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How is the Modern Warfare II (2022) campaign?

ByWatterson

Member
MWII is currently on a big sale at CDKeys for PS5. So I'm tempted. I have in the past played a lot of COD multiplayer, but the campaigns are why I really get the games. My recent COD history:
- Platinum'd and LOVED Cold War (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and really liked Vanguard (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and loved MW2 Remaster campaign (PS+)
- Platinum'd and LOVED MW (2019) campaign (no multiplayer, deep sale)

Presuming I'm not going to play much MWII multiplayer, is the campaign by itself worth $37? Love these characters, but worried it might fizzle out and I won't get the full value. How was it?
 

ByWatterson

Member
It’s a call of duty campaign. High production value, but short and mindless. I found the crafting mechanics they put in for some levels to be an exercise in frustration.

If you liked MW2019 you’ll probably like this one. But if all you care about is campaign I’d probably just wait for it to show up in gamepass if you have an Xbox handy.

I do, but I'm dropping Game Pass in January. Just not worth the money for me given how little time I have to dedicate.
 

StueyDuck

Member
For me personally... not very good, and I really enjoyed 2019.

Things like crafting, armored enemies like it's warzone, awful vehicle segments

It does have some fun set pieces but it's not coherent like the 2019 game, there's like tank boss battles straight out of ps2 era games and as mentioned earlier, crafting segments and a very bad try hard ending (try hard as in trying to be die hard)
 
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HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
It’s a call of duty campaign. High production value, but short and mindless. I found the crafting mechanics they put in for some levels to be an exercise in frustration.

If you liked MW2019 you’ll probably like this one. But if all you care about is campaign I’d probably just wait for it to show up in gamepass if you have an Xbox handy.
I didn't care for the crafting or the one stealth mission but have played the Close Air mission a few more times than I would like to admit
 
MWII is currently on a big sale at CDKeys for PS5. So I'm tempted. I have in the past played a lot of COD multiplayer, but the campaigns are why I really get the games. My recent COD history:
- Platinum'd and LOVED Cold War (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and really liked Vanguard (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and loved MW2 Remaster campaign (PS+)
- Platinum'd and LOVED MW (2019) campaign (no multiplayer, deep sale)

Presuming I'm not going to play much MWII multiplayer, is the campaign by itself worth $37? Love these characters, but worried it might fizzle out and I won't get the full value. How was it?
I think you can score a 2nd hand copy for even cheaper on Ebay/ Craigslist tbh.
 
Outside of a few missions in the beginning of the game, the campaign is one of the most half assed things I've seen come out of one of CoD's studios.

It feels lie you're playing co-op multiplayer missions more than anything. There is a part with vehicles that just uses warzone trucks that are barely animated. It's God awful.

If you want a real campaign, play Infinite Warfare.
 

StueyDuck

Member
Outside of a few missions in the beginning of the game, the campaign is one of the most half assed things I've seen come out of one of CoD's studios.

It feels lie you're playing co-op multiplayer missions more than anything. There is a part with vehicles that just uses warzone trucks that are barely animated. It's God awful.

If you want a real campaign, play Infinite Warfare.
infinite warfare is very underappreciated, it's still the only call of duty thing that felt new in any way. Could've easily had a Space opera franchise from the idea, shouldn't have murked all the characters and built a trilogy instead.

Also anything TreyArch for SP, they clearly took the crown of the 3 (or 4, who knows these days) dev houses for the best run of campaigns, Blops 1 2 3 and CW are all great campaigns with great set pieces and action moments you love from the franchise with more engaging stories then the others. Shame they get relegated to zombie stuff mostly
 
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Bry0

Member
I thought the campaign for 2022 stunk. The rest of the game is pretty good but the campaign had these terrible crafting cat and mouse section and constant railroaded stealth. Felt like I spent most the campaign waiting for big awesome firefights that never happened.
 

