Review: Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 4
A Memorable Campaign, an Addictive Multiplayer, and Plenty of New Features
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 arrives with a campaign that places South Korea at the center of a North Korean invasion, while Captain Price carries out covert operations away from official channels. These two perspectives give the narrative a more grounded military tone without abandoning the cinematic sequences that helped define Modern Warfare's identity. After the very different directions explored by Black Ops, I found myself missing this approach, which feels closer to the military conflicts that made the franchise what it is today.
The experience also extends beyond the campaign. Multiplayer introduces changes to movement, combat, and the interface, while DMZ embraces an extraction-based structure with its own progression system, operator management, and upgrades that carry over between deployments. Each mode has a distinct identity, and what stood out to me most was how each one gives players its own reasons to keep coming back.
CAMPAIGN
The campaign opens in South Korea with young recruits arriving in the city in a visually impressive sequence. The facial expressions of the soldiers and our squadmates stand out from the very beginning, giving the characters more personality. The story also quickly establishes the existence of a new North Korean supreme leader and the events that lead to the invasion. I particularly enjoyed an interaction in which one of my allies showed frustration because I was being too quiet. It is a small detail, but this kind of reaction brings more life to the dialogue and shows how the player's responses can influence certain interactions.
Switching between South Korean soldiers and Captain Price's operations allows the conflict to be experienced from very different perspectives. While one part of the campaign focuses on surviving the invasion, Price's missions revisit elements from previous installments and lean into covert operations. In one of them, we must search for a woman in a nightclub in a sequence that feels as though it came straight out of a John Wick movie. The visual presentation is equally impressive, with pre-rendered scenes that could easily be mistaken for moments from a spy thriller. Stranded, however, changes the pace completely by introducing a more open area filled with objectives and collectibles. I enjoyed the freedom to explore the environment, although this structure can interrupt the flow for players who prefer a more linear campaign.
My standout mission is Cut Communications, one of the most interesting and intense missions I have experienced throughout the entire franchise. Switching between Ghost and Price while almost the entire sequence unfolds through night vision creates a distinctive atmosphere, and the soundtrack is fantastic. There is also an emotional weight that resonates more strongly with longtime Call of Duty fans, particularly because of the way the mission uses familiar characters and the franchise's history. Overall, I believe the campaign recaptures a tone that Modern Warfare needed to bring back. The combination of military conflicts, covert operations, and cinematic moments works extremely well without constantly relying on over-the-top spectacle to maintain its intensity.
MULTIPLAYER
For anyone who has spent a lot of time playing Black Ops, the difference in Time to Kill, or the time required to eliminate an opponent, is quite noticeable. Modern Warfare 4 remains fast-paced and action-packed, but it has a different rhythm, with movement that feels less accelerated than in the more recent Black Ops titles. I also got the impression that the team took some of the criticism received during the beta into account. The change that caught my attention the most, however, involves sniper rifles: shots seem to have considerably more impact, making the class feel much more powerful. This could reduce the viability of other weapon categories, but I do not necessarily see that as a problem. In my opinion, sniper rifles needed this kind of boost, and I hope future updates do not alter the balance too drastically.
The interface has undergone a redesign that I consider very welcome. We now have a side menu instead of the top navigation that occupied a large portion of the screen in previous games, something that always bothered me. The layout is cleaner and makes options easier to find, fitting better with Modern Warfare's visual identity. The in-game store also launched with a more streamlined selection and fewer purchase options available at the time. In terms of playable content, the selection includes approximately 20 maps and environments across the different modes, providing plenty of variety for matches. Progression remains familiar, allowing players to reach the level cap and then enter Prestige, resetting part of their progression in exchange for rewards. Another positive aspect is matchmaking, which has been extremely fast. This already caught my attention during the beta, and in my experience, it is working better than in Black Ops 7.
Another change I particularly like is the ability to choose different operators for each class or loadout. For example, I can build a sniper loadout and pair it with a skin that matches that playstyle, making each setup more personalized. It is a simple addition, but it makes a difference for players who like to organize their loadouts around the way they play. I also appreciate a change to experience boosts: when activating double XP for player levels or weapons, the timer only runs during matches instead of continuing to count down while we are away from the game. It is a small improvement, but one that shows greater respect for the player's time. Combined with the redesigned interface and fast matchmaking, these changes have made multiplayer one of the parts of the game I have enjoyed the most.
DMZ
DMZ introduces a parallel conflict to the war between North and South Korea, placing players in an extraction-based experience with its own progression system. The introduction is relatively basic, but the mode develops its own personality once we start recruiting operators and exploring its third-person lobby. Many resources are locked behind progression levels, meaning certain options only become available as we advance. The inventory resembles the one used during the campaign's open-area mission, but it is considerably more expanded here. We can also choose different deployment options, including the ability to use a helicopter for immediate insertion. These alternatives cost in-game currency, while ground deployment is free. The lobby itself is impressively crafted, and I appreciated the attention given to this preparation phase, which becomes an important part of the overall experience.
