When news leaked in late February of a possible Modern Warfare 2 remaster, I don’t think anyone was really surprised. With the success of Modern Warfare in 2019, it only made sense for Activision-Blizzard to seize the opportunity and capitalize on the success of remastering their older titles. Although it only holds the 6^th spot of the top selling games in the franchise, Modern Warfare 2 has always been at the top of the charts when it comes to fan votes and gaming outlets; the community loves it. Now that it’s here, it seems odd not to mention why the original game became infamous outside of the gaming community, the level “No Russian”. When the game originally launched, it was a time when video games were being blamed for violence and aggression in younger people, and the most controversial or violent games were being targeted. Today though, that argument is essentially invalid. Although the level may make some uneasy (there’s always the option to skip it), the story-telling element it brings into the campaign seems justified, just as it did in the original.

Graphics

This is probably the section most people are going to be looking at when it comes to a remastered, campaign-only game, so let’s get into it. The game looks great. From the world, to the weapons and the characters, the visual improvements are drastic. Gone are the days of flat textures and blocky models. The campaign doesn’t look like they took the old one and re-skinned it either, it looks reconstructed from the ground up; it looks like a modern Call of Duty title. Even the environment has gotten an overhaul, with little details scattered throughout every level. Old TVs that fizzle and explode, digital screens that crack and glitch, vending machines that power down, little things to make the world more alive. The one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb to me was some of the facial animations. I understand that it’s a big game with numerous characters, but even on Sergeant Foley at the very beginning of the game, nothing he says seems to match up at all with his facial movements. It slightly removes you from the experience of the game. Now I’ve gone over some of the original game’s animations and they don’t appear to be any different. I at least would have liked an improvement.  

Sound

Aside from the music and the dialogue which are all much improved from the original game providing a great atmosphere not present in the original, the guns in Modern Warfare 2 Remastered have been drastically changed. Each weapon has unique firing and reload sounds, and seem much more impactful than their predecessors, where the guns seemed dry and a bit boring. These new ones feel a lot more powerful and give you so much more satisfaction when firing them.

Gameplay

Having played a lot of Modern Warfare 2019 recently, it’s difficult not to compare this new remaster to its predecessor. Modern Warfare 2 feels very similar (of course, it’s a Call of Duty game), but falls just short of feeling as good as Modern Warfare. Something about the feel of the guns just isn’t as smooth. Usually games like this have a multiplayer mode or other variant for players to further experiment with the game’s mechanics; obviously this isn’t the case. Although it should be noted that some MW2 content is coming to MW multiplayer. I played through the campaign on the hardened difficulty (one down from the most difficult, realistic) and found, for the most part, enemies weren’t too much trouble. There were three levels in particular, “Takedown”, “The Hornet’s Nest”, and a small section of “Whiskey Hotel” where there is a distinct lack of cover or the map layout is confusing, and peeking out to try and get a view of the enemy will get you downed or killed almost immediately. There is a chance that I’m just not that good at the game, but it was frustrating at times. Some mechanics, however, that aren’t in Modern Warfare shine in this remaster. One in particular that brings a new element to the gameplay: breaching. I can’t tell you how fun it is to blast through a door in slow-mo and crank out headshots on unsuspecting bad guys before they even know what hit them while saving hostages from the explosive barrels they’re tied to; it’s fantastic. There are about five or six of these breaches in the campaign with a different room layout and entry points and every time it felt fresh. There are also pieces of intel (like every Call of Duty game) scattered around each level, waiting to be discovered. I think I found two during my play through of the entire campaign (there are 45 total), and couldn’t be bothered to actively search for them. The game also brings back a fun mission after the campaign called “Museum”. Here you can look at live dioramas of missions throughout the campaign, with the actual characters taking part in the museum displays. In two of the three rooms, there are middle components with shelves of guns, rockets, and ammo for you to take. There is also a button at each kiosk that says “Don’t touch this button”.  Of course you hit it and suddenly all of the exhibits turn to you and open fire and chaos ensues. It’s a fun and challenging mode that pits you against all the allies and villains from the campaign. Definitely a fun ride at the end of a decently long campaign.