Geek Stuff | Modern Warfare Review

War Never Changes

I have a growing base of friends who firmly believe that digital downloads are the only way to go. The idea of waiting in any type of line for a video game is beyond them. To an extent, I agree with them, but not when it comes to Call of Duty. I have been a fan of the COD franchise since the very first release on PlayStation 2. Things reached new heights with the advent of COD multiplayer in the fourth installment back in 2008. Eventually, Call of Duty got so big that midnight releases became a necessity.

This is the one and only time I am willing to stand outside, in the cold, for a game I could easily download from the comfort of my warm home. Modern Warfare was well worth that long, frigid line.

Campaign Mode is Back!

First and foremost, the graphics are gorgeous, quite possibly an all time high for the series overall. It took roughly three evenings worth of playtime to beat the campaign on normal mode. Split up between 14 stages, the campaign sees franchise favorite Captain Price working along side freedom fighters from a made up area of the world as they try to defeat terrorists from another factious faction. While the story isn’t anything new, it does offer a few twists and turns that keep you interested until the very end. Which ultimately, is the only reason to play through the campaign aside from unlocking a few skins for multiplayer.

**Warning! Spoilers Ahead!**

As I just stated, the “tea time” ending is the whole reason to play the campaign. As Captain Price and General Lyons discuss an upcoming mission, Price let’s Lyons in on who he will select for the team moving forward. The two major names that stick out are Soap and Simon Riley. Soap originally appeared in the original Modern Warfare 2 and Simon… well, if you’re a die hard fan like me, you know this is the greatest character to ever enter the COD franchise: GHOST!

The writers of Modern Warfare were clever, putting a faceless photo on Simon’s background file, with Captain Price remarking to General Lyons that no one knows what he looks like.

The fan base at large is speculating that Modern Warfare is a complete retcon if the COD universe and quite frankly, I’m totally fine with that… considering Ghost met his tragic end at the conclusion of COD: Ghost.

**End of Spoilers**

Multiplayer Mania

Modern Warfare’s multiplayer feels like reconnecting with that old friend from high school. Sure, some things have changed (like perk layouts and how you complete missions) but it’s a joyous reunion as you can quickly pick up and go with any of the initial class selections. Per the usual, you unlock create a class at level 4 and from their you are free to mix and match most of your favorite weapons and items.

Instead of allocating ten points to ten various things in your create a class, each weapon has five slots for various attachments, you can attach five things to both guns at the cost of movement speed and other gun related defects. Right now my main create-a-class (affectionately nicknamed Bryan Cranston) has three attachments per my primary and secondary weapons with Scavenger, High Alert and Amped Up assigned to my perks. High Alert is a new perk that allows you to know whenever someone is looking at you when you are not facing them. It’s handy but you need to be incredibly quick in order to kill the enemy creeping on you before they kill you.

Ground War is a fever dream come to life for anyone who loves big battle modes but hates games like Fortnite. Ground War plays like a game of Domination in which you must capture a number of objects and hold them for a certain amount of time in order to win. What kills me is the limitless possibilities on certain stages. My favorite, Turvok, is a large cityscape full of skyscrapers that are completely scaleable.

Our first night playing, my buddy Moose and I recreated Die Hard atop the SKN Building as we watched our team dive bomb helicopters into neighboring rooftops in an attempt to kill the horses of snipers. It was absolutely bonkers and I can’t wait to do it again!

Final Judgement

My only complaint this time around involves how you complete missions within multiplayer. Every COD that’s come before it has a list of random things you must do in order to unlock cosmetics and extra XP. These missions could be completed at random and you could complete multiple missions at a time… this is no more. In order to complete missions, first you must select a bracket and then proceed through each mission in order from one to seven. You can change brackets but at the cost of progress, which is a bitch when considering the level of difficulty to accomplish some things.

Never the less, this game is worth every dollar and I highly recommend it over the other TDM style games out right now.

-Dann D.

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