Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Review

Like every end of the year, we are entitled to another episode of the famous Call of Duty license. In this year 2022, it’s Modern Warfare 2’s turn to make its impact, being the sequel to the reboot of the Modern Warfare franchise released in 2019. 13 years after the original version, which is considered by many as the best Call of Duty ever with Black Ops II, does this new Modern Warfare 2 stand up to its original version released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360?

We played the game on PlayStation 5 for about 20 hours to complete the campaign, and play the multiplayer until we unlocked our first gold camo, all from a version sent by the publisher.

A TRUE AMERICAN BLOCKBUSTER

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2’s campaign takes place after the events that occurred in the previous 2019 opus. We witness the return of Call of Duty’s most iconic team, Task Force 141 – which consists of the legendary Captain Price, Sergeant Gaz, the cultish Ghost, and the arrival of our little Soap – facing a World War against the terrorist Hassan.

We have witnessed one of the best-scripted campaigns in the Call of Duty franchise. Indeed, the story is exciting from the beginning to the end with unexpected twists and turns like the original version, and we didn’t see the six hours pass by, because yes, it takes about 6 hours to finish the story of this Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. This may seem short to some of you, but it is in line with the standards of a single-player campaign for an FPS game like Call of Duty.

The return of our legendary characters is obviously a pleasure, especially since we have a soft spot for Ghost and there’s no denying that he’s much more charismatic than in the first Modern Warfare 2, and in fact, it’s a bit of a compliment for all the other members of Task Force 141.

The Campaign takes us on spectacular missions that have no limits in terms of greatness, especially the desert chase, and the one where we have to run away alone and unarmed with the only means of defense, crafting. Because yes, there are some missions where we have to find tools to make our own defenses, such as mines, molotovs, or even smoke bombs.

We are also dealing with a final climax of the most brilliant in its level design and gameplay ideas, at least as far as the Call of Duty license is concerned. Indeed, without saying too much, you will have to face one or more enemies with only your brain and the materials you find to help you defend yourself.

Regarding artificial intelligence, it is a little more intelligent than before because it will sometimes try to bypass you, but most of the time it stays cool and it should be easy to defeat it. On the technical side, we didn’t experience any framerate drop during our different sessions on PlayStation 5, the new engine of the license is a pleasure for our little eyes because the graphics are really beautiful and the mission in Amsterdam can prove it. The same goes for the lighting, which is at its best in the night missions.

To finish with the campaign of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, stay tuned until the end credits because there is a little surprise hidden there, and it could well please the players of the time who made the campaigns of the old Modern Warfare.

AN EVOLUTION OF MULTIPLAYER?

The main point for those who buy Call of Duty games is the multiplayer, and every year we hope that the next COD will have a good multi. This year we are clearly on the middle ground to our dismay. Indeed, we have some maps that struggle to stand out from the crowd because first of all there are not many of them, and secondly, three-quarters of them are very mediocre, in addition to always running on the same maps. We really miss the map voting system.

As for matchmaking, it’s very good because the games go relatively fast and we haven’t had any problems with the servers yet. At times, it goes so fast that we don’t even have time to change our arsenal in the hub, and we are forced to do it directly in the middle of the game. The only problem since several opuses is the SBMM, which spoils a little bit of everything because if you are strong enough, you will fall against players of your level and it is a little frustrating on this side. The days when you could fall against any kind of player are long gone.

Besides, the new game modes are not the most exciting, the 3rd person mode is fun for a while and then it gets boring, just like the invasion mode which is played in 20 vs 20 but with bots, as well as the knockout and prisoner rescue mode which lacks fun. In fact, that’s what’s missing in Call of Duty these days, fun modes like in the old days with a weapon game, an infected, or a rock and stick to name a few.

So, we won’t spend many hours on it, and we’ll just go back to the classic modes of the license like MME, domination, or strategic point. Especially since hardcore modes are still not available in the game. Only co-op is a bit interesting because it allows us to extend the experience of the single-player campaign, but currently there are only three missions available.  

Apart from the game modes, the controller (or keyboard) sensations are very good, the only drawback is that the Dualsense is a little behind because only the right trigger (R2) has a little resistance. That being said, there is a very good time to kill which is really pleasant, because we are on a great balance of life as in the previous opus of the Modern Warfare franchise. On the other hand, the movements are a bit slow and heavy, but fortunately, now we have the possibility to climb walls which makes the gameplay a bit more dynamic by giving more open opportunities to chain kills.

Regarding the weapons, we have a great variety of weapons and their customizations remain excellent, the only drawback is the fact that you have to play with different weapons to unlock certain accessories. Some people will definitely find this frustrating, while others will appreciate the idea of having to switch weapons if they want to unlock a particular accessory. However, the sound design of the weapons is excellent, you can really feel the power when you shoot a sniper and the little noise when you kill someone is really satisfying for your ears.

On the other hand, the game menu is a real mess. Indeed, it is very complicated in the first hours to find your way around. It requires a certain amount of time to get used to it because the menu is not clear and gives this messy aspect because there is too much information grouped together in the same place, which makes it difficult to read and could lose more than one person.

THE GOLD RUSH

For the last part of our test, we will focus on an important and key element of Call of Duty, customizing weapons and its legendary gold camouflage. Indeed, the way to do it has changed slightly this year.

From now on, you have to complete the 4 challenges assigned to a weapon to unlock its gold camouflage, and for that, you also have to level up the weapon. To get the ultimate camouflage, you’ll have to unlock the gold on all the weapons in the game, which will take a long time, as in all Call of Duty games.

Unlocking skins is much easier than before, especially since if you unlock a skin for a weapon you also have it for all the others. But there is no need to say, the gold camouflage is really successful on this opus. 

On our side, we find this system much more fun than before and much more intuitive, which will inevitably push more players to start the quest for gold on this Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

CONCLUSION

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 succeeds in doing almost as well as its predecessor, with only the surprise effect removed because it is a spiritual sequel. This doesn’t prevent it from having one of the best single-player campaigns in the whole Call of Duty franchise, in addition to having strong multiplayer, even if the absence of some iconic game modes is noticeable in the overall experience, and it’s not the two or three new game modes that will break our routine.