Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is Milking Nostalgia

February 19, 2020 at 4:09am
By Jason Stettner

We’ve now received two free seasons of content for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and they definitely seem to be milking the nostalgia on this one. That’s honestly not too bad however, as I do have many fond memories of the original trilogy. At the same time, it would be nice if they branched out further creating brand new experiences within the game.

They are doing this, to a degree. I will definitely admit that this is all fresh on the brand new engine that’s providing gorgeous visuals and stunning moments across the multiplayer, as well as the campaign. Still, it’s definitely leaning heavily on what came before for inspiration across all aspects of the experience.

I totally get that Modern Warfare is the current time era for the game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get fresh maps outside of what came before. I really liked what they did with the Atlas Superstore, it’s entirely new and weird which was a fun aspect of multiplayer maps in the series for so long when it came to DLC. They always tried some strange things, and now it’s somewhat more of what has come before.

I mean, this recent season brought back Ghost as a character, the map Rust and expanded another map titled Boneyard outwards. Rust is definitely a great map in here, and I appreciate it more now I suppose. The Zhokov Boneyard is also greatly expanded upon as basically an entirely new map, but still at the center is the layout we know probably quite well. Compare this to the first season which brought back Crash, Vacant and Shipment as a bundle.

There’s a lot of what we know, it would be nice to see some more new maps or at least a better ratio of original levels to those brought back for another round. I know folks love seeing their favorites come back, but we also need to see new things and to get an idea of what the team can do in regards to be being creative with original maps to build the series forward. Everything feels new, but at the same time it feels held back by the well earned love of the previous titles.

I definitely want to be clear that I have no issues with older maps coming back, especially since there’s a lot of effort to get them recreated here. They feel brand new, still I want to see just what else can be done with this engine. They had some neat new maps that felt less like actual multiplayer levels and more like real locations carved out for war. That’s being somewhat forgotten as we dive into a sea of the past. Whatever the case, it’s free and helps expand what I feel is a stellar entry in the series so I won’t complain too much. I’m very much looking forward to what is coming in the future.

I’m guessing there will be a third season, but prior to that likely the whole rumored battle royale Warzone mode which is apparently a bigger drop of nostalgia with a pile of older maps thrown together. That should be interesting, and it’s best to remind ourselves at times that we do need to see new things. I know everyone is probably screaming for Terminal, Pipeline and a long list of other ones that I won’t go on listing as you get the picture from those two.

I of course have a list that I’d like to see return in this one, but that shouldn’t hold back the developers from possibly providing us with the next Crash map. That of course being something entirely new and different, in case that wasn’t clear. Read our review of the game below, or check out the franchise hub for additional coverage of the series.

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