Call of Duty is in desperate need of a win. Black Ops 7 was the climax of rising displeasure in the established formula. It lacked that bite, amongst other things. It missed the mark for many, especially compared to older entries.
Activision needed to roll its sleeves up and win back the favour of the masses, and having briefly played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s multiplayer earlier this month, it appears a compelling counter-punch against jaded sentiments.
Now, there’s only so much you can glean from roughly two hours of multiplayer gameplay. All weapons unlocked, all attachments at your fingertips. There was no need to grind out an optimal loadout, nor enough time for areas of imbalance to manifest. Still, even within this small glimpse, some real merit is clear and unarguable.
At its core Modern Warfare 4 is a faster, more ferocious shooter. New movement abilities allow you to seamlessly roar through the maps, quickly vaulting over obstacles for firefights or navigating the map in interesting ways. Take the Supine Slide, a new feature that allows you to sprint into a slide onto your back. Not only does this propel you a further distance, it allows you to slide through gaps with haste.
‘New movement abilities’ might ring alarm bells for some. An ongoing source of frustration from some long-time fans of Call of Duty has always been rooted in the sci-fi setting – the ability to double jump, run across walls, what have you. But Modern Warfare 4, during its best moments, veers more towards Hardcore Henry or The Expendables (complimentary) than anything fantastical.
This shouldn’t be too much of a shocker though. The developers at long-time studio Infinity Ward outright said the game has taken “cues from the movie industry” during the preview event. And this approach has also brought along various interactables sprinkled throughout the multiplayer maps. A fire extinguisher, for example, will burst when shot, erupting in white smoke.
As for how much of an impact this will actually have on the multiplayer experience, I’m not convinced it will do much other than provide some visual flair. These, thankfully, are a far cry from the exploding cars of the old Modern Warfare 2, thank God. Perhaps on a subconscious level this made the game more engaging, but given my subconscious cannot write articles I cannot say with such little time playing it.
While these interactables didn’t exactly wow me, the movie industry approach has provided a bold and often hilarious new feature. When an explosion goes off nearby, but not close enough to kill you, Modern Warfare 4 no longer douses your screen in ketchup. Instead, the new Shockwave mechanic will plant you on your arse.
On the face of it this sounds frustrating, I know, but Infinity Ward doesn’t make it last so long as to be burdensome to the game’s thunderous momentum. Rather, these signal exciting close calls, a momentary opportunity to wipe the sweat from your hands and quickly escape to safety.
Also, it has allowed the riot shield to return. A controversial, oft-cursed weapon, now it doesn’t kill you outright when slammed against your forehead. Now it knocks you down, which when balanced with new, in-built destructability makes it feel less like the impenetrable wall it historically has been. There’s also a new juggernaut-style Killstreak which lets you don a big suit of armour and punch players to the ground while you shoot a big grenade launcher, which lured a giggle or two out of me.
Modern Warfare 4 has also overhauled many core aspects of the gunplay itself, all of which seem to be big deals. For one, weapon bloom is dead in Modern Warfare 4. This is a system used in many first person shooters, and is a sort of random trajectory system for bullets you shoot when not aiming down sights with a precision weapon. In Modern Warfare 4, bullets will always shoot out from the direction your weapon barrel is facing, removing some randomness from the experience.
I did not spend time shooting at walls during the brief play session, to my shame. What I can say, as someone who ran around with SMGs and fired from the hip for a decent chunk of my time with Modern Warfare 4, is everything felt spot-on in terms of accuracy. In my opinion, any change that removes the potential for bullets whistling past an intended target at no fault of the player earns a green tick.
Infinity Ward has also created something it calls “Enhanced FOV”, which hopes to retain visibility when aiming down sights. It also reworked muzzle flashes, so as to not obscure players you’re shooting at. Again, to take a true measure of how well this has been implemented you’d need to hunker down for a few hours and compare to prior Call of Duty entires. But, what I can say today is I had no trouble keeping track of enemy players during fights at all during my time with Modern Warfare. Infinity Ward may have worked magic here.
All of these I’d categorise as smart changes to the Call of Duty formula. That’s all very sensible. But you want to hear something goofy the developers have created? Apex Attachments. These are unique, absurd attachments players can unlock for the full arsenal of Modern Warfare 4 weapons.
They include, but are not limited to:
- A single-slug shotgun attached to a pistol
- An underbarrel guided missile launcher
- An alternate ammo type that tracks enemies you shoot.
- A strobing flashlight attached to a double barrelled shotgun
When these were shown montage-style to press present prior to the gameplay session, the room gradually filled with laughter. Not in a bad way, I might add, but I believe stemming from disbelief at how wild some of these Apex Attachments are.
It should go without saying these are wicked fun to use, and in some cases totally change how a weapon is used. I personally felt a lot of joy, shining a bright light into someone’s face before blasting them away with a shotgun. Not only do these attachments act as massive rewards for those who max out the levels on a weapon, but they add a bit of violent frivolity to Call of Duty, which I’m all about. Triple-A game developers should be able to play around with their clown shoes on every now and again; video games should be fun.
One final major takeaway from my time with Modern Warfare 4 stems from its game modes. We played Domination, Team Deathmatch, a new mode called Inflation, and the fan-favourite Gun Game.
TDM and Domination are as they’ve always been, but Inflation is an interesting new addition. You kill enemy players to collect money, and occasionally a VIP is assigned on each team. This VIP will drop significantly more money when taken down, and so it’s a spin on kill-confirmed with a cat-and-mouse-esque flavouring to it.
I have a problem with this mode. As far as I understood it, the VIP is determined by who is doing well on each team, so a handy killer will be marked and targeted for the enemy team. This VIP tag didn’t fall off over time, so only death can rid you from your wealth.
This, in a game where running around and getting into fights, slows the momentum of the VIP down to a fierce halt. You are encouraged to hunker down, to keep an eye on entry points rather than make use of all those smooth new movement techniques. I believe a timer attached to being a VIP would do wonders here.
On the other hand, Gun Game is fantastic. Two teams of ten clash with a set loadout each round, fighting with a single life per round in tense, chaotic fashion. It’s set in a new map type that compliments it brilliantly. The map is split into three small sections that vary wildly. These swap over each round too, so one round you’ll be sprinting through trenches, and the next you’ll be peaking around tall concrete pillars. Infinity Ward has concentrated all the best bits of arcadey Call of Duty gameplay and put it front and centre here. Fast-paced, unpredictable, hilarious.
So, as far as first impressions go, Modern Warfare 4 appears to be a fantastic comeback for the FPS giant. It is full of bold ideas and major overhauls. It retains the good core at the heart of all Call of Duty games, and blends that together with big swings. Some of them work wonders, whereas the full impact of others need more time to fully unfurl. Approach it with an interested eyebrow raised, and cautious optimism.
This preview is based on a trip to Infinity Ward in California. Activision provided flights and accomodation.