WAR HAS CHANGED AND DAMN IS IT BEAUTIFUL
Every year, Call of Duty swings in with a new story, style, and multiplayer mode that makes fans lose their minds. When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was announced, fans rejoiced because it was a return to one of the best Call of Duty stories of all time. Captain Price and his crew were known in the COD Universe as one of the best military forces on the globe. In this soft reboot, you play as Sergeant Kyle Garrick, a head-strong ex-British Soldier that eventually works side by side with Captain Price. Price and his team’s goal is to take down the Wolf and the terror group Al-Qatala, but with that comes many challenges and a lot of sadness.
Throughout the game’s story, I felt as if I was watching a documentary of war, as I did with Call of Duty World War II. The world of war is something a lot of us will never truly understand, but one thing I do know is this…during war horrific things happen and it seems Infinity Ward wanted their players to know that. There were many times during Modern Warfare’s story you witness some pretty horrible things, one scene we see Captain Price throw a civilian over a balcony with bombs strapped chest to save himself and the other hostages. Another time we have to play as a child running for her life as her and her family try to escape a terror attack, and for the first time in this type of game we see the depiction of female terrorists as the team executes a stealth mission in which we “takedown” all of the extremists.
Although these things are jarring, I feel Activision and Infinity Ward really wanted to make this Modern Warfare reboot push the envelope when it comes to realism. They wanted to show us all what can really happen during these types of events and it stuck with me long after completing the crazy, compelling story. With that said, some of the story was a bit predictable with certain characters pulling double-crosses or even the run-of-the-mill scenarios that you were put in. A few times we had to take on a ton of enemies in an against-all-odds type of battle, or we were chasing someone, etc. I know that these types of levels are kind of expected in Call of Duty, but I also feel they are a little played out.
The graphical presentation in-game was something pretty spectacular, there were a lot of times we would be in the middle of an in-game cutscene and I would be so engrossed by the story I would forget that I need to move my character. This is by far the best visuals of any Call of Duty, year to date. Even the small details like background scenery and lighting were really pushed to the limit and made me realize how much power the Xbox One and PS4 still have.
SOME CHANGES NEED TO BE MADE
Multiplayer has changed every year, from the original boots on the ground to wall running jet packers, and now back to boots on the ground. With those style changes, has come to the challenge of trying to make multiplayer overall more fun. This year, Call of Duty has some of the most modes ever available in any COD game. As of right now, the available modes in-game are Team Deathmatch, Cyber Attack, Domination, Search and Destroy, Headquarters, Hardpoint, Free-for-all, Gunfight, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, Realism, and Ground War. Just that amount of game modes should get you excited, but what is even better is the fact that there are six more game modes on the way in the coming months. With this year’s Call of Duty having no Season Pass, that is a pretty big deal and I hope Activision sticks with the said trend.
All the modes are a great addition to the multiplayer experience but for the first time, Call of Duty has tried to take on Battlefield with the new 64 player Ground War Mode. Yes, that is correct, you can play a Call of Duty match where 32 players face off against another 32 players! This is a really exciting change for Call of Duty, but there are some big changes that must be made to make this mode successful. One of the biggest problems with this mode is the map layouts and how cluttered they seem.
In Battlefield, the 64-player match maps are so widely spread out that you honestly feel like you’re on a real battlefield. In Ground War, I have run into over-crowded areas literally every time I play the mode. When I say crowded, I mean it. Spawning in and only being able to run a few steps before being sniped or met by 12 enemies does not make for a fun experience. I can only hope they will come out with maps soon that will be a bit larger and more spread out.
Another problem with Ground Wars is the level glitches that players use during a match. On multiple occasions, I have been playing the game, been killed, and find on the kill cam that I was taken down by someone hiding in a glitchy part of the level. Not only is this aggravating, but it also makes me not want to play the mode so my K/D won’t get any worse than it already is. I know this may seem minuscule but I had this issue with Battlefield V this year as well, the glitch never got patched, and I eventually stopped playing that mode completely. There are updates that have been made in the last few weeks to combat some of these issues, but until we see more spread out and open maps, I’ll be spending less time in this mode.
I also like how the multiplayer maps are laid out compared to previous games in the series. Instead of there being three to four laid out pathways for a run-through, the levels were more spread out and had more of a real-world feel to them. With this layout, if I am playing a round it is more unpredictable where I or my teammates will be. In the previous Call of Duty games, people would camp in these pathways just to rack up kills, but the new design to the maps helps a bit with the camping side of players and makes the matches a bit more enjoyable.
Lastly, I do have to say the COOP mode is fun, but I do not like how the PS4 had the console exclusive Survivor mode. When the game was first announced, it was made clear that there would be no timed exclusives and that all content (maps, modes, etc.) would launch the same day on all platforms. Then before launch came the news that COOP Survival was not only going to be coming to PS4 first, but it would be locked to the system for a full year! I have changed a lot in the last few years and one thing I have come to despise console exclusives for a Triple-A title. If the game is coming to all systems, then all the content should be available for all players day one.
OVERALL
Call of Duty Modern Warfare is a beautiful and fast-paced shooter that is probably the best COD game I have played since Call of Duty World War II. The improvements made to the overall feel of the game are just impeccable, Call of Duty has never felt or looked as good as it does this year! Although Ground War needs work and console exclusives should not be a thing for triple-A games, this is the best FPS title I have played of 2019 so far and I believe has a lot more to offer fans over in the coming months. With the rumored Battle Royale Mode possibly coming soon, new maps, new modes, all for FREE … fans will have a ton of content to play far into 2020!
