Review for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 25/10/2019
Three years after the last, Infinity Ward returns to the charge with a new chapter in the Call of Duty series, with the main goal of to return the series to the glories of the past. To do this, he decided to re-propose to his fans Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare, a title that does not want to represent either a remake of the original series or a spiritual sequel to it, but to propose a new saga, thus breaking only partially with the past. It is known to all Call of Duty fans that the Modern Warfare series is one of the most successful, both from a campaign and multiplayer point of view, still populated by many veterans today.
The idea of abandoning exoskeletons, jet-packs and science fiction objects heartens us a lot: already from the first trailer we were quite impressed by the choice of Infinity Ward. News that comes with this chapter is also the cross-play between all available platforms, which in the past was not even remotely imaginable but which is now finally reality and has allowed us to play some games with friends from PC directly from our PlayStation 4 Pro.
"Our war is not our faith" - Al-Qatala
One of the aspects that most interested us to try and that convinced us most is the campaign, which after the absence in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII finally returns to enrich the game modes present. As already mentioned, the campaign of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare tells plot strands almost completely separate from those narrated in the classic series, thus bringing old memories such as the much-loved Captain John Price, present since the first Call of Duty and then especially in the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.
At the start of the campaign we are immediately introduced to what will be our final goal: Al-Qatala, a terrorist force that is bringing powerful Western forces to their knees. The opening cut-scene introduces us to Omar Sulaman, also called "the Wolf", leader and founder of Al-Qatala and of course a Roman Barkov, General Russo who in this first phase of the campaign seems to be in Verdansk with a load of toxic gas to be sent directly to Urzikstan, a fictitious region that we can, however, locate in the Caucasus region on the border with the Russian Federation and Georgia.
Our Task Force led remotely by the section chief Kate Laswell and Colonel Norris he therefore finds himself breaking into this factory with the aim of blocking this extremely dangerous traffic. In general, the plot will focus on the war that sees Russia, Urzikstan and America as protagonists, whose task is to stop the atrocities against Urzikstan and at the same time block Al-Qatala. Over the about 6-7 hours needed to complete the first run we will meet new faces and old friends, such as Nikolai, but above all we will find some references to the war and to the plot already told in the previous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
In addition to the well-articulated and decidedly profound plot, especially for the historical period that our world is going through, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare campaign reserves many surprises in terms of gameplay and script. We are therefore faced with one definitely more cinematic campaign than in the past, with cut-scenes shot in CGI and decidedly complex missions, which in addition to the simple "run-shoot" offer valid situations such as the use of bomb drones, air strikes and, above all, stealth phases made possible thanks to the infrared night vision device. In some phases of the game you will have the possibility to choose whether to face a phase in a stealth way or as a Rambo, for example by deciding to disconnect the power in buildings or shoot at the light sources, so as not to be identified and get the better of the enemies thanks to the use of the viewer.
The duration of the campaign, as already mentioned, generally does not exceed 7 hours (unless you play on Veteran difficulty), thus remaining in line with those present in the previous chapters. Although short, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare campaign is in our opinion fantastic, always full of action, never boring and with a really interesting plot and at times even on the verge of scandal, so much so that in Russia the game has been completely removed from the PlayStation Store. But unfortunately, towards the last stages, there is a certain haste to conclude the narration, leaving a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth especially for that "the story will continue in the Spec Ops" which sounds almost like a stretch.
Special Operations that aren't all that special ...
As soon as you have completed the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare campaign, you will finally have access to these Special Operations, better called Spec Ops. These are Operations to be played in co-op by other online players, which unfortunately do not have a real logical and temporal sequel to the facts narrated in the campaign as it should be. We will take on the role of four soldiers, each with specific skills and tasks and we will have to face various missions in very large and dispersed maps. After a brief introduction to the plot, all the rest of the operation turns into a: activate this, collect that and kill that other. So there is no news on the content front, but the problem is that Spec Ops only work partially: after a few minutes you will find yourself at face real endless waves of enemies, which in a huge and open map like the one presented will immediately put you in trouble. In addition to the actual lack of interesting content, the Spec Ops fall on the playability front, making them difficult to access to most, which will leave them shortly after.
The mode is much more interesting survival, which will always make you face waves of enemies but in smaller and more manageable maps. We spent a lot of time in this mode and found it interesting that we could use the same items and weapons found in the multiplayer arsenal. The experience points obtained will also go to the multiplayer count, so you can level up whether you are playing in multiplayer or in Coop at Spec Ops or in survival mode.
A multiplayer that never tires
The main mode of Call of Duty is obviously multiplayer, which this year is enriched by adding new game modes and significantly changing the gameplay itself. The main modes present are obviously the classic Deatmatch, Domination, Search and Destroy, Headquarters, Killing Confirmed and Free for All. The classic modes are joined by new ones such as Cyber attack, similar to seek and destroy due to limited re-entry, in which however, it will be possible to revive the companions. In this mode the bomb will be located from time to time in a different point on the map, the two teams will have to reach it and place it in the enemy base; once placed the attacking team will have to defend it while the opposing side will have to disarm the bomb to save their base. It is a very interesting mode and that we see well in competitive games, as it has already been for the now famous Search and Destroy.
