Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare... 12 Years Later

[Music] I'm already starting to notice my age for a variety of reasons from the Internet to phones and insults but most relevant to this video Call of Duty growing up this world war 2 FPS franchise was just that it was acclaimed polished and very popular within the gaming community yet unlike Grand Theft Auto or Halo it wasn't taking up Times Square or TV spots but since 2007 I've seen Call of Duty mentioned by parents actors musicians comedians Alex Jones and virtually every news network known to man there's an entire generation of players whose memory cannot recall a time where Call of Duty didn't exist at the forefront of gaming and arguably pop culture year after year call of duty 4 modern warfare was the title that catapulted this franchise into the mainstream and no one had any idea that it would least of all the people behind it [Music] [Music] world war 2 has nearly as many media depictions as it had battles there is not enough time on mother earth to consume all the books comics play shows films and games taking place in humanity's greatest conflict but of all those who've worked on these depictions one man is to be argued as the most influential and not just for the reason most are thinking because if you are one of the many who express their exhaustion of World War two games part of your displeasure can be attributed to this man's involvement with EA's Medal of Honor the franchise's current irrelevance may have eroded the history of its initial importance but in the context in 1999 it was an authentic World War two FPS that sold over a million copies on the PlayStation under a major publisher multiple industry innovations stem from this title and of course ultimately gave the platform for the team at 2015 incorporated to make a light assault and iterate that game success under Activision with call of duty but that was only the result not the original idea because when Infinity Ward pitched to Activision it was for a game depicting modern warfare grant Collier Jason West invents the internet doesn't have me pen Zampella might have founded one of the most recognizable studios and franchises in gaming history but they're the opposite of boastful expressing themselves who the games they create rather than telling the world their stories as a result all that's left of Call of Duty 4 is development and its studio are pieces scattered across all variety of articles previews books and most importantly interviews taking place many moons after this game shipped but while the narrative assembled here isn't complete it confirms that Infinity Ward's formation wasn't a middle finger to EA in fact the two parties were colluding at least according to 2015's boss company CEO Tom Kodaka didn't get to enjoy a light assault success because from late December to the game's release on January 20th he received a resignation letter every day until all but five of his staff remained feeling in his own words to Vanity Fair screwed over he returned a favor and sued the trio alleging that Zampella orchestrated a deal with EA through local meetings that covered everything from projects to pensions when asked all Jason west had to say about the situation years later was things happened though it's unlikely such events would have occurred had there not been a serious opportunity at stake and there was a sequel to allied assault Medal of Honor z' dominance and now a claim on a new platform no less would virtually guarantee the newly established Infinity Ward another hit however there was hesitation mostly from their previous collaboration it made sense for EA Los Angeles to oversee the outsource project but while 2015 were more interested in creating the intensity outlet assaults most famous levels achieved the owners want to tradition a lone soldier contributing massively to the war effort so ideas like an opening what no firearms were rejected Infinity Ward were also concerned about their identity EA was notorious for absolving beloved Studios even EA Los Angeles used to DreamWorks interactive and according to Zampella EA were already strong-arming them into toting the flag the mega publisher knew someone was going to buy them out and if anyone deserved to oversee these talented artists why not them ultimately EA's lack of foreplay turned off the developer and allied assault 2 was scrapped things weren't off to a good start for the developer no money no projects a lawsuit from their former bosses and a publisher that'll need a decade to forgive but they've been through hard patches before it's been said by former developers that allied assault only started to come together in the last six months the bond from such a triumph wouldn't be so fragile grant Collier Acting his company president deployed an industry-wide beacon simply stating that the majority of Allied assault staff were ready to work and Activision responded almost immediately Infinity Ward eagerly met with Tony Hawk's publisher to pitch an FPS depicting modern warfare and sadly that's all the information I could find grant Collier only mentions it in an exploit interview from 2007 funny stories that we actually pitched the original Call of Duty to be a