Despite Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's steadily growing player base, Modern Warfare is still going strong, showing how well-loved the game is by fans of the series. Black Ops Cold War was a return to the Call of Duty norm, but feels like a step in the wrong direction following the innovations of Modern Warfare.
With every Cold War season update, it is looking more and more like the game fans were hoping for when a return to the Black Ops series was announced. The game now looks on par with its predecessor in terms of content, with more set to come later this year. However, Modern Warfare is what Call of Duty should model itself on going forward.
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Modern Warfare felt like a fresh new direction for the series, and there is a good reason for this. Modern Warfare makes use of an entirely new engine, giving the game that fresh, all-new feel that fans of the game feel sets Modern Warfare apart from other entries. The engine has a bit more of a grounded, realistic gameplay feel, which was high on Call of Duty fans' list of priorities following the futuristic and fanciful entries that came between Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 4. Some felt this engine was a departure from the traditional Call of Duty experience, but for a series often criticized for remaining stagnant, a change may be worth the split opinions.
A Modern Warfare feature that caused controversy post-launch is the relatively quick time-to-kill. A low TTK has become somewhat of a staple of the Call of Duty franchise, it sets the game apart from other shooters as players of any skill level can learn to improve and finish at the top of the scoreboard with ease. By learning the layout of the maps back to front, Call of Duty players can effectively dominate games.
In most cases, the player who shoots first wins, removing mitigating factors like reaction time and hand-eye coordination. Modern Warfare's maps are large-scale and non-linear, which plays into this aspect as they can be overwhelming for the newer players, resulting in a reward for those who make an effort to learn the maps.
Much of the multiplayer's design massively divided opinions. With very few objectively good or bad changes, whether the multiplayer was fun or not depended on the player's personal preferences. However, the singleplayer was widely praised for its gritty, realistic take on a Call of Duty campaign. Despite a lack of player choice in the outcome of the campaign, fans loved the story and the missions.
The campaigns of Call of Duty have not always been the biggest draw of the games. In fact, Treyarch completely removed the campaign from Black Ops 4, so Modern Warfare's campaign success is fairly noteworthy. The Modern Warfare campaign could provide a framework for Call of Duty campaigns going forward, with the more realistic story seeming to go over well with fans.
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Black Ops Cold War launched late last year in a state that left many fans wondering if Cold War was worth buying. The game was quite different from Modern Warfare, with one of the big changes being a return to Black Ops 3's engine. This brought a bit more of an arcade-like feel that appeals to the right type of gamer, but to most, it felt like a step down following the ultra-realistic and polished game that Modern Warfare turned out to be. Modern Warfare felt like an evolution of the series, whereas Cold War felt like a return to its old ways. Perhaps there is a space for each to exist alongside one another, but for future titles, a reversion to the old school Call of Duty style would feel like a missed opportunity.
Cold War not only utilized a different engine, but also increased TTK and added more linear three-lane maps. Once again, these elements come down to personal preference, and many fans love this about Cold War. However, this doesn't mean it's the right direction for the series to head in. Modern Warfare's new engine, unforgiving gunfights, and realistic maps all work together to achieve the same thing, and it felt like a big step forward for the series at the time. Cold War should have built upon the success of its predecessor, but it did the opposite. If there's hope for a Cold War sequel, it would do well to take a leaf out of Modern Warfare's book.
It isn't all bad news, however, as features such as Cold War's Party Games playlist bring a great deal of diversity to the table. Playing Call of Duty's more competitive game modes day after day can be grating, leaving the player looking for a change. This change arrives in Cold War's more novel game modes such as Sticks and Stones and Prop Hunt, which offer a light-hearted reprieve when things go stale. These game modes are an example of the type of thing that should be carried forward into future titles. Cold War may not be the future of Call of Duty, but that doesn't mean it didn't do anything right.
While both Cold War and Modern Warfare have their pros and cons, Modern Warfare seems to be the obvious choice for the future of the franchise. The potential of a Modern Warfare sequel is already a hot topic of discussion among fans, despite looking as though it's a couple of years off, and Modern Warfare itself has managed to retain a solid player base. Fans of Call of Duty have responded well to the new direction Modern Warfare set out in, which would make it strange if Infinity Ward didn't continue on from its success in its next entry.
As for Call of Duty 2021, it is currently in development by Sledgehammer Games, and as usual will likely release in early-mid November. Call of Duty 2021 is reportedly set during World War 2, going by the development name of Vanguard. But there's good news for Modern Warfare fans, as there are rumors that Call of Duty 2021 will use Modern Warfare's engine, a move that is likely to excite fans due to the apparent superiority of this engine. Modern Warfare, rather than Cold War looks like the game that was released on next-gen consoles, so it's exciting to see what can be achieved using this engine as technology continues to advance.
Call of Duty 2021 is in development.