No-one plays Call of Duty for the story, right? Well, that’s true, with Modern Warfare 4’s campaign set to deliver the bombastic set pieces, globe-trotting action, and gritty character drama the genre has become known for. However, there is plenty more going on behind the explosions, with a contemporary setting hosting first-time soldiers, plus renewed authenticity and the return of Captain Price. Here are fifteen things you need to know about Modern Warfare 4’s single-player campaign before buying.
Begins During a Full-Scale Invasion of South Korea
Modern Warfare 4’s campaign begins with North Korea launching a full-scale invasion of the South, throwing the Korean Peninsula into a devastating conflict which threatens to destabilise the wider world. While the real-life North and South Korea are technically still at war, CoD’s upcoming campaign imagines what would happen if their decades-long standoff eroded. Of course, the fantastical scale and spectacle shown in story trailers is more befitting of a first person shooter game than reality, but the premise is compelling enough to set a story in motion.
You Play as a South Korean Soldier
Along for the ride is South Korean soldier Private Park who, together with his immediate squad, is experiencing front-line conflict for the first time. So, whereas the genre tends to favour grizzled, experienced commandos as the subjects for its stories, Modern Warfare 4’s upcoming campaign looks to bring a more grounded, gritty, and – perhaps – realistic portrayal of war, experienced through the eyes of someone who’s likely more terrified than Price ever was.
Captain Price is Back
And yes, alongside Private Park, Captain John Price is back in the fray too, although he’s now operating as a rogue outlaw and fugitive following the events of Modern Warfare III. See, after his assassination of General Shepherd and the disbanding of Task Force 141, Price is now pursuing a personal vendetta against Vladimir Makarov, with his former teammates instructed to track him down. Price’s story runs alongside the Korean conflict, with his mission eventually intersecting with the geopolitical catastrophe sweeping the globe as well as the hunt for a mysterious superweapon.
The Campaign Has a Much Larger Cast
Modern Warfare 4’s campaign is set to feature a wide ensemble of new and returning characters. Alongside Private Park Hyun Jun are his squad mates Jae, Cho, and Moon. Assisting on the Korean front line are US marines Dunn and West, while Price’s story sees the return of Farah Karim and CIA station chief Kate Laswell, with both harbouring an uneasy alliance with the rogue operative. Commander Phillip Graves is confirmed, as is returning antagonist Makarov. And, an as-yet unnamed character played by Mads Mikkelsen makes a swift appearance in the campaign’s story trailer – could he be the intended recipient of the unknown superweapon?
The Action Expands Beyond Korea
While amphibious landings and city-wide trench warfare dominate Modern Warfare 4’s early campaign, the action shifts to other parts of the world. From nasty, close-quarter skirmishes on the streets of New York, to tense SAS night raids and high-speed chases across Paris, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s campaign hopes to deliver a thrilling, globetrotting blockbuster, with the latest entry exploring some of its most dangerous territory yet.
Historical Conflicts Used as Inspiration for Campaign’s Battles
Modern Warfare 4’s campaign is drawing inspiration from real-world conflict, presenting contemporary and authentic combat encounters rather than imagined battlefields. American forces, for instance, have been tied to the Korean peninsula for decades, with the developer utilising this alongside the region’s historical tension to ground the campaign’s larger-than-life battles into something recognisable, even if heavily dramatised assaults see infantry, armour, and air support retaking a city.
Night Raids Introduce Stealth
But, not every one of Modern Warfare 4’s missions is about strafing through copious explosions. No, the campaign also features stealth-focused SAS night raids, giving you an opportunity to approach combat via subterfuge rather than charging headfirst. The emphasis is very much on tactical, low-light, high-stakes infiltration, tying mission design to Price’s movements outside of recognised systems. If nothing else, night raids will provide a welcome contrast away from the campaign’s larger battles, but they could end up being the game’s most memorable activities.
Cinematic Setpieces Are Still Part of the Formula
If there’s one thing you can expect from this genre, though, it is big, bombastic spectacle, with the developer saying Modern Warfare 4 combines the most memorable set piece moments from genre while upping the scale significantly. The developer has also looked for opportunities to ensure the action never strays too close to fantasy, with high-speed chases through accurately recreated Parisian streets, for example, being narrated by a character who can’t quite believe what they’re seeing. In other words: their disbelief humanises the chaos.
Missions Are Designed With Variety
Variety is a major focus throughout Modern Warfare 4’s campaign, with the developer wanting every mission to feel significantly different from other games in the genre. Even individual missions are constantly evolving their pace. This means that you can expect close-quarters combat, large-scale battles, covert operations, and combined arms warfare to sit side-by-side. The goal, it seems, is for the upcoming campaign to feel anything but predictable, with you continually wondering what the next objective will throw at you.
Vehicles Play a Bigger Role in Combat
Certain encounters throughout the campaign are designed around vehicular combat, with amphibious and recon vehicles, for instance, containing entire squads. Furthermore, the game has described distinct roles within these squads, with vehicle commanders, drivers, scouts, and other soldiers who co-ordinate support such as air strikes. Every operative has a job, with the squad’s make up defined by the vehicle they’re operating within.
Your Squadmates Have Genuine Personalities
Something the game wants to imbue into Modern Warfare 4’s campaign is an entire cast who feel like characters rather than generic soldiers. During casting, the studio conducted chemistry tests to make sure each actor could interact with each other naturally. Furthermore, facial, body, and vocal performances have been captured simultaneously, with performers encouraged to stray from the script if it felt organic to do so. The result should give the campaign’s soldiers their own personalities and relationships.
Korea Isn’t Just a Backdrop
And, as a final point on authenticity before we move onto pre-order and platform info, Modern Warfare 4 takes its Korean setting seriously. Developers with Korean backgrounds have helped shape the game through an internal Korean channel, with the studio consulting on everything from road signs to store layouts. Korean dialect coaches ensure characters communicate naturally too, reinforcing the studio’s careful approach to representing Korea, its people, and society at large.
The Campaign is Playable Early With Pre-Orders
Campaign early access is a considerable bonus if you pre-order a digital copy of the game. Both the digital standard edition and premium editions include campaign early access from October 16th, giving you a full seven days to clear the single player story before the full game, and its multiplayer offerings, launch.
Release Date, Platforms, and Price
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23rd, with PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC the supported platforms. The standard edition retails for $69.99, while the upgraded Vault Edition will set you back $99.99.
PC Requirements
The minimum PC requirements include: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i5-8400, 12 GB of RAM, and AMD Radeon RX 470 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / 1060 or Intel Arc A580. Recommended specs include AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7-8700, 16 GB of RAM, and AMD Radeon RX 6700XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 TI or Intel Arc B580. SSD with 70 GB available space is required for both.
