Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is a 2022 first-person shooter game created by Infinity Ward and released by Activision. It is the nineteenth game in the Call of Duty series and follows the 2019 reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series. The game was released on October 28, 2022, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
The game is set in a realistic, modern world. Its story follows a group of special forces from different countries, called Task Force 141, and a Mexican unit named Los Vaqueros. They work together to stop a terrorist leader named Hassan Zyani, who has stolen American-made missiles that can launch bombs. The game uses a new version of the IW engine, which helps improve graphics and gameplay. It also allows players to play together across different devices and includes a free-to-play battle royale mode called Warzone 2.0. This mode is part of a new launcher called Call of Duty HQ, which combines the game and Warzone 2.0 into one platform.
Critics generally gave the game positive reviews. It was a major success, selling many copies and earning over US$1 billion in revenue, which set new records for the series. A sequel, titled Modern Warfare III, was released on November 10, 2023.
Gameplay
Modern Warfare II includes several design changes and improvements to the game's gameplay. These changes include better AI in the campaign and co-op modes, improved water physics, swimming mechanics, and an updated vehicle system. New movement features include diving to a prone position, mantling over objects, and hanging from ledges. Slide canceling has been removed. Vehicle gameplay now allows players to lean out of windows, climb onto vehicle roofs, and hijack vehicles. The leveling and Gunsmith system has been updated, letting players choose specific attachments to match their playstyle. Players can also select different weapon paths to avoid repetition, and a firing range is available for practice.
The multiplayer section includes new game modes: Knockout, where two teams try to capture a package with limited lives; and Prisoner Rescue, where one team tries to rescue a hostage while the other team builds defenses to stop them. Third-person game modes were added in September 2022. The cooperative Special Ops mode returns with two-player missions. A new 3-player activity called "Raids" was added to Special Ops after the game launched. Additional multiplayer modes, such as the 2v2 "Gunfight" mode, were released in later updates.
Like the previous game, Modern Warfare II includes a free-to-play battle royale mode called Warzone 2.0, which was added with the first seasonal update on November 16. Warzone 2.0 includes the traditional battle royale mode and a new extraction mode called DMZ, where teams of three players compete against each other and AI enemies while completing missions and collecting loot. Later, the name Warzone 2.0 was shortened to Warzone during Season 4.
Synopsis
Modern Warfare II is a follow-up to the 2019 version of the game. The story takes place in late 2022 and includes both real and made-up locations, such as the fictional Mexican city of Las Almas, Amsterdam, the Mexico–United States border, the Gulf of Mexico, Chicago, Urzikstan, and the new United Republic of Adal (URA). The capital of URA, Al Mazrah, is a major setting in the game’s story, multiplayer modes, and the free-to-play Warzone 2.0. The game’s plot includes events based on real-life situations, such as the assassination of Qasem Soleimani.
The main characters are Task Force 141, a team of soldiers from different countries led by SAS Captain John Price (Barry Sloane). The team includes Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick (Elliot Knight), Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley (Samuel Roukin), and Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish (Neil Ellice). They are supported by allies such as CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell (Rya Kihlstedt), Russian private military leader "Nikolai" (Stefan Kapičić), Urzikstan Liberation Force Commander Farah Karim (Claudia Doumit), Mexican Special Forces Colonel Alejandro Vargas (Alain Mesa), and Sergeant Major Rodolfo Parra (Bayardo De Murguia). Other allies include Shadow Company PMC Commander Phillip Graves (Warren Kole) and United States Army General Herschel Shepherd (Glenn Morshower). The main enemy is Major Hassan Zyani (Ibrahim Renno), an Iranian Quds Force officer who works with the Urzik terrorist group Al-Qatala and the Mexican Las Almas Cartel. The cartel is led by Valeria Garza (María Elisa Camargo), who uses the alias "El Sin Nombre" (The Nameless One).
After the main story, the Special Ops and Multiplayer content follows events that occur later. It involves soldiers from two private military groups, SpecGru and KorTac Group, working under Laswell. Their missions take place near Al Mazrah, then expand to the Asia-Pacific island of Ashika and the city of Vondel, Netherlands. Characters in these stories include Daniel "Ronin" Shinoda (Thomas Bromhead), a former soldier; Alex Keller (Chad Michael Collins), a former CIA officer who joined Farah’s army; Hadir Karim (Aidan Bristow), Farah’s brother who became an Al-Qatala commander; Nikto (Gideon Emery), a former Russian spy; Vladimir Makarov (Julian Kostov), a Russian Ultranationalist leader; and Andrei Nolan (Nikolai Nikolaeff) and Ivan Alexxeve (Lev Gorn), Konni Group operatives working for Makarov.
