The New Modern Warfare Retrospective
By Bailey Lakin, 11/19/19 (Header image by dronepicr on Flickr Creative Commons)
When it comes to entertainment, everyone has a favorite form and the options are never-ending ranging from books, movies, music, and many more. Typically watching sports is preferred but when it comes to being stuck home on rainy days, my favorite thing to do is play video games and my favorite series has been (and always will be) the Call of Duty franchise.
My first exposure to videogames and the series came when I got my first video game console, a Playstation 3, on December 10th, 2009. Before this initial exposure my life was primarily devoted towards my friends and sports. Thus, when I bought my first titles for my new PS3, MLB the Show and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, this new hobby hooked me after my first game of Team Deathmatch.
I loved being able to hop into a game with over a dozen other players as we collectively made a mad-dash to be the first to the 75 kills tally. And while MW2 was the game that got me into Call of Duty, the annual series didn’t stop there.
Fast-forward to October 25th, 2019 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases. Along with a new engine and update visuals, this new title aims to make some more fundamental changes to how dedicated and casual fans play.
Ever since my introduction to the ranking system over a decade ago, it has always been relatively the same. As you play the game and progress in various in-game challenges, you continue to “rank up” until you eventually reach the maximum level possible. In some titles, they’ve allowed your to go as high as Level 1000 and this rank is persistent. However, in Modern Warfare, you have 65 days to get to Level 155 and then you start again at zero.
Similar to “prestiging,” this system keeps players in a loop of ranking up again and again.
When changing the fundamentals of such an iconic series, it has earned the ire of many professional and casual players alike for the added difficulty.
On its release, my friends and I found this game to be an especially difficult edition of Call of Duty to adapt to. However, with each subsequent update, the game continued to refine its gameplay yet it still feels a bit abnormal for a Call of Duty title.
However, the community continues to develop new strategies and find ways to appreciate the game and its quirks over time. For a series that has seen more criticism for its formulaic gameplay over the years, seeing the community adapting and overcome the challenges of every new game is always an interesting process of watching players disperse along the learning curve.
Thus, from the perspective of a player having played since release, I can say I’ve enjoyed the detours Modern Warfare and Infinite Ward has taken to shake up the formula while listening to the community to make it a more refined experience.
Overall, I give the game a solid 7/10. It could be much better, could be much worse, but enjoyable enough to keep me and millions of fans interested.