Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

MSRP $69.99

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II doesn’t quite live up to the heights set by the game it reboots, but it’s still great for those just looking for some fun online shootouts.”

Pros

• Gorgeous visuals
• Strong multiplayer general
• Fun new modes
• Neat third-person mode

Cons

• Uneven marketing campaign
• Poor UI
• A couple of dud maps

Based on its identify alone, the rebooted Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had an exceptionally excessive bar to clear when it launched in 2019. While it might not have had the identical influence on the trade as the unique did almost 20 years in the past, it no less than capitalized on a properly of nostalgia and embraced the franchise’s roots once more in a manner that gave me hope for the longer term.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, by comparability, is a extra blended bag, with its two main elements very a lot at odds with one another. Its soulless marketing campaign feels acquainted with out ever being half as memorable because the video games it’s attempting to copy, however its multiplayer is generally profitable at bringing all the ordinary thrills alongside a few cool methods up its sleeve. Whether it’s definitely worth the asking worth comes right down to what you’re hoping to get out of a Call of Duty recreation.

Tedious marketing campaign

Picking up a number of years after the primary recreation, Modern Warfare II as soon as once more brings again beloved collection mainstays like Captain Price, Simon “Ghost” Riley, and John “Soap” MacTavish, who discover themselves entangled with a number of teams of associates and foes as they try to trace a terrorist who has stolen American-made missiles. The manufacturing values and performing are outstanding throughout the board, however with so many characters from numerous factions crammed right into a shallow five-hour marketing campaign, we’re by no means supplied with sufficient time with any one in all them to care about the place they’ve ended up when the credit roll.

While I didn’t care a lot in regards to the occasions taking place in the course of the in any other case uninteresting cutscenes, I used to be immensely impressed by the sheer high quality of the visuals that accompanied them. The previous couple of video games have been graphical showcases themselves, however Modern Warfare II is in a league of its personal, packing a number of the most real looking environments and character fashions I’ve ever seen in a online game. Even higher, that largely carries over into the missions as properly. I used to be typically in awe of the sport’s staggering consideration to element — a lot so {that a} brief section tasking me with partaking in a little bit of misdirection within the streets of Amsterdam was so visually fascinating that I spent extra time sightseeing than I did really finishing the mission.

I simply want the marketing campaign had been as a lot enjoyable to play because it was to have a look at. There are standout moments, akin to a tense part that had me quickly escaping enemy troopers down the aspect of a mountain, and compelled me to cease at sure intervals to face my floor and push them again. There’s the acquainted sniping mission right here too, and it encourages extra creativity than ordinary by giving gamers the choice to maneuver round a big space to reposition for good pictures. But for each one in all these thoughtfully designed operations, there are three that merely fail to measure as much as related sequences from earlier video games.

While a lot of the missions are merely forgettable however inoffensive affairs, there are downright dreadful chunks of the sport with underdeveloped concepts that deliver the entire journey down considerably. One asks gamers to leap from car to car throughout a prolonged chase, and as a result of janky strategy of climbing up and leaping over, solely the luckiest of oldsters are prone to full it with out no less than a number of pointless deaths. Another needlessly protracted mission pressured me to outlive injured and unarmed by discovering supplies to craft instruments that can be utilized to interrupt by means of locked doorways or distract and kill troopers. That ought to’ve made for an thrilling slice of stealth-based enjoyable. Instead, the sluggish motion attributable to my character’s harm coupled with the bare-bones crafting mechanics produces little greater than a cumbersome half-hour of wasted potential in a marketing campaign that already feels prefer it, too, is limping towards its finale.

Fun however uneven multiplayer

Many multiplayer followers contemplate the second entry of the unique Modern Warfare trilogy to rank among the many best first-person shooters of all time, because of its stellar maps, easy however efficient loadout system, and the introduction of a number of customization choices which have change into the norm in each recreation since. This new tackle Modern Warfare II doesn’t reinvigorate the franchise in that very same manner, however even with a number of blemishes, it nonetheless makes a strong case for being a part of your multiplayer rotation.

There are a scattering of latest concepts added to the combo this yr, akin to the flexibility to hold from ledges — helpful for some sneaky pistol kills — and a reworked perk system. The latter introduces perk packages instead of particular person perk choice, so that you begin with two and unlock two extra at recurrently timed intervals all through a match or by getting kills and assists. It looks like a really pointless change, however I’ve been too aggravated by the terrible mobile-like UI to essentially even care a lot about making in-depth modifications to my loadouts anyhow. Cluttered pages of huge, bubbly buttons make your complete expertise so user-unfriendly that even inviting associates to a foyer might be an exhausting course of, not to mention attempting to determine a lot else.

