Lorenzo Delli
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review – Perhaps to call it a return to the origins is not entirely accurate. Infinity Ward and the other software houses involved are more than anything else committed to offering a "fresh start”To the famous series Modern Warfare, creating a chapter that yes, owes a lot to the past, but that also looks to the future by offering a single player campaign created ex-novo and distorting the scaffolding online with different maps, new modes and many other important innovations. Here is our complete review.
| publisher | Activision |
|---|---|
| Developer | Infinity Ward |
| Platforms | PS4, Xbox One, PC Windows |
| Kind | Shooter |
| Game mode | Single player, Multi player |
| Tongue | Italian |
Video Review Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Campaign
Our video review of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare campaign is made using gameplay clips from our gaming sessions on ASUS GS30. Good vision!
Campaign Review
Call of Duty campaigns have always been one of the flagships of the series. It is therefore easy to sense the disappointment of the fans when the confirmation arrived that in Black Ops IIII there would not have been the campaign. Luckily Infinity Ward preferred not to pursue this trend by proposing for this new chapter one of the best, if not the best, campaigns ever seen in the series.
The story that we experience first hand in the new Modern Warfare projects us into a modern context, where the delicate balance of the geopolitical order is shaken by what appears to be the terrorist attack of a well-known group of the Middle East, Al-Qatala. As usual, there is that classic contrast between the good, American and English, and i bad, the Russians and the Middle Eastern terrorist groups, which might seem obvious and even a little banal. In the game there is also a reference to a historical event in which Russia is called into question. Too bad the Kremlin has nothing to do with that specific event (if you want to learn more, here), so much so that it pushes Sony to block sales of the PS4 version in Russia, probably not to feed possible controversy about it. There is also to say that, at least until the end of the campaign, Russia's role is easily misunderstood, and to draw the appropriate conclusions it would be good to play it to the end.
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In all this, the story is actually less trivial than one might think. Indeed, part of the plot is lived alongside and in the shoes of Farah Karim, foundress of the Urzikstan Liberation Force, an imaginary militia of the Urzikstan state that is strenuously opposed to the Russian occupation and the Al-Qatala terrorist group. There is therefore no attempt to pass on a wrong or simplistic message such as "all Middle Easterners are terrorists", Given that there are inhabitants of the Urzikstan itself who strenuously fight the native terrorists.
In any case, in most of the missions that make up the campaign, the game puts us in front of situations particularly tragic. Situations that remain imprinted and that force us, thanks to their harshness and their visual impact, to see conflicts under a different point of view. Theatricality and spectacularity are still there, but this time more than ever there is space for the horrors of war. We personally experience (virtual of course) what could be the effects of a large-scale terrorist attack on the streets of London with the direct involvement of civilians, experiencing the terror of being hit where it feels safer. And again, let's see mothers that to defend their children they take up arms, being riddled with bullets; militiamen who, to defend their homeland, sacrifice their lives. At some point we even find ourselves as a child who, with his little brother by his side, will have to escape from the clutches of the Russian army. Here comes a completely different perspective, moving and at the same time terrifying. There are intense moments, like the death of a parent, the slaughter of innocents, the escape from unscrupulous adults; there is even a fight that highlights all the potential of the title and, again, the difficulties that a child would have in such a wrong context.
The levels are yes on "tracks"But offer a minimum of freedom of approach, enough to give life to real strategies. To your advantage, each mission is filled with checkpoints, particularly useful if you decide to experiment with higher difficulty levels that add longevity and even a further degree of satisfaction. The campaign also allows us to appreciate the considerable number of guns that, in large part, will also characterize the multiplayer section. The feeling of the weapons is magnificent, as is the audio sector of the same. Also used are what will be the skill sets of kill series in multiplayer, and there is even a level focused solely on sniping. Trivial? Not really, given that it teaches us to shoot at very high distances taking into account the trajectory of the projectile and the wind. Beautiful too stealth sections of the game, with the aid of the night vision device which, on the left, has a bar to perceive the possible presence of light sources. In one of the missions we find ourselves having to break into a building by removing the current to take advantage of the tactical advantage offered by the viewer. Really intense, maybe one of the best. The mission in the American embassy is also fantastic, which in a given situation also puts us in the shoes of a civilian (in the third person, then you will understand by playing because) that must go unnoticed among several unfriendly militiamen.
