Since the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, our author Benedict has already played for dozens of hours. Many things about the game actually annoy him, leading to a love-hate relationship.
I played Call of Duty since my youth, initially with the first and second titles, later also CoD 4: Modern Warfare and mostly at LAN parties. Although I enjoyed it with friends, the series couldn’t truly captivate me otherwise.
When Black Ops 4 was released, I attempted a re-entry, and particularly the Battle Royale “Blackout” managed to captivate me. That was my return to shooters, where I was also convinced by outliers like Apex Legends.
With the release of Modern Warfare, my hunger for the genre was actually already satisfied again. Nevertheless, I checked it out and now I can’t stop playing, despite many minor (and major) shortcomings.
bugs, matchmaking and this damn loud intro
What annoys me the most about Modern Warfare? One thing upfront: Most of the things that get on my nerves didn’t annoy me from the beginning. Many issues arose over time or were added later.
Above all, what annoys me about Modern Warfare is that the game often favors campers. This is something that drives me crazy. Whenever I have a good round, there’s someone camping somewhere in a completely ridiculous spot with a one-shot weapon that takes me out.
Admittedly, this is not a problem unique to Modern Warfare. However, it is compounded by the fact that the typical playstyles like Run&Gun with specific builds particularly suffer among campers due to the combination with things like low TTK.
I’m someone who enjoys trying out unusual weapons and off-meta builds, customizing the weapons in the gunsmith, and then testing them in action. But if I’m constantly running into a camper, it breaks my flow.
Many small bugs: While the campers are extremely frustrating, they are not the only thing that bothers me about Modern Warfare. The game feels unfinished in several places. On PC, the menus sometimes lag, the controls feel stiff, and there are really annoying bugs:
- Players can see others through walls (no hacks)
- High pings lead to lagging lobbies
- Private games have miserable properties
- Giant ships suddenly appear on the map
The number of bugs simply adds up. Okay, Infinity Ward patches multiple times a week and many bugs get fixed quickly. But whenever I start the game, this intro screams at me – a bug that should have been fixed ages ago.
Every time I forget to take off my headphones for a moment, it almost bursts my eardrums. This sound is incredibly loud – and constantly reminds me of the other bugs I can find in the game.
“Then just stop playing!”
That’s why it’s still so much fun: Despite all this complaining and grumbling, I look forward to playing at least one or two rounds every evening.
Because even though my ears are still ringing from the intro in the menu sometimes, I already know there will be three things that I will enjoy:
- The excellent gunplay
- New attachments, setups, and builds for my weapons
- Exciting coop missions with friends
This is how I enjoy Modern Warfare
Outstanding multiplayer: Most of the time, I spend in the various multiplayer modes of Modern Warfare. Initially, my sessions mostly consisted of Ground War, but now I play a lot of TDM, Kill Confirmed, Free for All, or the Realism Playlist.
The reason I have so much fun here is the flawless gunplay. Infinity Ward has really put a lot of work into the weapons – from the weapon behavior to the appearance to as accurately represented sounds.
It is just really fun to shoot through the rounds with different guns and styles. On top of that, I’m a huge fan of tactical shooters (Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six). And Modern Warfare is different from all predecessors in this respect: weapons kill faster and you often have to play more carefully and tactically. Exactly my thing!
Great variety of weapons: When I’m waiting for a new round or want to take a short break, I spend a lot of time at the gunsmith. I discovered it when I delved into in-depth guides, such as for attachments and setups for the M4A1.
The gunsmith feature offers so many possibilities to customize weapons or even build secret weapons that I spend hours here trying to create the perfect setup, testing it, and then further improving it.
At the moment, I’m working on the secret G63 to make it my new favorite weapon.
Gaming with friends: Lastly, I recently discovered the fun coop mode SpecOps. Friends invited me to some rounds, and previously, I only knew the boring horde defense maps there.
The missions are much richer and more varied than I had previously noticed. The tasks are interestingly designed and the missions are genuinely tricky, making it feel like you’ve accomplished something after completion.
Since I can level and try out weapons here without being mowed down by other players, it also suits my gunsmith fetish excellently. It even allows to overlook bugs that spoil new game modes.
I want to be angry, but it’s too good
Is Modern Warfare good or bad? The bugs may annoy me massively, but to be honest, they do that more selectively. Sure, they’re there, and when I’m affected, they make me groan in annoyance.
Most of the time, however, I don’t even notice them. I would claim that I can play the majority of my sessions normally. I would like to be angry to have something to latch onto. But it’s not possible – the overall package is just too well done. The reaction of streamer DrDisrespect on Apex Legends sums it up pretty well.
What do you think? What annoys you about Modern Warfare, and what do you enjoy? Do you also play even though it sometimes drives you to distraction?
My colleague Sven loves Modern Warfare too. However, he has a different problem with the game:
