Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)

When I was younger, I really enjoyed playing the Call of Duty series. The franchise has its fair share of solid entries (World at War, Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops) but as the franchise continued to truck along, it lost a lot of its charm and attention to detail. Sure the stories sometimes reeked of exaggerated macho-man moments and implausible scenarios, but it was good gameplay and pure fun. The series had its ups and downs in the past several years as it dabbled in science fiction (Advanced and Infinite Warfare, and Black Ops 3), ludicrous political scenarios (Call of Duty Ghosts) and ultimately just gave up and presented a full on Battle Royale multiplayer game (Black Ops 4). Even Call of Duty World War II, didn’t really leave a good impression on me. But here with Modern Warfare there was a chance to return the franchise to something familiar. Did they succeed? Kind of. Going in to Modern Warfare, you know the gameplay and you know how the game feels. That’s fine, Call of Duty games are real accessible when it comes to the over all experience and settling in to play the game. But I think the stressing of “real world” scenarios and “real world” setting and combat situations weakened this game for me. Modern Warfare is a reboot of the original Modern Warfare sub-series . The story centers on various armed forces reacting to “real world” conflicts and concerns regarding chemical warfare, international terrorism, and civil wars. The graphics are really good and the sound is probably a bit too good as the multiplayer sound has the unintended result of making things hard to hear. Familiar faces return to the series such as a recast version of Captain Price. Other figures from the previous Modern Warfare games are mentioned in name only which almost makes these shoutouts feel like something out of a Marvel or big tentpole franchise film that is littered with easter eggs and references. The story seems to set itself up for a sequel, or sequels, but if this is going to be the norm for this sub-series, I don’t know how long I’ll manage to stay onboard for the ride. This game likes to champion itself as tackling “real world” conflict situations. But it doesn’t really. Yes, you have some tense moments and amazing setpieces, but at the end of the day it all seems to be rather cheap for several reasons. 1. A Middle Eastern country that is clearly supposed to be Syria was renamed and is a fictional setting……that cheapens the game immensely and doesn’t allow for people to actually see what is or could be going on in that setting. 2. There is a scene where you have to shoot suicide bombers in the head so that they won’t detonate. This is kind of disturbing because now you are taking a terror tactic, used in the real world, and turning it into an arcade mechanic? I actually laughed when this happened because it reminded me of a mission in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus in which you have to kill these chickens to get a key from a ghost who wants to make some gumbo from the chickens you kill. As you whack at these chickens, periodically roosters will charge at you holding bombs attempting to blow you up. The fact that I laughed at the suicide bombers in this game and that a video game aimed at younger gamers first came to mind while experiencing it, should be a clear sign of failure. Again, there are some tense moments, in the game. But the game does not go very far with them and it doesn’t change the fact that the game is still, for the most part, the same old annual installment Michael Bay-like video game that delivers the action and a very good multiplayer. Is Modern Warfare bad? No. I enjoyed it and it brought back a classic Call of Duty feel to the franchise. But that does not absolve it of the many places where it went wrong.

Rating: 4/5

Absolutely terrible story, if you want to play a good modern warfare story, play Spec Ops: The Line. Having said that the campaign is still fun, even if the story is completely unrealistic even for a COD game. Over abundance of camping and camping tools like claymores, and ridiculously unbalanced guns, make the multiplayer just feel to slow. I don't want to circle an entire map just to find one guy. Speaking of maps the game has some non linear and fun maps, making the game's graphics shine. All the animations, sound effects, and recoil of the guns make it feel like a modern military shooter. Having said that the variety in guns is surprisingly quite big and you not only have 1 rocket launcher like in Black Ops IIII, you have 4 rocket launchers, all different. But the variety doesn't matter if when you join a lobby you always see 3 guns, the M4A1, MP5, and 725. This makes combat unbalanced, forcing you to use those guns to compete. The third mode spec ops, is literally unplayable. Enemies who you kill come back moments later, you're constantly put into these choke points with no way out and you find yourself failing anytime you try to do them, that and the survival being locked for PS4 players (Granted I have the PS4 version) pisses me right off. All in all game plays like a modern military shooter, with nice animations, sound effects and of course gun variety and recoil to make you learn recoil patterns. But it's terrible plot, overabundance on campers, and the game having the single worst 3rd mode in any COD game makes me just not like it as much as I should. 5/10