In July 2022, Task Force 141, led by General Herschel Shepherd, launches a precise missile attack to kill Iranian General Ghorbrani during an arms deal in Al Mazrah. In October, Ghorbrani’s lieutenant, Hassan Zyani, begins funding terrorist activities and seeks revenge against the United States. Shepherd and Laswell send Task Force 141 members Ghost and Soap to capture Hassan in Al Mazrah. They fail to catch him but find him in possession of an American ballistic missile.
Laswell and Price, along with Gaz, follow one of Hassan’s messengers to Amsterdam, learning that Hassan has allies in the Las Almas Cartel and is in Mexico. A failed attempt to capture him at the Mexico–US border leads to a joint operation with Mexican forces, Shadow Company, and Task Force 141. Although they capture Hassan, they must release him to avoid political issues with Iran.
Information stolen from Hassan’s phone leads Price, Laswell, and Gaz to Cape Vilan, where they discover Russian-made GPS devices for missiles. When Laswell is captured by Al-Qatala, Price and Gaz rescue her in Urzikstan with help from Nikolai and Farah. Meanwhile, Alejandro and Soap capture Valeria Garza, who reveals a missile is on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig. Task Force 141, Shadow Company, and Alejandro raid the rig to stop the missile launch. However, Shadow Company betrays Alejandro and Task Force 141 under Shepherd’s orders. Graves captures Alejandro and takes control of Los Vaqueros’ base, while Ghost and Soap escape into Las Almas. Shadow Company attacks the city to find Hassan. With help from Rodolfo, Laswell, Price, and Gaz, Ghost and Soap free Alejandro and Los Vaqueros.
Laswell reveals that Shepherd and Graves were involved in a secret mission in August to move missiles to help American allies in the Middle East. The mission was attacked by the Russian PMC Konni Group, who stole the missiles. Shepherd covered up the failure. Price confronts Shepherd, promising to pursue him after the current threat is dealt with. Task Force 141 and Los Vaqueros reclaim their base and kill Graves, learning from Valeria that Hassan is in Chicago. They stop Hassan’s missile plan, detonating it before it reaches the Pentagon. Ghost kills Hassan by shooting him in the head as he tries to push Soap from a building. Afterward, Shepherd goes into hiding, and Laswell informs 141 of Vladimir Makarov, the new leader of the Russian Ultranationalists responsible for Shepherd’s failed mission.
In a mid-credits scene, a Russian terrorist group prepares to hijack a plane. They receive a message from Makarov telling them not to speak Russian during the hijacking.
After Hassan’s death, Laswell oversees new secret operations in Al Mazrah to stop Al-Qatala’s activities.
In December 2022, Laswell sends Price, Gaz, and Farah to investigate the disappearance of former CIA officer Alex Keller. Keller was sent with fighters
Development
Modern Warfare II was created by Infinity Ward along with a new version of the battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone, later named Warzone 2.0. Both games use a new version of the IW engine, which is managed through a shared launcher called Call of Duty HQ, later renamed the Call of Duty launcher. The updated engine includes features such as a system that makes materials look more realistic, a new method for loading game environments, a system for rendering special effects, lighting effects that simulate the atmosphere, 4K HDR visuals, and a new way to process graphics data. The game uses Activision's special anti-cheating system called Ricochet Anti-Cheat from the start.
Sarah Schachner composed the music for Modern Warfare II. She previously created music for the 2019 reboot of Call of Duty and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016). In November 2022, Schachner left the project, stating that differences in how she and Infinity Ward's audio director worked together led to her decision. In a message she posted on Twitter, she said the official soundtrack release did not match her artistic goals for mixing and mastering the music.
The soundtrack for Modern Warfare II was released online on November 25, 2022. It includes 23 tracks from the game's original score and two songs by artists Edison Flood, Destani Wolf, and Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga. Additional music was created for the game's post-launch seasons, with contributions from composers such as Jason Graves (Warzone), Steve Ouimette (season 2), Nainita Desai (season 3), Toby Chu (season 4), Photek (season 5), Finneas O'Connell and David Marinelli (Gunfight mode's theme), and Tyler Bates (season 6).
