Modern Warfare 4’s Multiplayer Is the Best Call of Duty Has Been in 7 Years

After two years of back-to-back Black Ops games, Modern Warfare 4 was always going to feel like a breath of fresh air. Even though the differences between the two series are subtle, the minor tweaks to movement, gunplay, and aesthetic are always noticeable to anyone who plays year in, year out. And I've always been a Modern Warfare kid at heart, from way back in 2007, when I lived and breathed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for a year straight.

The last Call of Duty that truly captivated me was 2019's Modern Warfare. Where the two subsequent Modern Warfare games declined ever so slightly from that peak, Modern Warfare 4 has turned a corner in some aspects. New, innovative movement mechanics enable the most fluid traversal the Call of Duty series has ever seen, including the ability to climb pipes, slide on your back, and jump directionally off ledges.

These movements are often very situational, but even the smoother mantling, which allows you to shoot one-handed while hanging, lends itself to a more polished experience. On the other hand, the gunplay is best-in-class, as always. The weapons in Modern Warfare consistently feel varied, and each one is satisfying to use.

Call of Duty has always excelled when it comes to the shooting mechanics, and even though the war against Battlefield rages on, few would dispute the claim that the Activision-published series trumps EA’s in that aspect. For the first time in a while, we've got multiple new modes, not including DMZ, the game's extraction shooter component. Collateral is inspired by Counter-Strike; it's essentially Search & Destroy (round-based, no respawns, eliminate the enemy team or detonate/defuse the bomb to win), but it works on an economy basis.

You earn cash based on your performance and must buy armor, weapons, and equipment at the start of each round. Call of Duty and Counter-Strike are so far apart in terms of shooters that they're almost different genres entirely, but Search & Destroy is rife with players using Ninja to mask their footsteps and suppressed weapons to stop shots from appearing on the minimap. In other words, it's the sweatiest mode in the series.

Collateral limits how much of this is possible, with only a select few weapons available from the buy screen, making it a more level playing field. Then there's Inflation, which is also themed around cash, albeit in a different format. The more kills you get, the higher the bounty on your head.