2019’s Modern Warfare reboot completely recharged the Call of Duty franchise. The nostalgic play to resurrect Call of Duty’s most iconic and beloved sub-franchise was a masterstroke that brought back lapsed players from the ‘glory days’ of XBOX 360 / PS3 era Call of Duty titles, as well as a whole new generation of CoD players.
Modern Warfare 2019 (MW2019) was the true package. Terrific multiplayer on an all-new engine, large-scale Ground War and one of the best Call of Duty campaigns that brought back beloved characters from the original Modern Warfare including Captain Price, Ghost and others. Setting up what many believed would be the start of a new trilogy, MW2 and MW3’s campaigns continued where MW2019 left off, recycling a legendary cast into a new, original story with many new friends and foes. However, the quality of the sequel campaigns – in particular MW2 – never lived up to MW2019, let alone the true series highs of the 360 generation classics. When Activision confirmed that Modern Warfare 4 was in production, many big Call of Duty campaign fans like myself were sceptical and expected little more than another Warzone asset swap. This pessimism deepened as for the first time in CoD history, this year’s beta included a campaign mission which played it very safe and left me underwhelmed.
Alas, I maintained hope that with a tantalising Korean Peninsula setting featuring an invasion from North Korean forces into the South, Infinity Ward would close Modern Warfare’s global war story in a captivating manner. After completing my playthrough of Modern Warfare 4’s sixteen missions, I am for the first time in a decade, blown away by a Call of Duty campaign. Our spoiler-free review.
The Peninsula
To put my cards on the table, I have a deep fascination with North Korea, or if you’d rather, the DPRK. One of the most secretive countries on the planet, nuclear armed and with a military suspected to be amongst the powerful in Asia, if not the globe, lethal defence is at the heart of the Kim dynasty’s homeland and integral to its vicelike grip on control. Fortunately, DPRK forces haven’t been starting international conflicts for a number of decades – though it’s known their forces have been / are fighting alongside the Russian military against Ukraine. Such is the secretive, cut-off nature of such a powerful military state, the media has liked to war game and catastrophise what an attack on the West or its allies – most notably across the DMZ to its still official war enemy, South Korea – would look like. In gaming, XBOX 360 era Homefront portrayed a farfetched, yet entertaining, depiction of DPRK forces invading the United States. Modern Warfare 4’s North Korean narrative is more realistic and compelling. It tells of an invasion by the North to its once unified southern neighbour as a new Supreme Leader ascends to divine power.
Circling back to my interest in North Korea, I have watched countless hours of documentaries about what many call ‘The Hermit Kingdom’. Based on those and the very rare footage that leaves the state, Infinity Ward have recreated this almost fantastical country with mesmerising likeliness. MW4 substitutes out the Kim family for an alternate family of fictional demigods, who replicate the real Supreme Leader and his family in everything but name and body. The youthful novice Supreme Leader, Seong Ho is partnered by his ruthless, bloodthirsty sister, much like Kim Jong Un’s real-life sister, supposedly second in command, Kim Yo Jong. The stranglehold that the Ho family have over their people and land mirrors the supposed absolute authoritarian rule of the Kim’s.
In perhaps the most upsetting Call of Duty mission since Modern Warfare 2’s (2009) notorious ‘No Russian’, you play as DPRK forces entering a village where there is a supposed defector. Searching through the impoverished, wet and rural villages you’ll look for contraband material – rather, material banned by the Party – which includes Western books and other media. You’ll physically torture people for doing little more than trying to live honest lives, or pay with your own for disobeying orders. There are alleged state traitors being drowned in buckets; others taking a bullet to the back of the head the old Communist way; and I even had the option to hang someone. It is all barbaric activity that Call of Duty has avoided for over a full console generation. This is not just in there for cinematic effect, it is there to show alleged atrocities that take place under the actual Communist Party’s rule. MW4 even cites the ‘three generations’ rule whereby three generations of a family can be executed or sentenced to hard labour for a family members crime.
Since the original MW saga, Call of Duty has over time used PMC aliases to disguise its real message of state-sponsored terrorism, notably from Iran and Russia. Modern Warfare 4 doesn’t shy away from any of it and casts the North as an isolated nation of absolute terror. The cynic in me thinks there’s a chance they’re happy to freely tear into North Korea as this game will of course never see the light of day there. Whereas former Call of Duty titles may have been banned in Russia and thus less profitable, should the Russian state have been directly identified as antagonistic. Regardless of that, it’s applaudable and socially important that Infinity Ward didn’t hold back here.
