The quality of the Call of Duty franchise fluctuates year by year. Some titles release to fan acclaim across the board, whereas others fall flat and are panned right out of the gate. Unfortunately, Call of Duty’s latest; Vanguard, is seen as one of those titles. Once again bringing the franchise back to its World War II roots, the game felt hollow to most and lacked any sense of charm. These days it feels as if Warzone is doing the heavy lifting for the franchise as the main games fail to get anybody excited.
The last Call of Duty that seemed to get fans rallied together was 2019’s reboot of the mega-success Modern Warfare. With the sequel Modern Warfare II on the horizon, there are many reasons why it will be better than the lacklustre Vanguard.
Modern Warfare on a modern engine:
When revealing Modern Warfare II, Activision announced that it and future Call of Duty titles will be built upon a new unified engine. A new engine means that the developers at Infinity Ward have plenty of new tools at their disposal to make Modern Warfare II the best it can be.
New engines go beyond better graphics and lighting. They allow the developers more freedom to implement new features and gameplay elements. The older an engine gets, the more restrictive and messy it often becomes, so Modern Warfare II debuting on a brand-new engine is a great way to shake things up.
A modern setting allows for more creativity:
While there is definitely a place for historical shooters, setting the game in a modern setting allows for both grounded realism and creative ideas. While Call of Duty does like to keep its weapons realistic where it can, there’s a lot of fun you can have with our present-day technology. With all sorts of gadgets that can accessorise your weapons and mix up combat, Infinity Ward are free to implement all sorts of ideas to help keep gameplay fresh. The same goes for the campaign.
In a WWII story, unless you’re brave enough to go down the alternative history path, there’s not a lot of freedom when it comes to telling fresh new tales. When you’re creating stories in the modern day, however, you have near enough complete freedom to make fictional threats, new characters, and bombastic plots that thrill and entertain the player. To be too creative in a historical setting quickly becomes distasteful. However, when you’re playing around with the here and now, your imagination is the limit. This creativity ensures that Modern Warfare II will be better than Vanguard before it.
Characters you know and love:
The huge benefit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has over most other Call of Duty titles is that it has built up iconic and recognisable characters throughout its lifetime. There was a certain charm that the cast of characters brought to the original three games that has been improved in the reboot. Fans care about Modern Warfare’s story, and the same can’t be said of many other Call of Duty games. The majority of players buy these games to play multiplayer, but out of all the games and campaigns, Modern Warfare’s trilogy is the one that’s most loved and remembered. Modern Warfare II will be better than Vanguard because the WWII game just can’t compete with the fan favourite Modern Warfare characters and their passionate personalities.
Massive modern multiplayer:
Modern military techniques, gear, and gizmos make progressing in multiplayer fun. With the creativity that’s allowed due to the modern setting, each new unlock brings exciting toys to explode with. Creative killstreak rewards and powerful guns make multiplayer a bombastic playground that you will want to keep playing. When leveling up rewards you with new toys you’ve never played with before, you’ll never want to stop getting those kills.
Due to the setting, Vanguard’s progression was limited. Most of the unlockable weapons and tools were things that you have likely used time and time again in dozens of other games over the years. Without completely breaking the historical accuracy, the developer’s hands were tied. But this is another boon for the modern setting and another reason why Modern Warfare II will be better than Vanguard.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II launches on October 28th on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Check out the comparison below for the best pre-order prices available.