Another interesting modality is the 2v2 clash: it is played in a much smaller map than normal, and with the feature of having a different weapon each round, so as to put players' skills to the test in ever-changing and dynamic situations. Back in an improved and decidedly wider guise War mode, which, unlike the one seen in Call of Duty: WWII, projects us into a scenario different from the one we are used to Cod. We will in fact have a huge map, land and armored vehicles to move and attack. The goal in this mode is to conquer the present objectives to advance in the enemy zone and obtain increasingly advanced respawn points. It is a mode a 64 players which seems to remember Battlefield, both for the size of the map and for the style of play to be used, which will no longer be the classic "run and shoot" but which will reward tactics and team play.
The last mode we want to talk about is "night visor", reintroduced with the latest update and which will allow you to play the classic multiplayer modes using this accessory only. This implies the inability to use the viewfinder: taking aim the aiming laser will be visible to us but also to enemy players, who can use it to locate us. Although the mode uses traditional maps, in games with the night vision device it seems to play in completely different maps: in fact, you will have to think more about the actions, your movements will be more calculated and above all because of the "altered" vision you will have to pay much more attention to the campers, omnipresent in this Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
From the point of view of the gameplay, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare takes all the goodness of the gunplay of CoD and improve it thanks to a better management of accessories upgrades. In the Gunsmith section you will have the opportunity to customize your weapon by adding accessories, each with bonuses and penalties that will heavily affect its final performance and are therefore not simple optional accessories. You will have the classic customizations of optics, stock, barrel and so on as in previous CODs, but in this case there will be much more variety and freedom of choice based on the style of play you want to adopt. Obviously they will not fail the classic three specialties that will enrich your equipment by improving, for example, running, health recovery and much more. Also interesting are i field upgrades, special abilities that will be unlocked during the game and that will allow you, for example, to use a drone to spot enemies or the use of the dead silence skill.
In the barracks instead, you can keep track of daily missions and classic challenges, which will grant you XP points, business cards, emblems or new weapons. There is also a section operators, where you can choose yours respectively by Coalition to Alliance. There is therefore the possibility to customize your style of play to the maximum, as always, and for this reason we were very impressed in general by the multiplayer mode, which with the new reduced time to kill is even more tactical, thus limiting the frenetic races. around the map.
All of this has led to a revolution in Call of Duty gameplay that many, including us, have not fully loved. The design of the new maps - with more spots, open points and side areas of passage - has meant that most players prefer a more defensive and "camping" style of play, an aspect that is not necessarily bad but that strongly clashes with the style of CoD, which although improved is highly distorted by its classic shape.
Graphically exceptional
CoD's graphics engine had not been updated for years, in fact already in the last chapters we complained in part about this now obsolete engine. Infinity Ward has finally come up with a new and better engine that finally allowed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare a big step forward from the graphic and audio point of view. The bulk of the improvements are in the campaign mode where the play of lights, shadows and explosions make every game scene wonderful, starting with the cut-scenes, where the level of detail almost reaches photorealism. White phosphorus, explosions, shots and fires are extremely realistic, then if we combine them with exceptional destructibility and level design we finally get a product that is up to the hilarious gameplay that CoD has always offered us.
The only drawback we can find are some texture, which on PlayStation 4 Pro sometimes, in addition to having a very light pop-up effect, they are of low quality, especially when compared with those of high quality models such as those of the characters and weapons. The latter impressed us as always in a positive way, both for the exceptional graphic reproduction and for the fidelity of the sounds, always precise and of the highest quality. Audio sector, however, that gives its best in the war scenario in general, where shots and explosions immerse us almost completely in the action, a feeling that other games are unlikely to return.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a successful experiment, but one that hides some defects resulting from a courageous and extremely complex experiment. A tough, realistic and amazingly shot campaign throws problems between nations, terrorist threats and many parallels with modern society in our face, all seasoned with truly exceptional gameplay that combines classic gunplay with many other level design choices. which keep the player at attention constantly. The multiplayer is masterful as always, which improves further with the addition of new modes and better customization. A slightly different time to kill, along with some not perfectly balanced maps, make the online gameplay very different from what Call of Duty fans remember, something that some will like while others a little less. Unsuccessful mode is Spec Ops, where almost endless waves of enemies constantly put the group of players in difficulty, who in such a huge map will hardly be able to complete the objectives, abandoning the challenges almost immediately. Nothing to say about the graphics, which improve both from the point of view of textures and lighting while always remaining light and thus guaranteeing a granite frame rate at 60 fps.
► Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare is a Shooter type game developed and published by Activision for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 25/10/2019