modern game not in retrospectives commentaries files or lawsuits does this ever get brought up again in further detail as far as I can tell though I suspect Activision couldn't have taken the pitch very seriously modern military shooters were setting the stage for the future with Counter Strike and Tom Clancy leading the charge but Activision didn't publish tactical shooters which almost all military games were at that time they tasted success in Ravens software's catalog and grey matters Return to Castle Wolfenstein but EA took the world war two sales crown in one year consoles computers and multiplayer Activision's Envy was palpable they wanted their own Medal of Honor so as listed in various articles but most importantly in the 2010 lawsuit with infinities co-founders Activision went to Infinity Ward with the idea of Call of Duty or as it was simply referred internally MOH killer able to reflect upon a light assaults development errors the team knew this was the perfect opportunity to use mistakes of the past to make something great in the and that's what they did Call of Duty might have been another world war 2 game but Infinity Ward's ability overruled any doubt of this being phoned in rapidly outselling Medal of Honor much to Activision's delight as they poured a lot of resources to break in the EA's territory paying hollywood actors and writers buying ad spots on TV which for pc games was almost unheard of as well as pre assigning spark unlimited a console release before Infinity Ward even announced their project journalists noted how Activision said it was launching a new brand not a game or franchise but something may intended to exist for a long time and in various forms that's when Infinity Ward started thinking about modern warfare again even interviews for Call of Duty 1/2 developers mentioned the brand could expand beyond world war ii the co-founders in particular were dead set on moving into the present with Call of Duty 2 starting tense conversations with their hesitant publisher again when suddenly Microsoft interrupted halo 2 is tumultuous development guaranteed the company's biggest franchise wouldn't release a new game in conjunction with their HD console and Billy's big green needed a premier first-person shooter a sequel to dices game of the year would be perfect but that meant revisiting the 1940s the founders resisted for obvious reasons but despite their biases they did see a potential trade-off as making a next-gen game from Microsoft would come with development kits making them one of the first Studios to optimize their games for the future while breaking into the console market something Jason West wanted to do for a while according to Mackie McCandlish Infinity Ward had to choose between a modern warfare PC game or a multi-platform world war 2 game believing there'd be more success investing in consoles as well as advancing the quake 3 engine into their own proprietary software Jason got part of his wish and rapidly expanded from 25 to 75 employees to accommodate the challenges which laid ahead despite world war ii becoming a pejorative by 2005 call of duty to manage to overcome vocal disapproval outselling the previous game on both platforms Infinity Ward proved many things in this one game bringing their unmatched intensity to a new audience while establishing themselves amongst Microsoft's exclusives the humble studio were greatly respected and known just two games in but similar to Bioware when analyzing the Mass Effect series they weren't quite mainstream Call of Duty 2 was a phenomenal game but it wasn't hype Bungie could generate more conversation in one trailer than Infinity Ward could with an entire game and a large part of that stem from this pejorative when we're doing Cod - I thought it was a really solid game all my friends were playing Halo and I couldn't convince them to give cod 2 a try and I was like why I was like boy you're this really cool space man who's shooting stuff it's really hard for me to convince them to be cool with like a wooden gun and like a like a pot on your head I don't want to be a private eating dirt on the beaches of Normandy I want to be a cool guy like a Space Marine or Special Forces so Activision aware of Infinity Ward's desires requested another World War 2 game and they wanted it by the following year it was almost as disappointing as it was impossible the team already tripled its staff for call duty - and we're now being asked to push themselves even harder despite outperforming bigger studios in technology sales and player retention trusting Infinity Ward's ability Activision decided to compromise and assign big red one developer Treyarch a next-gen spin-off for 2006 and Activision were intrigued when Infinity Ward pitched another killer project h/k not that one it stood for Halo killer sadly much like Modern Warfare's earliest concept in 2003 there are no images or design Docs available to the public and Infinity Ward's current developers can't shed light on it what they did say is with two development teams the bulk working on what was then a world war two themed Call of Duty 3 and a smaller group conceptualizing a total sci-fi with aliens hmm the studio wasn't maximizing its the team's previous