Spyxos

Gold Member
MWII is currently on a big sale at CDKeys for PS5. So I'm tempted. I have in the past played a lot of COD multiplayer, but the campaigns are why I really get the games. My recent COD history:
- Platinum'd and LOVED Cold War (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and really liked Vanguard (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and loved MW2 Remaster campaign (PS+)
- Platinum'd and LOVED MW (2019) campaign (no multiplayer, deep sale)

Presuming I'm not going to play much MWII multiplayer, is the campaign by itself worth $37? Love these characters, but worried it might fizzle out and I won't get the full value. How was it?
I really liked it. The other campaigns before waten't as fun. I can't say much about multiplayer. It has 64 player mode which is quite fun, but I have not played it for a long time.
 

Bond007

Member
Could do without the crafting- but i dont recall having to do it often.
I dislike stealth sections with a passion actually (Unless you are playing a sniper role) - So i have more beef with those parts.

Generally, it was fine- i enjoy the modern warfare stories for the most part.
 
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Salz01

Member
Personally didn’t like it. Outside one or two missions. The Oil Rig, and the Mountain escape mission. None of it feels like any sort of ground warfare like the older versions. It’s all very special ops, if you like that.
 
Could do without the crafting- but i dont recall having to do it often.
I dislike stealth sections with a passion actually (Unless you are playing a sniper role) - So i have more beef with those parts.

Generally, it was fine- i enjoy the modern warfare stories for the most part.
To me the crafting makes no sense. Why would they waste their time making that for one mission as well as the shitty last mission.

I really thought that was going to be part of the DMV mode especially after hearing that it was apparently going to be like Tarkov.

I imagined everyone dropping in with no gun and you have to scrounge together recourses and fight tooth and nail against others, maybe finding better weapons along the way.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Outside of a few missions in the beginning of the game, the campaign is one of the most half assed things I've seen come out of one of CoD's studios.

It feels lie you're playing co-op multiplayer missions more than anything. There is a part with vehicles that just uses warzone trucks that are barely animated. It's God awful.

If you want a real campaign, play Infinite Warfare.
I really wish we got a postmortem on this game, like a sequel to the most highly praised COD since, I dunno, BO2, and it just comes out so half-assed in every single way.

BOCW has a good campaign too, maybe the most interesting story in a COD?
 
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Chuck Berry

Gold Member
I dont keep up with COD whatsoever

But since this thread is here I might as well ask

Did they ever top that No Russian scene? That is still probably the most disturbingly violent thing in a game I have ever seen in my life.
 
I dont keep up with COD whatsoever

But since this thread is here I might as well ask

Did they ever top that No Russian scene? That is still probably the most disturbingly violent thing in a game I have ever seen in my life.
They never topped it with anything that horrific.

The family with the little girl exploding from a truck bomb in MW3 was pretty fucked up. Also just the symbolism and imagery of carpet bombing the Eifel tower so badly that it falls.

But out of all the campaigns since then I will stand by that Infinite Warfare is the best one.

It really makes you think about the costs of actual war and what it takes to keep going.

It also takes it's time setting up each character and it's the only CoD where you can read and listen to optional data banks and interviews, not to mention there are also (while some are semi-repetitive but on different planets) side missions.

The entire ending is literally heart breaking.
 

RagnarokIV

Member
Yeah I just dont see how that could ever be trumped unless they put you in control of a mass school shooting or something.

There is a mission where you chase a cartel person through back yards.
You get into one backyard and the guy comes out of his house, so you have to point your gun at him and tell him to get back in because you're busy chasing down a highly wanted individual and don't have time to explain and ask for permission to be in his yard lol. This caused outrage online because of the defund the police shite.

For this reason alone, I don't think they could ever even do another No Russian without being cancelled on twitter etc.
 
I really wish we got a postmortem on this game, like a sequel to the most highly praised COD since, I dunno, BO2, and it just comes out so half-assed in every single way.

