Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, or nothing in Russian - a review

Refreshed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 can now be played by owners of PS4 consoles. We checked whether it was worth buying the Campaign Remastered game, originally released in 2009.

Activision surprised the fans last week, and the reissue of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was available for download just two days after rumors about it . In the game, which is exclusively available until the end of the month only on PlayStation 4 consoles, the graphics has been improved, but the history and mechanics have remained unchanged. The refreshed title from 11 years ago was valued in the PS Store at 99 PLN.

This is not a prohibitive amount, and in addition to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from 2009 for the PlayStation 3 version you have to pay PLN 20 more, but there is a small catch here. As might be expected from the somewhat lengthy title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered has no multi mode. The iconic maps from this edition will only go to the currently rebounding PLN 289 series in the form of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019).

The players are facing a dilemma: is it worth spending a hundred on just a few hours of fun?

Remember that the campaign in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 could be completed in a few hours. In the remaster it has not changed. The game consists of several linear missions played on maps that are in fact corridors with invisible walls, and players are witnessing a Russian offensive against the United States. When asked if it is worth the money the publisher wants, it is difficult to answer clearly.

The very idea of ​​history is obviously a bit pulled out, but if you take the story with a pinch of salt, then the game defends despite the passage of time. If someone did not have the opportunity to play this installment of the CoD series just after the premiere, then there will be no better opportunity to catch up. It's worth remembering that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a direct continuation of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare .

Thus, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is a sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered .

However, I am in a hurry to inform you that knowing the plot of the previous part of the cycle is not required to have fun. The intro of the second installment explains well how the world presented differs from the one in which we live. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered also throws the player immediately into deep water and shows him the conflict from several different perspectives. In the course of the campaign, we assume the role of several soldiers from different units.

Thanks to this, the various missions are very diverse - both in terms of set design and character models, and above all weapons that can be used to eliminate opponents. Once we run under the scorching sun on the roofs of slums, then we run on snowmobiles straight from the mountain peak, after a while to land on the American province and fight for control over a fast-food restaurant.

Unfortunately, due to such jumping around the world, it is difficult to get into the story told by the Infinity Ward studio.

In this case, the procedure of changing the protagonist, unfortunately, distorts the mission. As soon as I began to identify with one of the soldiers, the game changed my perspective and threw me to another region of the world. It is possible that for this reason I was not particularly moved by the infamous No Russian mission, whose name was translated into our language as Nothing in Russian.

Watch out for the spoiler from over a decade ago.

The level at which the player participates in a mission undercover during a terrorist attack, already 11 years ago aroused great emotions. However, I have already become resistant to violence in games, because although I understand why this particular map is controversial, I did not feel any emotions during the game. Sure, shooting civilians wasn't anything pleasant, but ... I didn't really have to do it.

Activision only allows players to watch how the real terrorists massacre you without pulling the trigger.

The hero must start shooting only when the police appear at the airport. Yes, officers, like civilians, are innocent, but ... that's what cover-up work is all about. Movies, series and books are also full of protagonists who do terrible things in a just cause. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered differs from other works only in that the recipient is a participant, not just an observer of events.

Game developers, who certainly wanted to use this mission to make hype before the premiere, are of course aware that players have different levels of sensitivity. For this reason, before starting the game in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, they ask if he is ready to take part in the mission that may cause discomfort, or maybe they would prefer to skip this fragment.

And after spoiler.

No Russian in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is completely negligible.

This mission is indeed a small slice of this short campaign, and also a prelude to the right action. The story unfolds exactly like it did 11 years ago. Gameplay mechanics also remained in place. The shooting model is correct, although I miss several improvements known from the newer versions of the series. The biggest problem for me was ... the red crosshair.

Games in the last decade have accustomed us to the fact that after focusing on the model's characters highlight green allies, and red enemies. In the case of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, we can't count on it. For some weapons, the crosshair is red by default, which is why I shot my allies many times because I instinctively took them for enemies.

Despite this, the game has not grown old and you could even believe that this is a production from this year from some less known studio.

The boosted resolution of textures really gives a lot, but if you look closely at the graphic design, you can immediately see a lot of shortcomings. Character models could be a bit more natural, and the worst, especially when compared to other graphical improvements, are the explosions. Unfortunately, we didn't get completely new animations, and the ones from the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 got ugly old.

The remaster also lacks moments of smoothing the edges, and the fonts on the screen also have slightly too sharp edges. The game, however, does not look bad, and in addition all deficiencies are masked by the fact that, as is usually the case in the series of Call of Duty games, the player stays on the move. There is no time here to analyze the graphic design, since something is constantly exploding, and subsequent scripts do not give a moment of respite.

Remaster CoD: MW2 - hot or not?

After spending a few hours with the game, I am not convinced whether PLN 99 for a slightly graphically tuned title from 11 years ago - and cut to singleplayer only - is an attractive offer. A better idea might be to buy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). It is true that its digital version costs as much as 289 PLN, but in box distribution you can buy this production cheaper, and second-hand - even for half its price in the PS Store. It gives access to both campaigns and multi mode.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is fun once. The gameplay can be slightly longer by collecting trophies, but it doesn't change the fact that the campaign itself only lasts for hours. In addition, with so much linear gameplay, there are not many reasons to go through the same missions again, and hunting for collectibles in the form of intelligence is a bit too little to encourage you to go through the same story again.

However, this does not mean that I advise against buying this completely. If someone already has a campaign that is part of the reboot of the series from last year behind him, and suffers from a single CoD deficiency, then such a person at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered can spend a few pleasant hours. However, if you don't feel the need to play the refreshed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 right away, I would recommend waiting for the promotion.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, or nothing in Russian - a review