Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II - Single-player campaign walkthrough or chilling horror game

There is a strange amusement in the gaming community - to open old reviews from six years ago on some conveyor belt a la Assassin's Creed or Call of Duty, and then to open a review on the same conveyor belt projects, but already of our time. The point of this entertainment is one thing - often the old game of the series in the review is criticized, and in the new review through the semantic load catch the message "But then it was so good!".

The story was repeated with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare relaunch, which with the release of the second part of the reboot somehow magically transformed in memory from an ugly duckling into a graceful swan. It's funny enough that the single-player campaign was largely disliked at the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). Players and critics only praised the objectively successful moments.

And now Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has been released...

...with such a frightening warning. At such moments you realize that the outrage about the next Call of Duty part is largely a duckling syndrome, when everything that follows seems worse than the previous one....

...But what is the horror of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II?...

We have to be careful what we wish for

Criticism of Call of Duty hasn't gone past the developers' ears, so the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II seeks to not conform to the stereotypes stuck to the series. You complained about the shooting gallery? Please, get this, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II no longer entertains the player with a dizzying blockbuster, but offers a rather interesting mix of genres. Looking back on the past, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II tried to repeat the successful experience of the past parts...

Remember the mission from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) with the cleanup of a building with hostages? Critics highly appreciated such improvisation, and players thought that the series finally flashed originality. The developers took the praise literally, so in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II we are waiting for more such content: in one mission there is a parody of social stealth a la Hitman - players are instructed to quietly skulk among the cartel thugs. Throwing items for distraction, silent assassinations, and a modicum of variation are present.

Remember that mission in Chernobyl? It's impossible to forget. Here you go, sign your name. Another sniper mission with sitting in the bushes...

...The mission turned out to be unplanned, scary. Unlike the previous parts of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, in the reboot there is no place for laser-beam bullets, the new variable is bullet ballistics.

Before shooting from the sniper rifle, the famous Captain Price obligingly gives advice on shooting...but for some reason he blatantly lies, if you listen to his instructions - you will never hit. At the same time, the captain keeps asking to do some sniper's trick as if it's as easy as tying your shoelaces. With such a mentor it is banally scary to go into battle ...

By the way, you will have to hide in the bushes more than once, players complained about scripting - no problem! Now, patrols always know about your location and will always find you, even if you are on the outskirts of a huge location. Was the sniper component the trick of the famous mission in Pripyat? Not at all, this mission was loved for something else....

Did you complain about the shooting gallery? No question. Overnight Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II goes into natural Survival with crafting of improvised items. At such moments, our brave protagonist no longer has an arsenal of a small private army, but creates weapons literally from shit and sticks.

All missions in the new Call of Duty are tightened, so if the mechanics of the next task at once causes you rejection - you will have to endure long and painfully. A grain of stealth and Survival elements appear in the game in time and change the tone of the narrative. During the whole mission we will watch the conversation between Soap and Ghost, which has become an unambiguous meme on the web.

Have you been praising chase missions since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare? No question. The developers took such an informal methodology literally and realized a mission with a chase even better. Now we not only shoot off terrorists during dashing chases, but also jump on the roofs of cars on the move like damn Nathan Drake from Uncharted:

But something tells me that gameplay design of chases in Uncharted was not so simple - you need to either set some time limits in front of the player, or disguise the fact that the transport moves through the same type, looped locations. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II did not catch it, so the mission with the chase eventually rolls into a ride in a circle. To take players' eyes off of them, the developers have thrown in some special enemies that drop mines on the road. Yes, the last time I saw such a thing was in games from 1988. At least there is no helicopter boss in the game...but there is a tank boss and a BTR boss.

This whole carnival of madness lasts about half an hour - a long, agonizing thirty minutes, forever drowned in the swamp of life. There is no question of any staged blockbuster, because Call of Duty fans are already bored with the attraction. No problem! You will remember the mission on snowmobiles with warmth.

And remember those missions, where you didn't need to shoot at all or very little - "tourist" missions. What is the walk through the White House in Call of Duty: Black Ops...

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II there is also a "tourist" mission, this time on a well-maintained red-light street. Amsterdam is the abode of vice, how not to drink a pint of beer in such an environment?

Even Captain Price couldn't resist a dark beer - it's extremely unusual to see him in such an environment, when there are still so many closed doors in the world...

The Amsterdam mission itself is something between stealth and almost aimless wandering. Missions that were added to the game just for the sake of visual delight - not a new Call of Duty gimmick, and it has always worked. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was no exception. However, earlier such missions at least somehow developed the plot, but now the outcome of the special operation is multiplied by 0 by the protagonists themselves, and intentionally. It would seem that it is impossible to spoil "tourist" missions. It turns out that it is possible, you just need to deprive the mission of any logical sense....

"The paradox of the bad tattoo artist" or "What does horror have to do with it"

The paradox of a bad tattoo master is that it is pointless to demand from an incompetent person good performance of difficult tasks. "Bad tattoo master" from hearing criticism will not work better, but on the contrary will start to get even more nervous and make a crooked tattoo even worse ...

The same situation with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Many people forget the fact that human resources are limited. Those people who worked on the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2007-2009 have long ago left their posts, went to other companies, founded their own or retired. Those people were subtly talented, they didn't have to work up a sweat to do well, they did well on instinct. The current Call of Duty developers are only able to imitate the liveliness of the mind of past masters, it is foolish to expect revelations from them. However, these same developers are strong in the other, the next developers will be strong in the third, but critics and players will again lament on Call of Duty for what will be lost in the future. Will the next Call of Duty be worse? Most likely yes.

So why is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II scary? Remember that screenshot warning about early access? And what could possibly change for the better from now on? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has a stunningly stupid script - no amount of tweaking will help it. The plot is so stupid that it belongs only in the trash can.

With the release of early access missions in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will be less protracted? Perhaps only some, but then the timing of 10 hours will be narrowed down to three.

With the release of early access the game will fix the inappropriate scenes in the missions? Then we'll have to work out whole episodes from scratch, and this means paying actors, programmers, animators, testers and so on. This arrangement is impossible, because in the final Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II the players are clearly given to understand that there will be a sequel, which means that nobody will finish Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. The temptation to release the next numbered part is too great, because the revenue of 800 million dollars before sales is the best motivator.

The scary thing is not the game itself, but the fact that from now on we will be sold not only a mediocre product, but also unfinished, justified by the "early access" patch. But the scary thing is that people will still buy it.