The Call of Duty video game franchise has long been one of the great powerhouses in first person shooters in the past decade. With its 2019 release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the fanbase has seen a dramatic resurgence with game developer Activision stating that MW is the highest-selling game in COD franchise history on this console generation (Xbox One and Playstation Four). With many students finding more free time on their hands due to distance learning and the ongoing quarantine, COD MW is a great game to relax, have fun and stay connected with your friends online.

     One of the biggest aspects of this year’s COD game is the return to a much slower style of play. In recent years, COD games such as Black Ops 4 and Infinite Warfare have adapted movement controls such as double-jumping and wall running that created a very fast style of run-and-gun gameplay. In this year’s installment, a regular boots-on-ground style of moving and lowered health capacity has created a slower and much more tactical style of play — a style of gameplay that has been absent from COD since the days of 2010 Black Ops and 2011 Modern Warfare 3.

     In addition to the old style of gameplay, Activision has also implemented a new way of adding additional content to the game over its lifespan instead of the traditional Season Pass system. The Battle Pass system sees players gain cosmetic items just by playing the game for extended periods of time. It also ensures that all players will have access to any new weapons or maps that Activision decide to introduce later in the game cycle, something that players in the past had to buy separate from the game. This system ensures that all players have an equal playing field and gives players incentive to grind out the game for rewards.

     Aside from multiplayer, this year’s COD comes with a co-op mode and a campaign. In my opinion, this year’s story mode was one of the best COD campaigns I’ve played in the past few years. In this campaign, the player follows the life of an officer named Alex and the British SAS forces as they attempt to combat Russian forces that are invading America. Over the course of the storyline, there are many memorable characters and moments that make the missions come to life and truly make the player question the morals of right and wrong during times of war. I’ve played the co-op mode a few times and while I definitely believe it’s the weakest part of the game, it can still be fun when played with friends.

     Additionally, Activision recently released a new game mode called Warzone, which also comes as a free stand alone game. Warzone is a 150 player battle royale game where teams of three or four players fight to be the last team standing. In the battle royale game mode, the sheer amount of players allows for crazy and dramatic moments. The addition of a system called the “Gulag” adds a unique and fun element to fighting for a second life in the game. Warzone also comes with an additional game mode called Plunder in which players must collect money and deposit it at safe points.

     Overall, I believe that COD MW is one of the best COD games in the past five years. Due to the many different modes the game offers, the replayability of MW is extremely high, and the fresh new addition of content every month will keep gamers constantly coming back to see what’s new. With crossplay across the Xbox, Playstation, and PC consoles, COD players have easy access to play with friends no matter what console they play on. Overall, due to the replay value of the game and many fun multiplayer game modes offered, I’d rate COD MW a nine out of ten.