In 2024, it will be five years since I last played a good war action story in a video game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). From my point of view, there hasn’t been another first- or third-person shooter that has delivered a campaign that I’ve been so excited about… and I’m sure it’s going to be a long time until that happens again.
The disaster of Battlefield 2042, which dispensed with the campaign to be better, and the last two stories of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, fair in 2022 and absolutely disastrous in 2023, were the nails that closed the grave in which I buried my hopes of seeing another war campaign that I was passionate about. I’ll tell you what this outburst of nostalgia is about!
War Stories: adversity, sacrifice and hope
A few days ago I chatted with an old friend about how much we enjoyed Battlefield 1 (2016) War Stories. We remember them with great affection and I don’t mind admitting that I shed a few tears of emotion the first time I played. Its trailer still manages to make my hair stand on end and literally make me feel the emotion in my chest.
Its prologue and epilogue, called Storms of Steel and Remember Us respectively, are the perfect beginning and end. The chapters Friends of High Flights and Nothing Is Written have always seemed like something to me, but the remaining three more than offset the balance.
Mud and Blood, Avanti Savoia and The Messenger are truly exciting stories. None of them end well and all are marked by the tragedy of the First World War… but there is always a ray of hope among so much pain. For a lover of war movies, they are very attractive. Also, the Soundtrack has always seemed crazy to me.
Two years later came Battlefield V. It rescued the campaign in the form of War Stories, but this time in World War II. Its epilogue, My Country Needs Me, is great and tries to replicate what Storms of Steel did. I don’t think it equals it, but it’s a good introduction. And I have the same feeling with the rest of the campaign.
The stories of Sin Bandera and Nordlys have never told me anything. They make up the first two chapters of the campaign, so I understand why many people got off the train early. If you haven’t played, hold on. Things improve a lot in chapters three and four, called Tirailleur and The Last Tiger. The first is interesting because it follows African troops in France.
The fourth episode, The Last Tiger, is the hidden gem of the campaign. It puts us in the shoes of a German tank commander who must use his powerful Tiger to cover the German retreat towards Berlin. It is a reflective story because it shows how he begins to realize the lies of the Reich and the absurdity of war. It shows a very different perspective from what we are used to seeing.
Another campaign that I remember very fondly is Call of Duty WWII (2017). I know classic Modern Warfare is on another level, but let me leave them on the sidelines just this once. It is set during World War II and has a very good taste of Saving Private Ryan y Blood Brothers.
Battlefield V It wanted to stand out with alternative stories and it was a good decision in 2/4 chapters, but Call of Duty went classic… and it got it right. This campaign is often underrated, but it is exciting because it takes you through key (and epic) points of the war such as the Normandy Landings (D-Day) and the Battle of the Bulge, among others.
I remember with special horror the chapters called Carnage and Hill 493. They are levels that take place during the German retreat. The fields are full of trenches, explosives, bunkers with enemies armed to the teeth… Advancing on high difficulties can be a nightmare.
Finally, WWII reserves the last chapter, Beyond, as a mission that tries to recreate what it was like for the Allied soldiers to find the Concentration Camps. You have to be dead inside not to feel a knot in your chest during that mission.
I am aware that these three examples are set in the First and Second World Wars, which are themes worn out like the sole of a shoe. Part of me may want the return of these conflicts, but above all I want carefully crafted and exciting war campaigns. Titanfall 2, the Metro trilogy, Wolfenstein, Modern Warfare, Halo, Gears of War and even the hilarious ones Borderlands. Damn, don’t let them be left out Killzone y Fallout!
Maybe I’m becoming an old man clinging to old glories. It saddens me that my only hopes are Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine II and STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl (without disparaging them), because I fear Battlefield is far from recovering its campaigns and I wouldn’t bet a single cent on Call of Duty after what seen in Modern Warfare III (2023). After burning the penultimate cartridge with Cold Warmaybe it’s time to burn the last one: Vanguard. Still, drought is coming.
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