unity had been shaken up with two games that were opposites in theme and setting but things took a sudden turn when Activision did what seemed impossible they greenlit modern warfare and production positively skyrocketed the HK team would eventually shelve their work to focus on modern warfare themselves putting the entire staff on board with a project they've been wanting to make for years with hundreds of ideas from the cutting room floor edging to be showcased even concepts which sound basic like traveling from one hotspot to another in the same war zone couldn't be achieved in a World War two setting that lacked helicopters and by not basing the game upon a real conflict such as the Gulf War developers weren't constrained to historical events an SAS marine joint operation in Azerbaijan wasn't out of reach and the challenge of development now came from how exactly to focus their creativity development was that of a seesaw at the beginning Infinity Ward didn't want the campaign to mera call duty twos deafening levels steering the game towards subdued surgical operations to the point of it being so boring the team scrapped all but three missions halfway through crew expendable death from above and aftermath the rest of what scene came through a new wave and it wasn't all smooth sailing with real concern that levels were more bombed than Black Hawk Down meanwhile other stages relied on Call of Duty 2's hectic battlefield design even when it wasn't believable there's been two years in the making exaggeration now at one point you probably killed about 200 guys on the deck according to animator mark Grigsby the campaign truly came together just prior to e3 2007 it was such an undertaking Infinity Ward pulled a few members from multiplayer development to ensure its completion though even at this time multiple changes were being made witnessing the e3 builds for myself I'm confident in saying Captain Price isn't actually a marine but simply a placeholder as he also leads SAS missions in the same build but gas was named Griggs mile-high club was a real mission and F&G training was shortened all the witches before we even get to the cut content the impression I have a development is due to the bombastic marine levels coming after scrapping almost everything the Americans originally played a much bigger role in the campaign most notably from there being two playable characters in this faction sergeant Paul Jackson and Michael Carver the latter of whom featured in several completed and cut missions that involved parabolic microphones photographing bodies to identify al-assad moving point-to-point as a sniper in destroying satellite arrays some stages weren't even grey box but others like school were relatively far into development and luckily multiple builds have resurfaced in the last few years and are publicly available to anybody with an Xbox 360 dev kit if you know where to look extremely early versions of al-assad's coup ultimatum and the finale are found but what's more interesting are the cut stages which even include a helicopter gunship during an open-ended level clearing ground forces anti-air and enemy choppers a concept Infinity Ward finally realized in Call of Duty ghosts there existed at least one mission where you played as a member of the Russian loyalists fighting ultra-nationalist civilians were conceived and coded but had too many issues to be resolved in time for release there was a level called immediate action which involved breaching rooms like Modern Warfare 2 to rescue hostages in London's American Embassy sea Knight defend involve protecting wounded Marines and a Blackhawk down scenario likely inspiring the multiplayer map crash as the pre-alpha has that same helicopter speaking of multiplayer it also had plenty of cut content from a dedicated multiplayer team matches were up and running three months into development letting the whole staff regularly play tests a large variety of maps weapons and modes with their release date far from view in early builds characters can be seen using two green perks which in the finished release indicate a class's third ability along with said perks like sonic boom being added to other categories later but the most obvious difference are the kill streaks or lack thereof UAV radar airstrikes and helicopter support used to be pickups available on the map teams fighting them why can only be theorized but considering halos influence and infinity ward's previous dedication to de throne it I presume this was their answer to people wanting pickups to emphasize Mack control but I also assume this would have turned every match into a game of headquarters leading these game changes to evolve into killstreaks and pickups the feature in the old-school modifier instead there were also nighttime versions of maps where presumably night-vision goggles might have been required in certain sectors seems familiar the point of showing all of this cut content isn't that this alone is remarkable almost all games have enough material on the cutting room floor to justify another game what stands out about call duty 4 is the sheer ambition and variety of content which clearly stemmed from Infinity Ward's creative freedom 75 people who'd been locked