I’m sure I’ve given more of a lesson on North Korea than you came here to read, that’s for good reason. It’s because of how flawed I am at how right Infinity Ward portray the land of Juche. I hope those who are equally entranced by this cut-off country have the same adoration as I. What I can categorically say is, any of the Infinity Ward team who have worked on Modern Warfare 4 with their name in the credits have no chance of ever crossing the border and into the land of the Kim dynasty. And that’s before a North Korean Visa Officer would have even heard about the stellar mission where you play as the Supreme Leader escaping their under siege palace!
World at War
Whilst the backdrop of the DPRK’s invasion is the key plot, much like in Call of Duty history there isn’t just one battle, it’s a global conflict. Russia are invading the Middle East and fictional MW location, Urzikstan. Venezuelan drug cartels are seeking to operate on the streets of Paris. Meanwhile, the streets of Mumbai become the unsuspecting victim of Western and Eastern forces colliding. As the culmination of the rebooted Modern Warfare franchise, there are many plots to tie together in MW4. Vladmir Makarov, Ghost and many other’s stories are concluded in a way that exceeded the typical quality of storytelling in Activision’s most prized franchise.
Much of the game is spent as South Korean solider, Private Park in a new story arc. Park is in a regiment that also contains American forces, who are there to contain the North Korean threat, much like the thousands of troops stationed on the peninsula in real life. The Americans have had their time in Modern Warfare spotlight and rightfully this is from the eyes of Park. I did find Park to be a little quiet and lacklustre as a lead, yet the full dual nationality squadron offer fun comradery and chatter throughout the duration of the campaign. Poking fun at each other as individuals as well as satirical, yet respectful prods at cultural differences developed a soul to the group which I believe most will find easy to engage with.
Following the events of MW3, Price is being hunted and is considered ‘armed and dangerous’ by all but a few in the CIA. Kicked outside of the system and forced to work alone, Price must collaborate with returning MW nemesis’s including MW2’s Valeria who you will fight alongside for a notable portion of the campaign. Other adversaries from the series also have their epilogue including the sassy, tenacious Graves from fictional PMC, Shadow Company. Meanwhile, the new lead antagonist is Archer, played by Mads Mikkelsen. I really don’t want to spoil Archer’s character, allegiances or place in the narrative but I will say that deception runs delightfully wild in the approximately 8-10 campaign, with Archer, Ho and Price at the heart. In bed with the enemy means that Price’s former Task Force 141 teammates are after him and you’ll find yourself taking on your old comrades, Gaz and Soap. The mid-game mission in Mumbai will see you play from both sides and during my playthrough I could really see the story going any number of ways.
Voice cast performances in Call of Duty’s history have been competent, but forgettable till now. However, the voice acting in this series finale is outstanding. Barry Sloane, who has voiced Price since 2007 delivers his finest ever performance. You can feel the grit, strife and vengeance in his voice during every cutscene. Valeria, or known in MW2 as Sin Nombre, ups the ante on her prior suave, charismatic persona in the way she handles now partner, Price. And Mads Mikkelsen is as cold blooded as his Le Chiffre role in Casino Royale. Simply, as the MW campaign reaches its zenith, as has its characters performances.
Captain John Price Wick
There is one mission in particular that should take its place amongst some of Call of Duty’s very best. Everyone knows 2007’s Modern Warfare’s ‘All Ghillied Up’. Long-time series fans will know all about World at War’s attack on the Reichstag as Soviet forces. And more contemporary classic, MW2019’s ‘Going Dark’. MW4 would like to introduce you to a new classic, ‘Out in the Cold’. In this early game mission Call of Duty legend, Captain Price mutates into an action hero with the bar battling prowess of another fighting icon John, Wick. Taking place in a bar that looks like the scene from a John Wick set, Price goes on a vendetta-led rampage against the Russian’s to who he owes deep-rooted revenge following the ending to Modern Warfare 3.
Price will bar fight his way through tough security guards with some environmental kills so vicious that they’re amusing, launching bottles left and right before charging in with some war-hardened fists. Everything then boils over to outside the club with a rooftop chase that sees Price pursue an enemy I won’t name up a crane. The pursuit then ends up on the traffic-packed streets of New York. The phrase is overused today, but Out in the Cold is absolute cinema that plays out like a romping Hollywood action movie. The ending to this mission is completely and utterly brutal, and Modern Warfare story lovers are going to have ear to ear smiles whilst an execution plays out.
