Image via Activision
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 released in October and it’s been some time since. With the release of Season 1 and Warzone 2.0, there’s a lot to unpack as to whether or not it’s really worth spending money on this year or not.
Developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has become the fastest-selling Call of Duty title in history. We already made a review on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2’s campaign, which we thought was an excellent addition to the franchise. Its launch has exceeded most expectations.
The campaign included a dramatic single player story that was great to play through. With a story about the players behind the global balance of power and the inclusion of great characters like Ghost and more lethal tier one operators, it’s no wonder that the campaign was so much fun.
In general, Call of Duty is the highest selling video game almost every year, with the highest selling top spot currently being held by Call of Duty: Black Ops II. If Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 continues moving at the rate that it’s currently going, we may see Black Ops II get dethroned. Only time will tell.
So, is it worth it to buy Modern Warfare 2, or should you skip this one?
Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Impressions
First, let me start by saying that if you enjoyed Call of Duty Modern Warfare back in 2019 and you enjoyed Warzone, you’ll probably enjoy Modern Warfare 2. However, there are quite a decent amount of differences that I noted while playing through Modern Warfare 2 in comparison to the first Modern Warfare.
Modern Warfare was known for pushing the boundaries of what makes an FPS game. Equipped with realistic graphics, the inclusion of the free-to-play Call of Duty Warzone, and the audio/music design, it was genuinely great.
Modern Warfare 2 does something similar. Its graphics are good and about the same, honestly. Additionally, Modern Warfare 2’s DMZ and Special Ops is a very interesting inclusion to the sphere of Call of Duty.
The multiplayer is about what you would expect from Call of Duty. You have your quick play playlists, which rotate different multiplayer maps and modes (Search and Destroy, Hardpoint, Team Deathmatch, etc…). You also have more specialized modes like the Prisoner Rescue playlist. This playlist has been a fun take on the typical gameplay of Search and Destroy and elicits some pretty wild team interactions.
Third-Person is Cool
You also have the third-person moshpit, which I think has been the most unique addition to Modern Warfare 2 so far. Honestly, for this game mode alone, I would recommend buying Modern Warfare 2.
The third-person mode creates something very different for the Modern Warfare playstyle. With its realistic graphics, alongside how nice the weapons feel, it really does change the game. I have poured a lot of my playtime into the third-person mode already, and I can’t get enough of it.
Plus, it is nice to be able to get a chance to see my skin outside of the animated intro sequences to multiplayer matches and whenever I ride a vehicle.
There are big ground battles, which honestly have been performing really well. It’s funny because many people have already joked that the massive ground battles in Modern Warfare 2 did Battlefield better than Battlefield.
I don’t know how true that is, because it’s really subjective, but considering that Battlefield 2042 was a major flop for EA and Modern Warfare 2 wasn’t, I guess the numbers speak for themselves here.
Battle Pass and More
The Battle Pass is back, but there are some changes that are supposed to make it easier to grind through compared to Modern Warfare back in 2019.
The Battle Pass is definitely a big selling point in Call of Duty. For the most part, if the game didn’t really have much in terms of reward (aside from just unlocking base weapon camos), then it would be pretty boring to play all the time.
The Battle Pass is a bit different because it’s split into zones now. Basically, each zone has a few items that help you unlock a main item that you want. For example, if you want a certain skin from the Battle Pass, you can work to unlock the items within that zone and get the skin.
It helps you delegate your grind to certain things instead of just blasting through every single level and every single tier of the Battle Pass. Let’s face it, some things are more worth it than others in those passes.
COD Points: What Are They?
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2’s Battle Pass allows you to unlock cosmetics items, operators, operator skins, and things like COD Points.
COD Points are the in-game currency for Modern Warfare 2. They basically allow you to buy operator packs and things like weapon packs and tracer packs from the Modern Warfare 2 store.
Yes, there are microtransactions, but they are completely optional. I know some people prefer playing in a more mil-sim fashion, so they don’t even think to buy these cosmetics.
I know myself and I really like getting cool skins, because at the end of the day, it’s just for fun.
If you purchased or are going to purchase the Vault Edition, you get 50 Battle Pass tokens which you can use to automatically unlock things in the Battle Pass. This basically just helps you speed up the grind in Modern Warfare 2.
Features Aside, is it Fun???
Yes. Yes, Modern Warfare 2 is fun.
At the end of the day, it’s basically a Call of Duty game. It caters to all sorts of playstyles, has all sorts of maps, and really did make some improvements off of Modern Warfare 2019.
Movement was definitely nerfed in Modern Warfare 2. So, no more watching people have hand spasms across the screen. There’s no slide-canceling, which I think was a great thing. I used to slide cancel back in Modern Warfare because everyone wanted to have a mouse seizure and be the best.
With Modern Warfare 2, I use sliding in a more tactical and strategic manner. I slide around corners, I use it to evade enemies, and I use it for what it was intended for. It’s refreshing, honestly.
There’s no bunny hopping either. After the first jump, your momentum goes down. And yes, it’s amazing. You don’t have to hop, skip, and jump around like the Easter Bunny and break the enemy camera to get a kill. There’s more strategy instead of relying on movement exploits this time around.
Modern Warfare 2 also added dolphin diving, which is great. I mean, you can play around with that, but it’s honestly very helpful. And it’s also just funny to dolphin dive randomly.
Focus on the Fun
I feel like this time around, people are playing to have fun. There’s less of that insane focus on just creating content and more of a focus on having fun.
Back in the early days of Call of Duty, people just wanted to have fun. You could even tell by the types of videos being posted on YouTube back then too. People did trolling compilations. People just had some goofy fun. Trickshotting. These things were fun. And it was fun to see people put their funniest fails and all that too.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, all of a sudden, people forgot that games were about fun and went insane on the content creation side of things. It was like you had to be the greatest player of all time, otherwise you didn’t have fun.
I’m glad that people are starting to return back to Call of Duty with the mindset that they used to have.
How is Call of Duty Warzone 2.0?
I think I don’t need to explain this point beyond the following two words: Proximity chat.
Yes, Warzone 2.0 has added proximity chat. If you’ve been following Call of Duty content on TikTok for some time, you’ll see lots of people posting some of the funniest things ever that have come as a result of Warzone 2.0’s proximity chat.
With its brilliant graphics, Warzone 2.0 also delivers an epic reimagining of the iconic original Warzone. It’s not so different that you can’t tell what you’re playing anymore, but it’s different enough to be…well, different!
Plus, since Warzone 2.0 and Modern Warfare 2 have gotten their own separate launcher, life has become so much easier.
The original Modern Warfare launcher became muddled by Black Ops Cold War, Vanguard, and Warzone that it became a complete mess to deal with. Even the devs were having trouble since the entire thing was messed up from how bloated the files became.
Hopefully, they can avoid that same mistake this time around.
Should You Buy Modern Warfare 2?
Yes. It’s a great game and you’ll have loads of fun. If you have to wait to Christmas to get the full game, you’ve at least got some fun to have in Warzone 2.0 until then!
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
