Its killstreaks and perks, too, had a beautiful simplicity to them. Pipeline, Bloc, Strike, Crash, Shipment, Downpour, Overgrown…there wasn’t a single map in Modern Warfare that was anything less than outstanding. Modern Warfare had an inimitable quality to it, one that, if we’re being honest, none of Infinity Ward, Treyarch or Sledgehammer Games have been able to successfully replicate.įor me, it all boiled down to truly phenomenal map design. It’s easy to overlook now, but Call of Duty 4 completely rewrote the script of what a multiplayer shooter should be, so much so that it’s still being imitated, even by some of gaming’s biggest franchises. Perks and killstreaks were revolutionary (how did nobody else think of this before?!). In fact, back in 2007, there were few developers that could pull off a big spectacle quite like the team at Infinity Ward.īut, for me and so many others, what kept me coming back was the addictive multiplayer. In contrast, Modern Warfare’s set-pieces were really, really cool. Today’s ‘blockbuster’ campaigns feature the same sorts of explosions, hit on similar story beats, and generally follow a similar formula – you’ve seen it all before. Of course, Modern Warfare had the advantage of coming first. In fact, 8 years on, and I struggle to think of a mission in a Call of Duty campaign that I’ve enjoyed as much.
Missions like ‘All Ghillied Up’ still rank among the best that the series has ever produced. Sure, the story might only be passable, and Soap MacTavish was basically every protagonist from every military shooter ever, but there was enough to make up for it. Its campaign still ranks among the best in the series, too. Its ultra-quick, ultra-smooth gameplay was simple enough to pick up and play, but deep and varied enough to keep me going through to day 29. It seems weird to think of a time when I didn’t know what Call of Duty was, but when I picked up Modern Warfare following the recommendation of a friend, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Whether that’s because popularity breeds dislike, or whether gamers are just tired of its constant presence, and arguably its lack of innovation, there doesn’t seem to be the same feeling of goodwill towards the series that there once was.īut it’s worth remembering that, back in 2007, it was in a league of its own. Nowadays however, Call of Duty has become a series that people love to hate. I adored Modern Warfare – a lot of people did. In over two decades of playing video games, very few can even come close to that statistic. As near as makes no difference, an entire month. I’ve registered over 29 days on Modern Warfare. I was using an MP5, and after about, oh, 9 or so deaths, I fired from the hip to register my first kill (admittedly, my opponent was already pretty low on health). A few months later, I’d become, well, pretty good actually. But more importantly, I’d become addicted. I remember my first ever online kill in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.