Call of Duty Modern Warfare: 24-hours in, campaign reigns king

We’re nearly 24-hours into the Call of Duty Modern Warfare launch and I’ve gotta say, my favorite aspect of this game is the campaign mode, and that’s not just because online servers have been down for most of the day. Call of Duty Modern Warfare is more than just a remake of the original game, it’s a classic reborn. You’ll find all kinds of upgrades here over the original Call of Duty Modern Warfare, from an all-new story line to enhanced graphics, fantastic new gameplay, and more. Keep reading to find out our first impressions after 24-hours with Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare isn’t crippled by a lack of servers

Seriously, the story mode in Call of Duty Modern Warfare is fantastic. When I first fired up the game last night at 9 PM Eastern, as soon as the servers went live, I was met with the same message that many users were: “Could not connect to online services.” No, my internet wasn’t down, and Xbox Live wasn’t down. The issue? Infinity Ward’s servers just couldn’t handle the mass influx of users. However, unlike last year’s Black Ops 4, this doesn’t render the game nearly useless.

Last year’s Black Ops 4 thrived off of online gameplay, not really offering a proper “story” mode outside of Zombies, and even that was a stretch. With no internet, or no servers, your game was basically rendered unplayable. Thankfully, Infinity Ward made sure that the latest Call of Duty installment wouldn’t have to suffer the same fate. The campaign mode is very well thought out, taking the best parts of the game and bringing it to life through an all-new storyline.

Campaign mode reigns kind in Call of Duty Modern Warfare

While the online servers did come up about halfway through my playing Modern Warfare, I’ve gotta say, campaign mode is where I spent most of my time. That’s not just because I already got a taste of multiplayer through the betas, because this is an all-new experience (where you start back at level 1). But, the campaign mode is just fantastic. The story is great, as you follow a few main characters throughout their missions. Captain John Price is back, along with a few newcomers: Commander Farah Karim, Alex, The Wolf, and Sergeant Kyle Garrick.

“These are morally complex stories where there is no black and white, or pure evil or pure good. It’s the gray in the middle of all that, and finding your line is a hard thing to determine.” Taylor Kurosaki, Studio Narrative Director, Infinity Ward

The story continues…

Special Ops is a portion of Modern Warfare where the story continues even after the campaign ends…with a portion being exclusive to PlayStation 4. Currently, Special Ops Survival is a PlayStation 4 exclusive for the next year, though hopefully things will change and it will be released to other platforms sooner. We’ll have more on Special Ops in our full review in the coming weeks.

Cross platform gaming is here folks!

Outside of the fantastic storyline, cross platform gaming is the star of the show. I’ve already been in several matches with players from PC and PS4 while playing on my Xbox, enjoying the ability to play with those on other platforms. I’ve not been in a party with friends from other platforms yet, but from initial testing, cross platform is working great.

Cross platform syncing is fantastic

Another addition here is cross platform syncing. While the previously mention cross platform gameplay is great, cross platform syncing is great for those who visit a friend’s house who has the game on a different console than you. Just log into your Activision account and all of your progress follows, gun unlocks, scorestreaks, and all.

There’s much more to this story

While this post mainly focuses on some aspects of the campaign mission, and touches on a few other areas of the game, Call of Duty Modern Warfare is a vast title with many facets. We’ve previously covered the multiplayer and Gunfight mode gameplay during the beta, but will be revisiting that in our full review in a few weeks. Be sure to keep it locked here for more exciting news about Call of Duty Modern Warfare updates, announcements, and reviews.

Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!