As someone who has followed Call of Duty for a long time, I never imagined a day would come when this game would receive this level of spotlight in South Korea. Unlike in North America, where virtually any title becomes a box-office hit, in Korea it has long been established as a "game played only by those who already play it." The news that North America's flagship AAA title would set its stage in South Korea quickly became a hot topic not only among Korean gamers but also non-gamers.
While I felt great about this atmosphere, I was also worried on the other hand. With so many people experiencing Call of Duty for the first time, I wondered if it would leave them with a good first impression. Although setting the game in South Korea was heavily emphasized, I worried that if its realization was on par with 2014's Advanced Warfare, it might leave players disappointed instead.
And those worries completely vanished the moment I entered the first mission, "Chaos."
※ Before we begin, this review does not contain spoilers regarding character fate or plot twists.
Campaign Satisfying Environmental Recreation, Bold and Refreshing Pacing
The moment I stepped off the transport vehicle after the opening cutscene—filled with banter about the Wu-Tang Clan—I doubted my own ears. For a second, I wondered if I had left YouTube or a music streaming app playing and forgotten about it. Changmo's "Band," which played the instant the soldiers disembarked, instantly engraved in my mind that where I stood as Private First Class Park Hyeon-jun was right in the heart of South Korea.
The actions and dialogue along the way were authentic South Korea itself. Senior soldiers thrilled at the thought of hazing the new recruit, seniors and juniors debating whether to return to civilian life or re-enlist long-term, a USFK soldier who learned Korean wrong and shouted "My d*** is really big," and a South Korean soldier bitterly replying to the USFK soldier's question "Does your country not really like soldiers?" with "Military service is mandatory here, so there's nothing special about it"—I gasped in admiration the entire time, hardly able to fathom how dedicated Infinity Ward was.
I can also confidently speak on the quality of the convenience store they enter. Among games developed by overseas studios, no game has ever recreated a South Korean convenience store to this extent. The convenience store clerk complaining about ventilation as sweaty soldiers walk in, along with the food items and various over-the-counter medicines stocked inside, maximized immersion and kept my eyes glued to the screen just by stepping into a convenience store.
The moment we stepped outside after chatting at the convenience store, admiration gave way to genuine dread. Dozens of artillery shells raining from the sky simultaneously with a blackout, North Korean troops parachuting into a baseball stadium—without exaggeration, it depicted what could happen right before our eyes if security awareness slacks. Among those who completed mandatory military service in South Korea, there is likely no one who could watch this scene without becoming fully immersed. On the other hand, I came to understand to some extent why American gamers get so thrilled and immersed when playing Call of Duty campaigns. Supported by high-quality environmental recreation, cold sweat dripped down despite it being just a game.
This high level of detail is not limited to South Korea. In portraying the primary enemy, North Korea, the game presents chilling depictions. Watching Ri Ju-yeong and North Korean soldiers tearing up a village to hunt for reactionary elements kindles pity for North Korean residents and hostility toward the military regime. Watching a young child recite everything they know with bright eyes during Ri Ju-yeong's interrogation simply out of awe at seeing an idol, or seeing a husband and wife trembling while holding each other, brings up a surge of mixed emotions.
It was also impressive how the game implemented every optional action a player might attempt while playing as a North Korean soldier. It accounts for whether you choose to be a cruel North Korean soldier following Ri Ju-yeong, or stand on the opposing side out of a shred of conscience. Representative choices include how to conduct interrogations of North Korean civilians, whether to spare or kill villagers, and whether to click your tongue and shoot at the portrait of the Chairman who inherited this absurd system.
Words are not enough to praise the environmental authenticity of South and North Korea in this installment. Seeing an overseas game developer dedicate this level of care makes me feel how much times have changed, and I want to applaud them. If I dissect every detail of the environments, this review will never end, so I'll wrap up the praise here and move on to Task Force 141's perspective and scale.
As seen in the images above, while South and North Korea depicted full-scale war, Task Force 141 was used to weave in other elements. The 141 sections cover guerrilla warfare, chases, and special forces building breaches, executing these scenarios remarkably well. Ever since the Modern Warfare series transitioned into its reboot, the biggest complaint was that engagements focused primarily on small-scale firefights, losing much of the large-scale warfare experience provided by the original Modern Warfare. However, Modern Warfare 4 successfully kills two birds with one stone.
