14 DAY TRIAL // Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the name of the upcoming FPS from Activision, promising to offer an enhanced multiplayer experience and new single-player action. The multiplayer was made available in a couple of Betas, and we got a chance to take it for a spin.
There is only one reason why Activision would give the same name twice for one of their games, and that's brand recognition. They probably figured that there aren't too many 2007 gamers, that enjoyed the first title with this moniker, still playing today. Activision is wrong, of course, and I would be willing to bet that the bulk of players will play both titles.
It's like Apple trying to figure out how to name the new generation of iPad, only to settle for iPad because they don't have enough confidence in their users. In any case, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is at least a different beast than the 2007 edition, so that's something.
Gameplay and Graphics
It's a well-known fact that Call of Duty games are played for the multiplayer part, and not so much for the single-player. Some previous titles even ditched the single-player completely, with no pretense that it actually matters.
To be fair, the new Modern Warfare doesn't seem to be all that different from last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, at least at the core level. For the most part, players will be doing the same things, teaming up for various modes and trying their luck in deathmatches.
Progression is clear enough, and unlocking classes is the first step towards better gear. The same old recipe is employed in Modern Warfare, and there's no indication it's not a successful one. But the star of the show is the 64-player game mode that will most likely get a lot of people hyped and interested.
There's a fair amount of vehicles, and while the physics is not up to par with the Battlefield franchise, it's still much better than in many other similar games.
Another exciting aspect is the implementation of crossplay between PC and consoles, which was met with virtually no resistance. This only means that Infinity Ward managed to make this happen, and people don't feel the difference. Share servers will also be used, so platforms that have too few players at one point can play with people from other servers.
The biggest and most obvious feature of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the extremely low TTK (time to kill.) A low TTK means that enemies die quickly, which makes it for much more realistic gameplay. On the flip side, it undercut any type of tactic.
Players no longer have to worry about keeping the weapon steady to counter the recoil, and everyone is always running like a headless chicken around the maps. It's a little bit disconcerting if you're coming from a slower game, but it's worth it.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is by far the most advanced game released until now, with beautiful graphics and almost perfect optimization, especially on PC. Even the 64-player mode is very smooth, with only some small network problems.
Conclusion
The only problem I can see is the fast gameplay, which might turn away some multiplayer players, but the wealth of features is impressive nonetheless.
If we add the massive 64-player map, the beautiful graphics, and the likely interesting single-player, we might get one of the most anticipated Call of Duty titles in a very long time.
