No matter how different players’ opinions are about multiplayer in any part of Call of Duty, the story is always unique and Activision Studios are creative in providing a cinematic experience full of action and political adventure. The end of Call of Duty 2019 opened up horizons for the Infinity Ward studio to present anything it wanted in the new part, so let’s embark on an adventure around the world with Captian Price and Task Force 141 to eliminate terrorism and drug trafficking.
Task Force 141 is in great danger
Modern Warfare II takes place three years after MW2019, where Captain Price established Task Force 141 under Station Chief Kate Laswell. For 3 years, the 141st has gone on special operations all over the world, but something happens that starts the story of Modern Warfare II.
When a US airstrike kills a foreign general, the next general vows revenge, partnering with the international drug cartel Las Almas to transport stolen US missiles. With drug lanes at their disposal, the terrorist network prepares to launch a missile attack against the United States of America unless Task Force 141 can stop it.
But wait, we in Modern Warfare II not only fight terrorism, but we must cooperate with the Mexican special operations squad Los Vaqueros in order to eliminate the international drug cartel Las Almas to cleanse Mexico of the evil and corruption of this gang, and seize the smuggling lanes to stop the transfer of stolen missiles.
The story includes 17 missions and you finish them in approximately 7 hours of gameplay making it one of the longest stories to be introduced in the Call of Duty series. But the question here is, is it a story that only aims to provide more in the world of Modern Warfare, or does its events make it an unforgettable experience?
We haven’t bonded with characters like this in a long time
Great development in the characters’ relationships
The characters of Modern Warfare 2019 return once again, and they are headed by the wonderful Barry Sloane in the role of Captain Price, who has his own prestige and charisma. Elliot Knight returns as Gaz, and we see the development of the relationship between him and Captain Price, as they are now close friends, and this is evident from the way they talk.
We are witnessing the introduction of 4 new main characters in MWII, the most important of which is Ghost (played by Samuel Roukin), who was eye-catching in any scene he appeared in. Neil Ellice introduces John MacTavish (Soap alias) with a wonderful Scottish accent. We also witness a wonderful development in the relationship between Ghost and Soap as they become so close throughout the events of the game that Soap does not allow anyone to call him “Johnny” except only Ghost!
The leader of Los Vaqueros’ Mexican Special Operations Forces is Colonel Alejandro Vargas (played by Alain Mesa) who adds a lot of depth to the Mexican side of the story. And of course, we cannot forget General Shepherd, who was presented by the wonderful actor Glenn Morshower in a fantastic way that really makes you feel that he is a general in the army and not just a person playing a character role. All of the characters older or first introduced in Modern Warfare II gave us great acting performances, so we felt very connected to them.
The dialogues are great, and the sense of humor gives the game its special character
The 2019 parts relied mainly on realism and darkness in its story, but the matter differs with Modern Warfare II, where we see a greater focus on dialogues between characters while providing a wonderful sense of humor. His joke timing was great throughout the game, but he especially shined in the mission titled “Alone”. In that mission, Soap attempts to get out of hostile territory by guiding Ghost over the radio.
Throughout the events of the mission, the two can’t help but make fun of each other over the walkie-talkie and Ghost keeps telling silly jokes that keep Soap so engaged. We felt like it played on the psychological side a bit because that way the game makes you feel hopeful to get out of that zone and meet Ghost again. We also liked the ability to choose dialogues in some missions, which gave the characters a realistic feel and that they really have depth!
Great characters, but predictable story
Despite the great development in the relationship of the characters and the excellent storyline, it is still predictable from start to finish. Yes, the game has a set of Plot Twists, but if you played the old Modern Warfare 2 part that was released in 2009, you already knew that this would happen in this year’s part as well. The story itself is not the most powerful thing you will ever see in your life.
Yes, it is a good story with events that immerse you in the characters, but once you finish it you will not think about its events again. Fortunately, there is a scene after the end badge that confirms that the Modern Warfare series continues with us, either through a third part, or a new DLC for the current game’s story. All in all, the MWII story isn’t over, and Infinity Ward is preparing for more!
Modern Warfare II gameplay enhances the experience
All-new gameplay elements
When we first showed off Modern Warfare 2019 with the new engine, we were shocked at how realistic the gameplay and feel it offered. But believe us when we tell you that you will be more shocked with the gameplay of Modern Warfare II, which has improved significantly over what was presented in 2019.
Unlike the 2019 parts, here there is actual use of water in the gameplay. The third mission is a stealth mission that offers you the possibility to dive under the surface of the water in order to surprise the enemies. Of course, the use of water in gameplay will have a greater focus in multiplayer and Warzone 2.0. There are also some improvements in the gameplay in terms of movement, which has become smoother and faster depending on the slide and the use of Dolphin Diving. The new parkour and climbing system didn’t play a big role in the story mode, so we hope the online multiplayer maps are designed to make the most of it.
