Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review

Who does not die sees himself.

Version tested: PC, PlayStation 4.

With over 15 years of honorable service, the Call of Duty it is confirmed as one of the longest-lived of the videogame panorama as well as being one of the most famous and appreciated by the gamer community. Despite this, in recent years the renowned brand seems to have lost a bit of the straight path, deviating on more "bumpy" paths and perhaps too futuristic connotations (except World War II) which in fact have not really impressed, splitting in two criticisms and public. We would like to remind you that for some time each new Call of Duty has been managed with a development cycle divided between three main developers, who in rotation always manage to guarantee the annual frequency. This year the scepter passed into the hands of Infinity Ward, who at the end of May unveiled to the world its new and perhaps unexpected project simply called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Exactly, that "Modern War" that had been able to capture the heart of anyone who loved the genre, both in the campaign and in multiplayer.

The developer wants to rekindle that spark that made the series shine in its best times, those that all fans will undoubtedly remember with joy and a veil of nostalgia, including myself.

The whole team knew very well that launching a new chapter with that name could prove to be a double-edged sword, thanks to the enormous success of the various Modern Warfare, and that no mistakes were allowed. In addition, all players would inevitably have high expectations, hoping to be able to savor that glory that has been dissolving within a decade.

Finally, after months of impatient waiting, we have had the opportunity to test the new Infinity Ward title and we can't wait to let you know what we think in our review. First, however, we believe that every self-respecting fan should refresh his memory by retracing the history of Modern Warfare, to which we wanted to pay homage with three dedicated articles that we strongly recommend you to read:

• Back 2 the past - The story of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Back 2 the past - The story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Back 2 the past - The story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

And now, soldiers, fasten your helmets, take up your rifles and get ready to return to the battlefield once again.

Old friends.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is placed close to the events told in Call of Duty 4, but is set in a parallel narrative universe in order to "extend" the story. In this regard, we will have the opportunity to review old acquaintances including the irreproachable Captain Price, undoubtedly the most iconic figure of the entire series. As per tradition, we will impersonate several protagonists belonging to different special forces, each engaged in a specific geographical area but all linked by a single thread that is war in all its facets. Infinity Ward does not intend to catapult us into a single large operation in which the objective is the recovery of dangerous chemical weapons stolen from the Russians, but it also drags us into other equally serious "secondary" conflicts which, unfortunately, are claiming hundreds of victims without blame. Stories of Urzikstan rebels fighting to free their people from the Russian invasion, or even worse, frightening full-blown terrorist attacks, in which we will witness a general turmoil dictated by the terror and panic of innocent civilians who lose their lives as hostages or in an attempt to save themselves. A situation, the latter, which vividly conveys the sensations of a soldier who finds himself in the middle, driven by the duty to guarantee safety while maintaining, in the general chaos, a cool head and perfect clarity.

Modern Warfare it tells stories of ordinary people who struggle against a common enemy, perhaps immortal, sharing victories and joking moments but also inevitable losses, instinctive decisions and the weight of people's despair. He does it with one exciting narrative, engaging and at the same time dramatic, raw and full of meaning, capable of transmitting all the cruelty and sense of fear that make their way through the horrors of war.

We will witness scenes of extreme realism that forcefully try to break through the fourth wall that separates the player from the video game. One of the most tense situations to face is to be faced with an innocent who, in terror, holds his gun and points it towards us, totally disoriented and unable to distinguish the good from the threats. In those moments, humanity fights with the survival instinct, with the risk of having the death of a person on the conscience who, perhaps, would not have pulled the trigger.

What disturbs the minds most is the awareness that all this really happens almost every day, in those infernal places of the world where the life of a person, be it a soldier or an innocent, is reduced to a simple worthless number. The developer fully manages to open our eyes to this shocking reality, showing it from one videogame perspective with a great emotional impact that runs out in about 6-7 rather intense hours, with the best campaign that has been seen since the days of Modern Warfare 2.

Fog of war.

If from the point of view of history Call of Duty: Modern Warfare does not disappoint, the same also applies to the difficulty of the campaign. We played it on Veteran difficulty and we can say that it is perfectly capable of putting our survival to the test, with decidedly lethal and reactive enemies that severely punish any mistake or risky move. Allied AI also proved effective, but not we deny that we have noticed the tendency to leave it to us to eliminate the hostiles, who in turn will target us more.

Il gunplay it is extremely satisfying in every respect, boasting a rich and varied arsenal and an overall rendering of the animations that returns a fluid and precise feedback. The gameplay also acquires a more tactical and realistic tone thanks to the possibility of shooting "safely" using practically any surface as a foothold and a good environmental destructibility.

The title promises a lot of action and memorable scenes without setting aside the beloved stealth component, which is alternated very well and also offers some interesting game phases. Compared to the past, perhaps unexpectedly, in this chapter I am absent the collectibles, which would have allowed a greater exploration of the environments given the level design that is always linear but more open.

