GAME CLEAR No. 9 -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered (2016, Multiplatform)

Remake of: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007, Multiplatform)
Developer: Raven Software w/ Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Clear Date: 12/19/2020
Clear Platform: PS4 (via PS+)

Call of Duty is a franchise I have essentially completely neglected for its entire existence. I never owned any of them and was only sparingly coerced into playing them at friends houses in high school. I will fully admit that a lot of this was driven by my damnable contrarian nature, but the series just doesn’t appeal to be a great deal on its face. Being a citizen of the United States is enough military propaganda for me as it is. Nevertheless, the series is an undeniable megahit, and when this hit PlayStation Plus some time back, I decided I’d give one of the series most acclaimed entries a fair shot. Finally, I’ve gotten around to it.

And it’s pretty good! The story is interesting enough to keep things moving, and the FPS gameplay feels as good as it can on a console. It’s got solid graphics, good voice acting, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. I will say picking Veteran difficulty for your first ever CoD experience is perhaps inadvisable. It truly does not fuck around. I persisted through it and beat the entire game on Veteran, but it is seriously no joke. I may have had more fun playing on a lower difficulty, but those Veteran PSN trophies were just too tantalizing.

I don’t have a ton to say other than it’s definitely a super solid FPS campaign. I have no interest in the multiplayer, which I’m sure is the primary appeal of the series. I drew a very similar comparison when I played through the Halo games on the Master Chief Collection years after they came out. They’re perfectly enjoyable, but I think playing them online with friends back in their original releases is probably what gave them such a strong nostalgia factor for so many people. In fact, playing the Halo games co-op with a friend is most of what got me through them. It’s fun to play a co-op game and shoot the shit! Meanwhile, I will probably never play another Call of Duty game. I’m glad to have satisfied my desire to play at least one so I can say I have participated in this gaming phenomenon, but I’m not at all compelled to play another. I’m sure Activision will get by without picking up $60 annually from me.