In February 2022, Bloomberg News reporter Jason Schreier reported that Activision planned to change Call of Duty's usual release schedule for the first time in nearly 20 years. The publisher delayed Treyarch's next mainline Call of Duty game from a 2023 release to 2024 after the poor sales of Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021). To fill the gap, Activision planned to release an expansion pack for Modern Warfare II in late 2023, with Sledgehammer Games leading the project. The expansion was intended to include a new single-player story set in Mexico and new multiplayer content. However, by Summer 2022, Activision changed plans, turning the project into a full sequel to Modern Warfare II, titled Modern Warfare III.
In July 2023, after leaks from an early version of Modern Warfare III, Activision confirmed that all operators, weapons, and cosmetic items from Modern Warfare II would be usable in Modern Warfare III.
Marketing
In February 2022, Activision announced a sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare would be released later that year, along with a new version of Call of Duty: Warzone. The game’s title, Modern Warfare II, was revealed in April 2022. A month later, Activision released another teaser showing the character designs of the main characters and a release date of October 28, 2022. On June 2, 2022, a live-action trailer was released. On the same day, Steam responded to a tweet from the official Call of Duty Twitter account, suggesting the game would be available on Microsoft Windows via the Steam platform, as well as Battle.net. The first trailer for the game was released on June 8, showing gameplay from the campaign mode and confirming the game’s release on Steam, Battle.net, and the eighth and ninth generation consoles. Modern Warfare II is the first Call of Duty title since 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII to be released on the Steam platform. In September 2022, Activision held the "Call of Duty Next" showcase, where they revealed a multiplayer gameplay trailer, details about the Spec Ops mode, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, and the DMZ extraction game mode.
The multiplayer beta for Modern Warfare II began for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 players on September 16 and for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S players on September 22. The beta ended on September 26 at 3 p.m. EDT across all platforms before the game launched on October 28, 2022. Pre-orders for all editions granted "early" access to the open multiplayer beta. The Vault Edition included access to a "Red Team 141" operator pack, a "FJX Cinder Weapon Vault" pack, and the Battle Pass for a Season of Modern Warfare II (depending on the purchase date), along with double XP tokens. It also included the "Ghost Legacy Pack," which provided 12 Ghost operator skins and 10 weapon blueprints for the M4A1 assault rifle for use in Modern Warfare (2019) and Call of Duty: Warzone. Unlike previous cross-gen titles, Modern Warfare II does not offer standard editions for eighth-generation consoles. Instead, it provides a cross-gen edition for all platforms and the Vault Edition. Pre-ordering also granted early access to the campaign mode one week earlier, on October 20.
Like previous titles, Modern Warfare II uses the battle pass system and an in-game store where players can buy cosmetic bundles using "COD Points," a microtransaction currency. Free content, such as new maps and weapons, is regularly provided through "Season" updates. Activision also partners with celebrities and media franchises to include licensed characters in the multiplayer mode and Warzone 2.0. Notable additions to the playable roster include football players Paul Pogba, Neymar, and Lionel Messi; Shredder from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise; basketball player Kevin Durant; online streamers Nickmercs and TimTheTatman; characters Starlight, Homelander, and Black Noir from Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys TV series; rappers Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, and 21 Savage; Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise; Spawn from the comic book series; Skeletor from the Masters of the Universe franchise; Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise; Alucard from the Hellsing manga and anime series; Lilith and Inarius from Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo IV; and the Sardaukar from the films Dune and Dune: Part Two. Additional themed cosmetic items were also released based on the Crash Bandicoot and Doom franchises.
Reception
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II received "generally favorable" reviews, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.
GameSpot described the campaign as "a collection of the best elements from previous games in the series," noting that players had more freedom in completing missions and that the game featured a wide range of settings. However, GameSpot criticized the multiplayer mode, stating that the process for customizing weapons was too complicated and that the mode itself "felt lacking."
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II became the fastest-selling Call of Duty game ever. The game earned US$800 million in revenue during its first three days of release and reached US$1 billion in sales within 10 days. These numbers broke the previous records held by 2011's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and 2012's Black Ops II. It was the top-selling game in the United States in 2022.
In the United Kingdom, Modern Warfare II was the best-selling game during its first week of release. In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II sold 24,371 physical copies during its release week, making it the second best-selling game in stores that week. The PlayStation 5 version sold 17,710 physical copies in Japan during the same week, placing it at number six on the sales chart that includes all types of game formats.
- Alain Mesa as Alejandro Vargas
- Geoff Smith, Joe Cecot, Mitch Sanborne
- Stephen Miller, Stuart Provine, Tim Stasica, Dave Rowe, Dave Natale
(Alejandro Vargas) – written by Jeffrey Negus, Brian Bloom, and Justin Harris; portrayed by Alain Mesa