down by a world war 2 setting finally unleashing what they've been dreaming up for years rather than on the spot in spite of the challenges there were plenty of laughs and friendly competition amongst the staff trying to outshine each other's levels so badly that even their PowerPoint presentations became more polished with sound effects and animations there was real momentum behind the studio and the sheer amount of work in the finished game and left in development is proof of such dedication but from all of this content does come a problem that being how to focus a game which while certainly not lacking ideas needed to pace and portray all of these levels in a cohesive campaign that despite being fictional must echo call of duty status as an authentic and grounded shooter and pressure was reduced when the press gave very positive feedback at e3 2007 people not only responded to the modern setting with open arms but also to the improvements Infinity Ward made to their technology in gameplay but in all this positivity and feeling good that the press enjoyed what was shown Infinity Ward weren't considered a big deal I remember showing up to a single player like launch night or something around the games the GameStop were signing posters British sign we're ready for the hordes of fans to show nobody showed I remember standing with an earshot of two two journalists and one of them said man I feel sorry for Call of Duty was still viewed outside of the mainstream power trip FPS and that's because it was in the campaign and while multiplayer did have the rewarding PvP gameplay that make the series famous it was limited to eight players on Xbox 360 and set in World War two limiting the audience when the multiplayer beta opened a few months after that's when the team noticed something was different the game was picking up more steam than expected now even the public were replicating multiplayer addictions the team suffered internally from months and that feeling only heightened after its release on November the fifth 2007 call of duty 2 is one of my favorite games of all time not just a nostalgia of being one of my first xbox 360 games but because of its intensity and immersion that holds up even World War 2 s gargantuan budget and team couldn't match its sense of suppression and survival however I've never played the game for more than the length of one campaign and that's because whether you're in Stalingrad Tunisia or Berlin you're being pushed to the brink Kolbe de t2 is exhausting to play and that's certainly not enacted to the wards betraying but Call of Duty 1 and allied assault had pacing there were moments of quiet time different combat approaches and vehicle segments to break up the core gameplay of soldier on the battlefield Call of Duty 2 lost something in its pursuit of making almost the whole game an extension of a light assaults d-day and cold ad for not only reincorporate s-- but reinvigorates charming dialogue using food is reminiscent of cod to the extended FNG sequence is much like the original and the hangar reveals a literally and figuratively old face but much like captain prices were new character the tutorials gameplay reveals an evolution - with a simple addition the CQB test a replay will challenge with target goals that saw many customers spend minutes and even hours finding the perfect route and it's easy to see why this format became so popular after work because giving the player complete agency was something a lot of tutorials lacked Cod - very much followed the standard where you're taught how to shoot run and throw grenades in isolation but are then left to use all of these mechanics together on the battlefield effectively new users are still learning how to play but by not ending the slow at the firing range and moving to a training sequence it gave players a tangible goal to strive for even self-imposed challenges within a forgiving atmosphere relatively speaking [Music] that was an improvement but it's not hard to improve on garbage I can't help but wonder if there was an opportunity to truly mirror the cqb test on crew expendable ie letting players solo this entrance but considering how many times as level was iterated I believe Infinity Ward made the right call on accompany all players in this quiet stage again relatively and let the American stages place them in the heat of battle which this game elegantly builds to in core gameplay you go from training to a tight operation then fighting on the outskirts of a large battle before participating in one yourself it's in stark contrast to just one game prior where from the moment your Russian allied opens a door it's so the credits roll these large-scale firefights don't blend into each other anymore in each explores a different avenue of modern combat hold it he too didn't have soldiers breaching doors fire grenades airborne or as mentioned in the development section traveling between hot zones and even stages that do repeat objectives from the world war ii games have an increased intensity built in from the real-world difference of every soldier on the field wielding an automatic assault rifle dealing with Kalashnikovs unintended world equaliser it makes al-assad's forces despite being outmatched