BOCW has a good campaign too, maybe the most interesting story in a COD?
Cold War was alright.

There is a really strange circumstance surround that game though. Those Vietnam sections have art assets that are WAY too detailed for how limited they are in the game.

They are actually left over from Sledgehammer's Vietnam titles that they have been trying to make for over 10 years now. And each time it gets put on the chopping block.

It was originally supposed to be a third person CoD and have character interactions similar to CoD WWII which took the place of the Vietnam game.
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
They never topped it with anything that horrific.

The family with the little girl exploding from a truck bomb in MW3 was pretty fucked up. Also just the symbolism and imagery of carpet bombing the Eifel tower so badly that it falls.

But out of all the campaigns since then I will stand by that Infinite Warfare is the best one.

It really makes you think about the costs of actual war and what it takes to keep going.

It also takes it's time setting up each character and it's the only CoD where you can read and listen to optional data banks and interviews, not to mention there are also (while some are semi-repetitive but on different planets) side missions.

The entire ending is literally heart breaking.

Funny you bring that up. Infinite Warfare is the only COD I have ever played and I actually really enjoyed it due to the space dogfights, side missions and that robot buddy you had. It was such a weird, cool departure from the others and at times really felt like its own IP. An actual military sci fi epic in space with some Mass Effect-isms would be pretty awesome.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Cold War was alright.

There is a really strange circumstance surround that game though. Those Vietnam sections have art assets that are WAY too detailed for how limited they are in the game.

They are actually left over from Sledgehammer's Vietnam titles that they have been trying to make for over 10 years now. And each time it gets put on the chopping block.

It was originally supposed to be a third person CoD and have character interactions similar to CoD WWII which took the place of the Vietnam game.
Battlefield BC2 Vietnam was kino. We need more of that sort of thing. Maybe now with the boomer generation getting up there, it will get revisited.
 

BigLee74

Member
Rank rotten.

Just about as far flung from the earlier CODs as you can get. Too much sneaking and crafting, when all I wanna do is shoot baddies in great locations/set pieces.

Also very very short. Not worth it for the campaign alone is my opinion.

Man, do I miss Cold War. The last truly great COD for me (great campaign, and sublime MP with a fantastic assortment of maps).
 
Funny you bring that up. Infinite Warfare is the only COD I have ever played and I actually really enjoyed it due to the space dogfights, side missions and that robot buddy you had. It was such a weird, cool departure from the others and at times really felt like its own IP. An actual military sci fi epic in space with some Mass Effect-isms would be pretty awesome.
Exactly. For some reason Infinity Ward went harder then ever with that one.

I give a ton of the credit to Brian Bloom. He wrote the entire campaign himself (I'm sure others helped but he's the only writing credit) and starred as the main character.

To me it's also one of the utmost perfect examples of how to write female and black characters into a story. I never questioned at any point whether the game was trying to shove something down my throat.

I believed in every character 100% as if they were real people. Even the side characters like Boats and Gibson the air boss. I swear to God it gives me chills every time I play it.

That's one game that I would LOVE to do an extensive write up on or even a video essay. While it has gained some positive traction back years after launch, I still don't think many people understand or know just what it does from a story telling perspective that makes it so special.
 
Battlefield BC2 Vietnam was kino. We need more of that sort of thing. Maybe now with the boomer generation getting up there, it will get revisited.
Yea it's funny to think that BF 1943 and BC2 Vietnam are near perfect games and all they have is like 5-10 weapons at the max and 3-4 maps.
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Exactly. For some reason Infinity Ward went harder then ever with that one.

I give a ton of the credit to Brian Bloom. He wrote the entire campaign himself (I'm sure others helped but he's the only writing credit) and starred as the main character.

To me it's also one of the utmost perfect examples of how to write female and black characters into a story. I never questioned at any point whether the game was trying to shove something down my throat.

I believed in every character 100% as if they were real people. Even the side characters like Boats and Gibson the air boss. I swear to God it gives me chills every time I play it.

