Review: Is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 The Best CoD to Date?

Much like death and taxes, an annual Call of Duty release is always a guarantee, but what direction each entry in the highly acclaimed franchise takes is always the question. With last year’s Black Ops 7 not landing as well as Activision would’ve hoped, the action shifts back to the mainline Modern Warfare sub-series, with the fourth entry in the rebooted saga now in the crosshairs.

While there’s a lot of chopping and changing with the storylines and sub-franchises under the Call of Duty banner, you still know what you get here: a cinematic and explosive campaign and a robust multiplayer component. While the online element is always the meat of any CoD experience, Activision knows that fans expect a lot from any Modern Warfare game, and this time, Infinity Ward delivers the goods.

It’s hard to discuss the plot without giving too much away in the twisty-turny Modern Warfare timeline, but you spend a majority of the game jumping between a South Korean soldier named Park Hyun-Jun, caught in the middle of a surprise attack in Syria, and Captain Price, the OG favourite of the franchise. Each mission sees you tackling different scenarios, from slower-paced stealth segments to all-out warfare, and everything in between. It is a little overwhelming to keep tabs on if you haven’t been in-the-know with the last couple MW games, so diving into a little recap video on YouTube is not a bad idea.

The shooting is as slick and weighty as expected, with each gun feeling incredibly unique as you work your way through some of the most interesting scenarios in the series to date; and Infinity Ward has to be commended for their commitment to the spectacle without feeling like control is taken away from the player, while also throwing in some emotional beats that add a lot more gravity to the action.

On the multiplayer front, longtime fans will be really pleased with the tweaks Infinity Ward has done to the formula. The actual bones of the experience still feel great, with the ‘pace’ of the game feeling a bit slower and more deliberate, making it feel less like a twitch-reaction shooter and more like a tactical battle. Of course, you can still vault and mantle over things and slide under obstacles, so match speed is still high, but movement doesn’t feel as exploitable as it did in other CoD games. This could change as the players learn all the nooks and crannies of the maps, but as far as a non-hardcore experience, it’s one of the more accessible and enjoyable CoD multiplayer portions I’ve played.

Call of Duty is back to its best with Modern Warfare 4. The campaign delivers that bombastic, high-intensity military adventure that fans fell in love with yesteryear, with a new direction and characters to bolster the existing cast. On top of that, the multiplayer component seems to strip back some of the fluff that complicated past entries, while maintaining and fine-tuning the actual shooting, movement, and speed of matches. All in all, this is a successful Call of Duty package that will keep fans happy for another 12 months.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is available on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.