in the technology pretty evenly stacked and firefights due to their numbers later games do have these large-scale firefights but they're of a different kind modern warfare 3 s carry the absurd context of Russia invading all of Europe advanced warfare portrays you as a super-powered character call of duty's by no means a war simulator your Wolverine regeneration ensures that but it is far more grounded than its sequels let alone other big-budget shooters especially from that time and it's what retains mana Warfare's enjoyment in the present these shooting galleries don't feel as such because while all the Call of Duty games are the same info they're not in context and called the d4 you're not fighting hordes of enemies because you're Rambo you're fighting them because it would take this many troops to prevent your forces from steamrolling it's meant to make you feel like one man not a one-man army and that's what so many of its imitators missed the firefights of Medal of Honor are Battlefield threes campaigns simply don't match Modern Warfare's enemy numbers sound effects and scripting in these games there's not nearly enough for the player to witness nor engage in to mass that all you're doing is pointing and clicking on baddies it is not an easy illusion to maintain today many Triple A games are very much based on formulas 30 seconds of fun repeated over and over and over likely because the best Call of Duty campaigns requires so much preparation that two years of development results in only a meager amount of gameplay compared to sandbox and service models which can be reused almost endlessly it's been said that called the D fours levels began what called the D twos maximum scripting complexity of 5000 lines but some even tripling that figure by the end it's striking how much sound design there is how many enemies are on screen at once and how many effects from both the equipment and environment need to be on display for the level shall otherwise feel static while anybody can select a difficulty level below their capabilities to make this game into a mediocre stop and pop shooter I'd argue that's not giving it a fair shake players should be pinned down by a torrent of firearms using precise aim and twitch reflexes afforded by elegant controls to weaken enemy forces before making a strategic push this is what Call of Duty was designed for and the harder you set the difficulty the more dangerous that push is which brings me to veteran Coll duties hardest mode isn't taken very seriously at least today not just because campaigns went from emulating battlefields to action movies even greats like world at war are infamous for using more grenades and were manufactured during the Second World War a decade later and I still call this level [ __ ] and corkscrew starting modern warfare I expected a repeat and there is a particular level projecting the horrors to come final defense of one shot one kill now coming over the campaign with a keen eye you will spot over at spawn points script triggers in AI paths but for the most part the scripting isn't contrived just breakable safehouse had challenges that my playthrough is skipping events but that's an unintended bug and the mission heat recontextualizes this layout with a more elegantly designed sandbox firefights are more closely synced to Captain prices orders there is multiple pathways and various traps players can set off in any order making it one of the campaign's highlights you feel like a Special Forces member in this mission not because you're doing some badass slow-mo window breach but because you're using cunning tactics to steadily [ __ ] an army that vastly outnumbers you they're not your tactics though you're still a part of it and there's flexibility within those orders rather than following an exact step-by-step process but this Ferris wheel is the bane of my existence and anybody that's cleared it on veteran knows what I'm talking about context isn't the issue holding off overwhelming forces is a solid conclusion for this stage and harkens back to previous levels in the series the difference between one shot one kill and comrade sniper is in the latter overwhelming forces are funneled through a basement into staircases meanwhile if one enemy reaches the ferris wheel or concrete barriers you're pretty much done for not only is there little to no cover within these defense points but there's enough directions and flanking routes that make it not impossible to predict enemies and if you do there's always a potential to be sandwiched if you manage to complete this level on veteran without cheesing the game by camping bumper cars hats off to you doubly so if done on a gamepad and double double a so if on a Wii Remote thing is that's just one section I did ride up multiple paragraphs about no fighting in the war room but I replayed it and realized why certain encounters were nearly impossible the levels designed around soaps m4 not the g36c which happened to be brought in from my last mission replaying with the ability to new tube hallways flanked on both ends without cover the level took 5 minutes rather than 50 aside from grenades heat-seeking your location or flinching sights into your nose veteran accomplishes