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Modern Warfare 4's Early Campaign Impressions Are Surprisingly Good

Modern Warfare 4's 16-mission campaign is now playable for digital pre-order buyers, with critics praising its new squad and varied combat ahead of October 23.

Modern Warfare 4's Early Campaign Impressions Are Surprisingly Good

Modern Warfare 4's campaign is giving Call of Duty fans a reason to pay attention before multiplayer takes over. Early assessments from PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, and Destructoid are broadly positive, with praise for the new soldiers, elaborate action sequences, and mission variety.

Windows Central's early-access guide dates campaign early access to October 16 for digital pre-orders of the Standard or Vault editions. The campaign contains 16 missions, according to IGN. Windows Central's October 9 report places DMZ early access on October 20 and the full game's launch on October 23.

The New Squad Is Making an Impression

The campaign follows Private Park Hyun Jun and his squad during the invasion of South Korea. In PC Gamer's account, the squad's story runs parallel to John Price's separate adventures. The fresh faces appear to be doing much of the heavy lifting in the early reception.

PC Gamer's Morgan Park describes his most enjoyable Call of Duty campaign in years, crediting the less elite soldiers and their more relatable perspective. He puts the campaign at roughly six hours. GameSpot's S.E. Doster reports finishing in about eight hours. Treat those as individual playthroughs, rather than a fixed completion time for everyone.

Destructoid's Scott Duwe likewise praises the return to large battles and a squad caught up in events beyond its control. He recalls the criticism Black Ops 7 attracted for its ridiculousness and describes Modern Warfare 4 as a return to a strong Call of Duty narrative.

The appeal, judging by those accounts, is straightforward: a campaign can feel more involving when its soldiers seem vulnerable enough for the fighting to matter.

Variety Helps, but the Restrictions Still Show

Duwe highlights a mix of battlefield combat, stealth, vehicle chases, and a nightclub shootout. He also singles out an open-world mission that overcame his skepticism about the series' previous experiments with that format. He recommends exploring the map, completing optional objectives, and upgrading weapons and gear. His impressions suggest the improvement comes from execution as much as novelty.

The praise comes with meaningful reservations. GamesRadar+'s Jake Tucker enjoys the spectacle and performances, but criticizes the lack of freedom in parts of the campaign. He describes a sequence that kills the player for straying too far from the squad leader, an especially frustrating restriction after the freedom of the mission called Stranded.

Opinion on Price's story is divided. PC Gamer finds it disconnected and less interesting than the new squad's missions, and GamesRadar+ lists Price's storyline among its weaknesses. GameSpot's Doster, however, was more emotionally invested in the Task Force 141 storyline than the South Korean squad's missions. The emerging picture is encouraging, with some familiar weaknesses still attached. Strong action does not automatically make every narrative thread equally compelling.

Campaign Scores and Full-Game Verdicts Are Different

GameSpot's Doster awards the campaign 7/10, praising how the two stories intertwine and the satisfying conclusion while criticizing the brief final boss fights and lack of new ideas. IGN's Simon Cardy offers an unscored campaign review in progress, with reviews of DMZ and multiplayer still to follow.

PC Gamer explains its own timing: reviewer Morgan Park already played campaign, multiplayer, and DMZ at a three-day review event in Los Angeles, but is withholding a score until after launch to assess the game against the public. Destructoid also says its full scored review will follow the next week.

GameSpot and Destructoid disclose that Activision provided travel and lodging for their review-event attendance.

For readers deciding how much weight to give these impressions, the distinction between a campaign assessment and a full-game verdict matters. The campaign has earned attention on its own merits. Whether the entire package deserves the same enthusiasm remains a separate judgment, particularly for anyone buying primarily for multiplayer or DMZ.

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