Wu-Tang Clan's C.R.E.A.M. is playing as you wander through the streets of Seoul. People are going about their day, the convenience stores are stocked, and the city feels alive. Then North Korean forces attack, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 gets down to business.

It's the start to a campaign that feels authentic in the way that few franchises really manage to pull off. Call of Duty is one of them, when it's on form, and I'm happy to report that Modern Warfare 4 is one of The Good Ones: it looks superb, moves at a relentless pace, and manages to bring years worth of Modern Warfare storytelling to a satisfying conclusion.

Release date: October 23, 2026
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Switch 3, Xbox Series X
Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision

Right now, we're only allowed to give you our thoughts on the game's campaign, and the primary way I'd describe that campaign is that it's confident. This opening level with its everyday Seoul life reminds me of the portrayal of small town America seen in 2009's Modern Warfare 2. There's a real sense of place even if in classic Call of Duty fashion it's still incongruous, letting you stroll around the convenience store swinging haymakers at the crisps as everyone chatters around you.

That confidence extends to its narrative. Somehow, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 manages to take almost a decade of storylines and characters and tie it into a consistent ending to the narrative arc set out in 2019's Modern Warfare – when special forces soldiers are free to draw the line, who's to decide what's right or wrong?

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