Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered Review – Classic Campaign (PS4)

Which Call of Duty has the best campaign? If you’ve been around since the series really started to get popular, you’ve definitely heard this question before. It’s not an easy answer either as, no matter what naysayers may think, there have been plenty of quality Call of Duty games, but the answer that’s most often been thrown around is Modern Warfare 2. Released at the peak of last generation’s Call of Duty hype, it seemed like the series couldn’t ever really get away from the fantastic highs of snowmobile chases and Burger Town shootouts.

With single-player campaigns taking a bit of a backseat in recent years (we’re looking at you Black Ops 4), this answer has only become harder to shake out. Thanks to Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, we get to see whether the campaign holds up all these years later.

The first thing you’ll notice with Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is its graphics. Although there are some occasional janky animations that don’t quite look right, the team at Beenox has done an amazing job remastering Modern Warfare 2 to the point that it’s only really outdone by some of the more recent titles in the series. Everything has been given a new shine and the end results are genuinely impressive. For those who played the original, it’s worth just getting to see everything all polished up. It can’t be overstated how great this looks.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remastered Review – Nostalgia Night-vision Goggles

The gameplay feel is unchanged from how you remember it, which is good for the purpose of staying true to the original. It would have been cool to make some changes based on more recent titles, but that feels like a bit much for just a remaster. One really cool addition I particularly loved is that you can now examine your weapons by pressing on the D-pad. It’s not a big change but it’s cool nonetheless.

Thankfully, Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is mostly as great as we all remembered. The big action set-pieces are just as exciting as before and the shooting is still fantastic, which is a big achievement when you think how long ago Modern Warfare 2 actually came out. There are some missions that aren’t as fun as the rest (sorry Takedown) but generally, it’s great fun.

Having a remastered version of Modern Warfare 2 means we also get the chance to look back at something that feels like a lifetime ago: No Russian. It’s just as pointless as it was back when the game originally released, feeling more like a marketing ploy than an actual mission. It’s even more apparent in 2020 that getting worked up over this wasn’t worth it.

So, is Modern Warfare 2 the best campaign in the series? Getting the chance to go through the whole thing again has shown that although it’s no longer the best, it’s definitely still one of the best. Last year’s Modern Warfare and the fantastic Black Ops 2 and 3 campaigns are some tough competition after all.

It’s worth mentioning that Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is only the campaign, with no bells and whistles attached. That means no multiplayer, obviously, but it’s a bit surprising to see the Spec Ops missions completely absent. Most of them were just reusing areas from the main campaign anyway, so it’s a bit of shame to see them removed completely.

As was the case originally, Modern Warfare 2 is unfortunately a little bit short on content. The only difference here is that this was originally bolstered with an unforgettable multiplayer experience and some great co-operative modes. Even though the remastered campaign is great and an impressive feat, the asking price of £20 may be a little too much for only five hours of content.

If you’re a big fan of the series or just Modern Warfare 2 specifically, there’s no doubt that this remaster will be an easy purchase. If you’ve not got any nostalgia for the game then the asking price might be a little steep, but this was made with Call of Duty fans in mind. For those fans it should be clear that Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is absolutely worth giving a look.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered review code provided by publisher. Reviewed on PS4. For more information, please read our Review Policy.