The overall gameplay loop is enjoyable, although tracking down lieutenants can be quite challenging. The spreading radiation is a genuine concern, particularly when we need to locate specific targets in more distant or dangerous areas. This puts pressure on the time available and forces players to decide whether it is worth continuing to explore or heading for extraction. At the end of each deployment, we receive an operation rating, money, and rewards based on the items recovered. The mode also has a leveling system separate from multiplayer. If we lose an operator, we can attempt to recover them by spending in-game currency or dismiss them and start again with a different character. This gives our decisions more weight because losing an operator means dealing with the consequences during the next deployment.
The Forward Base also features a 3D printer that allows us to craft specific items to help in future encounters. This system connects to operator progression, which includes a trait tree divided into Combatant, Scout, and Survivor, along with Prestige traits unlocked as we advance. Bringing an active operator to Prestige level allows us to continue developing their abilities and expand their options in the field. I enjoyed the number of systems brought together in DMZ, especially because they create long-term goals beyond simply entering a map, eliminating enemies, and extracting. The variety of deployment options, resource management, and the possibility of losing or recovering an operator make preparation just as important as combat itself. It is a mode that gave me plenty of reasons to keep playing even after several deployments.
VISUALS AND SOUND
The campaign makes a strong visual impression from its opening sequence featuring young recruits in South Korea. The characters' facial expressions and the quality of the cinematic sequences stand out, with some pre-rendered scenes displaying a level of polish that is particularly impressive. The mission direction also distinguishes conventional combat from Price's covert operations, especially in Cut Communications, which uses night vision as a central part of its presentation. The soundtrack in this mission deserves special recognition, accompanying the transitions between Ghost and Price and directly contributing to the intensity of the encounters. It is one of the best examples of how music and atmosphere can strengthen a sequence without relying solely on visual spectacle.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Modern Warfare 4 takes a different approach to its achievement list compared to previous installments. Almost every objective is tied to specific campaign scenarios, encouraging players to pay attention to the mechanics and experiment with different approaches during missions. I think this is an excellent decision because it brings back the nostalgic feeling of Call of Duty games from the Xbox 360 era, when achievements were an integral part of the experience and rewarded very specific actions. Some objectives require completing certain sequences without firing a weapon, while others ask players to perform specific actions during encounters. These challenges encourage players to pay attention to what is happening in each mission instead of simply accumulating kills or repeating matches.
The problem is that this approach also leaves multiplayer without its own achievements, reducing the incentive for players who enjoy completing everything a game has to offer. I believe Call of Duty deserves separate achievement lists for the campaign and multiplayer, allowing each mode to have its own objectives. This would preserve the nostalgic approach to single-player achievements while still rewarding the time invested in online modes.
Another issue I have is that achievements are tied to the overall Call of Duty hub, sharing space with Black Ops and other titles in the franchise. Even though it is possible to view the objectives associated with each individual game, I believe every release should have a completely independent achievement list. The idea of emphasizing the campaign is excellent, but a separate structure would make this approach even better, preserving each title's identity and giving the different modes their own space.
TRAILER OFFICIAL
FINAL THOUGHTS
Among the areas that could be improved, the achievement system deserves a structure independent of the overall Call of Duty hub, with dedicated objectives for multiplayer. The Stranded mission can also disrupt the campaign's pacing for players who prefer a more linear progression, while shader compilation remains inconvenient because it happens so frequently, including after game updates. In multiplayer, I hope sniper rifle balance is maintained without compromising the viability of other weapon categories. These are issues worth addressing, but they do not diminish the overall quality of the experience I had while playing.
The campaign recaptures a military identity I had been missing, with memorable characters and missions such as Cut Communications, which stands out for its intensity, soundtrack, and use of night vision. Multiplayer also gets things right with its redesigned interface, faster matchmaking, and greater operator customization across classes. DMZ is another major highlight, bringing together its own progression system, operator management, equipment crafting, and decisions that affect future deployments. Each mode has qualities that make it worth investing time in, and this variety is one of the game's greatest strengths.
Overall, I consider Modern Warfare 4 one of the most complete and consistent Call of Duty games I have ever played. The campaign delivers memorable moments, multiplayer is extremely fun, and DMZ has enough depth to keep players engaged for many hours. I enjoyed how the three modes complement one another without losing their individual identities, creating a package that impressed me on almost every front. It is one of my favorite entries in the entire franchise and, in my opinion, should serve as a model for future Call of Duty releases.
SCORE: 9.5/10
Review by Gamertag: SCOULZ
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