Modern Warfare 4 corrects a decade of wrongs with 'masterpiece' campaign

After years of being stuck in sludge when it comes to the campaigns, Call of Duty is being hailed akin to its heyday, as Modern Warfare 4 has corrected a decade of wrongdoings.

Call of Duty is in a very weird place. Once the most-anticipated 'X' on the gaming calendar for your run-and-gun gamers, the series fatigue is at an all-time high, and that wasn't helped by some lacklustre instalments in the last three years. This year, the release window is being dominated by hype for GTA 6 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and the marketing has simply failed to make a dent in the

In fact, it was summed up perfectly by popular streamer Jack "Courage" Dunlop: "I genuinely had no clue the new Call of Duty was releasing this week. Meanwhile, a decade ago it was the biggest day of my year," he said on X

So if the pre-release excitement isn't peak, it makes it imperative that the gameplay is top-notch.

And that's what the Modern Warfare 4 campaign has finally done right.

Modern Warfare 4 hailed as the best Call of Duty in a decade

Earlier this week, Activision hinted at Modern Warfare 4 being the last instalment in the sub-series, with the next wave of games being a change of direction.

Talk about going out with a bang.

I only managed to squeeze in two missions on its early release night, but I wasn't the only one blown away by the initial sequences

With dark undertones running throughout the missions, the high-stakes action has reached a peak for the series, and it stands tall against the greatest titles that the series has ever made.

Taking to X, an abundance of Call of Duty community mainstays have echoed that sentiment.

"The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Campaign really is the perfect campaign for those who have wanted a realism, mil-sim experience again in Call of Duty," said CharlieIntel journalist Keshav Bhat. "Easily the best campaign and most intense since Modern Warfare 2019."

ModernWarzone creator Doug Dagnabbit agreed, adding, "Modern Warfare 4 is up there with MW2 2009 in terms of campaign quality. It’s easily one of the best Call of Duty campaigns of the modern era, if not THE best. Solid 9.5/10 from me."

The only flaw so far is one 'open-world' mission, which continues to miss the mark with its Warzone-like approach.

But that minor blip isn't taking much away from the overall positive reception.

"For a CoD campaign I would call it a masterpiece," another fan wrote.

Even if you're not a Call of Duty fanatic, this marks a huge milestone for Activision and Microsoft.

Setting the bar so high can only be a huge positive for the likes of the Halo franchise, which is set to now be launching a Master Chief origin story reboot under Activision control, as Xbox is using the team as a bar for top-notch storytelling and seamless gameplay mechanics.