And as for the longevity? Don't expect miracles. On normal difficulty, one wanders around 6 hours, a little bit more if you are players a little less accustomed to the genre. As mentioned, raising the difficulty further tends to increase the duration for the simple reason that you will have to repeat certain sections more prone to failure. In certain situations it could become a bit frustrating, but it is also part of the experience. After the credits actually the campaign continues, albeit in an unconventional way. The online mode Special Operations offers you a series of missions (quite trivial) that in fact continue in part the plot of Modern Warfare putting you in the shoes of operators who then also play in other classic online modes. However, you will be joined by 3 other players with whom you will have to collaborate (maybe even in voice chat) to complete various objectives with increasing difficulty.
As far as the technical sector is concerned, we will focus more when we discuss it in the multiplayer sector. In any case it is precisely the single player campaign in which the graphic engine of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare gives the best of itself. The spectacularity of some events is made to perfection also thanks to voluminous explosions and, at least on PC, also thanks to the additional effects dictated by the use of the ray-tracing. Thanks to the fact that various missions are set in the dark or in any case with situations that are certainly not favorable, the developers played a lot on lights and shadows, enhancing them also from a tactical point of view. Prepare to fire because you see a shadow cast in real time or get rid of light sources to reduce enemy visibility is on the agenda. We have to admit to having had some problems on the PC, found among other things by other users: the endless installation of shaders in the game menus and, for some mysterious reason, almost all the videos of the campaign in jerks, something that absolutely did not happen also in play with ultra and active ray tracing details.
Multiplayer Review
It was obvious that just the multiplayer department it would have been the most discussed and talked about by the community. The campaign undoubtedly leaves its mark, but although it can be replayed thanks to the various levels of difficulty, it is precisely the online the fulcrum of every self-respecting Call of Duty. We have already mentioned the online co-op mode which, alongside three other players, allows us to experience a sort of continuation of the single player campaign, allowing us among other things to level up our account.
Already this modality could be sufficient to satisfy some palates, given that the proposed missions are not at all trivial. However, it must be said that the maps in which these games are played against the CPU are extremely large, so as to be practically empty. From a competitive point of view however Modern Warfare gives its best with an avalanche of game modes. The best thing is to try to analyze them all a little quickly to get an idea of what we will face.
- Deathmatch in teams: how much more classic can you ask for. However, it must be said that some game maps are so large as to reduce the frequency of gunfights, especially in the 20 player variant. The respawn mechanics have remained similar to the past, with a sort of spawn point rotation that depends on the presence of enemy and friendly troops in the area. Let's say that the skin seems to need a little more tactics than in the past. The Aniyah Palace map comes to mind that revolves around a building located less in the center. Moving blindly is not very convenient, also because the building, which often turns into the place where its team or its opponent's castle is perched, is characterized by several floors and several entrances. Teamwork counts more than ever.
- Domain: another of the classic modes, perhaps our favorite (purely subjective judgment, we mean). On smaller maps, such as Piccadilly Circus and St. Petrograd, it is a veritable hell of bullets. Perhaps it is the most valid way to appreciate an older style gameplay, where you keep yourself very much on the move and where the "campers" (read snipers) must still move frequently to avoid repercussions. Here too there is a 20 player variant.
- Headquarters: a rather interesting mode. We already talked about it during the beta. Headquarters appear randomly in maps, the team that manages to conquer it sees the respawn deactivated but instead earns points. The first team to score 200 points wins. An evolution of the Dominio, indeed, it is more Dominio to be its evolution since QG appeared in the very first Call of Duty in the "far”2002
- Computer Attack: a sort of "Search and Destroy" with very specific rules. There is an EMP bomb in the center of the map and two generators, one per team, that must be destroyed to win the match. You can also win by killing all members of the opposing team. The respawn is therefore deactivated, but mortal wounded comrades can be healed.
- Search and destroy: another classic way without return.
- clash: team of 2 players each collide on very narrow maps in several rounds, six in all; the team with the most rounds active wins. Recommended for particularly experienced players. Listening carefully is an integral part of the experience.
- Viewer night: another mode for super-refined palates (and preferably experts). It is played with the night vision device, with a reduced game interface, with "standard" health and with even more "bad" headshot.
- Killing confirmed: each victim leaves a plate to collect on the ground. Allies can also recover them, the objective is obviously to collect more than their opponents.
- All against All: a big mess, the old-fashioned Deathmatch that team game lovers should really let go of.
- Terrestrial War: it is the modality that probably deserves a greater deepening. 64 players divided into two teams collide on particularly large maps in which air and helicopter vehicles are also deployed. An attempt to hook up part of the Battlefield user, or in any case to fill the eventual emptiness of modes that have more players simultaneously? Maybe. However, the experience is very different. The approach has changed a lot compared to the classic modes and, as was to be expected, snipers are very much in favor. There is room for improvement on the feeling of the vehicles, but there is also the possibility of not crossing them or even driving them during a whole game.
