Before I properly get into the details of how the Modern Warfare 2 campaign compares to its predecessor, I feel that I need to clarify exactly which predecessor I am referring to. I am not talking about Call of Duty: Vanguard, which was the COD game released last year. Nor am I talking about the original Modern Warfare 2 released in 2009. I am not even talking about the remaster of the original Modern Warfare 2 which dropped in 2020.
Instead, the comparison in this article will be between the recent Modern Warfare 2 campaign and that of 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot. The reason that I am comparing these two games specifically is because I am only looking at the campaign. If it was the online multiplayer modes which were under scrutiny, then a comparison between this new game and last year’s Vanguard may be more apt.
With that out of the way, let us look at two things that the Modern Warfare 2 campaign does better than its predecessor and one thing it does worse.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 releases on October 28th and is available to purchase on PS5, Xbox and PC.
Better: Moment-to-Moment Gameplay
Before playing this latest iteration, I honestly wasn’t sure that the already buttery smooth moment-to-moment gunplay of Call of Duty could get any better. Whilst playing through the Modern Warfare 2 campaign, I was gladly proven wrong. The weapon use manages to strike that perfect balance between feeling tactile and realistic, whilst also being easy to pick up and utilize instinctively.
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The Modern Warfare 2 campaign offers the player use of a pretty extensive arsenal of weapons. However, there is no doubt that weapon packs will be coming in the future once the game launches properly and they will undoubtedly bring even more weapon variety into the experience. Let’s just hope that they all feel as good as the guns present in the game at launch.
Better: Graphics and Visuals
One of the first things which I picked up on whilst playing through the Modern Warfare 2 campaign, was just how incredible the game was to look at. This latest title is undoubtedly the best looking Call of Duty game to date and it may be one of the best looking first person shooter that I have ever played.
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The animations flow with a smooth polish, the character models are extremely realistic, the gear and weapons are extensively detailed, the environments feel lived in and the particle effects are of a high quality. Across the gamut, Modern Warfare 2 excels visually, more so than any other game in the series.
Worse: The plot of the Modern Warfare 2 campaign
Where the first Modern Warfare reboot was able to tell a contemporary socio-political story drenched in espionage and conspiracy, the sequel is more concerned with straight ahead military combat. Frankly the Modern Warfare 2 campaign is a step down from what was achieved in 2019’s Modern Warfare.
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Instead of sounding like something lifted straight from a Kathryn Bigelow movie, the script in the Modern Warfare 2 campaign come across as being closer to something written by Michael Bay. The realism and grittiness from the predecessor’s plot is absent, replaced by something far cheesier and more ‘Hollywood.’
Are you excited to check out Modern Warfare 2 when it releases? Let us know in the comments section below and for more on Call Of Duty content, stay tuned for an upcoming review on the game’s online multiplayer component and check out the full review of Modern Warfare 2’s campaign right here.