the same imir called d2 maximizing what the series was about prior to this game sequel no one fights alone and like any of the soldiers next to you excluding vital NPCs a single enemy can put you down maintaining the game's intensity even when you're clearing rooms rather than navigating a larger battlefield most importantly it serves the contrasts them you aren't entitled to a kill irrespective of how you reach the enemy clearing squads can only be done when you set up the best sight line or exploited a gap in your opponent's defense any mistakes during these attempts are immediately punished and rarely undeserved now when I talked about the Call of Duty series in my Channel's debut video there were a couple of objections laid against this perspective mainly that Modern Warfare concludes with your band of Heroes preventing nuclear missiles from reaching America's East Coast to which I say yes in the game's penultimate stage after four hours of grounded operations and even then the levels opening shows your teammates infiltrating different sectors of the facility meanwhile the sequel has you assaulting a favela almost single-handedly by the fifth mission something that never happens in this game even during the finale there's only one time where you aren't being assisted by at least a fireteam all Gilly DUP and one shot one kill two levels generally considered to be amongst the best in franchise history from their atmosphere of crossing enemy lines undetected because you're outgunned the entire objective after shooting Zach AF is fleeing from a company you cannot defeat rather than being the aggressor not only does this make for one of the most memorable sections of the campaign and gameplay it serves that contrast the American missions you being one member of a vast army overcoming their foes by way of aggression which doesn't even work the campaign features all variety of scenarios in terms of size and scope from assassinations in Ukraine to Middle Eastern invasions and joint operations in Russia but at no point does the game delve into the man vs. the world tropes future installments embraced from the game's third level the SAS team up with Russian loyalists who assist throughout the game all the marine core missions feature multiple squads and all three forces team up in the third act invading the nuclear facility is done with nearly as many soldiers along your side as in the American missions which is part of what makes the assault so thrilling you don't feel empowered as a lone hero but being a part of something greater than yourself even the game's final moments where you as the player have fought from FNG to a soldier destined to kill and runs a Kiev it's only made possible by Russian loyalists giving you the opportunity that's not to say I object to power fantasies this is my 2016 game of the year it's just called the d4 is a more immersive intense and unique game for not following the traditional power armored hero that was commonplace in 2007 and that immersion isn't just in gameplay his Call of Duty anti or pro war has been a debate for a decade but I believe a lot of that conversation stems from multiplayer with killstreaks exp for kills and nuclear weapons being the highest tier gameplay reward because I never heard a peep of this discussion growing up with the first three games as the franchise was known for portraying war with a grittiness most wouldn't dare the somber music allied desc grounded objectives and death quotes all carried a sense of weight a glimpse into the hell these people went through in the name of stopping a tyrannical leader but that was always a wall of safety for world war two games allies good Nazis bad players don't question war's necessity here because it was the only means of ending the Nazis power though Call of Duty portrayed wars intensity it had a t rating and featured the traditional harrowing trumpet wails to match your heroic feats all of your actions were a net positive and really that's the gaming standard which is probably one of the reasons why when Infinity Ward first showed their now iconic nuke seen internally some members said things like what is this like it upright play game in 2007 the idea of players investing multiple hours into a character and military power for zero gain didn't make sense because it's a video game and winning is what you're supposed to be doing how can we know that because originally your character did survive this level had full combat according to Mackay McCandlish again earlier versions of aftermath had you exploring the nuclear waste lands in a vehicle jumping out to fight soldiers so imagine working on this level for months if not even longer then being told it's been reduced to a minute long scene of your character hopelessly dying I can understand how much of a head-scratcher that'd be at first especially when you lack its context within the story because that's still being written but there are leaders whose job it was to manage the big picture foresaw the effects of this moment and how it subvert the players expectations of the Marines military franchise and maybe even themselves something else I can imagine is why Activision were apprehensive of modern warfare not only did world war