Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II – All you need to know about the 2022 version

In the Call of Duty community, especially among series veterans, the release of Modern Warfare II has sparked a lot of enthusiasm. The second installment of the Modern Warfare trilogy, which came out in 2009, left everyone in awe. That year, instead of sleeping for hours, people played Call of Duty online with their friends to try to figure out the best load-outs or the locations for sniper spawn kills, among other things.

But the moment has finally come: Modern Warfare II is back after thirteen years. It is profoundly fresh, different, and quite modern, but it can certainly yet evoke some of the emotions that all the devoted players experienced in the past.

First-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was created by Infinity Ward and released by Activision in October 2022 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It serves as the nineteenth installment in the overall Call of Duty franchise and is a follow-up to the 2019 reboot.

The game takes place in a realistic, contemporary environment, just like its predecessor. The campaign centers on the pursuit of terrorist Hassan Zyani, who is in possession of American-made ballistic missiles, by multinational special operations unit Task Force 141 and Mexican Special Forces unit Los Vaqueros. Modern Warfare II, which uses an updated version of the IW engine, supports cross-platform multiplayer and adds Warzone 2.0, a free-to-play battle royale game that replaces the original Warzone.

Plot

Characters and settings

The campaign of Modern Warfare II, a follow-up to the 2019 reboot game, takes place in late 2022. Task Force 141, a multinational special operations unit led by SAS Captain John Price (Barry Sloane) and made up of Sergeants Kyle “Gaz” Garrick (Elliot Knight), Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley (Samuel Roukin), and Sergeant John “Soap” MacTavish (Neil Ellice), serves as the game’s main protagonists.

Task Force 141 receives assistance from a number of allies throughout the course of the narrative, including CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell (Rya Kihlstedt), Russian private military company leader “Nikolai” (Stefan Kapičić), Urzikstan Liberation Force Commander Farah Karim (Claudia Doumit), Mexican Special Forces Colonel Alejandro Vargas (Alain Mesa) and Sergeant Major Rodolfo “Rudy” P Major Hassan Zyani (Ibrahim Renno), an Iranian Quds Force officer who is linked with the terrorist group Al-Qatala and is funded by the Las Almas Cartel, is the main enemy of Modern Warfare II.

The cartel is run by Sicaria Valeria Garza (Mara Elisa Camargo), who goes by the nickname “El Sin Nombre” (literally, “Him without (a) name / The Nameless”) to conceal her identity.

The game is set in both real and made-up places, including Amsterdam, the Mexico-U.S. border, the Gulf of Mexico, Chicago, Urzikstan, and the new United Republic of Adal (URA), whose capital, Al Mazrah, is a key location in both the campaign and multiplayer modes as well as the new map for the free-to-play Warzone 2.0. Other locations include the fictional Mexican city of Las Almas, the fictional Gulf of Mexico, and Amsterdam. The killing of Qasem Soleimani, for example, served as inspiration for some of the game’s plot.

After the campaign, a cast of international operators working for two main factions – SpecGru and KorTac Group, both of whom are private military firms – take part in the Special Ops and Multiplayer post-launch plot. Both factions launch fresh covert operations near Al Mazrah, which are supervised by Laswell.

In the post-launch story, prominent characters include Daniel “Ronin” Shinoda (Thomas Bromhead), a former Special Forces fighter; Alex Keller (Chad Michael Collins), a former CIA agent who joined Farah’s army; Hadir Karim (Aidan Bristow), Farah’s brother who defected and became an Al-Qatala commander; and Nikto (Gideon Emery), a former FSB deep cover agent.

Campaign

General Shepherd’s Task Force 141 launches targeted attacks against Iranian forces with Russian support in July 2022. During a weapons exchange in Al Mazrah, an American ballistic missile strike kills Iranian General Ghorbrani. A few months later, Quds Force Major Hassan Zyani, his second-in-command, starts supporting terrorism and plots retaliation against the US. Shepherd and CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell become aware of Hassan’s activities and instruct MARSOC Marines under the command of Task Force 141 agents Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley and Sergeant John “Soap” MacTavish to capture Hassan in Al Mazrah. Hassan was in possession of an American ballistic missile, which Ghost and Soap learn after failing to apprehend him in time.

