 Viewed on its own merits, Vanguard was not a bad game – no Call Of Duty ever has been – but half the problem was that its Second World War setting just didn't resonate anymore, especially as Warzone was forced to replicate it. That seemed to make the wait until the next game longer than usual, but here it is: the series' second Modern Warfare 2 and another Call Of Duty game that is exactly what you expect and not an smidgen more. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 single-player review This isn't a final review because the multiplayer servers only switched on the night of the launch and our experience with the PvP mode comes from the beta. Plus, we haven't played the co-op Special Ops mode at all (there is no Zombies mode), so that will have to wait until later. If you're a committed Call Of Duty fan then you've probably already played the single-player campaign, since if you pre-ordered the game you were able to access it a week early. That's not s){kind=link}
The latest Call Of Duty is both a sequel and a reboot but with no real competition this year is it sitting on its laurels or taking advantage of an open goal?
When a long-running series hits a speed bump, two obvious options present themselves: press forward with a reboot that tries to reinvigorate an ailing franchise, as God Of War and Zelda: Breath Of The Wild did, or retreat backwards to something more tried and tested. The latter is sometimes the best decision, if a series has strayed too far from its roots, but when the original problem is merely overfamiliarity it rarely works out for the best.
As you might imagine, the reason we’re bringing this up is because Modern Warfare 2 has gone for option number two. Last year’s Call Of Duty: Vanguard was one of 2021’s most successful games but it was also a commerical disappointment that promoted a narrative that Call Of Duty as a whole was starting to become old hat. (Its relative failure is the reason Activision Blizzard became cheap enough for Microsoft to try and purchase.)
Viewed on its own merits, Vanguard was not a bad game – no Call Of Duty ever has been – but half the problem was that its Second World War setting just didn’t resonate anymore, especially as Warzone was forced to replicate it. That seemed to make the wait until the next game longer than usual, but here it is: the series’ second Modern Warfare 2 and another Call Of Duty game that is exactly what you expect and not an smidgen more.
This isn’t a final review because the multiplayer servers only switched on the night of the launch and our experience with the PvP mode comes from the beta. Plus, we haven’t played the co-op Special Ops mode at all (there is no Zombies mode), so that will have to wait until later.