For the most part, sports games are the ones that get the new release treatment each and every year. However, Activision also made its incredibly successful Call of Duty franchise part of that group a very long time ago. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will be the 16th game in the CoD series and will mark a return to the games it is best known for.
Modern Warfare's Legacy
Even though this will not be the first Modern Warfare, it is also not a remake or a remaster. This is shocking considering the current state of the entertainment landscape. The 2019 version of Modern Warfare is simply the next chapter in the CoD series but with all of the things that made us fall in love with the MW trilogy - at least we hope it is.
Despite CoD making three MW titles in relatively quick succession (one every two years between 2007 and 2011), it's the middle one none of us could put down: Modern Warfare 2. It's a game that broke ground when it came to online multiplayer.
Modern Warfare 2 Remaster Rumors
Over a year ago, there were rumblings that MW2 was getting a remaster. Those rumblings included some sites jumping the gun and releasing pre-order listings for the game, and Amazon even told people when it would be available. Despite those leaked dates all falling in 2018, here we are in the summer of 2019 without that remaster.
The main reason MW2 is perhaps the title CoD fans are most fond of is its online multiplayer facet. Before the days of battle royale, we would select our class and eagerly wade into battle in Favela, Terminal, and the still-famous Rust. We would rack up killstreaks, earning rewards for doing so, always striving for that 25 killstreak and the elusive Tactical Nuke that came along with it.
However, when the first details of a MW2 were leaked, rumor had it that the game would not include the multiplayer mode that made it famous. Instead, it would just focus around the game's story mode, which was pretty good too if we're honest. We can't imagine the news that the remastered title wouldn't have a multiplayer mode went down too well, though. In fact, that might even be the reason we have heard nothing about the game since.
Why Should We Get A Remaster?
With a brand new MW title being released this October and Activision releasing a fresh CoD title each and every year, you might question why the developer is even considering entering CoD into the remaster business. Well, above all else, money is probably the main reason. If MW2 were to get the remaster treatment, and the game's groundbreaking online multiplayer was included, we would be first in line to grab a copy. We don't know about you, but we'd be excited to be mown down by a whole new generation of no-scoping ten-year-olds.
At this point, only two questions remain. Is this remaster actually in the works, and if so, is it really worth it? MW2 might only be a decade old, but CoD and gaming as a whole has come a long way since then. If the graphics are left untouched, some players might reject it. If they are improved, the game might look so different than its original fans feel alienated. Perhaps Activision realized it was staring down the barrel of a potential lose-lose situation and decided to scrap the idea very early on.
Is The Remaster Happening?
This year will mark ten years since MW2 was first released. There's every chance that the rumored remaster project was simply put on hold so Activision coould announce it on or around the game's tenth anniversary. It's also entirely possible that the rumors were nothing more than rumors and that all the talk was about the new chapter of the MW franchise being released later this year, which was lost in translation as wires became crossed. It's a shame if so because like we said, we were looking forward to being embarrassed by players around the world on MW2 all over again. It has been far too long.