We may have forgotten something, but the truth is that the Activision team is continuing to enter ways and, to listen to what was found in the code, their number should reach 23 (and many other maps are coming, here i details). As we said earlier, however, the controversy was not lacking. There are those who maintain that this is new Modern Warfare favors campers too much (read snipers again, campers are something else), diversifying too much from the past. We are not entirely in agreement. Meanwhile, diversifying from the past is a good thing: repeating the same dynamics and the same maps of the old Modern Warfare would have made no sense. In addition, the many game modes, the different dimensions of the maps dealt with and all the dynamics that derive from the use of field power-ups and killstreak ensure that every situation can be tackled with myriads of different approaches. The hated "camper"For example can be reported with the appropriate drones, one of the many field upgrades; moreover, the respawn circular dynamics guarantee that the players continue to "rotate" around the map, perhaps even coming behind the snipers.
To underline the presence of the staging mechanics, which brings us to the dynamism of the new Modern Warfare. Forget about wall races, jetpacks or other devilries. The maximum acrobatic consent is the slide when you crouch after a run. You jump, you can easily bypass various obstacles and in general you tend to exploit the verticality of the levels and the various game elements scattered in the maps. However, edges, walls and the like can be used for stalking, a modality that immobilizes you behind a surface, covering a good part of the body, obviously leaving the head and the weapon exposed. Excellent for defending strategic points, it makes you extremely vulnerable to the flanks or to the use of particularly lethal grenades or killstreak. Since we are here we talk about the latter and the field upgrades. Upgrades are essentially abilities: each player chooses one and, after a certain time of charge, can be deployed in battle with different effects. They range from barriers, excellent for defending sensitive points and to exploit the mechanics of stalking, to reconnaissance drones. There is no shortage of supply cases usable by the whole team and much more.
There are quite a few killstreaks, each characterized by a certain number of killings to be completed to have the opportunity to use it. Also in this case we go from the classic aerial bombardments, UAVs and cruise missiles up to arrive to land drones armed to the teeth, tanks to pilot, VTOL fighters that patrol zones from you indicated and so on. Obviously it is up to the player to choose which to bring into battle. And the degree of customization does not end there. Besides the choice of these last two factors there are also i classics perk, which fortunately does not give rise (at least from what we have seen) to toxic combinations (martyrdom + juggernaut tells you anything?) and a more than discreet customization of firearms. Firearms, as well as the user account, level up by using them and making as many kills / assists as possible.
The controversy we mentioned earlier was unleashed not only because of mechanics such as the stalking, but also because of the map design. As we said just their verticality and, in general, their marked diversity greatly favor the use of different approaches. It is a bit pretentious, and useless, to hope to face every single map with the same combination of perk, killstreak, weapons and approach to the game. It is one thing to make a build to level that, in some way, fits more or less in almost all contexts. One thing is to build all the various builds with the various tools that Call of Duty practically always makes available and make the most of the advantages offered by the battlefield. For those who complain then about the rotation of the maps, which seems to always favor the usual ones, we can only re-emphasize that a lot of news about this is coming and that in any case, to change a little, it is also advisable to change often the mode of game. The pace of play in general is a bit slower than the old chapters, not so much for the dynamics linked to the movement, as much for all that we have said so far and for the possible vastness of some maps. Nothing comparable to a Battlefield anyway!
Final judgement
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review – Final judgement -The new chapter of Infinity Ward boasts a solid, fun and exciting campaign, also thanks to the possibility of experiencing conflicts from different points of view. The horrors of war they are there, in front of everyone's eyes, to remind us that yes, Modern Warfare is a video game like many others, but this does not mean that the themes addressed are trivialized. It will not last long, but it is unlikely that it will not remain impressed. Then welcome the presence of Special Operations which in some way expand the PvE section of the game, allowing you to accumulate the first experience points and levels to be used in the PvP part of the game, even if the maps are too dispersive.
As for the multiplayer sector, despite the controversy of the first hour, we can tell you that Modern Warfare offers an avalanche of game modes, several maps (continuously increasing), a customization of the various praiseworthy operators and a pace of play that, despite being slower than the past, can be appreciated. All those movement skills that made the whole thing too hectic disappear, favoring a more thoughtful approach to the various situations. In short, ultimately a forced purchase for every fan of the series. Call of Duty is back, and he's here to stay!
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Screenshot Campaign – Call of Duty Review: Modern Warfare
Multiplayer Screenshot
Trailer – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Review
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