Here comes Modern Warfare 4. You’ve undoubtedly seen my spiel on the presentation I took in at Infinity Ward (and if you didn’t, it’s bookmarked below for easy clicking). Things are looking up for Modern Warfare, especially as the series has become a tad too realistic for fans. I don’t usually get the pleasure of discussing my first hands-on testing at the studio – generally relegated to saying I got to touch the game, but not go in-depth about it. That changed during this visit; it shows the confidence Infinity Ward has in their product, and after a few hours with it, I can see why.
As you can see in my above excerpt, MW4 has a lot of similarities with its technical predecessor, Modern Warfare II. Your speed, time-to-kill, weapons, and even your HUD are going to remind you of it. While the restrictions of MWII were apparent, Modern Warfare 4 is taking a step towards fun, and that’s what I felt – for the most part – as I played the game.
David Burdette
Coming from Black Ops 7, this is a completely different breed of shooter. It’s nice, especially as Treyarch and Infinity Ward games have always had a unique feel to them, so the continuation of that on the same engine is awesome to see. For those unfamiliar with Modern Warfare’s pace, it’s more deliberate, forcing you to move tactically. In MWII, it was clunky, but here in Modern Warfare 4, it certainly feels a lot more responsive compared to its “older brother”.
Let me explain what I mean by that. Modern Warfare 4’s movement isn’t going to have you sprinting across the map in seconds, much like the previous IW title. Instead, refining the extended movement has been a priority. Mantling, climbing, and sliding all feel more natural. For example, sprinting at a car, I hopped towards it, which pulled me into the mantle animation. Instead of clumsily maneuvering over it, I was able to hit a slide directly out of the mantle, making for a slick movement combination. These adjustments make it easier to engage with your environment, which in turn makes utilizing the map’s geography more intuitive and fun.
Speaking of the map's geography, while I need time to fully digest the twelve launch maps and their flow, I can already see what the team is doing to simplify them. They seem a lot smaller, a big shift from previous MW games. Lanes look clearer, and there’s a lack of items littering the landscape. That doesn’t mean they aren’t detailed, but the busyness of Modern Warfare II’s maps is justly omitted in Modern Warfare 4. There’s a map called Silkworm that has a decent amount of cars in the three lanes of the city streets, but it never gets overwhelming, allowing me to process the map flow as opposed to being assaulted by the environment. Beyond this, there does seem to be plenty of distinctive flair – I didn’t see a lot of the same color palette, and the heavy use of brown has dissipated in MW4.
Continuing with maps, we have to talk about Killblock. This should be a future staple for the Call of Duty franchise. It’s something incredibly unique, a map with three rotating slabs that change with every match and sometimes every few rounds. I played Gunfight on it – specifically a new 10v10 variant that is intense – and it’s wild watching a map completely change in the middle of your match. What I’m most curious about is if you might be able to select the slabs you like in a private match, which opens up an entirely new possibility for both casual and competitive play. It’s not Halo’s Forge, but it could be a first step towards crafting your own Call of Duty map.
Inflation is a new mode developed for Modern Warfare 4, and it's a nice mix up for the Team Deathmatch players out there. There's a bit of Kill Confirmed to it, but instead of kills being the only important objective, collecting cash is. You'll sprint around, find cash on the ground like in Warzone, and try to stay alive to keep most of it. Every once in a while, your high total will make you a High Value Target as well, inducing a ping on your person. It's not something incredibly unique, but it was certainly fun to play and puts a good objective focus in view without being too serious. There's also Hijacked, a potential new third mode for the Call of Duty League, but I didn't get to try it out. You can read more about that using the below bookmark from my interview with Studio Multiplayer Creative Director Joe Cecot and Multiplayer Design Lead Jacky Reynolds.
David Burdette
One of my biggest initial fears going into MW4 was recoil. Gunplay is the strongest aspect of a Call of Duty game – they simply do it better than anyone else. My trepidation lies in Infinity Ward’s more grounded and realistic takes, but the Ballistic Authority System, the team mentioned in our presentation, had me hopeful. After booting into a match, it definitely took time for me to adjust, both to the standard Xbox controller and the recoil structure of this arsenal. It wasn’t long, however, before I felt comfortable, and it’s nice to see the team has a handle on this important facet of Modern Warfare 4. I didn’t feel like I had to go for all the accuracy attachments either, as the guns manage to shoot straight enough for the most part. The time-to-kill is a bit quicker, but that’s what you get moving to this series from Black Ops.
Sniping feels absolutely amazing in Modern Warfare 4. I remember how good it was in MWII, with a natural feel to flicking your scope into a shot, and that remains here. I only used the returning Signal 50 in my testing due to an issue equipping some of the other weapons during this session, but I was owning the lobby once I got set up in my spots. As a big Call of Duty League fan, seeing sniping in Search and Destroy is necessary, and it should be back in this title.
Apex Attachments were an item I definitely wanted to experiment with, and they are a lot of fun. The revolver with fan-fire is a blast to use, and the improved hipfire accuracy makes it deadly if you catch someone around a corner. I absolutely love the Hurricane M4 mod as well, given that SMG was a favorite in MWII. I’m sure not all of these are epic, but these kinds of ideas not only make for a good time, but they also offer a brand new gun variant as well, which raises the total number of weapons in your arsenal.
As a whole, the loadout system seems to be in a much better place compared to the last iteration. Weapons have five attachments max, six including the Apex Attachment, but you won’t always be able to apply the best attachments because the Apex Attachment might block one. I don’t like how 1.25x optics have an ADS nerf, but I can live with it. Three perks are locked back in, and Ninja and Quick Fix are on the menu now. The melee slot is something I didn’t see making its way to Modern Warfare, but it is here. The simplification of Modern Warfare is a step that’s needed to happen, and it’s not just a bunch of PR speak; there’s real change occurring.
Lastly, let’s talk about the riot shield, a.k.a. the devil. I hate this piece of gear with a burning passion. Somehow, Infinity Ward has made me… okay with it and possibly even like it? No longer is this shield impervious to damage. No longer does it cover your back, or is available in your kit immediately. Intentional changes have made it less annoying, as it essentially is a portable deployable cover – a field upgrade that eventually breaks from damage. I took one into a hallway, got two kills, and then died as it shattered. Knowing the riot shield will no longer plague Search and Destroy lobbies is outstanding, but the way Infinity Ward approached and managed this tool shows their prowess, especially in understanding players' plights. My hat is off to the team.
While I certainly need a lot more time with Modern Warfare 4 to understand its intricacies, this feels like a 70% to 30% split between Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III. They didn’t abandon their philosophies of design, but they did shift and pull back on specific things that were making the game, for lack of a better term, NOT FUN. I can see the efforts involved in making Modern Warfare 4 enjoyable for all kinds of players without destroying their unique look and feel. If they can continue to be this fluid in their development (and deliver a great Ranked experience and anti-cheat), Modern Warfare could make a big comeback. At any rate, I’ll be playing it for yet another 1000+ hours.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 releases on October 23rd, 2026. You will be able to pre-order the game on Xbox Series consoles, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