That's one game that I would LOVE to do an extensive write up on or even a video essay. While it has gained some positive traction back years after launch, I still don't think many people understand or know just what it does from a story telling perspective that makes it so special.

You're making me want to replay it :messenger_grinning_smiling:

I remember pretty much nothing about it (played at launch) except that I really liked it

I DO remember the end though and how each one of your squad is honored. Was tastefully done.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Outside of a few missions in the beginning of the game, the campaign is one of the most half assed things I've seen come out of one of CoD's studios.

It feels lie you're playing co-op multiplayer missions more than anything. There is a part with vehicles that just uses warzone trucks that are barely animated. It's God awful.

If you want a real campaign, play Infinite Warfare.

Yeah this was my experience too. The first batch of missions are okay, standard CoD fare but not bad. After the halfway point it tries to become some sort of survival game with makeshift weapons. I found it horrible and actually missed the meat grinder stuff from usual CoD games.

And the vehicle section where you have to change vehicles was 1. terrible and 2. far too long.

IW is better, and MW2019 is better too.
 
You're making me want to replay it :messenger_grinning_smiling:

I remember pretty much nothing about it (played at launch) except that I really liked it

I DO remember the end though and how each one of your squad is honored. Was tastefully done.
Dude I'm not even kidding this is the kind of game that you play two to three times at least to pick up on all of the dialogue.

Though one could say the story is very cliché for the war genre, which to me is not a bad thing by any means, there is some genius level writing in the dialogue. It's also very snappy in certain instances.

The also doesn't rush you at all and never forces you into the next mission without a deliberate prompt, therefore you can even really role play if you're into that sort of thing.

When you walk up to random NPC's on the bridge they will turn and nod their head and say, "Captain".

NPC's on the flight deck with go about doing their jobs as you walk around and observe them. Some of them will inspect the launch pads for debris that could get sucked into an engine.

They'll tell you, "Everything's ok over here, sir." as you get up close to inspect their station.

Certain main characters have sentences of dialogue that you can entirely miss by walking straight by them.

You can read short summaries about every planet in the game on the star map. The list goes on.

People complained about the main villain being one dimensional and boring. He's a god damn general that wants the destruction of Earth what more do you want him to say!

I actually really like that he plays a minimal role outside of a few cutscenes.
 

Trilobit

Member
I'm hitchhiking on your thread, OP!

I'm interested in trying out the Ground War multiplayer in MW2 after playing some Warzone. What do I need to buy, the bundles are making me dizzy, do I only need the base game?

Another question. I saw that MW3 comes out in November, does that mean that there will be no people playing on MW2 multiplayer?

I'm on PS5 and completely new to COD.

Also, what's the difference between COD MW and Battlefield, does BF have many players online too?
 
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MWII is currently on a big sale at CDKeys for PS5. So I'm tempted. I have in the past played a lot of COD multiplayer, but the campaigns are why I really get the games. My recent COD history:
- Platinum'd and LOVED Cold War (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and really liked Vanguard (lots of multiplayer)
- Platinum'd and loved MW2 Remaster campaign (PS+)
- Platinum'd and LOVED MW (2019) campaign (no multiplayer, deep sale)

Presuming I'm not going to play much MWII multiplayer, is the campaign by itself worth $37? Love these characters, but worried it might fizzle out and I won't get the full value. How was it?

Not as good as MW 2019 but still has a handful of good missions. The story is hamfisted tho. The pacing isn't great and some missions are straight up boring and tedious. For $37 bucks I'd still buy it tho
 
Yeah this was my experience too. The first batch of missions are okay, standard CoD fare but not bad. After the halfway point it tries to become some sort of survival game with makeshift weapons. I found it horrible and actually missed the meat grinder stuff from usual CoD games.

And the vehicle section where you have to change vehicles was 1. terrible and 2. far too long.