Although the "Open Combat Missions" that some players voiced concerns about made a return, this time clear signs of developer attention were evident, making them decently enjoyable without disrupting the flow. The problem with Open Combat Missions up to now was that players were dumped into battlefields resembling an empty shell, completing objectives quietly alongside dry radio chatter from squadmates before it simply ended, offering little replay value.
In contrast, the Open Combat Missions introduced this time feature plenty of elements to explore, a reasonable density of enemies placed throughout the map, and fast travel available alongside a "Knife" option for players who dislike this mission style—demonstrating significant consideration for replayability and fatigue reduction.
In my case, to progress quickly through missions, I chose fast travel with the knife three times in a row, which caused no major issues for progression. Conversely, an acquaintance took their time roaming the open area to secure various items and commented that it was quite fun. This iteration of Open Combat Missions successfully accommodates both those who prefer a linear style like previous Call of Duty games and those who want to explore the map and engage in combat more freely.
With high-fidelity representations of South and North Korea, true Open Combat Missions, and the return of the scale fans wanted, the Modern Warfare reboot series campaign—which had been floundering—has finally returned. However, even this Modern Warfare 4 campaign is not perfect.
First, after watching the ending, the wishy-washy pacing of previous installments feels all the more frustrating. Despite being capable of such bold and refreshing storytelling, Call of Duty had previously held back its characters under the pretext of continuing campaign narratives alongside live-service seasons. It was a continuous string of frustrations—characters who clearly died in the campaign coming back to life, or plot armors preventing key kills due to a lack of a decisive blow. As a result, Modern Warfare 4 unintentionally ended up with an oversaturated character lineup on both allied and enemy sides.
In this situation, the appearance of "Archer," played by Mads Mikkelsen, feels all the more disappointing. To be honest, Archer clearly missed his entrance timing and felt more like a character brought in to clear out overcrowded character arcs. While the actor commands the scene with his signature middle-aged charisma and aura, his narrative backing within the Modern Warfare reboot universe is inevitably thin. I felt strongly that the weak narrative was being pushed through by relying on the actor's presence.
Since Modern Warfare 4 inherits the narrative developments of Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III rather than standing alone, I felt on the other hand that such choices were inevitable to clean up the plot. In conclusion, relief pitcher Archer fulfilled his role sufficiently, and he undoubtedly became a guiding light for a Modern Warfare 4 campaign that could have drifted into darkness.
Additionally, the armor plate system—criticized since the previous installment for disrupting the flow of combat—still remains, and because Korean-American actors dubbed the South and North Korean military dialogue, native speakers might find the delivery somewhat awkward, which also comes across as a drawback.
Nevertheless, the Modern Warfare 4 campaign is quite impressive when viewed as a standalone title. The storytelling and scale that fans desired, along with bold and refreshing pacing, naturally draw out the exclamation: "Now this is Call of Duty!" However, the problem lies in the contradiction within that statement itself. Ultimately, Modern Warfare 4 is part of a series. What a serial entry must accomplish is building rapport with each character as the narrative continues, sharing their joys and sorrows, and touching emotional chords when someone arrives or departs. In that regard, lingering disappointments are unavoidable.
Though there are minor drawbacks, they do not serve as major dealbreakers. The Modern Warfare 4 campaign fully earns its title as the "finale of the series," offering ample satisfaction to players who were previously disappointed by Call of Duty campaigns.
Multiplayer Baffling and Riddled with Questions
As satisfying as the campaign was, expectations for another key mode—Multiplayer—naturally rose. Sharp feedback was exchanged both domestically and internationally during the prior beta, and because the developer subsequently adopted a communicative stance hinting at changes, I expected the full game to offer a fairly smooth experience.