To the delight of Modern Warfare fans, the beloved ones return Special Operations, thus reintroducing cooperative mode both online and in split-screen on consoles. First of all, the missions continue the events narrated in the campaign, thus taking on greater depth for the purposes of the story; they are then proposed in two "variants". The classic ones take up the original game formula, with a more focused and replayable experience to get the famous 3 stars. The novelty, however, concerns the so-called Operations, that is missions on a larger scale that require 4 players and are "divided" into various objectives to be completed; there are currently four, but more will be added in the future as new content is released. Undoubtedly, all of them will take us away dozens of hours of gameplay, but in general they seemed slightly less inspired and memorable than those of the past chapters.

PlayStation 4 players also have access to one temporary (one year) exclusive modality called Survival: As the name suggests, the aim is to survive waves of increasing difficulty with more and more enemies challenging. We would have preferred this mode to be available on all platforms right away, but there is enough meat in the fire and we can't complain.

To renew the experience, Infinity Ward has decided to implement the sharing of the character progression system between Special Operations and online multiplayer. As soon as we start the cooperative (or multiplayer, but we want to go in order), we will first have to select our operator for the two factions present in the game, Coalition and Alliance. The roster includes ten soldiers per faction (two are predefined), each of which can be unlocked by completing certain requests. The various characters have unique personalities and looks and it is possible to change their uniforms, but everything is limited to a purely aesthetic issue and therefore there are no unique skills that differentiate them.

It will then be ours public identity, for which we will be able to select, always after unlocking, business cards (the famous "titles" in previous Modern Warfare), emblems, sprays and gestures, all with different rarity levels. An epic business card and emblem, for example, will be animated. There will obviously be the possibility of inserting your own clan tag to create small or large communities.

The above remains unchanged between multiplayer and cooperative. Going down specifically for special operations, between one and the other we can choose the role of our operator among the six available. Each, predictably, has a unique active and passive ability; it goes without saying that it is important to form a team with players in different roles to better face each situation. To cite two examples, the classic Medic can count on a passive to revive faster, while the Heavy is able to grant armor to the whole team.

Furthermore, we will also need to select i support bonus, or equipment useful to provide us with a temporary advantage in the game. Initially, we can only share packages of grenades, ammunition or armor with our team (respecting the reload time between one use and another), but by progressing with the player level and spending the points obtained in the various operations it is also possible to unlock some of the multiplayer kill rewards.

All this gives a more tactical style to the co-op experience, thus requiring a preparation studied in order to create the winning alchemy rather than simply throwing yourself into the fray.

Multiplayer that wins is not touched.

We would summarize the online multiplayer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which incorporates the best of its predecessors without changing the formula and introduces some innovations to meet everyone's needs. First of all, forget soldiers with exoskeletons, wall runs and absurd jumps, because here we return to a direct and solid multiplayer in every respect that every purist fan will love.

Let's start with the analysis ofArmeria, which is nothing more than the menu in which we will be able to create our own custom weapon classes. To give the structure a makeover, the developer has created a decidedly vast and in some ways crazy customization system, as it will even be possible to completely convert the original "nature" of a weapon. In addition to a respectable range of weapons, there are really a lot of accessories to unlock and mount on the various models, including optics, stocks, under the barrel and other components that will change the statistics. It is also possible to obtain unique projects, that is pre-configured weapon versions with specific upgrades which can also be used without having unlocked the standard model. As if that were not enough, we will also be able to give a touch of style to our arsenal not only by modifying the camouflage, but also by choosing the type of viewfinder and applying special stickers or lucky charms. Unlike what one might expect, to unlock new accessories and cosmetic items it will be necessary to level up with the weapons concerned, thus leading players to use them frequently to master them to the fullest.

In the various customized classes, of course, we will also have to choose the lethal equipment, the tactical one, the field upgrades and the three passive perks of our character, including "Jackal" to recover ammunition from the corpses of the opponents and "Inflexible" to obtain rewards kills with a kill in less.

About that, killing streaks return too, which allow, for the uninitiated, to obtain certain help in the game by eliminating a certain number of opponents without dying. These rewards are selectable from the appropriate menu and essentially do not change from those we already knew, except for a few names. The Cruise missile, for example, is the “reincarnation” of the Predator missile, just as the Gunship is for the AC-130 of Modern Warfare 2; if you are a huge fan, then, know that the dreaded Tactical Nuke is back, this time castable reaching 30 kills (no longer 25) without ever dying by counting only the kills with weapons and lethal / tactical equipment. On reaching a certain level, however, it is possible to forgo the rewards in question to instead get extra perks beyond the allowed limit, making the most skilled players decidedly dangerous and lethal without the aid of technological aids.

Regarding the online progression system, a new organization of the Prestige. Once you reach level 55, in fact, the typical reset will take place starting from level 1, entering the seasonal ranks without losing anything of what is unlocked. To offer new stimuli to the “prestige” players, Infinity Ward has decided to introduce specific challenges that allow you to receive extra experience points and ribbons useful for obtaining unique rewards.

The latter are also unlockable by completing the daily challenges and multiplayer missions, i.e. objectives that can be activated from the appropriate menu with the most disparate requirements to be completed.

