Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) Review

Another year passes and another Call of Duty makes its way onto our preferred gaming platform. This year we got Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022); a game that is not only a sequel to 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare but is also a remake of the 2009 original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. How did this year’s Call of Duty release from Activision fair though? How well does the single-player campaign continue the story, and does the multiplayer offer an experience worth engaging with? Well, continue reading to find out what I thought of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

The campaign, as expected, follows directly on from the previous Activision game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Now, I felt the campaign was ultimately a mixed bag, but that’s not to say it wasn’t enjoyable. In fact, I think it tried too hard at times, and I’m unsure as to whether that was to cater to more players by offering variety, or simply because the team wanted to show some variety to make the game memorable. Unfortunately, though, it just ends up as more of a stylistic mess than anything else. There are small open-world survival sections with crafting, there’s an open-world infiltration mission with speech checks where you’re also disguised, there are sniper missions, stealth missions, water-based sections, car surfing, and plenty more one-off mechanics that appear unnecessarily throughout.

I seriously disliked the stealth sections, and regrettably, there are many times stealth is almost enforced to proceed. I would like to say that stealth is never a be-all and end-all in any mission that it is present within, however failing it ruins the flow and can often get you killed, so it always feels better to simply restart at your closest checkpoint. Stealth simply doesn’t work most of the time, and you can see that the game really isn’t built for it. A lot of it feels like guesswork as there is nothing more than a small indicator on your compass that shows when an enemy is looking in your general direction. Sometimes enemies seem to easily spot you and other times they’re completely oblivious to you.

This also extends to the new swimming and water-based combat; however, this is used only a couple of times throughout the campaign. As expected, it’s clunky and unforgiving — you are a human trying to tread water with an assault rifle after all — however, once again, stealth doesn’t work, even in water. Combat is fine, it’s a little tricky, but offers a nice contrast to regular firefights; it just doesn’t help in any way with stealth. Enemies will easily spot you from a distance, even if you are completely submerged, even though the game tries to imply that it will help.

Moving on, the characters in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II are a great bunch. Some return from the original series, with varying degrees of reinvention compared to those same original counterparts, and other characters are completely new. Obviously, I cannot shout out every character in the entire game in one review, but I will run through some that stood out to me. Task Force 141 operator Simon Riley — also known as Ghost — makes a reappearance in the game, and while he’s more mysterious than his original equivalent, he’s still just as awesome. He seems older and wiser than this time around and is thus even more deadly on the battlefield, it’s just a shame that he has a silly-looking mask. General Shepherd is another character that makes a return, and he’s probably the character with the greatest change. This version of the character is more grounded and realistic; the hardass, no-nonsense military official who gives orders from the safety of his desk. This is in stark contrast to the front-line-fighting lunatic that the character once embodied. While I don’t think that this new Shepherd has the same effectiveness of being a villain, his angle is still interesting and overall he is written well enough to be enjoyed. Phillip Graves is the last major character that stood out to me. Graves is the leader of the Shadows PMC, which are currently under the employment of the U.S. Government and Shepherd and are tasked with completing high-profile missions in the Middle East. Graves is interesting in that he is the stereotypical all-American southerner, with a noticeable accent and an almost impulsive need to blow stuff up. As he joins you for a few missions, before he eventually turns bad guy, you build up a nice bond with the character, which makes it extra emotional. He’s just a cool and charismatic guy, and I just didn’t want him to turn on me, even though I ultimately knew that he would. Finally, a few honourable mentions go to: Soap, who has some genuinely great banter with Ghost, Alejandro, a new character with a great attitude, and lastly, Gaz, who progresses to be a valuable member of the team in this game.

Concerning the missions, the couple that piqued my interest (and that I thoroughly enjoyed) were “Violence and Timing” and “Prison Break”. Really, the first half of the game drags and is almost painfully slow, however, the second half pulls double duty to make up for that and turns it into an actually enjoyable experience. Violence and Timing is probably my favourite mission; you play as Gaz as he and Price attempt to rescue Laswell from a terrorist convoy in the Middle East. There is just so much ludicrous action; it’s brilliant. As Gaz you must literally jump from vehicle to vehicle, making your way to the front of the convoy. There are enemies throwing mines, armoured men with RPGs, and literal truckloads of armed terrorists that are all attempting to stop you. Prison Break, on the other hand, presents a mixture of stealth, action, and even reuses that camera guiding section from the previous Modern Warfare, however this time you’re guiding Ghost who can eliminate enemies and doesn’t have to evade threats in his way. This mission was a fun time, it had a nice balance of everything and even reintroduced the riot shield — a ridiculously overpowered weapon.

