Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s campaign opened on Oct. 16 for digital pre-order customers, and early reactions are positive, with many fans praising the campaign. Some are already comparing it to the original trilogy. That’s an encouraging start, though not an undisputed verdict on the series’ best campaign.
On the Modern Warfare 4 subreddit, Havkas called it the “best campaign since original trilogy,” adding that it “plays like a perfect blend of the modern entries and the original trilogy.” That’s praise for how the new campaign measures up to the classics, rather than a claim that it beats them.
Other campaign discussion reflects a similar view, with fans describing a return to form after some relatively weaker recent Modern Warfare campaigns. Resting-Tiger went further, praising its “MW2 OG levels of storytelling,” favorably comparing it to one of the best Call of Duty campaigns ever.
The story takes the action to South Korea, where Price fights Makarov as a new threat called The Archer escalates and war breaks out between North and South Korea. Polygon describes the campaign as a high-stakes political and military thriller. Some levels are open-ended, teasing the forthcoming DMZ mode.
That reception contrasts with Black Ops 7’s campaign, which Polygon describes as one of the most derided parts of last year’s Call of Duty. Against that backdrop, the praise is less about declaring a new all-time champion and more about players finding a campaign that works for them again.
Critics have offered positive feedback, too. IGN’s review said a “consistently strong set of missions manages to juggle a bloated cast successfully.” The assessment credits the missions while acknowledging a crowded cast. Polygon described the early critical consensus as positive, although it hadn’t published its own review at the time of its report.
Polygon also acknowledged the usual excitement around a new Call of Duty release, but pointed to players being won over during what it characterized as a relative low point for the franchise. Those reactions support the return-to-form view without establishing a series-wide ranking.
For anyone waiting to play, the release is staggered. Digital pre-order customers can access the campaign now and will gain access to the DMZ extraction shooter mode on Oct. 20. The publicized Oct. 23 release date applies to physical copies and the traditional multiplayer modes.
