It’s that time of year again when Activision Blizzard releases their annual Call of Duty title for major consoles and PC. This year’s title is a direct sequel to the 2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, not to be confused with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. In fact, to save your brain from here on out, I’ll be referring to the reboots as Modern Warfare ‘19 and Modern Warfare ‘22, while the older titles will remain named as titled. Modern Warfare ‘22 is the highly anticipated sequel to the reboot and the results are, well, they’re kinda mixed.
Let’s get to the good and then we’ll hit the bad. While many outlets have criticized the story as slow and boring at least until about the halfway point, I actually found the story to be pretty well written, even if it was predictable. Rare is the game that does something really unexpected, so I’m not sure what people expected with the campaign’s first half. But I will concede that the story really does ramp up in the second half, I wouldn’t quite call the first half boring.
The game begins with characters finally getting to control the franchise’s greatest character in Simon “Ghost” Riley as he works his way to a vantage point to put eyes on an Iranian general conducting an arms deal with the Russians. In what might be one of the coolest scenes ever in a mil-sim game, after you confirm the identity of the Iranian general, the game flips over to a different character, Phillip Graves, activating a ballistic missile. You then become the missile and have to guide it to the strike point and at which time players are treated to one of the coolest explosions ever to be seen in a video game. It is one hell of an opening, indeed.
From there, players hop all over from Amsterdam to Mexico and back to Urzikstan from Modern Warfare ‘19. The story really tries out a bunch of different things to give players more freedom throughout the missions, somewhat similar to how Battlefield I and Battlefield V gave players freedom to do missions however they choose. You’re free to breach doors and clear buildings one by one or you can pull vent covers off and drop smoke grenades in and then crash in through the sunlights. The game really leaves it up to the player in the missions, the only problem is that they’re few and far between as most of the game gives the player linear paths to follow.
As for the story, if you’ve played the original Modern Warfare trilogy, then you pretty much know all the players in this version. The only differences between this version and that version are the subtle story changes, the more grounded approach, and the casting of tremendous Hollywood actors to play some of the most memorable characters in this game. But those changes are very welcome and introduce some pretty memorable characters.
General Shepard is back and this time he’s played by Hollywood actor Glenn Morshower. Not only is Morshower perfect for the role of Shepard, he adds an element of authority and humor that wasn’t present in the original character, who was more similar to Thunderbolt Ross from the MCU than an actual General in the military. Warren Kole plays the aforementioned Phillip Graves, the commander of a PMC called Shadow Company. The star of the show might be Maria Elisa Carmago, who plays El Sin Nombre AKA Valeria, one of the principal antagonists of the game. If we don’t get her as a playable skin in multiplayer, Activision Blizzard is dropping the ball.
On the whole, the story takes about 6-10 hours to complete, depending on your skill level and style of play. The game definitely sets up a trilogy and I can’t wait to see where it’s going now that I’ve seen the post-credits from this game. I promise you’ll want to stick around through the end of the credits, do not skip them. The reward at the end will be worth it and worthy of any longtime COD fan. In fact, this entire game and its mission structure are filled with references and easter eggs to previous titles in the franchise, even some of the most obscure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeVapCrI1pY
If you want to read my thoughts on multiplayer, you can check out my previous column for BSO where I discuss the return of third-person in the franchise. The full game is set to drop this coming Thursday. If you haven’t pre-ordered, doing so today will allow you to play the campaign a few days early and get the pre-order bonuses. There are even rumors that this title will get campaign DLC and a Zombies mode that we typically only see on Black Ops titles.
On the whole, Modern Warfare ‘22 will please any longtime fan of the franchise. While I miss the epic gun battles that the original trilogy gave us, I think there’s something to be said for these limited engagements and story beats set around bigger battles. The game is ridiculously gorgeous, too. There were times where it honestly felt like I was watching a real soldier army crawling through the grass, the graphics were that impressive on my PS5.
In the end, I give this game a solid 7.75 out of 10 BSO stars.
