Alright soldiers it’s time to grab your guns and head back to war, its that time of the year where we get to experience yet another instalment in the prolific long running Call of Duty series. This year the task at hand has been given to Infinity Ward and they have decided to reboot one of the most revered versions of call of duty and bring us a new shiny version of Modern Warfare.

Along with reintroducing a campaign mode that was absent from last years version Infinity Ward have also decided to do away with the popular zombies mode and also cut “Blackout” CODs version of Battle Royale from this package. The removal of zombies mode doesn’t upset me all that much as it was never one of the modes I devoted much time to in these games, and I think the addition of the campaign mode more than makes up for the omission, however if you are a massive fan of zombies then this might be something to think about before shelling out your hard earned dollars for this game, I am a massive fan of battle royale style games though so the omission of this mode caused me to get a little bit sad, don’t worry I will get over it.

Overall this year COD Modern Warfare is one slick looking presentation, the menu screens (one of my main complaints last year) are clearly laid out, much more pleasing to look at and much less confusing than the previous instalment. The main menu is split into 3 main components campaign, multi-player and co-op, giving you an easy well laid out path to which game mode you wish to engage in, also as far as multi-player is concerned the path to which upgrades you are about to unlock and the ease of equipping is much more intuitive than the previous version of the game.

The biggest story of this years game though is the reintroduction of a campaign mode which was a feature that a lot of gamers were miffed about last year, to me even though COD has had some enjoyable campaigns in the past they have never really been the strong point of the franchise for me and I usually find myself jumping straight into multiplayer whenever a new COD is released, this year though due to the much touted return of the mode I decided to do something different and jump into the campaign first, and I am glad I did, its an absolute blast and takes you on amazing and sometimes horrifying journey through terrorism, war and the effects it has on the innocent bystanders who get swept up in these events. The campaign revolves around CIA and SAS operatives trying to put and end to a double headed threat, a terrorist organisation known as Al-Qatala and also thwarting the Russians attempt to take control of the fictional country Urzikstan, honestly this sounds like pretty cliched war/action movie fodder but it is the way that the subject matter is intelligently presented that struck a chord with me.

The campaign this year is set across several different regions including London in the middle of a terrorist attack and another level “Clean House” set in the same city where you have to storm through a multi-storied residence to take down a team of terrorists, this was one of my favourite levels in the campaign due to the tension it induced by having to slink through narrow corridors and check all angles especially when climbing up the staircase to the next level. The campaign is very well done, spans several well designed locations and employs a lot of unique game mechanics, in one of the levels you have to help guide a hostage to safety through the use of surveillance cameras and a radio, it’s unique touches like this that show that this campaign wasn’t hastily slapped together, everything has been well thought out and a lot of time has been put into making the mode feel varied and unique. Throughout the campaign you will get to control SAS Sergeant Kyle Garrick, CIA officer Alex and a varied cast of other characters, including some of the main protagonists when they were children, letting you experience the horrors of war through a childs eyes, the level this takes place in is not one for the faint of heart that’s for sure and it really forces you to step back and think about the insurmountable toll that war not only takes on nations but the people that populate these nations as well. SAS Captain John Price also makes a long overdue return to Call Of Duty though unfortunately not as a playable character. All in all the campaign this year is a great experience and tends to steer away from the normal clear cut and cliched good guy vs bad guy war story and really hones in on the fact that sometimes the line between the good guys and bad guys in war can be a very thin line and not as clear cut as most Hollywood blockbusters make it seem.

Multiplayer this year brings back all the usual modes associated with a call of duty game, death match and kill confirmed amongst the many other fan favourites, with several others such as defender and demolition to be added post launch. My favourite mode this year is a new mode called ground war, and I certainly I spent most of my time in this mode. Ground war takes place on much larger scale maps than the normal multiplayer maps and also includes vehicles such as ATVs and tanks, the main objective in this mode is to try and help your team capture and hold several control points strewn around the map and guide your team to victory. This mode feels a lot like you would find in EAs Battlefield series and the size of the maps really allow you to employ a lot more tactics especially if you are in a well-coordinated squad that uses voice chat. Crossplay between PC, PS4 and Xbox One is another major addition to the game this year though if you are playing on console you will most likely want to turn this off as the PC crowd really do have the advantage here due to the fact they will be using mouse and keyboard over a controller, it’s a pity the option to use crossplay just between Xbox and PS4 doesn’t exist here but unfortunately it seems to a simple on/off option and there is no way to simply choose not to play against PC players but allow cross console play, perhaps this will change in a future patch.

The gunplay in multiplayer is fantastic, with guns feeling sufficiently weighty when fired, with all guns having a myriad of attachments to unlock so you can really customise each of them to your liking and whatever suits your playstyle. As usual progressing through multiplayer games nets you experience which unlocks new weapons, skins and perks that you can use in games, there are no surprises here but it’s a system COD has used for almost an eternity and I feel it sufficiently rewards the player for how well they play in this mode, there are always a tonne of rewards to unlock in multiplayer and you will constantly feel rewarded for the effort you put in. As usual the multi-player gameplay is not perfect and there are balance issues with some of the weapons especially some of the shot guns but things like this are usually ironed out a few weeks after launch via a patch.

Spec Ops is another new addition to COD this year and is basically designed to replace the co-op zombies mode of previous versions. Spec Ops is a wave based mode that is touted as being a compliment to the main campaign mode. As your team progresses through the waves of enemies they get tougher and gain access to bigger and more powerful equipment, including vehicles, which makes completing your objectives more challenging the further you progress through the mode. Spec Ops is a fun mode with a coordinated team but with a bunch of randoms can be more of a lesson in frustration than an enjoyable experience.

Graphically COD Modern Warfare is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors, the visuals of COD WW2 felt low detailed and washed out, BLOPS 4 felt too colourful and slightly cartoonish, this year though everything feels gritty and photo realistic especially in campaign mode where the scenery at times is absolutely stunning and caused me to look around just to take it all in especially in some of the less hectic moments, not that there are many. The sound design is equally on par with the graphics with the sound of gunfire and explosions being downright scary in some of the more intense moments of the campaigns, the voice acting is also amazing and really helps draw you into the narrative the game is trying to portray.

I feel that the Call Of Duty series has taken some good leaps forward this year even though it did lose one of its more popular modes with the removal of zombies, for me though the engrossing campaign mode more than makes up for that and will possibly even bring a lot of players back to the series that left after last years removal of this mode. Even if you aren’t a massive fan of online FPS games I feel that the campaign mode alone is enough of an enjoyable experience to warrant a purchase of COD Modern Warfare, for returning players the addition of co-op gameplay and the great new intense play in ground war mode also provide enough new content to warrant a purchase of the game. COD Modern Warfare is one of the best titles in the series to be released in the last 5 years and for the first time in a while I feel optimistic with the direction this franchise is taking.