Review | A Closer Look At Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Campaign | Winter Spectacular 2022

Back in 2019 - after a bit of hype - we were graced with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, not to be confused by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game seemed to be a prequel and reboot of the Modern Warfare storyline that started in 2007 and ended in 2011. Both old and new faces were introduced and the game was received rather well with high scores and way more Game Of The Year accolades during awards season.

The game positioned its story in a way that it could work as a prequel to the originals if it flopped but it was obvious that the game flopping was not a concern given the hype. Thus it came to be that a sequel, also called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was announced and this is a very belated review of that game’s story.

If this haircut doesn’t scream “Girlbossing the military industrial complex” then I don’t know what does!

The game starts off with a small mission introducing fan favourite character Ghost as he is out on the field watching an arms deal. At this point, the player gets to pilot the MacGuffin of this instalment: The Predator Missile. Though not outright called this: remote launch, remote guidance; if it has feathers and quacks it's a duck. After this, we get a small jump to returning character Kate Laswell.

Laswell gets clearance to investigate the ties between the two countries that were making the deal and thus the cinematic globe-trotting and corruption-filled story begins.

The Good

The cinematography and set-piece design in this instalment of Call of Duty are great. I cannot praise the game enough for that. Cutscenes are akin to that of major motion pictures. The angles, the framing, the camera movement: they all help sell this illusion that you are there, and more importantly, that “there” is inside a blockbuster Hollywood movie. The game’s stunning graphics and eye-catching locales for scenes help. It is a game full of small but meaningful escalations in what came in the previous Modern Warfare franchise. Why run through a favela again when you can do it in the pouring rain? A small choice like that somehow heightens the desperation of the few vs the world story.

Just some dudes being bros. Saving the world and stuff…

This game even sells the story perfectly. Though there are a few plot holes and character choices that seem rather odd, you can overlook these because of the breakneck pace and how interesting the main story at play is. Things also never get stale because each character has their own storyline running parallel - Gaz & Price running espionage whilst Soap & Ghost do the heavy lifting, all culminating behind the scenes for a great little team-up.

For a franchise that is known for bombast and headline-grabbing shock missions, one of the most tasteful aspects of this story was the fan service. The game opens strongly with Ghost and has clear homages to old missions whilst adding new mechanics and twists on the previous game to make them feel more fleshed out. It is almost perfect. Some of the iconic voice lines even return in different situations just to give you flashbacks to a better time. God, I miss 2007.

The Bad

The game isn’t perfect though, I made the stupid mistake of playing this game on the veteran difficulty on launch day. That was a big mistake. For a replay, I played it on the easiest difficulty, a run-through to refresh myself. I then tried the Realism difficulty. Somehow realism felt easier than veteran. The AI was less accurate, they reacted slower. The difficulty curve just seems out of whack.

My frustration with the game’s balance is compounded when you keep having to restart from checkpoints and you really get the time to think about some of the weird story choices I mentioned and off writing in places. Character motivations seem to just change at some points without warning, for the sake of having a twist. Core characters too. Some mechanics (including a surprisingly fleshed-out crafting system) get used for two missions and never again. These new ideas are neat but if they were only going to show up for a few minutes then it feels like the missions would have been just as solid without these mechanics. Whilst yes I did use them, I can also complete the missions without crafting IED.

Back in my day, we had nuanced depictions of Scots in video games!

My biggest pet peeve though… the voice actor for Soap. A character canonical born and raised in Glasgow. That likes ‘The Glasgow football club’. Is voiced by a guy from Islington London! The best part… It’s obvious. I get Kevin McKidd may not have been available but come on. It comes across so strongly with a very specific voice line too “when Soap tells Ghost to “Bile yer heid” Bile - LIke the fluid, and Heid - sounds like “heed my warning”. 

Instead, we get “Away n’ Beel yer heed’ - Beel.. like Peel. It’s actually spelt like bile, that thing your body produces, meaning you have to deliberately get this wrong. It’s a weird thing to be annoyed about but being Scottish - your overseas representation is David Tennant, Graham McTavish, Gerard Butler and Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

No Multiplayer?

I neglected to touch any of the multiplayer options with this game. The story was gripping and engaging and rather fun but multiplayer? Unfortunately, the multiplayer experience is mired by cheaters, balance issues, and more. While I loved multiplayer in Modern Warfare 2019 - It quickly dropped out of fashion in favour of Warzone, it’s just easier to monetize a Battle Royale.

WeDamandToBeTakenSeriously.gif

The problem is Warzone is great… if you are ok with hackers in every second match. Coupled with the game’s poorly implemented Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM) and it takes all the fun out of the game online. Due to the high amount of cheaters, you are unlikely to get very far and if you do go further up in skill, you will only meet more cheaters or people who play 12 hours a day and no-scope you with their eyes closed.

This system permeates the standard multiplayer too. Unlike in older offerings (from the 360/PS3 era), you can’t sit in a lobby with the same 11-17 folk, cycling maps for hours on end. Once a match is done you find a whole new lobby, there might be some carryover, but the game a lot more competitively orientated. That’s fine if want to get to an esports level, but if you just wanted to shoot the shit with strangers and have fun like the good old days, you are out of luck.

Conclusion

To wrap this rather short review up - I do in fact recommend Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II not to be confused with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The story is a great follow-up to the story in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare but also holds its own on its own. Both the overall story and cinematics do their best to draw you in and the myriad of global locations keep things from going stale.