Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (PS4, 2020 - originally PS3, 2009)
Modern Warfare 2 is probably the most excited I've ever been for a game's release. While things like Gran Turismo 5 and BioShock Infinite were extended hype massacres where I followed every piece of news possible and imagined even more besides, for the two or three weeks before MW2's release I was completely beside myself. It feels almost quaint now to go back and watch the pre-release trailers and remember my excitement - although if nothing else, there's no question that Call of Duty games do presentation very, very well. When the time finally came for me to play it, the game was everything I could have hoped for. What an experience.
With that in mind, and with memories of the Modern Warfare remaster fresh in my mind, what to make of the Modern Warfare 2 remaster? Like last time you play in two campaigns simultaneously. You are Gary "Roach" Sanderson, part of the elite Task Force 141 squadron of soldiers who appear to be the SAS but better, who go around stopping bad guys. You're off flying around the world to try and take down Makarov, the apparent best terrorist in the world who's revealed as the true mastermind of the previous game's events. You are also Ramirez!, a Sergeant (I think) in the US Army who has to deal with a Russian invasion of the United States.
When I played MWR (from now on: MWR and MW2R, I promise) the thing that surprised me the most was how heavy the gameplay felt, both in mechanics and sound. The weaponry felt substantial and the combination of sound and ambient music contributed to an impactful atmosphere which complemented the story. Maybe it's because that stood out so much, but I don't think it's there to the same extent in MW2R. The music isn't quite there and levels which in their original guise felt like fights to keep the world from imploding now just feel stale and lifeless. It's hard to really define why but it just doesn't feel very involving. The gameplay itself feels slightly more refined than MWR which is good - enemies aren't quite the bullet sponges they were and explosions now actually damage people, but the overall atmosphere is lacking, which is poor.
The gameplay is an improvement on all the areas of MWR which needed improvement. The guns and grenades are better as mentioned, but the enemy AI is a massive improvement too. By that I mean there actually is enemy AI. Your squadmates are as useless as ever (the 141 guys are a bit better than the Americans) but there's actually a finite supply of enemies and they take up the sort of positions you would expect them to, so it's not so bad. The new weapons and equipment such as riot shields offer different approaches to gameplay which is a welcome change, but it can feel inconsequential - you're still achieving the same outcome in a way that's only slightly different.
When I played the Uncharted series last year I noted a complaint which contemporary reviewers had too - levels had been designed with grandiose setpieces in mind first, then had a plot shoehorned into them later. This is why in Uncharted 3 you have an hour long detour into a derelict cruise ship, for instance. MW2 feels the same in places. While MW's SAS sections were interesting because of their focus on stealth, one of the first 141 missions has you chasing someone through a favela in Brazil which is littered with an armed militia. Who are you chasing? A guy who knows Makarov. What benefit does catching him serve? It... does a thing, I suppose. Still, you get an exciting climb through a slum, with enemies popping up on roof tops and from windows to make trying to stay alive a complete nightmare. You even have another mission going through the other side of the favela, just in case you didn't have your fill of the setting.
While the US-based missions have a coherent story to them (well, a story you can follow) 141's just feel like a series of setpieces with nothing really connecting them outside of the cutscenes in between telling you they're connected. You go from a Russian military base in a blizzard to the favela, then you're on an oil rig, then you're in a gulag based on classic 90s action film The Rock, then you're in some woods and on a nuclear submarine base, it's nonsense. In the US campaign you're fighting through Virginia and Washington to get power back from the Russians. You're on the streets of D.C., you're destroying the World War Two memorial with a minigun mounted on a helicopter with barely a shred of irony, from the same series which brought you the aftermath of a nuclear bomb going off and a ghillie-suited romp through the remnants of the Chernobyl disaster. I'd say there's supposed to be a serious commentary on war here, but there are too many explosions for me to be sure.
Ironically, the setpieces in the American campaign are the most memorable here, probably because they're recognisable. There is, simply, a visceral thrill in fighting through waves of enemies in the grounds of the White House to try and take it back before the entire city gets bombed. There's a stunned sense of awe as you go through the streets just after an EMP has been set off to take out all the helicopters and vehicles and power. The most visually impressive scene in the whole game happens here, with a thunderstorm pouring down onto a silent and seemingly deserted street against a backdrop of burning buildings. It sent the fan in my PS4 into overdrive but the entire level served a significant contrast to the previous few hours' explosions and shouting, so it stands out for that.
For all of Call of Duty's faults as a series, I will always defend the characterisation in the Modern Warfare games. Price, Soap and Gaz were absolute heroes last time. Now Soap has the voice of a man who clearly takes no shit at all, and Gaz's voice is strangely transplanted into a new man called Ghost who wears a balaclava with a skull on it. The American campaign also sees Keith David, an actor who seems to exclusively play angry military types, telling you what to do, so there's attention to realism there if nothing else.
Price and Soap will always be two of my favourite video game characters, and this game is probably the biggest reason why. I'm going to give you an example to back this up:
In Call of Duty games, quotes about war and liberty from famous people in history appear on screen to rub in the fact you've died. It's one of the series' few moments of subtlety, although there are some unattributed efforts in MW2 which I'm pretty sure were made up by the developers. One of them here is a quote from George Orwell: "We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us."
Looking it up however I've discovered that wasn't an Orwell quote at all, although as this link notes its foundations lie in a sentiment which was central to a lot of his essays on nationhood:
People Sleep Peacefully in Their Beds at Night Only Because Rough Men Stand Ready to Do Violence on Their Behalf – Quote Investigator
Anyway, even if it is made up, the sentiment is understandable. It's why I love Price and Soap so much. Aside from the obvious confidence Price inspires with his voice and his hat and his moustache, their existence is simple. There is a job to do. It is a job which 99.9% of all the people who have ever lived could never imagine existing, never mind being able to carry it out themselves. They know that to fail is to not only lose themselves, but the justice of the world around them. That is their purpose. That is their enduring power. Their resolve is their biggest strength. It is immovable. It's a credit to Infinity Ward that for all the things the Call of Duty franchise is responsible for that they have characters as engaging as this. I played through this three times while I was trying to get all the trophies, and at the end of the third go I was genuinely moved as the final scene finished.
While MWR was in ways more than the game I remembered, MW2R was somehow less. Maybe it's because I was familiar with the modernised graphics and mechanics, maybe it's because the jump from original to remaster wasn't as severe since it's a more recent game, I don't know. For all their faults though I will always hold these games dear as a significant part of my gaming experience. It's nice to know that years later, I can do that objectively. Hopefully they get a move on with a Modern Warfare 3 remaster so I can be let down by that.
*Note: when I reviewed Modern Warfare Remastered recently I said it was set in 2019. It was set in 2011, MW2 was set in 2016. I don't know why I thought otherwise.
