Xbox - The Official Magazine - UK (2019-08)

top rightUnlike

morerecent

CoDgames,this

instalmentwill

be moregrounded

in reality.

nPublisherActivision/DeveloPerinfinityWArd/e

alreadyhada fewplaytesterscryatInfinity

Wardwhiletheywereplaying.

Whymightsuchlachrymosityoccurwhile

you’resittingplayingsillyol’COD? Wellwe’d

hazarda guessit mighthavesomethingto

dowiththenervegasattackortheLondon

bombingtakingplaceinthestory– bothall

toorealinlightofthehorrorstoriesweread

inthenewswithnumbingregularityinthe

modernworld.

Theserieshasa historyofplacingyou

inthegrimmestcornersofcurrentevents.

NoRussianispartofgamingfolklore

now,asarethenightvisionairstrikesin

ModernWarfare 2. Generallythegames

havejustifiedtheirinclusiontoo,butwe

shouldn’tforgetthatthisisthesame

franchisethatoncechangeditsTwitter

accounttoresemblea newsoutletand

tweetedoutreportsofa faketerrorattack

topromoteoneofitsgames–CODdoesn’t

alwaysunderstandcommondecency.

Althoughthisisn’ta like-for-likeremake

of2007’sseminalCallOfDuty4:Modern

Warfare(orindeedanyofthesubsequent

gamesbearingthatsubtitle)thereare

certainlycommonelements.Captain

Price,theghilliesuitenthusiastandsharp

shooterofyesteryear,returnsinthisnew

o,it probablyisn’tthe

directionyou’veargued

CallOfDutyshouldtake.

Butit’llprobablywork

anyway.YouseeCOD,

likepoliticsandfootball,

elicitsstrongopinions.Rarelydoyou

meeta gamerwho’sCOD-ambivalent,and

generallymostpeoplehaveanincredibly

specificvisionfortheseries’future.

“Theyshouldscrapeverythingexcept

Zombies!”“Whatif theymadea 20-hour

storyaroundKillConfirmed?”“Bringback

thehorseridingandaddaCrazyTaxi

mechanic!”– adnauseam.

Rarely,if ever,doyouhearpeople

highlightingCOD’s singulartalentfor

emotionalstorytelling,boundary-pushing

topicalcontentorbelievability.Andyet,

they’velongbeentheseries’single-player

secretsauce.AndInfinityWardknowsit.

ModernWarfareshrugsoffmanyofthe

franchise’srecentfoundations,ditching

anykindoffuturismandomittingthe

perenniallyunderratedZombiesmode

entirely.Intheirplaceisa gritty,close-

to-the-boneshooterwhosepurposeis

provokinga response.Infact,accordingto

gameplaydirectorJacobMinkoff,they’ve

IT’sBACKTOThePReseNTfORfPsGAMING’sAGeNTPROvOCATeuR

Call Of Duty:

MODern Warfare

LongTime

coming

callofdutyhasn’thad

anall-newgame

enginefor 14 years.

to putthatanother

way,thelasttimeit

didthescissorsisters

wereontheradioand

Waynerooneywasa

promisingyouth

prospect.theall-new

techbehindModern

Warfareis long

overdue,then,and

bringsa startlingly

obviousvisual

upgradecomparedto

lastyear’sgame.

034 the officiAl xboxMAgAzine

e3 2019