Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 - Review

Another year, another Call of Duty game.  I have bowed out the last while from playing them, as one of the small percentages of people who enjoy playing the campaign and not multiplayer I have found them to be mediocre at best.  I was excited this time around due to the name Call of Duty Modern Warfare, which for me had some of the best storylines and an all-round enjoyable game.  Plus I loved seeing Captain Price on the box art, thinking how does he look so young?  I got a copy with the latest PlayStation 4 I picked up and was excited to play it.


I love a good slice of Apple Pie, sometimes just by itself and other times with custard.  I like to be sweet with a slight hint of bitter flavouring. Sadly, I have had many any Apple Pie that is too bitter and a bit hard to digest at times.  Playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 I found myself asking was this a tasty sweet piece of pie or a very bitter one?

Story 

Just like in the previous Call of Duty games you get to play as different characters which really helps mix things up and increase suspense and anticipation.  The game starts with you taking control of 'Alex', a CIA operative and his team trying to recover a lethal gas from Urzikstan.  Unfortunately, they get hijacked and everyone is killed apart from poor old Alex. Then we see Sergeant Garrick and Captain Price try to foil a terrorist attack in London.  Back to Urzikstan, we see Freedom Fighters Farah and Hadir trying to push an evil Russian General out of the country.   All characters end up coming together to help defeat a shared set of enemies.  I know it is an odd thing to complain about but I didn't know it was a reboot until I started the game. I wish this need to reboot everything would stop especially as they could have just created all-new characters rather than trying to entice people with nostalgia.

Overall the story is good, with a few weak points near the end of the game.  There is a mission called Highway of Death which received quite a lot of backlash as they have essentially taken something historic, changed the names and switched the bad guys to the Russians.   A little embellishing is fine but this went way beyond that and felt a little in poor taste.

Visuals

The visuals in Infinity Wards latest installment are nothing short of breathtaking, and easily the best in the series.  The world feels real and very dangerous, often creating a very claustrophobic environment.  This is particularly true of the missions set in Urzikstan, and the one in London which, while being a big city, feels really congested.  The weapons and character designs are sharp, realistic and help create an almost cinematic world.

Overall the visuals are spot on with rarely any issues and certainly helped enhance my overall experience. 

Music 

The soundtrack has a mix of moaning strings to help create an intense atmosphere and a distinct middle eastern sound which worked really well.  The composer is Sarah Schachner responsible for;

Assassin Creed Origins and Unity, Anthem, and Call of Duty Infinite Warfare.

The sound is just shy of two hours and features some great tracks, my favorite being; 'Modern Warfare Main Theme', 'Highway', 'Know Your Enemy', 'Old Comrades', 'Rooftop' and 'Threat Assessment'. Overall it was a good soundtrack but certainly doesn't stand out as much as the previous Modern Warfare games.

Gameplay

The gameplay is fast and furious with little time to catch your breath, and that's a good thing. In some previous Call Of Duty games, you can easily play it safe and take your time, this time you are pushed to move up and move on.  Clearing any area of enemies doesn't mean one still can't sneak up from behind and clock you in the back of the head or shoot you dead.  

In a similar fashion to most first-person shooters, there isn't really a cover system.  While at times this can make things dicey it also adds to the excitement.

The weapons sound, look and feel great.  Sniper rifles feel powerful and require a little patience to get good shots, especially long-distance ones.  The Molotov cocktails are quite fun but one miscalculation and you will be turned into barbecue.

Rather than one final mission to pull everything together the last few all felt like one giant final mission, this stopped the gameplay feeling rushed. While it was very dark I enjoyed the mission where you play as a young Farah try to help her and her brother avoid being caught by soldiers.

Overall the gameplay was really entertaining and is much closer to the feel Modern Warefare 2 provided then some of the newer games in the series.

Final Thoughts

So, after almost ten hours how did I feel.  Pretty good.  I definitely had some issues with the story but as a whole, it was pretty solid and has already sent up the sequel Spec Ops.  The visuals were amazing and some the most realistic I have seen in a shooter in a long time.  The music was spot on and helped make a tense environment even more so.  The gameplay was strong and occasionally stuff but never stopped being fun to play.  Overall this one just slides in with 4 out 5