By this point, it should come as no surprise that a game in this series is receiving near-universal praise.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2continues where the last game left off to a degree in 2019. There’s another terrorist threatening to blow up the United States and Captain Price is right there to stop them.
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One of the coolest things about the story is the returning fan-favorite characters from the original games including Ghost and Soap. IsCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2as good as the 2019 game or even the aaa original? Let’s weigh the pros and cons to see how this next-gen shooter makes out.
8Best: The Mission Variety
Modern Warfare 2has one of the most diverse sets of missionsin the series. There are too many to highlight and almost all of them introduce a new gameplay mechanic that is only seen once or twice throughout the campaign.
There’s an early mission wherein players have to stealthily take out guards on a dock and they can use the water as cover. A later mission has a character exploring a city to look for crafting materials to survive guards chasing him. All of these missions help keep the game feeling fresh until the finale.
7Worst: Uneven Checkpoints
The checkpoint system inModern Warfare 2can be a little odd. Sometimes it will overuse the checkpoint system and other times it will force players to go through the same routine on repeat for a good portion.
Even on the easiest setting, Recruit, the game can be a trial as there are some truly tricky challenges out there. It would be nice if there had been a manual save option put in place to combat this problem even though that has never been a thing in this series. Maybe it’s high time it should be to help out struggling players who need it likean assist feature.
6Best: Tight Gameplay As Ever
One thing that has never faltered in this series is the gameplay. It’s one of the reasons whyCall of Duty, as a brand, sells as well as it does yearly as it is at the top ofthe shooter pile. Everything feels responsive and there are a variety of settings to make the guns feel looser or tighter on the controller.
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The weapon variety should also be applauded in this same category. Sometimes the choices can be daunting as there is seemingly no end to the supplies on the battlefield from pistols to rifles to shotguns.
5Worst: Friendly Fire
Another assist feature that would have been welcomed would have been the ability to turn off friendly fire. It is hard to tell who is an ally and who is an enemy sometimes. Main characters will have a name pop over their heads if players aim at them.
The same is not true for random allied soldiers though, causing premature game over screens if a friendly is accidentally shot. It makes sense to put this game over screen on shooting civilians. It’s also understandable that this series wants to have realism in it which is why enemies and allies look alike. However, that doesn’t mean that realism is fun for a game.
4Best: Solid Multiplayer
There are a plethora of returning modes inModern Warfare 2that feels as solid as ever. Whether players want to jump into a classic game of Team Deathmatch or they want to play Domination, there is something here for everyone.
The maps, in turn, also offer up a good variety of arenas to play around in. It feels good to get through the ranks of your character going from a small loadout selection to an absolute bunker of deadliness. It’s been over a decade since this system was created but it never stops feeling immersive among allother multiplayer shootersout there.
3Worst: Still No Core Co-Op Mode
Co-op is the one mode that has been unevenly distributed throughout the series. Spec Ops is an option in the game, which can be a fun horde-like mode to go through with a friend. However, none of the missions feel as diverse as the main ones in the campaign.
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It would be great at some point to getfull co-op supportfor a campaign. Halo did it with the original and it didn’t make sense for two Spartans to exist at the time but it did make the game better. Two characters teaming up on missions inModern Warfare 2may not make sense either but sometimes realism needs to be ignored for the good of the player’s entertainment.
2Best: The Theater
Theater modes in games appear mostly in RPGs wherein there are tons of cutscenes to watch.Kingdom Heartsis one of the biggest examples that has implemented a theater system almost since the start. It’s great to see a theater-like mode appear inModern Warfare 2as well so that players can relive their favorite moments.
The in-game cutscenes are not part of this theater but that is understandable. Thankfully, players can also replay missions whenever they feel like instead which has a standardfor this seriesat least.
1Best: The Audio Design
If players don’t have a surround sound system then they need to play the game with headphones. The audio design is one of the best in the series to date. From hearing the screams of soldiers off in the distance to hearing bullets come at you from all sides, the sound design makesModern Warfare 2more immersive.
It’s one more example of why Infinity Ward has always been the fan-favorite developer. They put a lot of time and dedication into their projects even if they don’t always get everything right. That’s not to say the rest of theCall of Dutydevelopers are bad though as this is seemingly one big giantshooter-making machine.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2was released on June 29, 2025, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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