Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered - A Classic Returns Even Better Than Ever

Written by Brandon Hofer on November 03, 2016

Reviews: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is back and it is even better then you remember thanks to the improvements put in by Raven Software.

Call of Duty is one of the most influential franchises in the gaming industry and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is unquestionably one of the most influential games within the franchise. It featured a ground-breaking campaign back when it was released in 2007 as well an insanely fun multiplayer component. It is for these reasons that everyone got really excited earlier this year when Activision officially revealed the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remaster. It is everything you loved about Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare but better. The visuals are crisper. The audio sounds better. It controls exceptionally well like all of the other Call of Duty titles and the nostalgia is real the moment you begin playing. I loved how as I dove into the multiplayer that my muscle memory for this game started to return and I started to remember all of the shortcuts and tricks I utilized while playing the original. The Crash map, for example, has excellent sightlines that allow me hold down “A” and “B” at the same time in Domination. Crawling through the grass trying not to be spotted in All Ghillied Up and rescuing a hostage in Mile High Club put a huge grin on my face. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is finally here and it is as amazing as you remember it.

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered campaign has never looked or sounded as good. From the very moment I started it and I went through the tutorial I was hooked all over again. The moment in Crew Expendable where I slid down the rope to get on the ship ignited memories of years ago when I was trying to get through the campaign on my Xbox 360. Going through Blackout and trying to rescue an informant as well as raining down fire on the enemy to protect my allies in Death From Above is just as satisfying now as it was back then. As soon as I picked up the controller I immediately felt how responsive and fluid the controls were. Raven Software has done an impeccable job of bringing Infinity Ward’s classic to modern consoles. The campaign is in 1080p with 60fps and features improved textures, physically based rendering, high-dynamic range lighting and more. If you don’t know what all of that means it just means this is the best looking version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare yet. The A.I. in general seems to be pretty smart as well. While I was going through the game on Veteran there were times where I would hang back and let the AI sweep a room so I didn’t run into any nasty surprises. I didn’t do this all the time but in some of the more difficult sequences such as the end of No Fighting in the War Room, I allowed my team to go in ahead of me and take out the enemy so I didn’t get killed and have to do that whole section again. One mission where this strategy definitely does not pay off though is Mile High Club. Mile High Club on Veteran difficulty can be really brutal as you only have one minute to rescue a hostage and get off the plane. The AI here seems to be at a loss as it isn’t programmed to move that quickly so there were definitely times when I would be fighting the enemy all by myself. Overall though this campaign is still a tremendous amount of fun to play and with this update I can see myself going through it again and again.

The other part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is the multiplayer suite. Back in 2007 when this was originally released on the Xbox 360 I remember spending every evening with a group of friends playing the various multiplayer modes for hours on end. It was so much fun that we are talking about getting together again to do the same thing with Modern Warfare Remastered. It does need to be pointed out that at launch there will only be 10 of the 16 multiplayer maps available. The other six maps will be released at some point in December. Up above I briefly mentioned the Crash map and having success playing it in Domination. I have also really enjoyed going through the traditional Team Deathmatch as well as the return of Headquarters. For those who might not be familiar with this particular mode you have a neutral base that is marked in a level that needs to be captured. Each of the two teams battles it out to try and capture it for their side and the way you gain points is by controlling that building. The team that holds the HQ also doesn’t respawn so it adds a bit more of a challenge. When I first fired up the multiplayer mode I was also happy to discover that Kill Confirmed has been put in this game. Kill Confirmed is a mode that wasn’t created until Modern Warfare 3 in 2011. With that said it obviously wasn’t a part of the original Modern Warfare but I was ecstatic when I saw Raven Software put it in the remaster. This is definitely one of my favorite modes. What happens here is that everyone has a dog tag. When you kill your opponent he drops his dog tag, which can be picked up by either team. If you or one of your teammates picks it up first then that confirms the kill and your team gets a point. If the opposition gets to it first though then they deny the kill and you get nothing. It is a fantastic concept and adds another level of strategy to the game. One strategy some people use is to take out an enemy but then leave the dog tags out in the open. That is essentially laying a trap for someone to see it who will rush over to try and get it and then you can pop them before they get the tag. When you see a tag you have to ask yourself whether it is worth the risk or not and it adds another layer of drama to the game.

The Modern Warfare Remastered multiplayer suite features three different playlists. There is “standard,” “hardcore” and “old school.” Standard features your Team Deathmatch, Free-For-All, Ground War, Kill Confirmed and much more. In the “Hardcore” playlist you play with a limited HUD, low health and friendly fire is turned on. With this playlist you have access to Team Deathmatch, Mercenary Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Search and Destroy and Headquarters. Finally there is the “Old School” playlist. In this playlist there are no classes and weapons are pickups. Your health is increased but there is no health regeneration and jumps are higher. For this particular playlist you have access to Team Deathmatch, Free-For-All and Kill Confirmed. During my time spent in the different multiplayer modes everything seemed to run really well and I didn’t have any lag at all. It is everything that you remember, only better with all of the upgrades that Raven has been put into this.

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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare featured achievements on the Xbox 360 but did not have trophies on the PlayStation 3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered however has both achievements and trophies on their respective systems. Not only that but they have some new achievements/trophies that weren’t in the original game. One of the new ones is story based so I won’t mention the details to avoid spoilers but you need to take out someone that you didn’t have to in the original game. There is another one where you need to kill 20 attack dogs with a knife and you have to do this before they lunge at you. If the dogs have you on the ground and you manage to fight them off that will not count towards this achievement/trophy. You also have your standard Call of Duty achievements/trophies such as going through the game on Veteran difficulty, finding intel items and much more. Back then Infinity Ward hated the concept of multiplayer achievements so with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered you can get each achievement/trophy without touching the multiplayer. You earn them all through the single player campaign which, for me, is fantastic.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is one of the best shooters ever developed made even better. The campaign is still fantastic and offers up those classic moments that you remember. The multiplayer plays really well and during my time with it I had zero lag. Since getting this remaster I have already gone through the story twice and I will be going through it many more times. Seeing things like Kill Confirmed added to the mix only increased my enjoyment of the overall product. Playing that on the Overgrown map was surreal as I became familiar with that map once again. Right now the only way to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is to buy it with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. For me it is worth the price of admission as you are getting two really fun Call of Duty games to play. If like me you played Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare back in the day then you are going to be really happy with what Raven did here. If you haven’t played this game yet then you are in for a real treat.