IW is better, and MW2019 is better too.

This is the truth. Also, story is silly it's all about "where's Hassan" ad nauseum. Also feels more designed by committee than 2019, like they're afraid to kill characters because they might need to use them for seasonal content to sell battle passes.

What they've done with COD as a GaaS Platform is pretty gross too. Have fun even finding the campaign in the games menu as it's buried under advertisements and other BS
 

Certinty

Member
Absolutely loved it, one of my favourite Call of Duty campaigns.

Great variety in missions both in approach and locations and the way they handled Price, Gaz, Soap and Ghost was class as well.

Can’t wait for the third.
 
For me, the Call of Duty single player campaigns are always worth playing...for the price of a rental. But for $40 only to play the campaign? I'd pass. And that's with MWII's being really good, imo.

The campaign is like a sampler platter of other AAA games, with one-off levels nearly reaching the level of polish of those other games' whole steeze. One level is clearly inspired by The Last of Us, and another starts off as a sniper mission and turns into Dishonored-lite.

I hope MWIII integrates other great games into its campaign like that.
 
I dont keep up with COD whatsoever

But since this thread is here I might as well ask

Did they ever top that No Russian scene? That is still probably the most disturbingly violent thing in a game I have ever seen in my life.
Nope. They tried another shock scene in the original Modern Warfare 3, but it was nowhere near No Russian.

Dude I'm not even kidding this is the kind of game that you play two to three times at least to pick up on all of the dialogue.

Though one could say the story is very cliché for the war genre, which to me is not a bad thing by any means, there is some genius level writing in the dialogue. It's also very snappy in certain instances.

The also doesn't rush you at all and never forces you into the next mission without a deliberate prompt, therefore you can even really role play if you're into that sort of thing.

When you walk up to random NPC's on the bridge they will turn and nod their head and say, "Captain".

NPC's on the flight deck with go about doing their jobs as you walk around and observe them. Some of them will inspect the launch pads for debris that could get sucked into an engine.

They'll tell you, "Everything's ok over here, sir." as you get up close to inspect their station.

Certain main characters have sentences of dialogue that you can entirely miss by walking straight by them.

You can read short summaries about every planet in the game on the star map. The list goes on.

People complained about the main villain being one dimensional and boring. He's a god damn general that wants the destruction of Earth what more do you want him to say!

I actually really like that he plays a minimal role outside of a few cutscenes.

The scene where Reyes does the math, figures out that he's now in command, and steps the hell up without missing a beat sticks with me. That situation has happened in other media, I'm sure, but something about the way they did it, man...True hero shit.
 
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Loved it - these are my kind of campaigns. Short, sweet roller coaster you can knock out on a Saturday. I’m always intrigued by the story, it’s basically an action movie. I give credit to the devs/Activision for continuing to pour resources into the campaign.

It’s the first cod game I got for PlayStation. The DualSense haptic feedback enhances the experience a bit which was worthwhile enough for me to get it over Xbox/pc
 
I’ve played all of the campaigns in this series and this one is bottom 5 for me, it’s not bad it’s just so safe, at times too slow and uneventful, maybe uneventful is the wrong word but it doesn’t do anything new. There’s also very little music playing throughout the campaign for some reason, it just adds to the boredom.
 
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Nope. They tried another shock scene in the original Modern Warfare 3, but it was nowhere near No Russian.



The scene where Reyes does the math, figures out that he's now in command, and steps the hell up without missing a beat sticks with me. That situation has happened in other media, I'm sure, but something about the way they did it, man...True hero shit.
That's what I'm saying! It gives me chills. So many scenes are amazing. Even right what you're mentioning when Salter is wondering why the Captain would ram his own ship and they walk in to see him being carted away in a body bag.

Also, the mission on Titan when, (in first person) Reye's says, "We don't die on out fuckin' knees, not here!" is just so hype and very rarely do you actually hear a good F-bomb in these games.
 
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