Modern Warfare 2 is STILL the Best Call of Duty Game

Modern Warfare 2 is the best Call of Duty game. In every way. I may not be the biggest COD fan in the world, but I really enjoyed them during the 360 era, and after playing through the two most recent COD Single-Player modes and dipping my toes into the multi-player, I can safely say that MW2 still is king.

Now the Modern Warfare Reboot, known simply as Modern Warfare is a good game, though it’s substantially different than the traditional COD experience. It has an over-reliance on cutscenes, had a weird aversion to real-world names (people, places, weapons/equipment) and has very few interesting levels to speak of. Calling it “understated” might even not go far enough.



Now I’m not saying that every COD needs to keep amping things up, and raising the stakes, (that’s how you get robo-suits, and spaceships) but the best parts of the reboot/refresh are the parts that go into uncharted territory. Realistic, SWAT-esque levels are by a mile, the most fun the game has to offer, both visually and in terms of gameplay. The rest of the game is mediocre at best, but these standout levels really elevate the package and it’s obvious why they were used for the trailers. They bump.

It really does feel like you’re a real special forces unit, really clearing terrorists out of a house. It’s genuinely tense. The most fun the game has to offer.

Black Ops Cold War, on the other hand, is far more similar to the old-school CODs than the new ones. It’s a little action-movie-ish, has a few dud levels, but its design allows for some non-COD like gameplay. The puzzle-solving/ decoding element is fantastic and the fact that it’s optional allowed the devs to make it surprisingly challenging, but in the best way. It’s not a “game puzzle” it’s a real puzzle. it expects you to break out a pen and paper and think things out, not just click the screen until you get the right answer.


Additionally the game has two (at least) endings. Which is something kinda weird for a military shooter. Though I suppose BLOPS Cold War barely qualifies as “military” given how kooky it gets at times. Unfortunately both MW2019 and Cold War both suffer from the fact that they’re inseparable from Call of Duty Warzone. Say what you will about how fun the “mode” is, but the fact that the single-player games cannot be installed or run without downloading hundreds of gigabytes of Warzone is infuriating. Both games get a huge mark against them purely for being badly, BADLY fragmented and requiring dozens of separate files to be installed using Warzone’s built-in, but laughably bad installer. It’s the only Xbox game I’ve had to look up and installation guide for.

Completely unacceptable.

But then I played the COD4 remaster. It held up better than I remembered it doing, but it just reminded me about how much of a bridge that game was. Even with the modern graphics (which are still quite outdated by modern standards) the gameplay is practically antique. It lacks so much of flexibility and variety that the later games have, and it’s certainly nostalgia that fuels the conversation around it.

Every level is a shooting gallery with tons of hitscanning enemies, with the exception of two. All Ghillied Up and Death from Above. The former of the two turns into a shooting gallery in the very next load screen, and the latter of which is a ton of fun, but hardly presents any sort of a challenge.

Compared to the campaign of MW2, none of these games even come close. I had forgotten how fun COD could be until I started playing the story mode. 
With the exception of the surprisingly reset-heavy Favela levels, the game is fair, fun, and full of a great variety of content. Even the Russian invasion levels that i remembered not being very fun, were actually great! And I was playing the original release, so I imagine the remastered version of MW2 would look/play even better!

You can’t really talk about MW2 without talking about “No Russian”, or the Obama era in the US. And while I’m not entirely keen to dwell on real world politics or drone strikes, it’s abundantly clear that aside from being inspired by James Bond-style espionage movies, MW2 was heavily influenced by the state the world was in when the game entered development. I’d even argue that MW2 is the last COD that takes itself seriously. It’s not a purely realistic game, but it never lets the action movie vibe corrupt the drama of the narrative. It’s a game of its time, but it’s not cheesy.

While not directly related to the games, or even to the developers of MW2, since these people have likely changed positions or jobs since the game was in development, I can’t bring myself to think about COD or Activision in general without mentioning the ongoing legal action that’s going on there.

While Activision-Blizzard is far from the only company that’s toxic work culture is screwing over players, supporting dictatorships, and literally killing it’s employees, it’s currently the most notable. Combine this with the fact that Blizzard has been making faux pas after faux pas for years now, and one will inevitably come to the heartbreaking realization that they can never purchase another Blizzard game again in good conscience.

And since Blizzard and Activision are effectively the same company, in all but name, this ruins my ability to purchase and enjoy modern CODs and other cool Activision titles.

I buy most of my games used, and know digital purchases to be a rip off, so I can mostly avoid these distasteful companies, but as things edge closer and closer to digital-only due to the technological illiteracy of the gaming community at large, I fear my ability to do so will soon disappear, as it has already done on PC.

I’ve made my voice heard. I’ve spoken out on public forums and on twitter to the extent I’m willing to take up this cause. And I haven’t purchased and Blizzard games digitally, despite wanting to. I’m voting with my wallet, but I’m hoping with my heart that Activison-Blizzard, two companies that I grew up with, will find their humanity and make me proud to be a fan.