The Modern Warfare series is Call of Duty’s poster child. It's what sprung the franchise into global dominance and made it the most recognizable name in the industry. What separates Modern Warfare games from other first-person shooter (FPS) games is the campaign. The story modes, while not long or expansive, are a half a dozen hours of adrenaline, thrill, and pure entertainment.
2019’s Modern Warfare was a return to form for the franchise after the missteps of the last few games in the series, especially when looking at the single-player content. And 2022's MW2 was equally well-received. These two re-imaginings feature strong campaigns right up there with the best in the series, but which is the best?
5 Legacy
The first thing to consider for both of these games is legacy. Both titles act as re-imaginings and retellings of an already established universe to a new generation. To make matters harder, most players of the original titles grew up with those games and have fond nostalgic memories attached. Pleasing those fans is a tall order. Fortunately, both remakes live up to their predecessors in this regard.
Whilst 2022’s MW2 isn’t as perfect as the original, it was never going to be. The original MW2 was the perfect storm of everything that makes an FPS campaign good. 2019’s Modern Warfare, however, does out-perform its predecessor in terms of combat, scope, and story.
4 Combat
The most important thing for any Call of Duty campaign is the combat. It doesn’t matter how good everything else is — the gunplay needs to be good. Fortunately, both games excel at this. 2019’s Modern Warfare is essentially perfect. All the core gameplay cues are done exceptionally well. The game captures the weight of the guns and the shooting mechanics perfectly. It explores different aspects of the series’ gameplay, including solid stealth missions, sniper rifle action, and the tried-and-true run and gun roots of every Call of Duty game.
2022’s MW2 takes this established formula and adds a few tweaks that fit the sequel's tone better. Everything feels more realistic and grounded, especially player movements like crouching, crawling, and sprinting. The only drawback is the new armor break mechanic. While making the game more challenging, it also makes it slightly tedious, which is never a good feeling to have.
All in all, both games have exceptional gameplay mechanics, but the 2019 Modern Warfare slightly edges out its successor in this regard. Both games feature exciting missions in new and unique settings, and they utilize modern technology to give players a theatrical experience.
3 Visuals
Both of these games are stunning, but Modern Warfare 2 looks particularly incredible. It's arguably the best-looking FPS game ever. The graphics are amazing, the character models are realistic without being jarring, and the environments are exceptionally crafted.
There are some stellar shots throughout the game, particularly in some of the nighttime missions. While the game does have some bugs and floating NPCs, the game is gorgeous regardless. 2019’s Modern Warfare was also a visual spectacle, but this takes it up a notch.
2 The Characters and Voice-Acting
The 2019 game features series mainstay Captain Price, but the roster is bolstered with the inclusions of Gaz, Alex, and rebel leader Farah Karim. Each of these characters is fleshed out well, and more importantly, they all act realistically. There’s no Hollywood sensationalism. The ambivalent Nikolai is also a welcome addition. While the villains are a little one-note, they don’t revert to stereotypes, and thus fit in well with the rest of the cast.
The characters and voice acting in MW2 is easily its strongest point. Price, Gaz and even Farah return, but where the game shines is the chemistry between the two leads, Soap and Ghost. Not only are the voice acting performances stellar, but both characters are written exceptionally well and their banter feels natural and wholesome. The most notable villain has to be Valeria Garza, another stellar inclusion.
While both of these games are at their strongest in terms of voice acting, MW2 wins solely on the basis of the character interactions and the new conversational pop-ups.
1 The Campaign
2022's MW2 features a behemoth of a campaign by modern standards. It stands at about ten hours and its action-packed. The missions are varied and engaging, the characters are likable, and the story is solid. But it tries to do too much. The original MW2 already featured twists and turns, and this game adds on to it. It isn’t executed as well as the developers would have hoped.
The core campaign is outstanding, but it falls just short of being perfect. The game tries to make players think about the moral ramifications of the protagonist’s actions, but it doesn’t go all in. It’s a half-hearted effort. MW2 tries way too much, which means everything isn’t as polished as it could be. The driving mission is fun, but the mechanics are sloppy. The armor break, while necessary in Warzone just feels extra here. Again, this is still a very good campaign, but 2019’s Modern Warfare is special.
2019’s Modern Warfare’s campaign is the series at its best. It is arguably the best campaign Activision has ever published. The story is gritty, grounded, and at times, horrifying. The game starts of with a massive bang — literally — and it doesn’t slow down at all. While the campaign is notably shorter than MW2’s, it doesn’t leave players feeling like they’ve missed out on anything. The game portrays the harsh realities of war, showing terrorism at its worst, and it doesn’t hold back any punches. It's grounded and gray, but it doesn’t leave players pondering for too long. It instantly rushes into the next action sequence.
Ultimately, both games feature fantastic campaigns, easily some of the best in modern FPS games, but the 2019 Modern Warfare just edges it out by being a more polished and finished product.