Modern Warfare is being rebooted, the same basic idea, different execution.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a gaming institution. The original single-player story and the multiplayer experience was a masterclass in how to make a first-person shooter and now Activision is hoping it can make lightning strike twice.
Information is still scant, but here’s everything we know so far!
- What is Call of Duty Modern Warfare?
- Is this a sequel?
- What kind of gameplay is it?
- What kind of maps will there be?
- Will there be a Zombies Mode?
- What game modes are there then?
- When and where can I get it?
Rebooted classic
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
$60 Pre-order at Amazon
Make the old new again.
Infinity Ward has gone back to the beginning of the Modern Warfare series, but they aren’t doing a remake. This new game will have a completely new single-player storyline with some of the original characters. It’s a reboot rather than a remake
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What is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare?
Back in 2007, Call of Duty was the cream of the FPS crop, but mostly the games focused on World War 2. While that offered some excellent multiplayer fun, the storylines became a little slow and eventually became stale. Modern Warfare, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, was the first game to push the franchise forward into the modern era with all that entails — Advanced weaponry, drones, and tanks were prevalent.
What really set the game apart though was the single-player story arc. It wasn’t just an afterthought, it was a fully realized story and a pretty damning indictment of the War on Terror that was happening at the time. The story had some seriously shocking moments, but it also introduced us to some pretty memorable characters, such as Captain Price.
Of course, the multiplayer was pretty darn good, too. The smoothness of the multiplayer, the inclusion of new weapons with laser scopes, and killstreaks that became a signature part of the Call of Duty franchise, all fused together to make the OG Modern Warfare a multiplayer masterpiece.
Is this a sequel?
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No, not really. Both Modern Warfare 2 and 3 were direct sequels. This is more of a reboot. Featuring some of the same characters — like the aforementioned Captain Price — this story is an even darker retelling of the Modern Warfare mythos.
This makes a lot of sense. War is and always has been a morally gray place to be, and if you want to make a game based on the current theater of war, you need to get your hands dirty. In fact, Price says it in the trailer; “We get dirty, so the world stays clean.” This moral ambiguity is going to be a theme all the way through the game, as you get to see the game through two different perspectives.
These perspectives are on opposite sides on the conflict and I think Infinity Ward is hoping to show the effect war has on everybody anywhere near the combat. You are going to be playing as both Team Bravo, the western soldiers, and freedom fighters in the Middle East. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as Infinity Ward is known for offering up moral choices to the player, and I think we are likely to see more of those choices here.
What kind of gameplay is it?
Little is known about specific gameplay on Modern Warfare. The trailer is said to be in-game footage, but it doesn’t show us any real gameplay, just cut scenes. We know it will be an FPS like all the others, of course, but we just don’t know what new mechanics we might see.
This section will get bigger as Infinity Ward dribbles out gameplay information in the coming months. Watch this space.
What kind of maps will there be?
Right now, we aren’t sure. The game centers around Russian interference in the Middle East, with terrorist attacks happening in European cities. There looks to be a level in London after some sort of explosion, and you are fighting off a terrorist cell. It’s a brief section of the trailer, but you can see the distinctive Metropolitan Police uniform.
We haven’t seen any multiplayer gameplay yet, so we don’t know what maps will be available but can infer some things. It’s extremely likely we will see the key areas of the game made into multiplayer maps. London is bound to be one, as is the compound that all those protestors storm in the trailer. If you look at the last picture above it has a definite Nuketown vibe to it, don’t you think?
Will there be a Zombies Mode?
In a recent interview with PlayStation Lifestyle, Campaign Gameplay Director Jacob Minkoff said: “We’re trying to create an authentic, realistic feeling world. We don’t have the flexibility to do something like put zombies in the game.” he goes on to say that zombies “…would compromise the feeling of playing in a world that feels realistic and authentic and relative to today’s conflicts and things we face.”
So no, we aren’t going to get Zombies this time around. That’s always been kind of a Treyarch thing anyway — Treyarch is the developer who makes the non-Modern Warfare CoD games — so I wasn’t really expecting to see them in this game.
What game modes are there then?
We know that there will be a single-player campaign, a co-op campaign, and a multiplayer mode, but that’s really all Infinity Ward has told us so far. Apparently, they aren’t quite ready to talk about anything other than the single-player experience. We do know that the co-op campaign follows directly on from the solo missions, which is interesting. Normally in co-op games, you just play the same game as the single player, but with extra people. This shows how much thought Infinity Ward is putting into the story if you have another storyline after the first.
As far as multiplayer goes, we have no idea what game modes there will be. There could be a Battle Royale mode, but right now Infinity Ward is being really tight lipped about it. We will have more on this in the coming months before launch
When and where can I get it?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is just starting it’s marketing push so we still have a while to go before release. The current release date is earmarked for October 25, 2019, so expect a lot more information to surface before then.
The preorder is already up so if you are sure you are going to buy Modern Warfare, go ahead and pick it up.
Rebooted classic
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
$60 Pre-order at Amazon
Make the old new again.
Infinity Ward has gone back to the beginning of the Modern Warfare series, but hey aren’t doing a remake. This new game will have a completely new single-player storyline with some of the original characters. It’s a reboot rather than a remake
While you wait
While you wait for the new Modern Warfare, here are a few things you can do to pass the time or things to help you get ready.
EasySMX VIP002S RGB Gaming Headset
$36 at Amazon
Good headsets tend to get expensive, but the EasySMX VIP002S headset gives you the best of both worlds: affordability and quality.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – PS4 Legacy Edition
$17 at Amazon
Get ready for the next phase of Modern Warfare by revisiting the remastered original Modern Warfare, and one of the best games in the series, Infinite Warfare.
Nuketown Coffee Mug
$12 at Amazon
Get fueled up before every session with this mug, emblazoned with the logo of my favorite map, Nuketown. I am so ready to play it again!