After learning that Hassan has gained protection from and has joined with the Las Almas Cartel and is in Mexico, Laswell and Task Force 141 agents Captain John Price and Sergeant Kyle “Gaz” Garrick chase after one of Hassan’s couriers in Amsterdam. Mexican Special Forces Colonel Alejandro Vargas and Sergeant Major Rodolfo “Rudy” Parra, along with their unit Los Vaqueros, take part in a joint operation with Ghost, Soap, and Shadow Company, an elite secret unit of private military contractors under the direct command of Shepherd and headed by its CEO, Commander Phillip Graves, to capture Hassan after an unsuccessful attempt to apprehend him at the US-Mexico border. Despite being successful, they must release him to avoid political backlash.

Price, Laswell, and Gaz are directed to Cape Vilan, Spain, by data stolen from Hassan’s phone, where they learn that Las Almas has Russian-made GPS missile devices. With the help of their former comrades “Nikolai” and Farah Karim, Price and Gaz locate and rescue Laswell in Urzikstan after she is kidnapped by the terrorist organization Al-Qatala. Alejandro and Soap succeed in capturing El Sin Nombre, the leader of Las Almas, who turns out to be Valeria Garza, a former partner of Vargas. When Valeria discloses where the missiles are, Task Force 141, Shadow Company, and Vargas lead a raid to stop a missile launch. Graves and Shadow Company betray Alejandro and Task Force 141 despite the mission’s success at Shepherd’s behest. While Ghost and Soap flee into Las Almas as Shadow Company massacres its citizens, Graves arrests Alejandro and seizes his base of operations. Alejandro and Los Vaqueros are set free by Ghost and Soap with assistance from Rodolfo, Laswell, Price, and Gaz.

According to Laswell, Shepherd, and Graves were in charge of an unauthorized missile delivery mission in August that was intended to support American friends in the Middle East. Shepherd was forced to conceal the mission’s failure after the truck was ambushed by a Russian Konni PMCs and the three ballistic missiles were taken. Price confronts Shepherd with the information and vows to go after him once the danger has passed. While retaking Los Vaqueros’ base and supposedly killing Graves, Task Force 141 and Los Vaqueros also learn through Valeria that Hassan is in Chicago. The group foils Hassan’s scheme and executes him. Shepherd has since fled, and Laswell informs 141 that Vladimir Makarov, the new commander of the Russian Ultranationalists, is to blame for Shepherd’s failed mission. Price identified Makarov.

A Russian terrorist cell is getting ready to hijack a plane in the middle of the film. Makarov sends them a text message instructing them not to use Russian during the hijacking.

Special Ops

After Hassan’s passing, Laswell begins to direct fresh covert operations in Al Mazrah to further impede Al-Qatala activities.

Laswell assigns Price, Gaz, and Farah the duty of looking into the disappearance of former CIA officer Alex Keller in December 2022. Keller had been ordered by Farah, along with a number of ULF soldiers, to infiltrate a recently found Soviet-era bunker in the Sattiq mountains in Urzikstan. They discover that the bunker has a thermonuclear weapon produced in the Soviet Union and that Al-Qatala forces killed Farah’s fighters. Alex is still alive when the squad digs deeper into the bunker, but the missile warheads have been taken. Hadir, Farah’s brother, has been serving as the organization’s leader, and he left Alex alive to send a message: either join him in his quest or leave. Alex confesses this.

Price, Farah, and Alex chase Hadir by delving deeper into the bunker as Gaz departs the location to alert Laswell of the situation. However, they are forced to stop as Hadir and his men encircle them. Hadir commands his soldiers to imprison the trio, but they manage to escape and continue their quest. After securing the Soviet warhead’s core, Price, Farah, and Alex pursue Hadir and discover him attempting to flee the bunker through an elevator. In order to stop him, the group is forced to damage the elevator’s mechanism. Price, Farah, and Alex approach a mortally wounded Hadir after bringing down the elevator.

Before passing away, Hadir makes one final attempt to convince Farah to use the warhead by stating that Urzikstan is in danger and that “the real Russians” are pursuing them. Then, while Farah, Alex, and the ULF attempt to destroy the warhead, Price and Gaz escape from the bunker via a chopper.

Multiplayer/Warzone

Valeria manages to escape Las Almas’s imprisonment sometime in 2023, and she gathers the Las Almas Cartel to carry out operations in Al Mazrah. Laswell enlists Alejandro to stop the cartel’s schemes and rescue Valeria.

