Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) Reviews

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) is ranked in the 63rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Nov 2, 2022

I can’t predict if it will outsell Modern Warfare 2019, but it is off to a winning start. For sure, it is running fast out of the gate, and it’s going to get a big boost from the free-to-play Warzone 2 release in 15 days, as Warzone serves as a kind of gateway drug for the full title. I do think this game will have longer staying power with its multiplayer combat, so long as the stats and other new maps arrive in time.

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Unscored
Nov 7, 2022

A more measured approach to movement brings out the best of COD's arcadey shooting, but watch out for unwieldy unlocks and performance issues.

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Nov 4, 2022

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 packs one of the best multiplayer suites in the franchise’s history. That’s no small feat when you consider that this Modern Warfare (2019) sequel is the 19th mainline Call of Duty game. However, a lackluster campaign and bland co-op diminish the overall package.

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Unscored
Oct 26, 2022

A largely excellent COD campaign with a slapdash mixture of the spectacular and the middling, with all the tonal pitfalls you'd expect too.

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Oct 30, 2022

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's campaign is a disappointment and while there's fun to be had in multiplayer, it's missing important features.

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Unscored
Oct 22, 2022

Overall, this campaign brought me back to the beginning. There’s a deja-vu here, with familiar missions and faces, but that takes you off the beaten path into something more awe-inspiring than it’s ever been. I felt completely immersed in the seven or so hours I spent with Ghost, Price, Soap, and the others I grew up with, riveted to the screen, and I kind of want to do it again. Modern Warfare II is not something you’re going to want to put down, and I get the feeling this is just the start of it.

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8 / 10
Nov 4, 2022
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Angry Review - YouTube video thumbnail
Telegraph
Top Critic
Nov 16, 2022

After almost 20 years on the frontline this most enduring of shooter series is still finding new ways to blow up bad guys

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Nov 1, 2022

The Call of Duty franchise needed a buffer between its past and its future, but Infinity Ward may have bitten off more than they could chew. Ultimately, Modern Warfare 2 has extremely promising multiplayer and co-op gameplay that feels good to play on the surface but woefully underbaked due to a lack of features and overall content in general. The campaign shines the brightest for those with a bit of nostalgia for the characters.

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Oct 31, 2022

Setting one's unease at delighting in hi-tech warfare aside, this is a precisely tooled, intensely immersive combat simulator

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8 / 10.0
Dec 1, 2022

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, not to be confused with the sequel to Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare 2 is a great package. The roughly 8-hour campaign throws more twists and turns at the players than a day at an amusement park. It was a joy to not have to clear one corridor of enemies after another for the entirety of its run. Not to mention the stellar graphics on the campaign mode, combine all that with what is arguably the best Call of Duty multiplayer experience we have had in years, and you end up with a recipe for success that Infinity Ward is all too familiar with cooking up.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 16, 2022

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II brings the core of what makes CoD games great and stays true to Infinity Ward's best efforts in the series. It's big step away in a positive direction from last year's Vanguard disaster. I just wish there was a bit more meat to sink my teeth into. The single player campaign makes no attempt at a commentary but will have you running through a series of competent missions and set pieces. Multiplayer is what you would expect from the series, both with competent gunplay as well as a map playlist that will need to expand over time. The new co-op mode seems a better experience with a friend than queuing with a random from the lobby. All in all there is good game on offer that moves slicker and the shine on your assault rifle looks more gorgeous than the series ever has.

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Dexerto
Top Critic
5.5 / 10.0
Nov 3, 2022

Modern Warfare 2 can be exciting when it works. Whilst the campaign’s narrative flaws can’t be fixed, major patchwork is needed to get the multiplayer (the most important aspect) to a good place, and co-op is in desperate need of extra content. Big games just shouldn’t be in this state at launch.

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8.3 / 10.0
Nov 7, 2022

Even without surprising like MW did in 2019, beyond the technical problems of day one and a revisable UI, MWII knows how to entertain and chain to the another-game-and-I-stop loop as only the great CoDs can do.

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GameMAG
Top Critic
6 / 10
Nov 4, 2022

The campaign part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is a mixed bag. On one hand it's easy to see how the team behind the game tried to break new ground with gameplay scenarios, but on the other hand a lot of those ideas feels undercooked.

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6.5 / 10.0
Nov 4, 2022

Despite high production values, Modern Warfare II is a tad underwhelming. A pretty yet predictable campaign, decent multiplayer that is unsure about how it's supposed to play, and the sweet taste of Spec Ops mean this is an uneven, but enjoyable enough package. What's clear is Call of Duty really, really needs a proper break to reset.

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89 / 100
Oct 31, 2022

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will not convince non-believers to jump into Call of Duty. If you’re a fan, you’ll be buying it. If you’re a relapsed fan, you’ll likely come back. And if you hate Call of Duty, you’ll still hate it. It’s a solid effort with a well-designed campaign that feels like you’re playing a summer blockbuster movie. The multiplayer, although severely lacking some key ingredients such as hardcore, the ability to ping, and crossplay issues, is still quite enjoyable. It’s still Call of Duty multiplayer, but it brings enough fresh tweaks to keep us fans happy.

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Wccftech
Top Critic
6.5 / 10.0
Nov 1, 2022

The return of Task Force 141 brings along with it an unusually topical storyline that lacks the signature Blockbuster appeal of your typical Call of Duty campaign and instead feels like a Direct-to-DVD sequel.

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Unscored
Oct 26, 2022

If you're eager to get started with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, then the campaign will serve you well until the multiplayer and online co-op mode unlocks on Friday. With many missions that break away from the status quo, it's not always just about shooting the bad guys. From high-speed car chases and crafting systems to the turrets of an AC-130, Modern Warfare 2 thoroughly entertains when it's offline.

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Jan 13, 2023

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 comes in as the 19th instalment of the series. It’s easily the best-looking Call of Duty game to date, and the graphics shined on my PS5. The campaign mode is a little lacklustre, but there are plenty of multiplayer modes to explore, even if Infinity Ward hasn’t ironed out all the performance issues just yet.

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