Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Review: A Return to Form

Ever wondered if Call of Duty campaigns can still surprise you? Modern Warfare 4's campaign answers with a resounding yes—mostly. It's tasked with wrapping up a seven-year saga that's been, shall we say, uneven. But Infinity Ward handles it well, delivering a genuinely exciting string of missions that shine when they focus on the new rather than getting bogged down in the past. It's the best Modern Warfare has been since the 2019 reboot, and a reminder of how good Call of Duty can be when developers are given time to cook.

This campaign is a far cry from 2023's woeful Modern Warfare 3, which many consider the series' low point. Instead of a mishmash of multiplayer maps and incomprehensible story, MW4 offers a cohesive single-player experience built from the ground up. The smart structure splits the story into two halves—Price's lone-wolf hunt for Makarov and a Korean conflict—until they inevitably collide, providing variety in mission design and tone.

Captain Price remains at the center, now on the run and wanted by his former employers. His half of the story is tangled, and Infinity Ward's solution is to take a machete to it, killing off superfluous characters introduced in the past two games. It's almost an admission of guilt, but it gives a sense of finality. Price's chapters play like a Bond movie—parkour escapes, car chases, stealthy infiltrations—with Mads Mikkelsen's The Archer adding to that vibe. However, Mikkelsen's character lacks screen time, making Price's side the weaker half.

Surprisingly, the Korean conflict is where the storytelling shines. Across 16 missions, you follow a squad of Korean and US soldiers from the outbreak of war to its conclusion, while flashing back to Price's preceding week. The time shifts allow for clever mixes of traditional military missions and behind-enemy-lines ingenuity. An early level has you fistfighting through a New York nightclub as Price channels John Wick; the next, you're holding off paratroopers in Seoul with a mortar.

The Korean sections build a strong connection to playable character Park Hyun Jun, voiced by Young Mazino. Like Farah in 2019, he provides an emotional anchor, and his squad's bonds make you care about their fate. The campaign also brings depth to the North Korean threat, avoiding one-dimensional villains. Standout mission Stranded even gives a taste of DMZ extraction mode, forcing you to forage for resources behind enemy lines.

While the overall story may not surprise you, there are engaging character moments that recent Modern Warfare installments have lacked. It's a campaign that respects its heritage while forging something new. Will you be picking this up? What do you think of the direction Infinity Ward is taking? Let us know in the comments!