Warzone
Despite being nearly all linear, traditional Call of Duty missions, MW4 features the biggest single-player mission in Call of Duty history, ‘Stranded’. I was deeply unsatisfied with the way MW3 used Warzone’s assets and objectives to create a solo experience. Given the community-wide backlash to MW3’s campaign, few would have expected Infinity Ward to do anything like that again. However, with Stranded they have absolutely nailed the formula that formerly failed.
Setting out on a map almost the size of Warzone’s Verdansk – the greatest video game map of all time where I have spent around one thousand hours – Private Park is tasked with Far Cry-like quests of liberating outposts and capturing weapon upgrades, alongside the core objective of destroying core North Korean military infrastructure. With a base camp that you can return to at any time to change your arsenal, the mission is designed to give players agency on how they want to achieve success, whilst rewarding progression on the way. If there’s an outpost that’s guarded by trucks, you might want to go and equip some destructive bomb drones. Or, if there’s a bunker to tackle you can head back to base and grab some stun grenades and a shotgun. Stranded essentially brings multiplayer’s create a class to the solo experience.
Another aspect of this vast mission is that you experience the story from the aspect of the North Koreans. In snippets where you control a North Korean commander, the Supreme Leader’s sister will bark orders and make you deploy battle tanks on the map. The locations of which will directly influence what you face once you’ve regained control of protagonist, Private Park.
I spent no less than three hours exploring the map, securing all of the supply crates, finding all weapon upgrades and clearing outposts. I’m certainly glad the open world was limited to just this one mission, yet with a detailed and explorable map, this mission certainly has its place. What I was very impressed by, is that the developers include a separate save for Stranded. Whereby, if you don’t collect everything in this sprawling mission first time around, you’re able to progress the main campaign but return to this mission to secure everything you missed previously. This is a pro-player option that I would like to see other developers consider for similar intensive gaming missions.
Infinite Warfare
There are many, many highs to this campaign and a fundamental one is variety. Call of Duty campaigns have traditionally been competent linear-based run and gun affairs, with the odd stealth or vehicular mission thrown in. At least twelve of MW4’s missions are brilliant, with the other four having no particular flaws. The reason that these missions feel so good, is because they’re very diverse.
A stealth-based mission where you’re playing as the Supreme Leader of the DPRK escaping his palace is like little the series has done before – perhaps only in Cold War’s chapter inside the KGB headquarters. There is a later-game chapter where Private Park lands on the beaches of a Hajin City, taking me back to the D-Day landings from Call of Duty 2 and WWII. Then, one of the last missions sees Park aboard an attack helicopter raining down explosive rounds on a location I won’t disclose for spoiler reasons. Yes, we’ve seen many of these types of missions in the series history, but never altogether and at such high quality.
The gameplay and impressive visuals of these varied missions brings the war to your screen. Yet the outstanding audio quality in MW4 brings the fighting to your ears. The warfare sounds in Call of Duty games has always been genre-leading, but this year the explosions, overhead helicopters and artillery took me to the front line. The sheer roar of ATBs laying down cover as I approached the hotel in Hajin City; the littering of gunfire and shells pounding the beach around me during the amphibious invasion of ‘Counter Attack’; and the pounding house music in the club during the aforementioned Out in the Cold, are just some examples of the best audio Call of Duty has ever offered.
Final Thoughts
As the credits began to roll, as someone who has been deeply attached to the franchise for 21 years, I can comfortably say this is a conclusion worthy of Call of Duty’s biggest sub franchise. Many overlook the deep lore in the series, but MW4 shows Call of Duty is capable of being narratively deep, emotionally impactful, and highly reflective of the geopolitically fractured world in which we live.
Modern Warfare 4 is gritty, explicit and one of the most mature Call of Duty titles there’s ever been. The camera does not shy away from the savagery you commit in this vengeful, globe-trotting, action romp. Cinematic, vicious and true to the Modern Warfare story, MW4 is one of the best shooter campaigns in years, and the best Call of Duty campaign in a decade.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 releases October 23, 2026 on XBOX Series X|S (including XBOX Play Anywhere), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC (Steam, Battle.net and Windows). This review was played on XBOX Series X. Thank you to the developer and publisher for the code provided for review.
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