Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 campaign recap: a work of empty genius

I have a feeling it’s in the spirit of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 To try to be as dispassionate and schematic as possible, let me first outline that there are 17 missions in this campaign. Six of them are good. Five of them are what we could colloquially call “OK”. Three of them are bad. And the other three are some of the worst the makers of Call of Duty, be it Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games or others, have ever come up with.

Based on this forensic assessment, Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is basically demonstrably OK in terms of neutrality. If this were a set of Bluetooth headphones or an 18-button mouse and I were advising you on how to invest in a new and diverse electronic device, Modern Warfare 2 would be a “buy” recommendation. I could hereby confirm that the product you get from Activision is worth the exchange of your $70 – or $23 if you roughly cut Modern Warfare in thirds and consider the campaign just its own product.

Image: Infinity Ward/Activision

But writing in the spirit of Modern Warfare 2 – as in, schematic, dispassionate, edgeless – also means writing about it in such a way as to bluff or bluff during many of the above 17 missions (at a rate of about $4.11 per mission, again without multiplayer); Playing with developer Infinity Ward Ball who repeatedly tries to convince you that his gameplay is harmless, compelling and not trying to do anything provocative. it swears

Its authors employ a technique in which each playable character, protagonist, or in-game comrade repeatedly congratulates, praises, and encourages one another:

“How do we get him back?”

“By breaking in.”

“And that’s why I love the Ghost.”

Or in the same cutscene about 60 seconds later:

“While Rudy finds Al, I’ll use the cameras to help Ghost place attacks in key areas.”

“Diversions and sabotage. Nice, Johnny.”

“I learned from the best, LT”

“Alejandro is the toughest guy in the regiment,” says Rudy during the rescue. And then Price shows up and blows up a helicopter so Rudy, Alejandro, Ghost and Soap can escape. “Who is he?” asks Alejandro. “A friend,” Ghost replies. “I already like him,” says Alejandro. Combined with the slogan from all the teaser trailers – “The ultimate weapon is team” – it’s like all the characters in it Modern Warfare 2 belong to a kind of emotional self-help group of modern man, where at the beginning of each meeting they vow to keep boosting each other’s self-confidence and to give positive affirmations. It seems silly and superficial and just like bad writing, but I think it’s actually a really clever technique in the name of Infinity Ward: the glowing light of the protagonists’ teamwork and camaraderie becomes that kind of beard or smoke grenade that hides it applies, or at least mitigates and makes seem acceptable and innocent, anything the game does that could be considered controversial or distasteful.

Image: Infinity Ward/Activision

See, Modern Warfare 2 is going to be doing all this sporty friendly teamwork stuff but then it’s going to go the other way and sort of step on these pedals that are labeled with meaning and theme and image and all of a sudden you’re crossing the Trump wall over the one at the US -Mexican border or as an actual missile that kills Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. But then there is a reversal or refraction where everything you think you just experienced that may have been meaningful or thematic or related to some real-world image is transfigured and subverted. It’s kinda awesome.

The general, although he is Iranian and has white hair, a white beard and a rocket attack, is not Soleimani but “Ghorbrani”. The mission where you just bombed a Mexican town that each of the characters notice was full of civilians is followed by a mission where if you accidentally shoot a civilian, you’ll be disciplined by the game and forced to restart will. The best example of that kind of narrative sleight of hand, that fantastic trick of making you think you’ve seen something and then insisting you haven’t without somehow removing the thing you thought you had seen comes in the border mission mentioned above. As a Mexican special forces unit, you enter the United States where people yell at you to leave their yard and eventually you are arrested by the American police who then realize who you are and let you go saying, “It it’s hard to separate you from the cartel.” And for a moment it’s as if Modern Warfare 2

I mean, do you see the genius in this? do you see how Modern Warfare 2 says something and then doesn’t say it, but in a way that you might not notice, but also leaves the writers, developers, and entity of Call of Duty an escape route from accusations of intent or subjective belief? Set in a postmodern world of alternate facts and the end of the metanarrative where it seems like there are no answers, truth or anything to fully believe or trust and everything is always changing I guess Modern Warfare 2 is a kind of masterpiece. And now I imagine they use that quote “Modern Warfare 2 is kind of a masterpiece” later on on a poster or something, and everything around it doesn’t matter.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was released on October 28th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. The game has been reviewed on PS4. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find For more information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy, click here.