Later that year, a terrorist incident takes place in the Dutch city of Vondel. A mysterious special forces unit known as the Peacekeepers enters the city as its residents are being evacuated, and begins to take control of it. In order to look into the Peacekeepers and seek to set Vondel free, Laswell forms alliances with a number of mercenary groups.

Gameplay

Modern Warfare II makes a number of design tweaks and gameplay adjustments to the franchise, including updated vehicle systems, improved water physics, and enhanced AI systems in the story and co-op modes. Along with the removal of slide canceling, new gameplay elements and mobility strategies include dive to prone, mantle and ledge hang. Leaning out of car windows, climbing up on the roof, and hijacking are all new vehicle gameplay aspects. With the new leveling and gunsmithing systems, players can modify particular attachments to fit their playstyles. In addition, it features a firing range for practice as well as weapon platforms with branching progression to lessen repetition.

New game modes in Modern Warfare II’s multiplayer include Prisoner Rescue, in which an attacking team tries to free a captive while a defending team blocks them by erecting barriers around the hostage, and Knockout, in which two teams compete to seize a package with a limited number of lives. In September 2022, third-person game modes were confirmed. Along with the two-player cooperative Special Ops mode’s return, Raids, a third three-player activity, is scheduled for post-launch release.

Modern Warfare II has a free-to-play battle royale game mode dubbed Warzone 2.0, similar to the first game. Along with the standard battle royale mode, Warzone 2.0 also includes DMZ, a brand-new extraction game mode in which trios of players compete against one another and AI enemies in order to achieve objectives and take loot from the playable map.

Impressions

Modern Warfare II is a very appealing game. Both the 10 maps for the basic modes and the 5 much larger maps reserved for modes like Ground War and Invasion have intricate and varied designs.

There are game modes in Modern Warfare II for every taste: from the traditional modes to the Third Person mode, to the new Prisoner Rescue and Knockout.

On the other hand, Terrestrial War and Invasion can offer a tantalizing taste of the full Warzone 2.0 menu. Both game modes are quite well-balanced throughout the five accessible maps, and they have proven to be very valuable tools for the new weapon and attachment development system. They are also incredibly entertaining and sufficiently chaotic.

The equipment system in Modern Warfare II is perhaps the most revolutionary aspect. In reality, in this chapter, leveling up your character and the weapon of your choice is no longer enough to unlock the attachments you require. Infinity Ward has actually come up with a little more complicated system: in order to use many attachments and specific weapons, it is first necessary to use members of the same “family” of weapons. This forces the player to change up his playstyle by experimenting with all of the weapons that are accessible.

This system differs from weapon to weapon but frequently enables you to gain permanent accessories for various sorts of weaponry, assuring the player the ability to create setups that exactly match each style of play. A novelty that is undoubtedly intriguing and well-articulated when compared to prior Call of Duty games, but which rewards devoted players more than casual players who have less time to spend on the game.

Because of the new perk system, which no longer allows for the immediate effectiveness of the chosen perk, but instead, for the progressive activation over the course of a match, Modern Warfare II’s gunplay is actually slower and based on covers and the players’ own aiming skills. This slower gunplay seeks to strike a balance between too much mobility and the despised camping.

Thus Infinity Ward, despite the fact that the most recent Call of Duty games have been successful in accustoming players to a fast gunplay, has chosen to remove all of those movement dynamics that all pro players and hardcore gamers have been able to master over the past 10 years, like slide cancel, strafe, and bunny hop.

To the satisfaction of those who have always attempted to counter them, perks like Ghost and Cold Blood are no longer available from the beginning of the game, which also alters the dynamics of the more static players.

Infinity Ward has also chosen to keep the 2019 line, eliminating the locations of players who shoot without a silencer from the minimap “to ensure that all players can play safely.” It is certainly a measure intended to draw in new players to Call of Duty, but it makes things so tough for the game’s more devoted players that truly valuable dynamics are eliminated in accordance with new standards.

Conclusions

Modern Warfare II has the potential to be the flawless diamond of the new Call of Duty generation, and Infinity Ward is actively and ruthlessly striving to fix all the issues that frequently make an otherwise fantastic game unpleasant to play, like crashes, stuttering, broken crossplay, and glitches affecting saving equipment and player showcase.

You will discover a variety of weaponry, modes, and maps to suit any player’s preferences – everything a multiplayer game deserving of the term should offer. Overall it is a difficult game that takes time to master, but you will love any part of the path to becoming a pro of this game.