Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the latest chapter in the incredibly popular Modern Warfare saga, and potentially the last one. That feels bittersweet since I have enjoyed the Modern Warfare games since 2007, but if that is the case, Infinity Ward did a great job ending it on a high note. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 follows the events that started in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023). If you’ve forgotten some of the story beats, or if this is your first Modern Warfare game, Infinity Ward included a great recap feature to bring everyone up to speed. You could tell Infinity Ward put a lot of work into this package, and it is something all Call of Duty fans should buy.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has three main components for fans to enjoy. First is the campaign, which picks up where Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III left off and lets fans see what happens to some of their favorite characters. The second component is the multiplayer suite, where fans can engage in traditional player-vs-player combat across a variety of modes. The third component is not a zombies mode, but instead a dedicated mode for DMZ, an extraction shooter experience.

The campaign for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 focuses on the relationship between North and South Korea. The game starts by putting you in the boots of a South Korean soldier. Your squad walks through a city until everything goes black, explosions suddenly appear in the distance, and your squad realizes South Korea is being invaded. As far as story details go, that is all this review will mention so key moments aren’t spoiled.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has 16 story missions. The missions switch between your South Korean squad and other characters fans will recognize. The variety is decent where one mission might put you in a nightclub, then have you chase a target through the streets. At the same time, another mission will have you infiltrating different enemy sites so your squad can call for backup. In contrast, another will have you fighting through the streets of Paris on foot and then later trying to escape in a vehicle. I have played all the Modern Warfare games and enjoyed the overall story of the series. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was the weakest of the first three, but Modern Warfare 4 makes up for it in a big way. The way the storylines intersect and come together is fantastic, and Infinity Ward should be proud of what they accomplished here. One thing I will say is hang around for the credits. There is some stuff there you will not want to miss.

I will say there is one small part I wasn’t a huge fan of during this campaign. That too place when I had to engage in fist-to-fist combat with an enemy. It only happened on a few occasions, and I get that they wanted something more dramatic than just shooting the guy in the head in those specific instances. Still, it seemed to break the game’s flow a bit. The more I played, the more I got used to it, and I understand the thought process behind including those, but something else might have worked better. The other part where I had a bit of an audible sigh was when I came across a mission with an open-world concept. Fortunately, the game lets you skip that if you want. In this mission, you can explore the open world and find supplies to try to repair equipment at your base, or skip it all and focus on the objectives. When you talk to a squadmate, he will ask if you want to explore or fast travel to where you need to complete your objective(s). I really appreciated this touch, as it serves everyone the same way. For those who want to explore and find crates and supplies, and repair everything at the base, that can absolutely be done. For those who want to focus on the story and none of the extraneous stuff, that is also an option. So while I did audibly sigh when I first saw the open-world portion, once I was done, I was fairly happy with it because I wasn’t forced into it.

The multiplayer suite in a Call of Duty game is where a lot of people spend the majority of their time. In the multiplayer suite, there are 11 different modes in the “Core” set ranging from Team Deathmatch to Kill Confirmed, Search and Destroy, Frontline, Collateral, and more. For those who want to go the “hardcore” route, there are eight different modes on offer, including Hardcore Team Deathmatch, Hardcore Free-For-All, Hardcore Search and Destroy, and more. For those wondering what the difference is between “Core” and “Hardcore,” Hardcore mode gives you a limited HUD, turns on friendly fire so you can shoot your own teammates (whether by accident or on purpose), and reduces your health with no regeneration.

Just because a mode is available, though, doesn’t mean you have to play it. For example, if you only like Team Deathmatch and Kill Confirmed, you can uncheck the box next to all the other modes so that, during matchmaking, you’re only put into Team Deathmatch or Kill Confirmed. Personally speaking, I have always really enjoyed Kill Confirmed since its inception. Still, I will jump into standard Team Deathmatch as well. Search and Destroy can be fun too, alternating between trying to detonate an explosive and trying to stop the other team from doing so. There is also a fun mode called “Gun Game.” In this mode, you need to be the first person to score a kill with each weapon the game gives you. I appreciate the unpredictability of this mode, and it also prevents someone from using only one weapon, such as a shotgun. You need to adapt to what the game throws at you more than usual, and I appreciate that level of strategy. Inflation is another one I had a lot of fun with, and no, I’m not talking about the price going up on everything. Inflation mode tasks you with killing the enemy and collecting their bounty. The winner is determined by whichever team has the most cash after 10 minutes, or whoever gets the score to 1,000, whichever comes first.

