Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) Review

The end of the rebooted Modern Warfare franchise is coming out later this year so I decided to replay the beginning of the rebooted franchise Modern Warfare and here is my review for the game. The premise of the game is set in 2019 and sees terrorists try and take down the world, this is until a group of elite soldiers attempt to stop them. 

Characters

Unlike the previous Modern Warfare games, you see yourself playing as actual talking characters in Kyle Garrick and Alex. These are pretty decent characters and it is just nice to play as these characters with them having real interactions with other characters both heroic and villainous. 

This game was heavily marketed by the return of Captain Price, this time played by Barry Sloane and he is great in the role. He is pretty similar to the previous version but is really rugged and tough, he also does some questionable things but always with the best intentions for his team and the mission. He is great in the cutscenes and has a good relationship with the other characters. 

Farah & Hadir are two characters newly introduced to the franchise here. They are the leaders of the uprising of Urzikstan. They are great new additions to this franchise, the game does a fantastic job of developing their characters and showing their motivations. 

The only issue with the characters is that of the villains. There are quite a few villains here and none of them are particularly interesting, General Barkov is the main villain but he is barely in the game and it feels like they all took screen time away from each other. 

Story

The story is okay, as I mentioned above it was really cool to play as characters that would communicate with others while the game was going on. The game also does a fantastic job of setting up Farah & Hadir's story. I also appreciate that this game doesn't use much from the previous rendition of Modern Warfare, really apart from Price being here none of it is the same. But as I mentioned above, the villains aren't that great which does bring the story down. Also, I just felt there were a few too many stealth missions here that got quite repetitive. 

Side Content

Really the only side content here is the multiplayer. Now the multiplayer is really fun, you have all of your traditional COD game modes and the customisation is detailed, probably a little too detailed but you can tell that lots of love and spirit was put into this multiplayer. But I had a problem with Spec Ops, this was to have a multiplayer that linked to the main story, that is a great idea but the missions are dull and they have weird modifiers on them which feel unnecessary. Also the lack of single player content other then the campaign is a big let down. 

Gameplay

The gameplay is the best part of the game. The gunplay is fantastic and overall action flows really nicely. You can Mount walls and cover to aid with aim and that is a big help to somebody like me. This gameplay is tough and you will die a lot, but it is really fun and never really slows down. 

Graphics

The game looks fantastic, the in game graphics are really good and the action feels realistic and brutal. The cutscenes look really great with the acting being top notch from everybody. The problem is that at least for me the cutscenes kept glitching out, I am not sure if it just my disk or whether it was a big issue but for me it was. 

Overall

Overall, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is an above average game. It has some really fun gameplay and decent attempt at rebooting the franchise. But this game falls a bit flat overall, it doesn't hit the highest of notes. Now that it is pretty cheap it is probably worth a pick up but don't expect the quality of the original Modern Warfare Trilogy. 

Rating - 6/10

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (2020) Review

Before the new Modern Warfare 3 is released later this year, I wanted to play as much of the Modern Warfare franchise that I have available to me. Next on the list is the original Modern Warfare 2, but the issue is that you can't get the original version of the game on Next Gen, you can only get a remastered version of the campaign. I played through the campaign and here is my review for the campaign. The premise is set 5 years after the events of the first game, after a major international incident, World War 3 is upon the characters and it is up to the heroes to find a way to stop it. 

You once again play as silent characters

Just like the other original Modern Warfare games you play as silent characters, this time the majority of time is played as Private Ramirez & Sergeant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson. They aren't really characters as they have no dialogue but it is fun playing as them and as I mentioned in my previous review, the way the game is made makes you care about them and their success. But yeah, there is no doubt that playing as a silent character isn't as rewarding as playing as an actual character that you can really develop. 

The Side Characters and Villains are fantastic

A big criticism I had of the first game was its villains and this game does it a lot better. The Ultrarational Party is now led by Makarov and he is a way more interesting character then Zakhaev, they do interesting things with his motivations and characters. In the first game you played as Soap but now he is you Captain and it is so cool playing alongside a character that is such a big part of Call of Duty Lore. Having side characters such as Sergeant Foley who is played by Keith David and General Shepherd played by Lance Henriksen adds plenty of legitimacy to these characters and it is awesome to have them here. 

