The key facts

  • Modern Warfare 4 by Infinity Ward launches Friday, set in a South Korea seized by North Korea
  • The 16-stage campaign takes about six hours, with the game returning to frenetic action and large-scale battles
  • The release follows the failures of Modern Warfare 3 (2023) and Black Ops 7, which lost to Battlefield 6; the game will not be on Game Pass at launch, but for the first time in 16 years the series is coming to Nintendo Switch 2

Back to basics

The next installment of the Call of Duty franchise goes on sale on Friday. The developers have tried to return the series, which has been losing momentum, to the signature high-adrenaline action that secured its earlier success. According to AFP, the game focuses on battlefields filled with gunfire and explosions, with highly realistic graphics and a soldier's first-person view.

Story and structure

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is set in South Korea, seized by its northern neighbor, against a backdrop of tension between the US and Russia — instead of the usual fictional countries of Eastern Europe or the Middle East. The 16-stage campaign, which can be completed in about six hours, weaves together several parallel storylines: the survival of a squad of young American and South Korean soldiers, the path of a former soldier driven by a thirst for revenge, and a power struggle around the new North Korean leader — a character players can even play as. The game contains disturbing scenes, including civilians fleeing a South Korean city, the hanging of a North Korean defector, and several extrajudicial executions.

Press and player reaction

At the Paris Games Week preview, visitors rated the game positively: 21-year-old Nolan Neu praised the 'incredible smoothness' of the movement, while 42-year-old Alex Hernandez highlighted the 'sharp and responsive' gameplay. The outlet Insider Gaming called it 'the best campaign ever made,' and Eurogamer Germany 'a true blockbuster action movie,' despite a 'weak plot'.

Series context and release details

The Call of Duty franchise has been split for more than 15 years into two sub-series released in alternation: Modern Warfare depicts contemporary conflicts inspired by international tensions, while Black Ops takes place in an alternate reality where the Cold War never ended. Modern Warfare 4 was developed by the American studio Infinity Ward, which was behind the original 2003 series and the 2019 reboot of the sub-series. It must turn things around after Modern Warfare 3 (2023) by Sledgehammer Games, which was poorly received by audiences and critics, and last year's Black Ops 7, which lost in sales to its main competitor, Battlefield 6. Unlike its predecessor, Modern Warfare 4 will not be available at launch in Microsoft's Game Pass subscription. At the same time, for the first time in 16 years, the series will release on a Nintendo console — the more powerful Switch 2.