At launch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare offers over ten game modes online courses, including a couple of new features that will satisfy the tastes of any player:

• Quick match: The maps are chosen randomly and there are various modes in rotation, generally the most classic such as team deathmatch, domain and headquarters. The peculiarity is that we can use the filters to freely decide which ones we want to play, selecting only one or several that will alternate.
• Land warfare: a mode that takes up the Battlefield game formula (to make a direct comparison), with a slower pace of play, maximum 64 players and the presence of vehicles, all set in large maps.
• clash: probably the most interesting novelty of multiplayer. It is a rather frenetic and fun 2v2 mode set in dedicated maps of very small dimensions (like Rust from Modern Warfare 2, to understand). The first team to take home six rounds wins, but the difficulty lies in being skilled and fast with all types of equipment. The game, in fact, will automatically choose the arsenal of the two teams, identical for both, and will change every two rounds, which have a duration of 40 seconds. Players have only one life per match; in case of survival beyond the short time available, a flag will appear to be captured within 10 seconds. At this point, the victory options become two: capture the objective or eliminate the remaining opponents. In the unlikely event that there is a tie, the team with the highest total health remaining will win.
• Everyone against everyone: The classic mode for lone wolves who want to prove their skills without depending on a team.
• Realism: mode for the most hardcore players, with a limited game interface and realistic damage.
• Private match: private matches with friends with total freedom to choose any game option and the ability to add allied and enemy bots.

It is currently possible to play about twenty maps, the availability of which varies according to the chosen methods. The level design is very good and with a basically horizontal development, even if the presence of campers remains in certain points. As announced by Infinity Ward, however, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will be able to count on sumptuous post-launch support that will see the release of only free content.

Finally, we greatly appreciated the developer's choice to implement the cross-platform in multiplayer and co-op: whether you are a PlayStation 4, XBOX One or PC player, you can safely join your friends regardless of the gaming platform. We had some doubts about the actual disadvantages that those who play with the controller can run into (especially in speed and accuracy of aim), but to have fair gameplay it will be enough not to enable cross-platform in the options in order to limit the challenge on the same console.

Like a rainbow after the storm.

We want to say it clearly and without any second thoughts: Technically, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is stunning on both console and PC. The level of graphic detail is very high and on the first model of PlayStation 4 the game boasts a frame rate at 60 fps almost granitic regarding the campaign. In multiplayer, however, it suffers from some slight drop in the most agitated situations which, however, does not negatively affect the performance of the game. Obviously the comparison between the console version and the PC version shows the compromise implemented by Infinity Ward to achieve fluidity. However, it remains a title fromshocking aesthetic impact, especially during the single player campaign, which can obviously devote more computing power to rendering. Instead, during your Deathmatches you will have to "settle" for excellent graphics, even if less stunning.

Infinity Ward's brand new graphics engine, of course, shows all its muscles on PC, a version curated by the guys at Beenox that offers an unlocked frame rate and full support for 4K resolution, multiscreen configurations, ultrawide monitor, Ray Tracing technology and NVIDIA Highlights. Beyond that, there are really a lot of other interesting settings, including the ability to monitor the temperature of the graphics card and even the processing time of each single frame by the CPU and GPU for lovers of in-depth benchmarks.

Our test setup is as follows:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K @ 4.0 GHz
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB VRAM
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 @ 3200MHz
• Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
• Monitor: Acer Predator 27 ″ 144 Hz with G-Sync technology
• Resolution: Full HD 1920 × 1080

With all the graphics settings set to maximum for a total of 4 GB of VRAM required from our GPU, the performance is nothing short of exceptional and the graphics rendering is impressive, giving a truly satisfying crisp and fluid image. The attention to detail is almost maniacal, from the settings to the individual elements that compose them, and the same goes for the animations of the weapons and for the visual effects.

The interlude scenes, then, are at the limits of photorealism (even on consoles), with a markedly cinematic connotation and a thrilling motion capture that in certain situations will make you doubt that you are in front of a video game. In the PC version, however, these videos suffer from a stutter / lag phenomenon sometimes also quite annoying that it does not depend on the hardware but on the game itself. Nothing that has stopped us from seeing them, mind you, but a patch to solve the problem is a must.

Absolutely masterfulfinally the audio sector, with clear, detailed and deep sound effects in any field. The weapons, in particular, boast a sound so precise and satisfying that they are almost "alive", full of character. The dubbing in Spanish is also excellent, which in our opinion has nothing to envy to the English one, and the various accompanying music, always spot on in every situation.

Final comment

The new chapter of the series marks the return of Call of Duty with great fanfare and the fact that it is called precisely Modern Warfare can only make everything perfect, with a hint of nostalgia. Everything is in its place: the narration is of the highest quality and far from obvious, the multiplayer is the original one, the special operations make their return and technically it is masterful. We've been hoping to be able to say this ever since it was announced and now, finally, we can truly do it with utmost conviction: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the best chapter since Modern Warfare 2 and we are delighted that it was Infinity Ward who brought the saga back to its heyday. Expectations have been largely met and we can only congratulate all the guys who have worked hard to offer players a phenomenal title in every respect.