Call of Duty Modern Warfare is going back to the series' roots. Forget the zombies. Forget the WWII battles. Forget the future weaponry – Call of Duty is going back to one of the most beloved series within the franchise with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a reboot of the highly-lauded 2007 first person shooter.
It’s all about the gritty realities of war this time out, with the ‘modern’ of the ‘Modern Warfare’ title referring to the high-tech gear of today, the cutting-edge killing machines employed in combat right now, rather than the far-flung fantasies of science fiction.
With the battle royale genre taking up many shooter fans’ spare gaming time, Call of Duty’s crown as the king of competitive shooters has slipped in the past few years. Can a return to its most-popular roots bring it back to glory? Read on for what we know so far.
[Update: While Call of Duty Modern Warfare didn't have a huge presence at E3 2019, it did pop up at an E3 Coliseum event where Activision had the first two multiplayer screenshots. One shot shows a sniper in a ghillie suit, while the other shows a juggernaut suit – one of the most powerful pieces of gear from the original game.]
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The sixteenth Call of Duty game
- What can I play it on? PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC
- When can I play it? October 25, 2019
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare release date
Announced right before E3 2019, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare leaked ahead of the event but a trailer gave us our first glimpse and a variety of details for the game.
It included the release date, which is set for October 25, 2019. You're already able to pre-order the game on the official site too.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare screenshots
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trailers
The first trailer for the game was released on May 30.
You can watch it below:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare news
Is this a reboot of the classic Modern Warfare?
Not exactly. If you want to relive that Call of Duty 4 experience you'll want to dust off your PS3 or Xbox 360, or play the recent remaster of that game.
Instead, Infinity Ward is using the Modern Warfare name here to evoke a similar feeling, and some of the same characters will return but this is an entirely new storyline set in a different timeline.
It's totally separate to what we've seen in the previous games as here those events haven't occurred. We'll still follow Captain Price in this different timeline, and it may mean we see over returning characters throughout too.
Price features heavily in the trailer above, and he ends it by saying there's a team of his "old comrades" so it may well be that we see the return of other fan favorite characters such as Soap or Gaz.
Image Credit: Infinity Ward
This new timeline is also why the game isn't called Modern Warfare 4. It should mean it's a good place for new entrants to the series to pick up the game, but there's sure to be a few nods to the original series for die-hard fans.
Narrative director at Infinity Ward, Taylor Kurosaki, also noted that the game's storyline is still being tweaked but it's anywhere between five and nine hours long.
That means it's not set to be very long, but at least this time there is a storyline. Call of Duty: Blacks Ops 4 opted to drop the storyline in favor of focusing on online play, which is something we've heard very little about so far for this game.
A whole new engine
This title will be the first to use a whole new engine for the series, and that should allow for some drastic graphical improvements over previous titles including Black Ops 4. It's the first time the games will use a new engine in 14 years.
We've yet to learn the name of the engine, but we know that the franchise has been working on it for five years.
We expect to learn more about it in the coming days with the game's official launch at E3, but we can expect some more detailed environments, improved volumetric lighting and ray tracing technology too.
Expect controversy
According to ComicBook.com, the game be "heavy on troubling, realistic emotions, very much inspired by the controversial 'No Russian level"
That mission is in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. It was highly controversial at the time for depicting an undercover CIA agent who takes part in a mass shooting of civilians.
The trailer suggests other terrorist attacks may feature in the story, and children also feature so it may be these elements are used to stir up controversy.