Call of Duty has been a market leader in the gaming market for two decades now, with the first coming in 2003 and since there’s been a release every year. There is not a release in history that hasn’t come under some form of scrutiny, whether it’s’ the storyline, maps, game-modes or style of game.

Since the announcement of the next instalment of the game coming at the back-end of 2023, the critics are much more quiet than in previous years and this could be a telling sign of the impending success of the reboot of a fan favourite title. While many are excited to have a host of weapons, maps and campaign storylines and characters, there are doubters that believe the upcoming release is an easy cop-out for Activision.

The gaming environment has completely transformed over the last few decades, with the options and trends for games flying in various directions. Thanks to many big name streamers, such as Roshtein, ClassyBeef, and VonDice, online casino games are now played as much as, if not more, than recreational games on consoles – whether it be poker, slots or other table games. In such diverse gaming ecosystem, therefore, developers need to come up with something new to grasp players’ attention.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Breaking Records in the Worst Way

The current Call of Duty title has been a hot topic in the gaming community since its’ release and much of the feedback and opinions of the game have been largely negative. After the decision to change the movement speeds and remove many fan-favourite features in the game, many of the games biggest streamers quickly began announcing their exit from playing the game until these features return and revert back towards the first version of Warzone.

In May of 2023, the game’s player-count reached all-time lows as shown on the steam information for the game. This is a very big concern for the title as those aforementioned features have begun slowly rolling back, in the form of increased movement speed, sliding speed and sprint-to-fire speeds as well as rolling out deployable buy stations and re-adding loadouts.

The most concerning factor for the game and its biggest challenge currently is the fact that the Warzone Ranked mode was released on the 10th of May of 2023 and this unfortunately did not convince gamers to return to the title. Many streamers continue to avoid the game and have switched over to titles such as Apex Legends, Battlefield 2042, which has received many good reviews of late, Fortnite and also Rainbow Six Siege.

Is there any way back for MW2?

Upon the initial release, the majority of the critique was based around the developers not listening to their loyal community of players after the Beta of the game was released. The criticism was widespread and the initial warnings from the community were not acknowledged. Infinity Ward outright stated they would make the changes to appease the community but these promises were either false, or they’re moving too slowly to win back the fans.

Looking forwards to Season 4

There are, however, some promising signs for the title, with big changes and introductions in the game with season 4. A new map, Vondel Park, based in the city of Amsterdam as seen in the campaign mode is set to enter the rotation and if the campaign map is anything to go by, the map will be incredibly beautiful, reminiscent of the real city of Amsterdam with picturesque canals, bridges, churches and more.

Season 4 will also bring a host of ‘new’ weapons into the game, namely the Razorback, the ISO 45, more commonly known as the UMP 45 as seen in the old-school Modern Warfare 2 and other titles. Weapon loadout boxes will also make a return which is a huge addition. Some claim that the developers are just slowly rolling back to be as close to the first Warzone as possible to appease the fans and hopefully claw back players.

Can Modern Warfare 3 revive a fallen soldier?

There’s no doubt that Call of Duty has provided some of the finest first-person shooters throughout time, with so many memories of iconic features, maps, weapons, operators and characters. There’s no doubt that the developers are always trying to relate to those core memories and this is evident in the games they are releasing.

After Infinity Ward remade Call of Duty 4, its popularity was through the roof and immediately calls were being made to remake the voted-best title of Modern Warfare 2 and what followed are the current modern warfare titles of 2019, 2 and now 3. With so many iconic features in the current title, it’s expected we’ll see a host of features from the original Modern Warfare 3 along with the more important feat of integrating a gripping storyline with the original characters and plots, only more elaborate.

While the prospect of the title is exciting, how can the community expect much different from Modern Warfare 2? Without a doubt, the critics will be loud and we’re sure to find out upon the release of the Beta and pre-sale just how sceptical fans are.