Everyone who has a life has heard of Call of Duty, and after last year’s Vanguard was so poorly received, the premier military FPS series is coming back better than ever with a sequel to their 2019 hit Modern Warfare, or more specifically, a remake of the original Modern Warfare series. This title is packed with new mechanics, guns, killstreaks, and characters. If you were a fan of the OG games, then this game is likely up your alley.

Note: I will be referring to the games with a few abbreviations. So as not to confuse you, here is a list:

• COD: Call Of Duty.
• MW: Modern Warfare, usually followed by a number to tell which game it is in the series—19 for Modern Warfare (2019) and 22 for Modern Warfare 2 (2022), which is what we are talking about.
• BO: Black Ops, followed by version number, or CW, which stands for “Cold War.”

Campaign

I will be honest: this wasn’t my favorite. I spent most of the game on regular due to how absurdly hard this game can be. The campaign is the main reason why I bought this game, after beating MW19’s campaign ten times and wanting more dark and gritty gameplay. But after beating the game twice, I felt it was lacking. It was filled with repetitive stealth/survival missions, which are boring, hard, and waste time. I don’t think the campaign is entirely bad, however, due to the map designs, missions and characters, which are the best part of the campaign: some returning characters like Soap, Ghost, and Shepard make a return, alongside some new characters like Valeria, Phil Graves and Alejandro are all great and creative characters with a lot of depth. I will say, if you’re going into this game for only the campaign, I would wait for a sale.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is the bread and butter of the COD series, with almost every game in it adding something new to the equation, whether it was MW’s genre-defining perk and weapon system, BO3’s specialist system, or whatever future stuff Infinite Warfare did. And let me tell you, this game has added a lot more stuff to the equation. Following MW19’s new armory system allowing you to carefully build a custom gun for your playstyle, MW22 rebuilt the system, adding in more streamlined progression so you don’t have to grind every single gun; new attachment systems; and a new “receiver” system making it so you unlock new guns by using the base version of their platform.

They have also added in new vehicle mechanics, which feel bulky and unwieldy (Membean taught me that!) and could definitely use some work, and making a return from Ghosts and BO4 is a new swimming system, for which . . . hold your applause. I feel that, if they commit to an entirely new underwater physics system, they should at least add in a rebreather and some underwater weapons.

The multiplayer is very similar to MW19’s, so if you enjoyed that game, you will not be disappointed by this one. The gameplay is a bit slower, and the TTK, or Time to Kill, is a lot faster, which makes the game feel more realistic, something like Rainbow Six: Siege. I find that the gameplay is a bit clunky compared to MW19, so be warned.

There is also a co-op mode that will be expanded with the release of updates and DLC. It is pretty fun from the limited time I’ve had to play it, but it is most definitely something to be on the watch for.

In the end, I feel that, for the price (currently $70 or so), the game is definitely worth the purchase and feels promising. It will be around for a while, since the next game in the series comes out in 2024, so you have plenty of time to pick this game up.