Moving onto the multiplayer, I can honestly say that it is some of the most enjoyable Call of Duty multiplayer that I have played in a while. I am so glad Activision took the beta seriously and improved the final product to the standard that it is; the beta version was very annoying, but now multiplayer is a blast!

There are so many game modes to enjoy, some golden oldies, and some new additions. You have your team deathmatches, free-for-alls, Hardpoints, Headquarters, and just all the classics that you remember; most of which can now be experienced from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective too. First-person games are still the default, but players are now able to play a handful of modes with the new perspective activated, and it certainly changes the dynamic — I think players familiar with PUBG: Battlegrounds will get the biggest kick out of this mode, due to its layout. Ground War also makes a bold return and since the beta has some fantastic tweaks; it’s now even more like a Battlefield game. These large-scale matches have massive teams, vehicles, points to capture, and an interesting spawning mechanic where you can choose your spawn position, whether that be on an ally or a captured point. The cooperative modes are fun but incredibly difficult, really needing a team of four so that you are at your most effective during them.

Another exciting point is that people actually die. This may sound like a pathetic point to make but Call of Duty often has an issue where players are bullet sponges — usually taking an entire magazine before being killed. This is exactly how the beta felt to play. However, now not only has the damage dealt/damage received been tweaked but the recoil of guns has also been calmed, allowing you to deliver more accurate fire on your opponents.

Gunsmith returns and this time it has been reworked and ultimately simplified when compared to the previous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, rather than having to grind each individual attachment for each gun, you now only have to earn it once and it can be used across any weapons that can accept it. Each attachment tells you the requirement, once you’ve met it the item is yours. This simplification is a welcome change and stops the game from being so frustratingly grindy.

The multiplayer also has an abundance of great maps. Generally, they’re quite claustrophobic and busy by nature, which is ideal for a fast-paced shooter such as Call of Duty, however, there is one map in particular that I really enjoy: Santa Seña. Now I’ve seen this map getting some hate online, but I have loved my time on it; it’s complete carnage. The map is a section of road near the Mexico border crossing and as such it is tunnel-like in its layout — one team starts at one end, and the opposing team on the other. What makes it extra chaotic though is all the cars that litter the map can explode like any other, and once they start popping the map lights up and you had better make sure you’re in some good cover. I think this is what annoys people, those that care about their stats are becoming frustrated by the map’s unpredictability. I, on the other hand, a casual, thought the randomness only added to the fun.

I only really have two gripes with the multiplayer; one is the lack of Hardcore game modes. Hardcore is my preferred way to play, and although I know it doesn’t have the biggest following, it does still have its fan base and it has been a staple since the beginning. Hopefully, it’ll make an appearance soon, but currently, I do not know.

The other more annoying issue is connection stability and matchmaking issues. Oftentimes my friend and I are unable to join a party, or we do but the game doesn't properly acknowledge it, leading to a forced restart. There are even issues sustaining connection in matches and sometimes one of us times out and is then kicked. Also, quite often, games will have severe pockets of lag that crop up out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly — these issues, and more, even happen while I have a great internet connection and low latency; even though it’s never game breaking, it’s very frustrating and needs ironing out as soon as possible. (See the image of a fun little blackout bug I encountered, below.)

To conclude, while the single-player offering is a little muddled and often confused regarding what exactly it wants to portray, the multiplayer is otherwise a straightforward and enjoyable experience. Luckily enough for the campaign, the writing behind the story is adequate and the performances from the characters are all-round superb, coupled with brilliant graphics and great combat feedback, the single-player campaign is helped over the finish line. As for multiplayer, it needs no such help and is a perfectly fun time either with friends or alone, across its many available game modes.