My #1 favorite of all-time!
Modern Warfare breaks away from the World War II setting of previous entries in the series and is instead set in modern times.
Despite the game actually being good, Activision constantly reskinned the game for future titles in the series, which also resulted in many people (such as me, sort of) getting tired of generic games of this kind in general. In other words, this game, and it's sequels are pretty much responsible for the over-saturation of generic FPS games due to its success.
Despite the ESRB rating, the minimum age (according to info on IMDB) is 12 and the maximum age is 15. The content is not as graphically explicit.
So the plot is this: the story takes place in the years 2010 (first two levels) and 2011, where a radical leader has executed the president of an unnamed country in the Middle East, and an ultranationalist movement ignites a civil war in Russia. The conflicts are seen from the perspectives of a U.S. Force Reconnaissance Marine and a British SAS commando and are set in various locales, such as the United Kingdom, the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Ukraine.
What I like a lot about this is that instead of taking place in World War 2 again (which was overused at the time of the games release), it decides to change things up by making it take place in modern times. In addition to this the storyline involves the U.S.M.C. and the S.A.S putting a stop to a radical leader in the Middle East. Amazing visuals for the time, a nice soundtrack, and outstanding voice-acting make this one of the best values of all-time.
Sadly, the graphics have aged pretty poorly, with noticeable low quality normal mapped textures along with low quality cubemaps used on water reflections on some missions, even if they were impressive for the time. The remaster is flawed since it has the later added microtransactions and supply drops despite being a remaster of a game released in 2007.
The characters aren't generic soldiers like many of the games before it, but instead actual characters like Captain Price and Gaz and my personal favorite, Staff Sergeant Griggs. The villains, however, are very one dimensional and Zakhaev's speech during Ultimatum is generic. It's also the only time he is heard speaking in the entire game other than the intro.
Linear level layout isn't inherently bad, but in this instance it's so linear it's pointless to explore since you can't go almost anywhere off the beaten path since other paths are blocked by knee-high objects or invisible walls. Throughout the levels, you can find intel which will unlock cheats. These cheats range from putting a filter over the game to Infinite ammo, paintball bullets, and slow-mo. And speaking of the levels:
- Shock and Awe ends with what is considered one the most shocking and disturbing moments in the Call of Duty series. At the end of this level, you witness the Marine protagonist's (Paul Jackson) entire unit being wiped out in a nuclear blast. If that weren't enough, you are forced to control that character as he crawls out of his crashed helicopter, struggles across the wasted landscape, and dies shortly from radiation poisoning. Of course, it's a really ridiculous moment where after all 30,000 Marines are killed you come to find out that Nikolai just so happens to know where Al-Asad's safehouse is. Bear in mind, the Marines' goal was to find Al-Asad.
- The AC-130 level is pretty eerie, especially when you consider how perfectly it mirrors real life AC-130 footage. This eerie feeling was the inspiration for the tone of the 2019 reboot.
- All Ghillied Up is considered one of the best levels in all of Call of Duty. Taking place in 1996 Chernobyl, you as Price work with MacMillan to kill Zakhaev. Much sneaking with absolutely well done atmosphere and tension ensue, most notably the tank patrol section, where one wrong move will undoubtedly result in death. The foreboding music perfectly sets the tone. Last but not least, the use of real life locations in Chernobyl, plus its inherent isolation making it a perfect place for terrorist deals, help lend much credibility and believability to the level.
A great multiplayer experience continues to inspire many other multiplayer components of other games in the community. The multiplayer portion of the game features various game modes and contains a leveling system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons, weapon attachments, and camouflage schemes as they advance. Keep in mind, though, that it has its fair share of problems like annoying perks such as the infamous juggernaut, last stand, and martyrdom (the last two becoming deathstreaks in future installments) and overpowered weapons like the M16. Also, as of 2022 and even to this day, like many other old Call of Duty games, almost every multiplayer lobby is either dead or has a hacker in it.
This is one of the best games ever, and one of my all-time favorites.
