Call of Duty returns from Infinity Ward. The studio has decided to make a daring restart to Modern Warfare, the most famous series that has given so many good moments to the fans. It is full of good ideas, with a more tactical and deep tone, accompanied by some shortcomings but that can still be polished and take shape, with future updates.
A more real, more tactical Call of Duty
When we first tried Call of Duty: Modern Warfare during its presentation in Los Angeles, we already knew that we were facing a more tactical and a slower-paced game than its predecessors, with changes to play mechanics that will affect both the campaign and, above all, the multiplayer games. Perhaps the most important thing is found in the new “covers” system that allows us to mount the weapon on surfaces such as corners or railings to peek slightly through them, pointing our aim to bring down the enemy while protected from their shots. Using them will be essential in all aspects of the game, although they are also a double-edged sword if we stay too long looking at them since an enemy could appear from behind or the sides and end our miserable life relatively quickly.
Furthermore, we liked the weapons behaviour, with a very realistic bullet projectile and a recoil that will also require the ability to keep your aim on the target, although, with the attachments.
Another interesting detail is the two types of sprints in the game. The first is much faster, resting the weapon vertically on our shoulder to run in a hurry, moving with more agility, but it is also more difficult to aim at the enemy if we got caught. The second is the classic one, somewhat slower but safer if we make contact with an opponent.
Besides, we also have some new play mechanics, such as opening the doors or a new system to reload the weapons that will allow us to put a new magazine without looking away from the scope.
A robust and raw campaign that reflects the reality of war
Let’s talk about the campaign, the absence of this mode in Black Ops 4 returns in new Modern Warfare. It offers a hard history, with quite crude moments that faithfully represent the warlike conflicts and the moral decisions that must be taken during those moments. In the face of a significant threat or during a war, can we break the moral code? You will find out in this game.
Call of Duty campaign offers us a duration of 6 to 8 hours depending on the level of difficulty. From the first mission, we realize that the game is much slower-paced and tactical, show off all its new mechanics, giving us a different experience.
During the campaign, we will be able to burst doors, in addition to a good variety of missions, we get to use all types of weapons and even certain combat vehicles. We are going to leave it here so we don’t spoil the story for you.
Simply the campaign is very entertaining, offering moments that faithfully recreate the war with some ups and downs in the plot, especially in the final part of it has a patriotic tone that has been done before, yet this time has caused a flood of criticism from Russia.
Despite all, it is our favourite campaign of recent years and is also the perfect game to get used to the new tactical components of the game in order to perform better in multiplayer mode.
The best multiplayer experience to date
The multiplayer is the most entertaining mode compared to past titles, thanks to the new game mechanics that make the title a much deeper game, which is already raising much praise from the community.
More tactical does not mean that you can not move freely through the map, simply it’s not as wise to run and gun like before, and killing everything that comes before you. In Modern Warfare you will have to decide when it is a good time to run and in what situations it is better to stay put for a few seconds and prone.
We have had a great time during all the hours we spent with the multiplayer, you get used to it quite quickly and, the new mechanics of the different modes ranging from classics like Domination, Search and Destroy or Team Deathmatch to other newer modes or with some interesting tweaks that we will talk about in the next part.
New multiplayer game modes of Call of Duty
Beyond the most classic game modes of the series, in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare there are different multiplayer aspects that stand out above the rest, especially the new game mechanics get the most out of them and allowing the game to look great.
Gun Fight is the most talked-about mode. It is a deathmatch for a two-team of duos on small maps and with weapons that change every two rounds, you need to make good use of the covers and master all types of weapons if you want to win the game. This mode has a lot of tension, once you engage, and it is quite exciting and can even serve as “warm-up” before moving on to other multiplayer modes.
Ground War for its part is a large-scale Domination, facing teams of 20 players on much larger maps than we had seen so far in Call of Duty (except last year’s Battle Royale mode) in which we will have to dominate certain areas to earn points for our team and can use vehicles to dominate the map. This mode reminds a lot of Battlefield, and that will delight EA and DICE FPS lovers. We find this mode very satisfying, though perhaps not fits the essence of Call of Duty, although we think it’s a smart move in the right direction.
Finally, we find Tactical Rules, the mode that brings out the best of Modern Warfare, removing all the elements of the interface to offer a much more realistic and immersive experience, having to play, in this way, Domain or Team Duel a more leisurely and synchronized way. This tactical rules has loved us and has given us a dose of satisfaction for each floor, adrenaline and coordination with other partners who can hardly find in other modes.
Online Maps
The main problem of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is that some of the maps do not match well with certain game modes, for example, having to play a Team Deathmatch or a Headquarters in Aniyah Palace (one of the big-sized maps) can be boring. Luckily, Activision and Infinity Ward adjust the map list depending on the game modes in a more consistent way and can offer a better experience for the players.