To cut to the chase, the gunplay feels incredibly punchy and fun, just as experienced in the campaign. The issue lies in everything else. Almost nothing changed from the feedback players raised after the beta. Let us go through it one by one. First, SRs and DMRs remain dominant. Although weapon balance in the Call of Duty series has rarely been pristine, SRs and DMRs in this title boast exceptionally high damage and mobility. In contrast, ARs and SMGs are relatively weak in damage (put another way, the TTK for SMGs and ARs is long). Consequently, in actual combat scenarios, even when opening fire from an advantageous angle with an AR or SMG, players frequently get counter-killed and stack up deaths.
Furthermore, run-and-gun play itself has been nerfed, forcing a more static playstyle. This was executed through both environmental and systemic changes. Environmentally, most maps feature numerous sightlines and angles, making run-and-gun difficult to execute casually. Systemically, base movement speed was nerfed, and tactical sprinting was locked behind a Perk called "Sprint Instinct," creating a setup where players who want to run-and-gun must lock in that Perk. The problem is that Perk Slot 2 contains other excellent options besides Sprint Instinct—such as Hardline or Fast Hands, which add fun to run-and-gun gameplay—making it feel deeply disappointing to be forced into picking Sprint Instinct just to gain sprinting capability.
In addition, controller aim assist issues raised since the beta remain unaddressed, leaving one wondering what the developers were doing in the time remaining after the beta. Because it is a live-service game, these aspects can easily be adjusted via patches, but conversely, strong doubts remain as to why they chose to invite bitter criticism yet again.
DMZ A Plot Twist for DMZ, Back Stronger with Lessons Learned from 4 Years Ago
Finally, contrary to concerns, the DMZ mode provides a pleasant plot twist, arriving properly prepared for players to enjoy smoothly at launch. Given the state of the DMZ mode showcased four years ago in Modern Warfare II (2022), anxious player reactions were only natural.
The biggest flaw of the previous DMZ was that despite purporting to be an extraction shooter, it lacked motivation to explore the field and offered no joy in progression. Since entering the battlefield simply to extract with high-value items was all there was, compelling engagement was severely lacking. It felt strongly as though developers thought: since there were few competitors in the extraction shooter genre, let's recycle existing assets to grab a piece of that pie. In short, it lacked genuine care.
However, this iteration of DMZ clearly shows effort toward understanding the extraction shooter genre and making it fun within Call of Duty's combat style. Features like free loadouts well reflect the recent extraction shooter trend of lowering entry barriers, while base and operator upgrades construct solid progression fun as players engage with DMZ's narrative. With the addition of the upgrade system, motivation for looting naturally became much stronger than before.
Combat and exploration have also made quantum leaps compared to the previous DMZ. Previously, enemy variety was extremely limited, but in this DMZ, drones appear alongside robotic dogs executing self-destruct or shock attacks, as well as mini-bosses called "Lieutenants" featuring various concepts. Since this genre generally operates as PvPvE, AI diversity and roles are remarkably important. In that regard, Modern Warfare 4's DMZ overcame its past weaknesses and succeeded in creating a battlefield that players want to explore in many ways. The initial groundwork is well laid, making it a mode whose future updates are worth anticipating.
Campaign and DMZ Revamped, Multiplayer Stumbles Flaws Exist, but Well Worth Playing
In conclusion, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 stumbled out of the gate with disappointing design directions in Multiplayer, it delivered solid experiences in Campaign and DMZ by largely restoring what fans had been asking for.
A silver lining is that, unlike the unalterable Campaign, Multiplayer resides in the realm of live service and retains room for improvement through future patches. If one can look past those flaws, traversing South Korea and the globe as Private First Class Park Hyeon-jun and Captain Price in the campaign guarantees players a vivid combat experience unlike anything before.
Marking a relatively fresh start among recent Call of Duty titles, one can hope 'Modern Warfare 4' promptly addresses its shortcomings and climbs even higher to the top.
- Full-scale warfare returns alongside Park Hyeon-jun
- Bold and refreshing narrative pacing
- Mission quality and environmental detail beyond expectations
- DMZ returns stronger, learning from previous shortcomings
- Baffling and questionable Multiplayer design direction
- Armor plate system still disrupts combat flow at times
- Limitations from cleaning up narrative loose ends inherited from predecessors
- Dubbing leaves room for improvement in both Korean and English
Review Platform: PC (Release Version)
