Call of Duty. A common name in video game culture, whether it be the less than nice words about the recent year entries into the franchise or the genre defining early titles the series is almost

synonymous with the words video games. As of recent years the entries in the series were less than stellar. Starting with Advanced Warfare in 2014, the series took a departure from its normal style and dipped its toes into the settings of far future and military combat. These titles, however, didn’t sit well with fans raking in less revenue than the other older entries. In 2017 there was a return to form with Call of Duty: WW2, returning to the familiar style of a WW2 shooter game. However not even that could satisfy fans. Finally in 2019, Activision and Infinity Ward returned to their most popular trilogy of entries and reboot it into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). A bigger, better and more daring Call of Duty than the other entries in the past years and is now regarded as the best Call of Duty since the release of Black Ops 2 in 2012.

On Friday October 25 I arrived home, having the day off of work, I hopped onto my Xbox to see what kind of car wreck this Call of Duty was going to be. I am happy to say that this game thoroughly surprised me. The changes made in this game from the previous titles add just enough new flavor to entice people new and old to return, as well as the same Call of Duty experience that appeals to the Call of Duty veterans. Last year’s release Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 saw the departure of the Campaign mode for the inclusion of their own take on the battle royal mode that had by that point been done to death. Fans were not happy and hesitant to try the new mode and were left craving a story driven campaign. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare brought back the campaign and made it better than it ever has been before. Darker, grittier, and more controversial which is a good thing for Call of Duty campaigns. In the campaign of this newest installment there is a myriad of situations you’re placed into that pushes your moral boundaries. Mission 5: Clean House places you into a silent breach and clear operation in a British home. Some of the people inside are innocent civilians while some others inside are the terrorists who carried out an attack on Piccadilly in an earlier mission. Early in the mission a woman is held hostage. When she is saved she picks up a gun and begins firing at you, which makes you believe you can not trust anyone in the building which creates a dilemma in the latter half of the mission, a woman runs across the room giving you a chance to shoot. If you’re like me and don’t shoot you’ll see that she was running across the room to a crib with a baby inside and begins to comfort it. If you were to shoot the woman on account of being jumpy from the rest of the mission you will have left the baby alone to cry in the crib for the rest of the mission.

Mission 12: Old Comrades sees you chase an important story character named the butcher through the streets. When you do finally catch him it starts a scene of interrogation: he’s being uncooperative and you’re told to go receive a package that will help with interrogation. This package ends up being the family of the man you have apprehended, you’ll use them for leverage against him. You’re given two prompts “I’m in” or “I’m out”. Selecting I’m in will take you through the whole torture scene, you take a presumably loaded revolver and take aim, which will begin frightening the man getting intel out of him. If he stops talking you have to pull the trigger whether it be at his family or right beside them. The man will begin talking again once you are handed six bullets and begin loading them into the revolver, when the mission reaches its end you’re given the choice to either spare the man or kill him, now with no context you’d think to instantly spare him but earlier in the game you witnessed him murder US embassy workers and a child (offscreen, but the gunshot and thud do enough) so reasonably you’d think that he shouldn’t be kept alive. This mission caused a lot of stir in the world of game journalists and reviewers because of the moral tension this game presents in its missions portraying the darker side of special operations units in the military. The average fan of the Call of Duty found these changes to be the right direction for the game which drove hype and interest in the game way up. Cementing it as the must have title of the year, and the already best selling game of the year two days after its release. Others will argue that video games should stray away from controversies and sensitive subjects to protect the younger audience of gamers. I couldn’t disagree more.

Video games are a form of art and storytelling that has an extra layer of interactivity that you can’t get from a movie or book, a good game can make you believe you are in that world, a character in this large story which can be used to make you sympathize with the characters and people when something happens. This allows for controversy that can be the catalyst for talk, this is why these games are rated M for Mature. Parents can’t buy their 10 year old child a game rated for people 17 and up and then complain about the content inside that said game. The ESRB system for rating games was made for a reason so that parents and children alike know what they are getting themselves into when they buy the game. If you have a problem with mature, sensitive topics stick to Fortnite and other games rated lower than an M rating. With that, my closing statements are as follows, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a fantastic return to form that was needed to keep the franchise kicking at the top of the charts, despite its controversies and obvious flaws it provides great fun for those who purchase it, if you can’t handle the sensitive topics portrayed in the campaign the multiplayer is still as crazy and fun as they always have been.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). A bigger, better and more daring Call of Duty than the other entries in the past years and is now regarded as the best Call of Duty since the release of Black Ops 2 in 2012.

On Friday October 25 I arrived home, having the day off of work, I hopped onto my Xbox to see what kind of car wreck this Call of Duty was going to be. I am happy to say that this game thoroughly surprised me. The changes made in this game from the previous titles add just enough new flavor to entice people new and old to return, as well as the same Call of Duty experience that appeals to the Call of Duty veterans. Last year’s release Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 saw the departure of the Campaign mode for the inclusion of their own take on the battle royal mode that had by that point been done to death. Fans were not happy and hesitant to try the new mode and were left craving a story driven campaign. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare brought back the campaign and made it better than it ever has been before. Darker, grittier, and more controversial which is a good thing for Call of Duty campaigns. In the campaign of this newest installment there is a myriad of situations you’re placed into that pushes your moral boundaries.

Mission 5: Clean House places you into a silent breach and clear

operation in a British home. Some of the people inside are innocent

civilians while some others inside are the terrorists who carried out an attack on Piccadilly in an earlier

mission. Early in the mission a woman is held hostage. When she is saved she picks up a gun and

begins firing at you, which makes you believe you can not trust

anyone in the building this creates a dilemma in the latter half of the mission, a woman runs across the room giving you a chance to shoot.

If you’re like me and don’t shoot you’ll see that she was running across the room to a crib with a baby inside and begins to comfort it. If you were to shoot the woman on account of being jumpy from the rest of the mission you will have left the baby alone to cry in the crib for the rest of the mission.

Mission 12: Old Comrades sees you chase an important story

character named the butcher through the streets. When you do finally catch him it starts a scene of interrogation: he’s being

uncooperative and you’re told to go receive a package that will help with interrogation.

To read the rest of the review, visit harberherald.com