As Activision’s newest record-breaking title reveals, sometimes remaking the greatest games makes half-baked decent ones. From a multitude of studios who make Call of Duty titles like Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a game based on a game with a different plot twist, but all of it is just practice for the online mode. While the overall packaging and delivery of the game are positive, the game-breaking issues kill the enjoyment and reveal the weaknesses beneath.

Story

Call of Duty campaigns are typically shorter, maybe 10 hours at most, and this hits it. While the story itself is mostly-predictable, it also featured some of the most fun missions I’ve played since the original Modern Warfare 2 (2009). Unique gameplay mechanics were all used, some of which have me very excited for the next Warzone. Stealth missions feel truly stealthy, with one mission having the player scavenge for supplies to survive a mission gone wrong. This truly epic mission design featured crafting and some corny jokes from the cast. A great Call of Duty story is one where the game doesn’t take itself seriously, Yes, the stakes are high and there are explosives out of control, but it is still a video game.

Throughout the campaign set pieces, there is a definite urgency that exists to propel the player. Checkpoints are plenty, and the only downfall comes in some of the harder fights toward the end of certain missions. Overall though, the speed helps the player get an understanding of what has changed since the last Call of Duty. While the story of a team of cool fellas and Farah managed to save the world in what felt like a Mission Impossible movie is a fun ride, the ride is definitely short. In terms of Call of Duty titles, however, this simple yet engaging story really grew on me and is easily one of the best campaigns of the decade. The set pieces allow the graphical fidelity to show through, and some very cool moments accentuated the awe at the visual improvements.

Gameplay

Call of Duty is a series dependent on consistency. When you pick up one of the FPS titles off a sale, you understand what to expect. A campaign acting as a shooting gallery with different scenery and a series of online modes to take those gun skills online against other players. Flavor with different multiplayer and single-player modes and put one out every year. This is part of the reason Call of Duty has been a staple game on many gamers’ shelves somewhere in their gaming career. Some play for a few days, and some spend hours a day. Bridging that gap is sometimes an insurmountable goal that always troubles the audience. No one likes to lose, and sometimes Call of Duty can be guilty of causing frustration.

Fortunately, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 does a great job of being solidly enjoyable and worth the cost of entry. The gunplay is snappy, the game is gorgeous, and there is a little something for many gamers to enjoy. The upcoming release of Warzone 2.0 also promises plenty of exciting hours of gameplay, and Modern Warfare 2 is definitely building the hype with improvements from the previous game in the series. Standard online game modes like a free-for-all, team deathmatch, and objective-based modes like domination are regular fare for Call of Duty fans. An interesting mode called invasion sees 20v20 battles supplemented by AI soldiers, similar to Titanfall 2. In this case, this is a large-scale TDM with vehicles, and when it works out it can be a blast.

The newest iteration of gunsmith features plenty of options to tinker with, and the progression of weapons has deepened with the addition of receivers. This will allow players to modify their weapon from a rifle to an SMG or sniper. Along with the other slew of attachments, this promises plenty of interesting combos for players to come up with for their favorite guns. For myself, I have 4 classes using M4 variants, and it is super cool to see it in action. The progression gives a bigger drive to play with that gun that I think could be a great marksman rifle. After a certain amount of levels, I can swap the receiver for a DMR version and build out that longer-range weapon.

Confusing menus and bugs when matchmaking manages to distract of course, but the gameplay mostly makes up for it in multiplayer. Different game modes appeal to different people and although some fan favorites are missing (Hardcore, Gun-game, etc.), there should still be plenty to interest the casual fan as well as the more intense ones. While the multiplayer is solid enough for a Call of Duty title with a fresh coat of paint, the campaign was actually of the coolest and most frustrating parts for me.

Audio and Visual

Unfortunately, the graphical fidelity was also littered with bugs. Some of them are visual such as enemies popping into existence or incredibly bright lights shining through walls, but just as many are game-breaking. One mission that was quite cool had me jumping between cars and hijacking them from enemies to reach the front of a convoy. At a late stage in the mission, I tried to jump to my next objective but was suddenly in the road dead. This happened 4 more times before I reset the mission and tried again. This bug continued to present a few more times, and eventually, I managed to reset the mission progress and try again while only hijacking trucks and managed to continue through the mission. This totally pulled me out of the cool story and enjoyable fighting and was pretty frustrating. Another moment is bright light Captain Price - see above. This is only one of the many visual bugs with the lights, but when it wasn’t being goofy this new engine looks great.

The audio is crazy. I imagine the noise is pretty accurate, but I would like to think I would wear ear protection on a battlefield. The cacophony is constant, between the chatter of weapons and the footsteps of enemies it doesn’t feel like there is a balance. The volume settings are extensive, but overall that imbalance remains due to all of the audio effects. However, the weapons sound and look great and the overall chatter of the battlefield is intense and pretty great in the larger modes where dying isn’t as intense.

Replayability

It has been mentioned there will be plenty more modes coming with the release of Warzone 2 in complement with Modern Warfare 2, including a looter/shooter mode akin to Escape from Tarkov and Marauders, With this as well as the original Warzone battle royale, the game is expected to be supported for the entirety of the two-year production cycle for the next game, and if it is treated like the previous Call of Duty titles will have plenty of changes and additions throughout that cycle.

At its core, if you enjoy the loop of Call of Duty, this one will feel great for you. The maximum replayability comes from feeling consistently challenged while playing. Having a bunch of wins is fun, but having games that feel like you were doing well but could do better is the best experience. While the self-proclaimed “sweats” are playing Modern Warfare 2 in droves, there are still plenty of not as experienced players who play when they get a chance. This new release caters to that very well, and the Ground War and Invasion modes have moments of intensity but I can also level up my guns shooting AI enemies that aren’t camping me. Keeping the fun of leveling up weapons to only killing players can also cause that experience to be infrequent for gamers not as skilled as others, but these modes with AI are casual explosive fun. Arguably, this is where Call of Duty has always been at it’s best.

What it could have done better

Bug fixing seems to be synonymous for day one patches and early updates to new games, but this one definitely needs to be said. While this iteration of Call of Duty is solid and definitely one for the books, the amount of game breaking visual issues and AI problems and glitches is ridiculous. For a game series that sells millions of copies and has a massive budget this is simply not acceptable.

If it were an indie title or in early access this would be slightly better, but for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to be as janky as it is after an extra year of development is ridiculous. While this will hopefully be cleaned up in the weeks to come, this release is one that could have been awesome and instead was disheartening to see. It’s unfortunate that this has become the norm. Besides that, some major balancing needs to be cleared up for multiplayer to be more enjoyable and more maps need to be added to rotation to clear up stagnation in multiple playlists.

Verdict

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is predicably one of the biggest games of the year due to hype and a huge fanbase. Sometimes this fan base will ride the fan train too hard and overhype a mediocre game. In this case, we have a game that knows what it is and does it well. As a shooter, it ticks all the boxes and will have those who enjoy arcade FPS games thoroughly entertained. A surprisingly enjoyable story and a mildly changed multiplayer round out a decent game that can be both amazing and boring in parts.

For FPS fans, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a good time to get back into Call of Duty if you have taken a few iterations away. Mega-fans are already wrecking me in the multiplayer lobbies, so all I can say for the casual fan is to wait for the Warzone 2 free-to-play to decide if the new graphics and guns are worth it for its own multiplayer. Buy it on sale, but it is worth the buy once the bugs have some time to get cleaned up.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is out now on PC via Steam and Battle.net, as well as on all PlayStation and Xbox Consoles. Check out the release trailer below and let us know your thoughts in the comments!