Why So Much Enthusiasm? A Review of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Campaign

Call of Duty fans are celebrating the return of 'that very' Modern Warfare with explosions, chases, and the drama of Task Force 141. But should we overlook the cringe-worthy clichés of a B-movie comedy and drawn-out tutorial missions for the sake of a few spectacular cutscenes? We break down the single-player campaign of the new release.

Infinity Ward rebooted Modern Warfare in 2019. Over these long years, the sub-series about the formation of the legendary Task Force 141, which shows the dark underbelly of war where beacons of democracy can be just as morally corrupt as those they oppose, lost its initial vigor. At first glance, everything came to a dead end with Modern Warfare 3, whose plot simply insulted the player's intelligence. You don't have to look far for examples: the game had an episode where the brave mustachioed Captain Price inhaled some mega-poisonous gas that turned people into bloody pulp. Players were led to believe that Price's adventures ended on a dramatic note, but no — literally in the next episode, the captain is as fit as a fiddle, only coughing a little.

But the parade of narrative stupidity was not the only, and by no means the most serious, problem with Modern Warfare 3. Many players were much more annoyed by the open levels, which turned the series, famous for its insane action and drive, into an attraction of gloom.

Return to Roots

Modern Warfare 4 brings back the series' linearity (for the most part), as well as explosions and daring chases — perhaps the most spectacular in the franchise's history. The mission in Paris alone is worth it — although, given the latest news from the country of perfume and baguettes, reality turned out to be much more interesting — and the episode in the club, which immediately reminded many of 'John Wick'.

The game skillfully juggles two storylines at once, telling of the misadventures of Captain Price, who went AWOL, and Private Pak, who found himself in the thick of events when North Korea launched a large-scale invasion of the South.

Price's story is kept in a much darker and more serious tone, showing the cruel and revenge-obsessed monster the mustachioed man has become. In an attempt to kill Makarov and punish all villains, he even begins to associate with Valeria and her cartel. Although Price tries his best to keep casualties to a minimum, he still becomes an unwitting accomplice to the atrocities the cartel commits to deliver powerful weapons to a new villain nicknamed Archer. The plot literally forces Price to recall his own words from Modern Warfare (2019) about blurred red lines and the legendary phrase 'We get our hands dirty so the world stays clean'.

The arc of Price is given special drama by Ghost and his own protégé Gaz, who were tasked with stopping Price at all costs, and trying to take the old warrior alive was not necessarily required. In this episode, the game even switches to Gaz and shows how emotionally difficult it is for him to hunt down his former mentor, who asks him to abandon the mission and explicitly states that he is ready to kill him and Ghost if they continue to stand in his way.

Good-Bad Russians

Although Pak's storyline demonstrates more global events and a whole gallery of new heroes, it is just as personal as Price's. The realities of war and the death of brothers in arms harden and embitter the simple private, turning Pak into a seasoned commando who single-handedly captures outposts and carries out large-scale sabotages in the enemy's rear. Although his transformation happens relatively quickly, you still believe in it.

Pak's storyline can also be called somewhat comical due to how caricaturally evil North Korea is presented in Modern Warfare 4, where dirt, devastation, and soldiers in Soviet hats with a star feed starving people with lead. An episode has already spread online where the player has to take on the role of a North Korean soldier ordered to hang a traitor. Moreover, the game gives the choice not to do this, but in that case, the soldier himself will catch a bullet with his compassionate heart, and the poor man who fought against the bloody regime will still be hanged. A choice without a choice: those who refuse to participate in executions will be executed themselves.

We won't go deep into spoiler territory, but the game even has a dialogue in which a defector tells Pak how soldiers once saved cows from a village but left people to die because the cows belong to the state, and people are not pitied. Honestly, if Modern Warfare 4 had told how the supreme leader ate children and set the American flag on fire instead of a nightlight before bed, the game wouldn't have become funnier. At times it seemed that the screenwriters only knew about North Korea what was shown in the movie 'The Interview' with James Franco.

Of course, Russia was also involved, which now directly projects its villainous evil onto the entire Middle East and helps North Korea in the war with the South. One of the final scenes, in which Archer describes Russia's motives, will make many shed tears of laughter. And some will even be proud of their own country!

DMZ Advertisement

Modern Warfare 4 does not try to do anything new in terms of missions and their structure and maintains a good pace. The directors did not overly stretch the tasks, which means each episode ends before it has a chance to get boring.

The only exception is one of Pak's missions, where his squad finds itself in snow-covered mountains in enemy territory and is forced to survive. Essentially, it's a kind of DMZ-lite mode, where Pak must complete a series of difficult tasks to contact command and evacuate, while collecting resources and finding new weapons. Resources can then be spent on upgrading weapons and buying equipment. It seemed that the developers simply really wanted to advertise the DMZ mode, even though they understood that it would break the pace of the narrative.

Not Everyone Will Make It to the Credits

Modern Warfare 4 surprises with a huge number of character deaths, including key ones. Yes, Activision and Infinity Ward warned that this was the final game in the sub-series and many would not make it to the credits, but few fans thought about how easily, quickly, and sometimes even absurdly familiar heroes would be buried, not to mention all sorts of extras.

At least they will remain in multiplayer or be added later with battle passes. However, the question still remains how Infinity Ward will (if at all) play out their potential appearance in DMZ mode, which, as the developers themselves say, will be a continuation of the story campaign.

What there are absolutely no complaints about is the acting. The actor who played Price, Barry Sloane, perfectly carries the storyline of the embittered captain, giving his all to his role.

Young Mazino, who played Pak, did a good job, and his acting talent was undeniable after watching the series 'Beef', and Prisca Kim — there is something captivating in the fanaticism and a touch of madness of the North Korean army commander Ri Ju-Yeon. Maria Elisa Camargo is again good as Valeria, as is Samuel Roukin, who plays Ghost.

But above all praise is Mads Mikkelsen, who magnificently played the role of the cold, cruel, and calculating Archer. There are not many scenes with him in Modern Warfare 4, but in each of them, Mikkelsen captures the viewer's absolute attention to his character. It's good that the game has a separate menu that allows you to rewatch cutscenes.

Verdict

A worthy conclusion to the Modern Warfare sub-series. Four hours of unrestrained action, two hours of DMZ mode advertising, and then another hour and a half of action. You can easily turn a blind eye to the madness of the script — no one has taken it seriously in Call of Duty for many years — and simply praise the actors for their quality work even with such low-quality material.

Do we recommend checking out this attraction? Absolutely!