a random.
A massive team game mode with tanks and helicopters with a Call Of Duty engine, sounds amazing right? Well Ground War is fun...for the first few games but then it becomes a bit of a drag. Like other game modes, when you're in the action it's amazing - one moment I was aiming down at an entrance to a building and literally 10 guys ran into my gunfire - it made me feel like an omnipotent god. Then I died and ran around for a few minutes trying to find the next fight.
Currently there are only two maps for Ground War, both of which feel a little lacklustre. It's almost like a Battlefield game, only no one really plays the objective. A Call Of Duty match of this scale could be amazing, but for me this isn't quite there.
On the other hand, some of the smaller team-based game modes like 'Cyber Attack' and 'Search & Destroy' work perfectly. They are both similar however in the former you can revive your downed teammates, allowing each round to last a little longer. Watching the enemy team go from 1 player back up to 5 with a loud buzz as each player comes back is intense - so much so I can see this being truly exciting to watch competitively.
A lot of gripes that many players have had with previous editions such as "I shot first but still died!" or "I was round the corner, how did he get me?" seem to have gone, at least in what I've played. Of course we are always going to try and blame our poor play on something, anything other than just being bad at the game, but the fine tuning in the consistency of the physics are very noticable. The time it takes to kill an enemy (TTK if you're in the know) feels the best it ever has done. There's no issue of putting a whole clip into someone only to see them jump around a corner and shotgun you in the face. Equally it is fast enough to be realistic and fulfilling.
Furthermore, there are no annoying gimmicks, such as 'Last Stand', 'Martyrdom' or overpowered 'Specialist rewards'. Unlike previous installments, there's nothing irritating enough to make me need to take time away from the game and look at pictures of puppies on the internet in an attempt to calm down. For a CoD game, this is extremely refreshing.
Modern Warfare multiplayer is the online experience almost back to its best. The mechanical, visual and aural improvements are incredible and jumping back into one of my favourite series is an absolute joy. The thought of having all of these improvements on some of the classic Call Of Duty maps would be a dream come true. If we do get our wish of refined maps we could be looking at the ultimate multiplayer game - and certainly the best this decade.
9/10
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was reviewed using PS4 code (campaign) and XBO code (multiplayer), provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.
Featured Image Credit: Activision/ Infinity WardTopics: Review, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Call of Duty game, Infinity Ward, Activision