While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II lives up to and builds upon the legacy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), it is unlikely to win over anyone who is not already a fan of the series.
Singleplayer.
Co-op Multiplayer.
PvP Multiplayer.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’s campaign is one of the most unique in the history of the franchise in that despite its many attempts to break the mould and stunning visuals, it fails to live up to its predecessor, something we have no seen since Black Ops III, which not only failed to surpass the genre-defining campaign from Black Ops II but in the eyes of many was the worst campaign in the history of the franchise.
While Call of Duty titles often include a vehicular mission or two, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II takes this further by introducing multiple unique mechanics inspired by other popular games.
To avoid spoilers, the following list will remain deliberately vague.
Looks fantastic on 9th-generation hardware, and several times I paused for a moment to take it all in; with photo-realistic scenery and cutting-edge CGI cutscenes, playing through the campaign felt like being a part of a movie; it’s just a shame that the narrative does not hold a candle to the original.
Modern Warfare games are mechanically brilliant and offer some of the best gunplay that Call of Duty has to offer; however, due to its modern-day setting, Modern Warfare titles are severely lacking in scope, with the vast majority of missions taking place in dusty, impoverished regions of fictional countries.
Except for Captain Price, who has the most adorable smile in the entire franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a very forgettable cast of characters, unlike Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), which at least allowed the player to assume control of Farah, a freedom fighter with an interesting back story and a real connection to the conflict.
Except for Mexican SpecOps Alejandro Vargas, every playable character in the campaign is a stereotypical British solider with even Gaz, the only black character lacking any cultural depth, with some dismissing him as the “whitest black man that ever lived” I live in the UK. We have vibrant African and Caribbean communities, and for the developers to choose the most stereotypical Londoner to represent this demographic is disappointing.
Unlike Modern Warfare (2019), Cold War, and Vanguard, which allowed players to assume control of a female operator for at least some of the campaign, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is seen through the eyes of (mostly white) male operators.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) had one of the most memorable (and controversial) campaigns in the history of the franchise, and to be frank, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s narrative is decent, it does not hold a candle to the original, something made more evident by the excellent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (2020) which not only looks fantastic running on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)’s engine but maintains the original campaign in all of its glory.
While, at first glance, the operator list at launch appears to be predominantly white guys in ghost masks or mil-sim gear, upon closer inspection, there are a fair amount of female operators and people of colour.
However, I would have liked to see a few more easily identifiable ethnicities that are immediately recognisable and do not require closer inspection; however, this can be attributed to almost every playable operator wearing some variation of modern camouflage, unlike Vanguard’s operators, who often wore uniforms that represented their culture and ethnicity.
The operator Nova is based on Jasmine Colgan, a famous model and activist who has vitiligo, a long-term condition where pale white patches develop on the skin, making Modern Warfare 2 the second major game in just over a year to introduce a playable character with vitiligo, with Fortnite adding the character Joy in late 2021.
Profanity in Pegi 18/M-rated games is nothing new. While I seldom use profanity myself, It doesn’t overly bother me, except for the double standards on display when “Jesus”, “Jesus Christ”, and even worse variations such as “Jesus F****** Christ” are used fairly often in games and movies. At the same time, no reputable company would dare use the names of other religions’ deities/figures in such a manner.
When did you hear anyone use Zeus, Mohammed, Allah, Thor, or Odin as a curse word? Probably never outside of someone making a point about how no one uses these names as curse words.
I am a follower of Christ and believe he is the only way to the Father (God); however, I would never seek to offend those of other religions by using the name of a major figure in their religion as a curse word; its crass, disrespectful and is an example of double standards in mainstream media, where just about every other religion is shown more courtesy than Christianity.
Luckily for the developers (and others who engage in blasphemy), Jesus Christ addressed blasphemy against himself during his earthly ministry by stating anyone who speaks against him or blasphemes him will be forgiven (unlike those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, the third member of the trinity in Christianity)
Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come. - Matthew 12:31
While Islam wrongly lowers the status of Jesus Christ to just a major prophet, the developers of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 have potentially offended close to 4.5 billion people (1.9B+ Muslims and 2.5B+ Christians) by repeatedly having Soap and other major characters use variations of “Jesus Christ” as a curse word during the campaign, especially when as a PEGI 18 game there are so many other curse words they could have just as easily used.
While I am sure we will soon be swimming in skins once 2023 gets underway, for now, there is very little in the way of character customisation, with some characters, such as Captain Price, Soap and Farah, lacking even their signature looks.