The absence of the list of night maps during the first days after the launch of the game was quite disappointing. Infinity Ward decided to remove them from the normal Multiplayer list following the complaints from some gamers. Although the bright side is that the studio listens to the community, We don’t know why they delay in adding a new list to be able to enjoy these night maps when we tried NVG mode in Los Angeles, we loved them, especially with the Tactical Rules.
Weapons
Infinity Ward has wanted to give us a wide range of options in this Modern Warfare to equip and customize a lot of weapons and perks of all kinds to create our elite soldier adapting all its elements to different play styles.
To unlock the different weapons, we will have to play the game and increase our rank. Once we obtain the weapon that we want we can level it up using it and, as it goes up, different attachments will be unlocked and we can select those from the gunsmith, being able to choose a maximum of five attachments or modifications for each weapon, picking between optics, muzzle, laser, stock, grip, magazine, and a perk.
The different settings and accessories that we use in each of them will be reflected in them both aesthetically and playability, obviously changing their behaviour, being able to amplify their damage or improve their recoil, which can be reduced. Everything related to the weapons, the ranks and level of weapons and customization have enchanted us, being the best system of “specialists” that Call of Duty has incorporated to date.
Spec Ops for playing with friends
Let us now talk about Spec Ops, one of the modes that raised more expectations among the gamers that is lacking in content and only enjoyable with a group of friends.
In Spec Ops, it will be tremendously important to infiltrate without making noise, remember that we are an elite group of tactical force and not fictional soldiers like Rambo capable of putting an end to the lives of hundreds of enemies. If we play with friends or with random gamers who are aware of this, the mode is quite interesting although somewhat monotonous and with very little content during the launch of the game, something Activision has already recognized.
The main problem is that when we make noise, when we abandon that tactical current and we are discovered (something that has happened to us too often playing with strangers through the internet), is that the game begins to bombard us with waves and waves of enemies that will be practically impossible to overcome even by the toughest groups. The problem is not in the punishment itself but in the way of executing it, with a lousy system of the respawn of these enemies, which appear in front of our noses in places with very little sense in a rather obvious design failure by Infinity Ward.
Efficient crossplay
Another major point of this new Call of Duty is crossplay or cross-platform game. During our review, we have been able to enjoy multiplayer games without any problems with both PC and PS4 and Xbox One players, and we have not suffered any slowdown during multiplayer games.
Free maps and Battle Pass
For the future, Activision and Infinity Ward plan to bring new maps completely free of charge, renouncing the Season Pass and launching them at the same time on all platforms so as not to segregate the community, best news ever.
The Call of Duty Modern Warfare business model will become the Battle Pass following the trail of other titles such as Fortnite or Apex Legends with a free Battle Pass and a premium one, According to Infinity Ward, it will not have any ” functional content that has an impact on the game’s balance as weapons or accessories .” At the moment, there are no more concrete details of this Battle Pass, and we will find more about it later.
A step forward at the graphic level
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is, without a doubt, a step ahead of the series at the visual level , with a new engine that they have managed to offer us a beautiful visuals, with a multitude of pretty nice details like the smoke that comes out from the mouth of the weapons when we make a very long burst of fire or effects such as fire or explosions, more realistic than ever.
Another point to take into account is the improvements in the lighting of the game, especially in the darkest areas in that small lights can play a fundamental role by providing us with a more realistic experience.
In terms of performance, 60 solid fps like a rock.
This excellent performance does not mean that the game does not have failures at the technical level, such as some popping that is evident especially in its campaign, in addition to some very annoying slowdowns during some cinematics, freezing the game for a few seconds and spoiling Part of the experience.
An outstanding job in the sound
In the sound section, Infinity Ward has done is exceptional work, with quality in the audio of weapons, explosions, reload sounds, footsteps and all kinds of audio that make the game completely submerge us in the war, giving us a total sense of war. The sound plays a fundamental role in all sections of the game, including the multiplayer, in which it will be essential to be attentive to the footsteps of the rivals to detect where they are moving and try to take advantage of it during the fight.
Final Thoughts
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a daring restart of the series that has several novelties that offer a more realistic experience, becoming a simulation and moving away from arcade compared to recent years with jetpacks, powers and other elements.
This is the best CoD that we have enjoyed the most in recent years. There are few issues, such as maps that do not match certain game modes or Ground War does not have too much personality and we do not believe that it matches the Call of Duty experience, Tactical Rules are much better, in a way which the new mechanics of the game take on special importance.
Another shortfall is the Spec Ops, lack of content during launch (although Infinity Ward has plans to release more in the following months), the inexplicable absence of the list of night maps and some technical errors in the campaign.
For us, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a great FPS that would be an ideal starting point for Activision to be brave and decide that this as a service, with periodic content and some small tweaks, could give us Call of Duty for many years. Although we will have another Call of Duty next year that may be better or worse than this, but until than this is best CoD.
We prepared this review with a digital code fort he PS4 Pro version provided by Activision.