The gameplay is fantastic

Following on from the first game, the gameplay is great. I would even argue that it is a little better here in this game. You get to use many different weapons and take on lots of different enemies and it is always exciting. You can play pretty much any way that you want and that makes this game a real challenge but never a cheap one. 

The US Marine Ending is Unfulfilling

Just like the previous game, there are two stories one involving Task Force 141 and then one involving the US Marines. The Marine one is crazy and shows off some amazing visuals and how war would maybe look like if it came to major cities. But, I felt like there wasn't a definitive ending to their story, you just finish a mission and then we never see them again. 

The Task Force 141 Ending is Fantastic

Then there is the other side of the story. With iconic characters such as Soap, Ghost and General Shepherd involved it is awesome to see them progress through this crazy story. The last 3 missions involving these characters are so exciting and some of the best First Person Shooter missions ever made. 

The game is full of Iconic Missions

The major thing this game has is the majority of these missions are just iconic to the community and video game fanbase. You have No Russian, which is one of the most controversial things to ever be put into a video game, The Gulag which is brutal & Burger Shot which sees us fighting Russians and product placement. There are even more missions, they are all fantastic and this is a really fun playthrough. 

Overall

Overall, it sucks that we don't have access to the multiplayer, which was fantastic and legendary. But The Modern Warfare 2 Story mode is also fantastic and I think it is worth a playthrough by any fan of the franchise, it is pretty cheap on the next gen stores so I would say to definitely pick this one up. 

Rating - 9/10

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2007/2016) Review

It has been announced that we are set to get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 this winter, in preparation I thought I would go back and replay some of the other Call of Duty games and I started with Call of Duty Modern Warfare which was first released in 2007 and then remastered in 2016 which is the version I played. The premise of the game sees a group of soldiers from different countries working together in order to stop Nuclear War. 

Characters

In this game you play as two characters Soap Mactavish and Private Jackson. These characters have no dialogue and they are just vessels to what we play as which makes them not that interesting. I have never been a big fan of voiceless characters and COD will do a better job with this in future games. But I will say, the way the game is filmed and made, did a good job in making me care about these characters and build some emotional scenes. 

This game introduces the iconic Captain Price, voiced by Billy Murray, Price became the poster child of this franchise and he is an awesome companion here. He is a cool leader and has some of the most iconic lines in the franchise and is easily the best character here. 

You have quite a few characters that work with you such as Gaz, Lt Vasquez and Sgt Griggs and they are all well done. Gaz is a fun Englishman that has some great one liners whereas Vasquez & Griggs are your pumped up American marines which is a nice change of pace for sure. 

But there is an issue with the villains and the fact that they just aren't interesting. They set up a backstory between Price and main villain Imran Zakhaev but they don't go far enough with it and they don't even really share a scene together in the entire game. Zakheav is just a pretty generic villain and they would get better at writing villains later on in the franchise. 

Story 

The story is really well done here. You alternate between the two main characters and the missions feel completely different and unique. The characters you are with are given a personality and I liked how the story raises the stakes to a ridiculous and over the top level which made it feel like I was playing to save the world. Yes, the villain isn't great but it doesn't hold back too much here and I really enjoyed the ending of the story, it isn't a long story but it is really effective. 

Side Content

To be fair to this game, because of its release date there is basically nobody on the online anymore. But I have played a bit and it is really fun, updated for the modern game and has great action. The maps were all fun and different with plenty of different game modes such as Team Deathmatch, Search & Destroy and Free For All. But there is pretty much no single player side content, this is a shame as it does feel like this game is a bit light on its overall content. 

Gameplay

The gameplay is fantastic, the gun play is exciting and it feels like your character is stuck in these massive battles. This game also has one of the most iconic missions in COD history All Ghillied Up, which is a major stealth mission which would inspire so many missions following. Whether single player or multiplayer this game is always exciting and challenging which is great to see. 

Graphics

As I stated at the beginning, I played this game on my PS5 with the remastered edition, thus the game looks really good. Every character model looks fantastic and the maps are detailed and planned out really well. 

Overall

Overall, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a great game with that real feeling of COD magic. It was the first game they made that wasn't set in the past and was in modern times so it was a great success and a worthy addition to the franchise. 

Rating - 8/10