In 2007, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.  It broke a trend back in the time when historic shooters were the norm, so when a war based first-person shooter released that broke away from that trend and was set in the modern day, it was a welcomed surprise as many were growing tired of WWI/WWII based shooters and it became an instant classic.

Depending on which Call of Duty fan that you ask, most will either likely say that the first Modern Warfare game is their favourite or its sequel, Modern Warfare 2.  But whichever way you look at it, there’s not much denying that Modern Warfare is not only considered to be one of the best games in the long-running series, it’s largely considered to be one of the best first-person shooters off all-time, period and in an already packed genre, that is no small feat.  So when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered was announced, it was an announcement  worth getting excited about.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered plays identically to the original game, from what I can tell, there are no differences to how the game handles or plays.  This for me at least, isn’t a problem, because games in this series haven’t changed all that much in that respect and whether you’re a fan of the series or not, they play arguably better than other games in their genre.  It’s why many a developer/publisher has attempted to replicate the Call of Duty blueprint.  Though, I would have appreciated to have seen an improvement with the NPC A.I, especially with the ones that accompany you.  For example, on more than one occasion my accompanying A.I would sometimes not only fail to kill the enemy, but they’d also at times fail to shoot at them altogether.  That is a small gripe that’s easily forgiven for a game that is not only incredibly enjoyable to this very day, but this remaster looks absolutely fantastic.

 

In this day and age with an influx in remasters, while some have looked great such as the Resident Evil remake, some have been rather lazy, such as Deadpool (also from Activision), where the only real improvement comes in the form of a higher resolution.  However, this remasters looks stunning, almost as if it was an entirely new game, rather than a remaster.  Some could even argue that this game is more of a remake, rather than an actual remaster.  There are just so many visual improvements, from environment textures, lighting, shadow effects, dust particles, wind effects and so much more.  It’s clear that this game been practically built from the ground-up in terms of visual effects.

We often look at games of yesteryear with nostalgic goggles, where even games from the 90’s are in HD as perceived by our minds, games often don’t look quite as good as we remember them to be.  But when you play Modern Warfare Remastered, it would be pretty difficult not be impressed the very moment you lay your eyes upon it.  I’d even go far as to say that this is quite possibly the best looking “remaster” to date.  If you’re yet to play this version of the game, just check out the comparison video from Digital Foundry below, but even that doesn’t quite do the game its full justice in comparison to experiencing the game first-hand.

 

In terms of multiplayer, all the maps and modes that featured in the original game will be present in this remaster.  Modern Warfare Remastered will feature all previous 16 multiplayer maps, 10 will be available at launch, with the remaining 6 being added this coming December via a free update.  Back in the day, Modern Warfare offered the first multiplayer mode that really got me hooked, to the point that I Prestiged numerous times.  Since that time, whether you like Call of Duty or not, in particular with Modern Warfare,  its multiplayer mode is a feature that many developers have tried to replicate, however most had failed to do so.

Even with the many iterations of the Call of Duty series that followed, it arguably never reached the heights of the original Modern Warfare, although Modern Warfare 2 and the first two Black Ops games will strongly argue their case.  Going back into its multiplayer with this remastered edition of Modern Warfare, made me remember how much I appreciated the multiplayer feature in this series, even with the awesome Battlefield 1 in existence.  But that’s not to say you shouldn’t have both games in your collection.  If you want a more realistic, team-based multiplayer shooter, then Battlefield 1 should be your point of call.  However, if you want that fast and frantic alternative, then it doesn’t get much better then Modern Warfare Remastered, even if it is nearly 10 years since its original release.

At this time, the only way you’re going to get to play Modern Warfare Remastered is by purchasing either the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Legacy Pro or Digital Deluxe Edition of the game, as it’s not currently possible to buy the game individually.  And if you’re considering buying a version of Infinite Warfare with the intention of keeping the remaster and selling Infinite Warfare, then you’ll come to a sudden halt as it was recently confirmed that you will need Infinite Warfare to access Modern Warfare Remastered.  That said, I believe that when Infinite Warfare does release, it should be a game worth keeping hold of, but that’s a potential discussion in a review for a later date.

 

Though there’s little denying that by restricting access to Modern Warfare Remastered in this way is a shame, because it forces everyone that wants to own the game, to buy the more expensive versions of Infinite Warfare, even for those that have little interest in playing the new and latest title.  I can see why Activision did this, because it should increase numbers of Infinite Warfare by quite some margin.

I believe that if let’s say that Modern Warfare Remastered released as a standalone this November, it would have sold incredibly well on its own, possibly more so than Infinite Warfare (which is why this decision was made).  But what if possibly in March 2017, Activision decided to release Infinite Warfare, I bet that would have sold very well once the hype of the remaster begins to die down.  This could then have been a formula for Activision to continue on with by releasing for example Modern Warfare Remastered 2 in November 2017, followed by an all-new title in early 2018 and so on.

In conclusion, despite Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered having no progression in terms of gameplay, it looks visually fantastic, with a whole host of visual improvements and additions.  But if you do manage to get hold of Modern Warfare Remastered, whether you’re new or returning to the series, you’re going to see exactly why this is considered to be one of the best first-person shooters of all-time.  “Let’s do this!”

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