Although many Call of Duty fans were excited about the announcement of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and its sci-fi setting, many gamers were perhaps more interested in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare remaster that will ship with the new Call of Duty game this fall.
Because there is no doubt that Modern Warfare is one of the best Call of Duty games to date (and arguably the best), in which developer Infinity Ward made the transition to the modern era of military conflict leaving the World War 2 setting of the previous games behind. The game had a superb single player campaign, and great multiplayer modes that were more than icing on the cake.
But developer Infinity Ward, which is creating this year’s major Call of Duty game, won’t be developing the remaster, rather that task has fallen to veteran outfit Raven Software, as Infinity Ward will be busy working on Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare instead.
Raven does have experience making military-themed games though, as they were behind the Soldier of Fortune games of the early 2000s, which were controversial due to their violent content. But the fact that an independent dev is working on the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare remaster means that Activision is taking the project seriously, and that the remaster won’t just be about putting a fresh coat of paint on the game and offering minor graphics upgrades.
This Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will only feature 10 multiplayer maps though, the ones that Activision has deemed to be the most popular with players (such as the Overgrown map, which is making a return).
So given how much effort Raven Software and Activision will be putting into the remastered edition of Modern Warfare, it is clear that the remaster would be a great standalone game, but the truth is that gamers will only be able to buy it with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare this November, and not separately.
And although this appears to be a good business decision by Activision, as they will be able to charge an extra $20 or so for a special edition of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare with the Modern Warfare remaster bundled in, it is still a disappointment that Call of Duty fans can’t get the remaster alone. And especially those yet to try the Call of Duty franchise might have been tempted to get the Modern Warfare remaster and see what all the fuss was about, getting a full-price game like Infinite Warfare later if they discovered that Call of Duty was their cup of tea.
But still, this bundle will still be a value proposition for many Call of Duty fans, even if it looks like the series is starting to grow weary and tired after so many years (it debuted back in 2003), with Activision needing to release remasters of old games together with the year’s new offering to keep players interested in the franchise. But if both Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and the remastered Modern Warfare game turn out to be great, then it is likely that this could be a year to remember for Call of Duty fans…