To the excitement of many fans, the developers over at Sledgehammer Games, and Activision, the publisher, have released the third entry in the latest rebooted Modern Warfare series, and a direct sequel to 2022’s Modern Warfare II. I think I have that right. I mean, I have played some Call Of Duty games, but by no means am I up to speed with what is going on, so I will do my best to explain what is going on and my thoughts as someone who doesn’t play many FPS games. Wish me luck.

Okay, so, all of the Modern Warfare games have been rebooted, and the campaign continues from the rebooted Modern Warfare II. We mostly play as the protagonist group of special forces soldiers from the UK, notably Captain Price, Ghost, Gaz, and Soap, as they try and track down the escaped ultranationalist and terrorist, Vladimir Makarov, in an attempt to stop his nefarious plans for a World War III.

That’s as far as I will go so that I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that I enjoyed it, as well as all of the characters that we meet and get to play along the way. As a story, and from someone who almost exclusively plays games with a lot of lore, it’s damn good. I found myself being sucked into the dynamics of each character and how they interact with each other. My only gripe is that it’s quite short. Someone better at these games will smash through the campaign in a few hours.

Though the campaign is a little on the short side, you can always try Zombies, and of the three main game modes, this was probably my least favourite. Not that it’s bad per se, but playing with randoms can become annoying, as now instead of taking out increasing waves of zombies like the last time I played zombies, it’s evolved.

Now, instead of holding your ground, you move around a large map fighting off zombies, collecting upgrades for your weapons and equipment, and completing quests until you have to fight your way to your evac zone and get out. Any extra items you didn’t use get carried over to your next game, so if your random teammates up and quit, it could cost you. My only advice is to play this with friends, instead of potentially with trolls, like I did.

The crux of Call Of Duty, in my eyes, is multiplayer. Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill, and Free-for-All are just some of the modes available, and I have to say, they’re a lot of fun. I am really enjoying myself. What is even better is that I am never the worst player, so I am putting that down as a win. You need to play a few Team Deathmatches and level up to unlock the rest of the multiplayer options, but that wasn’t too hard, and I do like the option of a quick match, which puts you into a random multiplayer game.

From what I have seen, the gameplay is pretty much the same as the rebooted Modern Warfare II, but it’s going to be hard for me to actually try and give any insight as I haven’t played Modern Warfare II yet. With the little knowledge I have, it plays well. Moving, aiming, and firing are all smoother than I remember. I don’t play many first-person shooters, purely because my aim is generally atrocious, and, I’m not going to lie, I’m doing alright, so I haven’t given up on it yet.

That in itself should be an achievement. If I can do it, so can you. Sliding was a new mechanic for me in a Call of Duty game, as was the ability to cancel the action and being able to vote for a map. I always thought that was a thing, but I was recently told that it wasn’t and they’d brought it back, so that was nice of them. Another thing people seemed to be excited about was the use of maps from the previous game, so there’s something like 16 maps, and if Halo has taught us anything, more is better.

Graphically it looked amazing. Seeing actual combat manoeuvres in the cutscenes was a treat, and with the better quality of the overall look, I have to attribute that to my better performance. Everything just seemed clearer, making it easier to focus and pick targets. There was no more spray and pray as I turned around and freaked out because a rock behind a tree looked like a person. I didn’t notice any spikes or drops in frame rates, but I did notice if you crouch behind anything and get too close to it, you sometimes can’t stand because there is a slight lip on the object, making finding cover a little trickier.

The performances of the voice actors were brilliant. I loved all of the interactions between characters, especially when Ghost was asked, “Why the mask?” An absolute gold response, and very British. It reminded me of my granddad’s jokes. Also, our boy Nikolai Nikolaeff, as Ivan, was great, but it’s hard to not be reminded of Sea Patrol or Power Rangers though. I don’t know if it’s the kid in me but the sounds of guns were incredible, and I am not a gun person. I would prefer fewer weapons in the world, but you cannot deny feeling something deep down when firing a gun, even in a game, and the sounds captured from all of the weapons hit hard.

Look, I am still not going say that I love first-person shooters, but this has renewed my faith in them a little, and it will give me something other than League to play when I want a quick game of something. I know that there will be heaps of hardcore Call Of Duty fans shaking their fists at me because while it was great for me, it was mediocre or something for them. All I have to say to them is, “Too bad. I enjoyed myself.”

My experience won’t be the same as others, but if anyone is like me and hasn’t played in a while, maybe give it a go if you can. It’s a lot of fun, though I do have one final negative. Please stop trying to sell me stuff. Everywhere I looked, I saw ‘Buy the Game Pass,’ and ‘Buy this Skin Pack!’ No. I just want to shoot things. Please.

Written by: Adam Brasher