Although vehicles will have an essential role in multiplayer, the story only exploited them in one mission which unfortunately wasn’t the best. It’s a hostage rescue mission in which you have to drive different cars to reach your goal, and this mission is one of the worst in the game for us. The task is too long and you do the same thing too many times, making it a repetitive experience. Moreover, it’s a completely unrealistic mission in which Gaz has to jump from one car to another, absurdly avoiding missiles and traps. When we were immersed in the game, we thought it was a great job, but when we thought about it, it felt like a normal action movie or an Uncharted scene.
The phrase “the mission is too long” can be applied to several missions in Modern Warfare II and we suspect that’s what made the story reach 7 hours of gameplay for me. Fortunately, there are a good number of great missions that make up for some of the boring story missions in the game.
One of those missions is the Alone mission in which Soap tries to get out of hostile territory with the guidance of Ghost. A lengthy stealth and stealth mission that you start out without any weapons, an all-new crafting system is introduced to the Call of Duty series. You must search for resources in the environment in order to craft anything that enables you to eliminate enemies. That mission is one of the most enjoyable tasks in the game because it introduced something new, and the game suddenly turned from action to a survival game, and we actually felt afraid of all the enemies surrounding me.
We suspect this crafting system will have more use in Warzone 2.0, especially in the new DMZ mode that has survival as one of its main gameplay elements. Overall, most of the missions introduced in Modern Warfare II are pretty good, and there’s a lot of variety in each mission that gives the game a different feel to each special operation you go out with the Task Force.
Artificial intelligence surprised us
The AI in Call of Duty is always weak. Choosing the difficulty of the game does not improve how strong the AI is, the difficulty of the game only increases the damage you take while shooting and makes your death easier!
Here the matter has changed, although we experienced the game on normal difficulty, but the artificial intelligence was great. Their movements were surprising and they always seek to surprise the player and turn around to eliminate him in various ways. There are also some enemies who wear bulletproof vests or carry shields, which makes fighting them more difficult and requires you to think and use the environment to make a sudden move and eliminate them.
The best graphics and sound in Call of Duty history
What a beauty, Infinity Ward
Modern Warfare II runs on the new engine developed by Infinity Ward, and since it is their engine, there is no one better than to exploit all its features. Everything about MWII’s graphics makes it visually stunning, especially the lighting. Lighting some scenes makes you feel like you are in front of a real picture and not a game, especially in some missions that have clouds. The 17 missions that the game offers have a special and distinctive graphic character. Almost every mission of the game takes you to a whole new area, and here the Infinity Ward studio has excelled in designing the environments and their colors that are predominantly bright and relatively light in color, in contrast to MW2019, which was characterized by the distasteful and gloomy nature.
The studio has also significantly improved the physics, as we see that a large number of environmental elements can be destroyed by shooting at them. Also, some missions have actual destruction elements as you will find towers and buildings falling to the ground in front of you in great scenes!
Acoustic design makes your ears enjoy its beauty
Every sound in Modern Warfare II is so professionally designed that it’s also the best part of the series in that respect. Voice acting, voice of weapons, voice of various characters and enemies. Everything was designed with great professionalism and realism. We especially loved the sounds in the stealth mission Alone where we could hear where enemies were coming from and try to dodge them.
Brilliant composer Sarah Schachner is back again and outdoes herself with an even better soundtrack than she did for the 2019 sequel. The theme tune for the 2019 sequel had been sticking with us for the past three years, and we thrilled when we heard a new mix of her in the MWII version. Sarah’s music was able to immerse us in many scenes and live the action with the game’s characters!
Excellent technical performance, but some bugs
Our experience of Modern Warfare II was on a computer with the following specifications:
- Intel Core i3 10100F
- 16 GB of RAM DDR4 with a frequency of 2666 MHz
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB
- NVMe M.2 SSD
We were able to run the game on the highest settings at 1080p and we were getting frame rates between 50 and 60fps most of the time. Activating Nvidia DLSS technology improves the experience and makes it smoother, with frames approaching most of the time between 80 and 100 frames. The technical experience is great and the game will run without any problems on medium devices.
The problem with the game from a technical point of view is that there are some bugs and bugs that we noticed in the various story missions. I’ve had to go back to a previous save point twice to be able to continue with missions. Add to that the game came out (Crash) twice!
Carryminate evaluation
- Story and plot: 7
- Play style: 9
- Task design: 7
- Graphic and audio design: 9
- Technical performance: 8
Advantages
- Big character development for Task Force 141
- Various and varied missions
- Introducing new gameplay mechanics
- Improved artificial intelligence
- Best graphic and sound design
- Excellent technical performance on PC
Disadvantages
- Some tasks are too long and sometimes boring
- The main plot of the story is predictable
- The game suffers from some errors