Of course, gameplay is just one part of the multiplayer mode. Once a player reaches Level 4 (which you should be able to do in a match or two), the “Create A Class” option opens up, where players can choose the loadout they want, with perks and more. During my time, I chose the HAN 86 Assault Rifle as my primary weapon and used a perk that lets me carry two primary weapons. Once that was equipped, I put an M4 Assault Rifle as my secondary weapon. Once you decide which weapons to use, the Gunsmith becomes available, where you can customize your weapons. For example, I wanted to use a suppressor with the M4, but it is locked at first. To unlock it, I need to use the weapon in multiplayer and earn several unlocks until I can use the accessory of my choice. Initially, I could at least select an optic, and I chose the SZ Prima-4 Dot. Keep in mind that even though 9 categories will eventually unlock, you can only equip five attachments. With that in mind, you have to use some strategy and decide whether you want to sacrifice your scope for that suppressor, for example.

You can also earn additional items by meeting certain criteria, such as unlocking a new camo by reaching weapon level six or getting a new calling card after you finish 10 matches with a positive elimination-to-death ratio. Events also pop up from time to time that players can join. As of this writing, a MW4 Boot Camp event is running. Players can complete these challenges by playing different game modes. For example, one challenge is completed by finishing the “Mayhem” story in the campaign. Another challenge is killing 20 enemies in DMZ mode. Another challenge is collecting 1,000,000 in the aforementioned Inflation mode. These are timed events as well, and I really enjoy how they run through all modes, so more people have a chance to earn these rewards.

The third pillar of the game, as I mentioned above, is DMZ mode. This is completely different than the campaign and the standard multiplayer suite. DMZ is an extraction shooter experience, a living sandbox, where you have an objective to achieve, and then need to survive long enough to get extracted. You can play solo or as part of a team, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. I remember one time being put into a match with random people who didn’t care about the objective at all. They just wanted to run around shooting enemies, and the team was eventually wiped out. If you can find a great group of players, though, this mode can be a lot of fun. Of course if you play solo you won’t have this issue but you also have no one to really back you up. If you extract yourself after completing your objective, what you get carries forward into future deployments. There is a bit of a risk/reward scenario here, though: if you make a bad decision and you and/or your team get eliminated, you might lose the gear and resources you acquired. With that in mind, you have to constantly weigh whether something is worth the risk or whether it is time to get out with what you have found. This risk/reward scenario adds a layer of tension that can be a lot of fun with the right group of people.

DMZ also offers many different ways to play. You can hunt high-value targets, explore the world on your own and see what happens, take on Dynamic Operations, take on story missions, and more. There is a lot to do here, and the more successful you are on these missions, the more your character levels up and the more you can do overall. At your base camp, you have a lot of decisions to make, and as you progress, more will open up. For example, you have your stash/loadout, a 3D printer you can eventually use, the aforementioned Gunsmith, and you can choose different traits and more. The experience really is what you make of it, and I can see myself spending a lot of time here and getting absorbed in trying to continually level up and improve my gear to help me on my next run.

Overall, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is a complete package that should keep fans busy for a long time. For long-time fans of the series, there are some nice moments and callbacks. If this is your first Call of Duty game, you should have a lot of fun experiencing the story and then seeing what works best for you, either in the multiplayer suite or in the DMZ. Aside from those two complaints I mentioned earlier, I think Infinity Ward did an exceptional job here. If this does indeed end up being the last game in the Modern Warfare series, then I am at least happy it ended on a positive note.

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Please Note: Activision sent us a code for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 for review purposes.