Modern Warfare II‘s maps are a notable step up in high quality over the previous few installments …

Once you handle to get right into a match, although, issues fare a lot better. Freshly added modes Knockout and Prisoner Rescue are nice, although I’ve constantly most popular the latter, which pits two groups towards one another to both rescue or shield a prisoner. You can’t respawn when dying in a spherical in both of the 2 new modes, however any dwelling teammate can discover your collapsed physique and resurrect you on the identical place you have been gunned down, which may result in some extraordinary comebacks. Nothing is sort of as thrilling as being the final man standing towards a full crew and sneaking round reviving teammates till you’ve rebuilt a crew to push again and pull off an excellent victory.

It helps that lots of Modern Warfare II‘s maps are a notable step up in quality over the last few installments, with interesting locations across Mexico and the Middle East that are both visually appealing and satisfying to learn. The best of these seem to understand that Call of Duty has, at its heart, always functioned best as a run-and-gun shooter. Farm 18, Embassy, and Mercado Las Almas are great examples of this design philosophy, providing more traditional layouts that give you plenty of opportunities for close-quarters showdowns. The game’s potent number of assault rifles and SMGs work splendidly right here, and even shotgun lovers could make fast work of enemy groups by sticking to the tighter corridors and interiors.

It’s unlucky that the maps that miss the mark are likely to miss it by miles, such because the desert battlefield present in Taraq, which is stuffed with leveled buildings and wide-open areas with no clear move in any way and spawn factors that depart you instantly weak. Elsewhere, Santa Sena Border Crossing could very properly be the worst map in franchise historical past, putting you in what’s successfully a single lane stuffed with dozens of crashed automobiles that facilitates the worst form of tenting. Playing on both of those is so aggressively disagreeable that it will possibly sap the enjoyment out of a foyer of friends in a heartbeat.

It’s price noting that, whereas it’s not as pervasive as in the previous few video games, even a number of the finest maps nonetheless pack extreme entry factors and muddle that lend a sense of blind luck to some deaths. Interior mazes stuffed with doorways, home windows, and different openings can yield too many sightlines to maintain up with, so with out eyes behind your head, opponents steadily have a possibility to choose you off from an angle you’ll be able to’t fairly account for at any given second. Of course, how a lot influence this has in your enjoyment relies upon completely on whether or not you’re searching for a laid-back or aggressive expertise. I’m constructive that loads of map finding out and spawn information would assist alleviate no less than a few of this frustration for these competing at larger ranges than this growing old informal participant.

Fresh perspective

Perhaps essentially the most intriguing addition to Modern Warfare II is the third-person mode. As somebody who has gravitated towards different third-person video games like Fortnite and Rogue Company lately, this new mode has been straightforward to choose up, and I dig the completely different sort of technique it brings. Having an expanded view of my environment — significantly the flexibility to see round corners earlier than operating into the fray — implies that I die much less from individuals hunkered down peeking over cowl, as an example. But on the flip aspect, this attitude additionally breeds a unique form of camper who performs passively down corridors as you run of their course after which instantly weapons you down because of their capability to see you earlier than you see them.

My good friend group and I began third-person mode with excessive hopes of it turning into our go-to, however inside a few days, we had largely switched to the conventional playlists once more. This is partially as a result of prevalence of the aforementioned nook tenting alongside the truth that the sport doesn’t really feel inherently designed across the mode usually — as a result of it’s not. More importantly, taking part in in third-person is barely accessible through a mosh pit, which means it rotates by means of three modes at random, any one in all which you’ll or is probably not within the temper to play on the time. I’d favor to see future iterations embrace the mode totally and provides gamers the liberty to interact with it how we see match. Even so, it’s a extremely cool diversion and one which I’m prone to revisit on and off all through the following yr.

Modern Warfare II‘s final offering is the inclusion of three cooperative Spec Ops missions that allow two friends to link up and complete objectives in larger, more open-ended maps in an effort to earn a total of three stars on each. This trio of assignments doesn’t actually add something substantial to the package deal and shouldn’t be seen as a major promoting level for these in search of cooperative choices, however for those who’re simply wanting a easy time taking pictures baddies with a pal, you can do worse.

To be truthful, “you could do worse” looks like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II‘s vibe as a whole. It’s a reasonably pleasing option to spend your time, however nobody’s shopping for a Call of Duty recreation to see one thing they haven’t seen earlier than, in any case.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

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