The campaign for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as I learned in a recent visit to Infinity Ward to get a first look at the sequel to the successful 2019 reboot, brings back some characters from the last game, but also brings back some familiar characters from Modern Warfare’s past. We’ll see Captain John Price, Sergeant Kyle “Gaz” Garrick, Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley, Sergeant John “Soap” Mctavish, CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell return. And Modern Warfare 2 is bringing back a faction called Shadow Company that’s been reworked for this modern title. Commander Phillip Graves owns Shadow Company and it operates as a private military contractor. A newcomer to Modern Warfare 2’s story is Alejandra Vargas, a member of the Mexican special forces. The campaign revolves around a US airstrike killing a hostile foreign general, and revenge is enacted and Taskforce 141 and the Mexican Special Forces must work together to defeat the enemy.
From what was presented in the campaign showcase (don't miss my first impressions of multiplayer as well), the story brings back the conflict to take down a major baddie, Hasan. The first mission, Nightwar, takes you through a night vision adventure that showcases vast air fights and strikes in the sky. and it sets up the tension. You’re sent in as a part of Laswell’s marines to locate Hasan, the High Value Target, and extract him from the surrounding Al-Watala group from the previous game.
One of the coolest things I’ve seen in Modern Warfare 2’s campaign so far are the water centered levels. The mission Wet Work is set almost fully in water as you have to swim around and stealthily take down enemies on the docks you’re approaching. Oh and, fun twist, you are limited to your knife for a weapon for quite some time, so it really pushes the ways you can get creative in doing water or land takedowns. Also, you can still mount weapons in Modern Warfare 2, and now you can double tap crouch to dive to the ground as well.
The water effects were completely redone for Modern Warfare 2 and the wet environment now allows you to dive further underneath which helps hide you from enemies above. The water element is intended to be used as a stealth and escape mechanic, since the further you dive in the water, the less visibility you will have from your enemies. Also, you can fire pistols and use knives underwater but the bullets you fire from underwater will have less projectile speed so it will take more bullets to kill someone.
You can fire pistols and use knives underwater but the bullets you fire from underwater will have less projectile speed so it will take more bullets to kill someone.
Visually, Modern Warfare 2 looks fantastic, and the shadows and lighting on each level look great, especially with the new water tech that’s been incorporated. You can travel across the water with new and reworked vehicles.There’s also a new AI system that makes your teammates in single player feel more like actual players. The AI will take on self preservation behavior like checking corners before moving out and disengaging from precarious positions and coordinate their behavior.
Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is very promising from the brief preview footage I was able to see. It brings back the classic Modern Warfare gameplay, just modernized and with new mechanics and environments added to keep the franchise feeling fresh. I’m really excited to see how all of these characters, returning and new, will interact and how the story will progress with the sequel’s higher stakes.
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