15 years later Modern Warfare 2 is still the biggest Call Of Duty has ever been

Adam StarkeyPublished Nov 8, 2024, 2:30pm|Updated Nov 8, 2024, 2:31pm

On the 15th day of Modern Warfare 2, GameCentral looks backmost astatine the bequest of 1 of the biggest sequels ever made. 

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard whitethorn person fixed the institution escaped rein implicit respective large gaming franchises, but nary of them are arsenic prized arsenic Call Of Duty. There’s a crushed the institution has introduced pricier Game Pass tiers anterior to the merchandise of Black Ops 6, and fixed it peculiar billing successful livestreams, it’s 1 of the biggest money-makers successful the full industry. 

While Call Of Duty has been fashionable since its inception successful 2003, it hasn’t ever been a juggernaut. The large game-changer was 2007’s Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which swapped the emblematic Second World War mounting for modern enactment with a topical bite. The alteration successful benignant catapulted Call Of Duty into the large leagues, selling implicit 15 cardinal copies. 

If Modern Warfare represents the turning constituent for Call Of Duty successful design, the occurrence of its sequel cemented its presumption arsenic the biggest archetypal idiosyncratic shooter successful the world. Beyond the crippled itself, the heightened anticipation for Modern Warfare 2 became a taste lawsuit which made the franchise a household name.

Modern Warfare 2’s large controversy

Much similar Grand Theft Auto, Call Of Duty’s introduction into the mainstream was greatly helped by controversy. Following the eerie atomic weaponry series successful Modern Warfare, the sequel tapped into prescient fears done its present infamous No Russian mission, wherever players presume the relation of an undercover CIA cause who participates successful a Russian violent onslaught astatine an airport. 

It was wide criticised astatine the clip for being successful mediocre taste, and playing it contiguous 15 years later, it stands retired adjacent much truthful arsenic an immature, crass mode to make attention.

The level invites players to sprout civilians alongside the Russian terrorists (who are hiding their identities to pin it connected America, hence the acquisition to talk ‘no Russian’). You tin take not to sprout the civilians if you wish, and enactment arsenic a passive perceiver to the mindless slaughter, but it feels similar a cop-out excuse for what could person easy been a non-interactive chopped scene.

While ending connected a beardown note, with a climactic weapon brawl successful the desert, Modern Warfare 2’s run is mostly acold little memorable than its predecessor – which packed successful classics similar the Ukraine-set sniper cognition All Ghillied Up and Death From Above wherever you eerily rainfall decease connected enemies done the achromatic and achromatic lens of a AC-130 gunship.

Modern Warfare is memorable due to the fact that there’s a chilling borderline to its realism, whereas the sequel blows retired its enactment blockbuster tendencies successful a clumsier fashion.

Modern Warfare 2: a multiplayer revolution

If the run was somewhat underwhelming, Modern Warfare 2 represents a cardinal displacement successful precedence towards its multiplayer modes. The sequel is known for galore beloved maps, from the level slides of Terminal; Favela, which was cropped up successful respective Call Of Duty games since; and the adjacent quarters chaos of Rust. The second is an improvement of Shipment from the archetypal Modern Warfare, but it is acold much memorable successful plan – particularly if you’re partial to knife-only matches successful split-screen mode. 

An underrated facet of Modern Warfare 2 is the Spec Ops mode – the game’s co-op mode, from a clip erstwhile lone Treyarch-developed games had Zombies. Here you could squad up with others to tackle circumstantial missions against waves of enemies. At the higher difficulties, it was amazingly challenging and often required a level of coordination unseen successful the accepted multiplayer experience. This mode was archetypal introduced here, and portion it appeared successful Modern Warfare 3, it was mostly neglected until the 2019 reboot.

What’s striking astir playing Modern Warfare 2 contiguous is however modern the gameplay inactive feels. Call Of Duty has made insignificant adjustments to the look since, adding omnimovement mechanics successful Black Ops 6, but this is inactive the aforesaid highly polished template we’ve been playing crossed each 15 (yes, really) mainline games released wrong the past 15 years.

Call Of Duty might’ve fallen into a originative redundancy successful the past decennary oregon so, but there’s a crushed these aforesaid fundamentals person continued to consistently merchantability millions of copies each twelvemonth – and wherefore nary archetypal idiosyncratic shooter since has travel adjacent to threatening its position. 

Call Of Duty hangs implicit the games manufacture contiguous similar a reliably entertaining sitcom you can’t flight from, which, acknowledgment to its accordant success, has mislaid immoderate tendency to reinvent itself. In hindsight, Modern Warfare 2 marks the series’ taste peak, the sophomore medium which isn’t rather arsenic revered but is applicable due to the fact that of however its monumental occurrence (22.7 cardinal copies sold arsenic of 2013, and 1 of the best-selling games successful the UK ever) shaped the franchise’s future. 

It remains to beryllium seen whether Call Of Duty volition ever beryllium knocked from its perch (the early income of Black Ops 6 suggest not) but arsenic it stands, it’s improbable Call Of Duty volition ever seizure the taste zeitgeist successful rather the aforesaid mode again, arsenic Modern Warfare 2.

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