This feels like a huge step back from Vanguard, where every operator had at least half a dozen unlockable skins at launch, allowing players to customise their favourite operator’s appearance without parting with real-world money.
Once again, it seems like, for every step forward, Infinity Ward has taken a step backwards regarding character customisation and diversity.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is the first game since Call of Duty WWII (2017) to launch on Steam. While it is selling like hotcakes, it would have done equally well launching onto Battle.net with the bonus of not being subjected to the Steam community, one of the most entitled and toxic gaming communities online, easily surpassing the toxicity of every other platform combined.
This level of entitlement also affects reviews, with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 currently resting at 61% positive review (mixed), a dismal and unrepresentative score, with most reviewers rating the title at a strong 8 out of 10.
While I am sure in time the reviews will balance out, releasing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on Steam was a mistake and one which I am genuinely surprised that Activision opened themselves up to when there were so many better options on the table (sticking to Battle.Net, launching onto Epic Game Store etc.).
Not all Steam users are toxic; however, the community is very toxic and gives even the likes of 4Chan, Twitter and Tumbler a run for their money.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 follows a growing trend of not allowing non-PlayStation users to easily opt out of crossplay, which has caused more than a little drama within the community.
While I understand the frustration, it is not that big a deal, as when you have PC users saying, “It’s impossible to beat console users” and console users saying,” It’s impossible to beat PC users”, it is clear the problem is not as cut and dry as people make it out to be. If anything, the game is pretty well balanced, and players are just having trouble adjusting to the fact that skill-based matchmaking matches players with those of similar skill. The days of seal clubbing new and casual players are, for the most part, a thing of the past.
While PC users have a slight long-range advantage and console users have a close-range advantage, it all evens out at the end of the day, and no single platform has a major advantage over the other.
Call of Duty titles have always been a mix of classic modes and something a little different, and while most of those modes rarely live to see another entry in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has brought back most of the modes from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) while introducing more than a few modes inspired by other franchises, such as Rainbow Siege 6 (Prisoner Rescue Mode), Titanfall 2 (Invasion Mode), and Battlefield (Ground War Mode).
In addition, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a robust cooperative mode, including, for the first time raid, based content that offers an additional challenge for teams of players, who get to not only experience the hardest cooperative content that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has to offer but also continue the story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, via a series of narrative missions and cutscenes.
While I love the idea of difficult group-based content, I feel the decision not to offer public matchmaking was a mistake and makes the epilogue of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s campaign essentially unplayable for the millions of solo and casual players who may not have the confidence or friend group required to tackle such high-end content.
For the first time in the franchise’s history, players will be able to see their operator as they engage in intense 6 v 6 third-person combat across a wide variety of modes and maps. This is pretty awesome, and it will finally allow players to view cosmetics that they have earned or purchased from the in-game store.
Factions Return.
After dumping factions in Call of Duty Vanguard, Activision quickly backtracked by dividing operators into two factions (SpecGru and Kortac), making intense firefights much easier due to each faction’s unique operators and aesthetic.
Confusing Gunsmith.
While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s gunsmith is certainly comprehensive, it is also very confusing, with many players feeling confused as to why they need to level a certain model of SMG to unlock the best attachments for shotguns and why battle rifles must be mastered to unlock various SMG and assault rifle combinations.
While encouraging players to leave their comfort zone is a good thing, forcing them to use weapons and even weapon classes is inexcusable, and I hope to see these requirements reduced (or dropped entirely) in 2023.
While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series has excellent gunplay, its modern-day setting and resulting lack of creative freedom often results in rather boring maps and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is no exception, with roughly half of base game maps being some variation of “A dusty street or rundown town.”
Sand, rubble and graffiti aside, there are some genuinely stunning maps. Breenbergh Hotel, Crown Raceway, and Santa Seña Border Crossing are three of the best-looking and well-designed maps in the franchise’s history.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is a first person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, it was released on 28 October 2022 and retails for $69.99.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is no longer in active development, and the developers have moved on to other projects.
We most recently checked on how Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was doing in October 2024. You can read all about our findings in the article titled "Is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Still Worth Playing in 2024?".
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II supports:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II offers the following matchmaking options:
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is rated PEGI 18+ and contains:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is arguably one of the best titles in the franchise’s history.
While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is mechanically and visually stunning, many generic camouflaged operators and desert maps make it difficult for me to be excited about playing for more than a few hours.
While Vanguard was not well-received by the wider gaming community, it was one of the most diverse and atheistically pleasing titles in the franchise’s history. Being forced to return to “50 Shades of Camo” so soon feels like a step backwards.