This multiplayer felt good. They really did go back to what they were good at and it’s been a long enough break for me that I really liked it. Also this game had the best gunsounds that I think I’ve ever heard. I like the customization the multiplayer had and the way they implemented it. It felt like constant progression that mattered but didn’t give a hugely unfair advantage. Also there is a lot of different game modes. Gun fight was a great addition and ground war is a great addition.

Then we go to the Campaign which I think was even better. It’s the best shooter campaign since doom. And because of time and general progress I think it’s even better (doom eternal though let’s see). There were so many moments in this campaign that shocked me. So many mission had a unique feel to them. As with the multiplayer the campaign looks and sounds so good. The ending to the campaign was a bit anticlimactic but over all it was very very fun.

Update: they added a BR mode and it’s really good. They made it unique enough from other BR game modes and I like the changes they made. This BR mode is well done and is just more quality content in this already content filled game. The gulag is a great addition. The contracts and money, and buying people back is a great addition. I like that you can make loadouts. I think this is a really fun BR mode.

Update Again: My oh my do I like Warzone and also gunfight. This game has been a fantastic self isolation helper. I’m having a blast playing the BR mode. When you get in an intense fight especially near the end it is so much fun. This BR game is more of a journey than the others if that makes sense. The amount of time I’ve spent playing this COD is ramping way up but it’s still remaining fun.  This game is a high A.

Update Another Time: I continue to play Warzone and enjoy my time playing it even as the hours rack up past 2 days in warzone alone. I have 8 wins at this point and every one feels different but all were incredibly intense and exhilarating. The sniping that you can do in warzone is some of the best sniping there is. This game is promoted to an A+.  It has maintained such a high level of entertainment for so long. One of my favourite multiplayer experiences of this generation.

Update continued: I love this game. I fucking love it.  

I can’t believe I have more updates: Win count is at 22. Each new win is still invigorating. Play time is huge. Over 4 days in warzone. This is my most played multiplayer game in quite awhile. Maybe even the most played of this generation? Fortnite might have more hours. But this is either first or second. Circumstance has definitely played a factor in the huge amount of hours I have logged in this game. Ie, Quarantine and the fact that friends play it so I get the social aspect. But the game has still maintained this level of enjoyment for a ridiculous amount of time and that needs to be noted. Well done game, well done. You have fully redeemed yourself COD. I’m back on board even after that fucked up WWII game.

I jumped back on for the Halloween event. It was awesome. First game I got 8 kills. Lots of fun. It reminded me how good this game is. The zombies addition is a great idea to keep it fresh. 

I played another handful of zombie rounds and it is a fun new twist. It’s a lot of action since the map is so small and the zombies truly add a nice new spin.  I don’t plan to play much more of it but I have enjoyed my time jumping back in. Fantastic game. 

I’ve kept playing this zombie mode. Its had more longevity than I expected. The play style is unique. A lot more hunkering down but it’s still action packed because the extra zombies and the small map. I love trying to fight my way back as a zombie also. Finding a lone human and getting him when he is trapped in close quarters or sneaking up on him is a great way to get back in the game.

I’ve played a lot during this 2 week zombies period. I really like the game. And I just got my first win. I did it essentially solo. I had 19 kills and my teammates had 2 and 0... so that’s a solo win. Pretty fucking epic.

I’ve jumped on again for a little bit. The game is unreal. I just had to say it one more time. It’s the greatest. So so good.

Campaign Replay:
I’m replaying the campaign on the Series X because I remember liking it so much.

Really solid campaign. It does a great job of making every mission feel unique and memorable. It’s tight and action packed. It feels great, looks great, and sounds great. The story is a good blockbuster that sets up great missions and has so many jaw dropping moments. The characters are solid. I was very impressed playing through it again. Especially after playing Cold War. This campaign is soooo much better than cold wars. Way more fun. 

Final Score: A+