“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (New)”

I think this game has brought Call of Duty back from the slippery slope it was headed down. For us gamers who have been around since COD's beginning, we know that the games used to be gritty and had an emphasis on realism. They always tried to make the game as realistic as possible focusing on top-of-line graphics and powerful stories. Somewhere down the line the COD games got almost "cartoony" if that makes sense. They lost sight of what made them so successful in the first place and tried to be trendy. I think this game gets back to the gritty COD we remember and offers enough new features to satisfy, while also bringing back the playing style that feels oh so familiar to us. Overall, I think this game is FANTASTIC and has put COD back on top in my book. Well done Activision.

If you have played the previous Call of Duty Modern Warfares (One, Two, and Three), then this one will feel relatively familiar to you. Price is still awesome and dominates the campaign story-line with the introduction of a few new characters and (SPOILER ALERT) foreshadowing of old characters who may return in the future. The game offers a new beautifully done menu layout. The multiplayer menu is particular stands out displaying your ”operator” with your selected loadout menacingly walking through smoke and rubble. The campaign menu lays out your completed missions while giving you an overview of the war map. The storyline is completely new with a few hints at previous events that had occurred in Modern Warfare campaign timeline. Aside from a new story, different menus, and the introduction of new weapons comes the biggest change, the “Armory”.

The Armory may be the best thing ever added to Call of Duty. It allows you to COMPLETELY customize your weapon to your liking from barrel to stock and each modification is based on the real life weapon mods (so no laser guns). For example, if you use the stock M4 and like it, but are wishing it was better in close quarters you can swap the barrel for a shorter compact barrel. Now, each modification comes with its pros and cons. In the barrel example the shorter barrel would perform better in close quarters at the expense of its range capabilities. The Armory also offers various appearance changes to the weapons as well from your typical camouflage (of which the unlocking system was modified) to the actual appearance of the weapon such as a slotted barrel or cool looking grip. In the totally cool Armory you also set up your basics as well such as perks and equipment.

Yup, that's right. Call of Duty Modern Warfare is the first cross-compatible COD ever. This is fantastic news for many, because we all have those friends who just refuse to play on the same gaming platform as you. With this new capability this is no longer a problem. If you play on PC and have a bunch of console friends (totally my situation) than this is a HUGE quality of "gaming life" improvement. Being able to play with all of your friends despite the platform they are on makes the game far more enjoyable and I believe will help Call of Duty sustain a more active player base. If your friends are always pushing you to get on, you will likely play the game far more. The cross-compatibility function itself works well. I have not recognized any major glitches or problems with cross-compatibility other than party chats. If you are on PC playing with Xbox players you have a few solutions, Discord and Xbox Console Companion. However, if you are on PS4 you will have to settle with standard game chat because these party platforms have not yet been integrated (get with the program Sony). Which game chat functions fine, but I think I speak for us all when I say us players could do without the voice filter COD decided to add (sounding like your talking through a walkie-talkie is cool for like 5 minutes). You also lose the privacy aspect when you are in game chat as well. So, hopefully Sony will come up with a solid solution to this problem. Perhaps the easiest fix would be to integrate Discord bringing all platforms to a common chat room. A big question about cross-compatibility is the reaction gap between PC and console players and this is not as big of a problem as you would think. Yes, PC players are using mouse and keyboard giving them the ability to turn quicker, BUT console players have the benefit of "Aim Assist". Aim Assist is a big advantage on console, so big I would say it almost completely eliminates this concern all together.