two have the sales charts to back up its success Infinity Ward never penned a fictional narrative before their games were strings of missions based upon real battles with no greater plot other than beat the Germans this time they wanted a conflict with the visuals of contemporary footage seen on the news and internet wars that weren't so easily simplified and to have their pillar of multiple characters build into a greater story as well as develop themselves the moment captain price addresses you there's a sense he's not only here to cap off missions with a smile anymore but his attached to your characters progression from rookie to silent hero starting with a mocking inquiry one most players probably thought since the opening cutscene attaching them to the leader in just two sentences this was the work of Jessie's Stern a television writer and story editor during the new wave of levels ordered to piece together a story from them and used his television techniques but without traditional cutscenes most notably in cliffhangers unlike previous games Jesse used the levels conclusion to lead into the next rather than being granted with the option to quit the levels already being queued with your objective laid out and its atmosphere established one of the best transitions is actually one of the first after rescuing Nikolai the informant responsible for locating the cargo ship he says the Americans are making a mistake just before switching to the Marines with gruff officers helicopter fleets and rock music immersing you into this jingoistic ride ready to bring down al-assad despite the game telling you 30 minutes in this is not the best course of action in fact returning to that iconic moment it's rather amazing just how much the game Telegraph's it I mean the mission is called shock and awe it's loading screen has the most foreboding musical score of all the Marine cutscenes the intro establishes a nuclear warheads potential presence and command plainly spells out your search and rescue is not at a safe distance in the event of an explosion looking at this on paper it seems far too obvious in its intentions yet based on the reaction it wasn't and though it's been twelve years in the initial shock wore off many moons ago there's a slight aw each time I witnessed Jackson's final moments something I think Modern Warfare nor world at war get enough credit for is moving the series from teen to mature both games employed an M rating to convey the horrors of war in a matter this series never did before even reviewers at the time noted how the world seemed to be in a worse place at the end of modern warfare than the beginning and when thousands killed a wasteland in the Middle East and none of those responsible being brought to justice only their death it's sort of his but following shock-and-awe safehouse begins now I've taken issue of modern warfare choose Airport Massacre for some time not because of content but contrivance with Russia failing to identify a most-wanted terrorist on security footage without a mask nor his four other shooters but to be honest when making that debut video in 2015 I just stopped playing Cod for at this level in particular because it was 2 a.m. and I wanted to sleep something I regret today because had I been paying attention I would have realized how contrived this mission is to think about it right after the Americans lost 30,000 people to supposedly al-assad's nuke Nicolai just gives a ring and says and turns out al-assad was there the whole time why did we wait on this why had it we already cleared every safe house Assad had previously used and what grounds in the u.s. even invade on seeing al-assad on TV they've got all this tech and yet one Russian has better Intel from memory that only blips after a nuclear explosion then again it took 10 years to get bin Laden so who knows maybe this plot point is authentic however we established an infinity ward's scrapped all but three levels halfway through development made a large batch and then hired Jesse Stern to help connect everything the team didn't pitch to Activision a plot with villains motivations backstory and lore they pitched a style of game and the bulk of development was spent nailing that style leaving little time spent crafting the actual plot as late as March 2007 crew expendable wasn't set as the game's opening and it was American and it was with Michael Carver that previously cut protagonist with missions such as descent that involved identifying al-assad and schools objective about pursuing Zakayev along with wet work in the Chechnya escape it leads into I can't help but suspect safehouse isn't merely a level but a summary of multiple stages the game design equivalent of deleting a page from your script and packing all of its most relevant content into one paragraph which should be commended Modern Warfare's pacing is the reason it's short campaign was praised rather than discarded but this quick adaptation led to the ultimate reason not much actually happens in the game's plot and that's the villains their lack of development and personality during interviews various members were always quick to mention the four horsemen the story of call of duty 4 modern warfare revolves around Zacchaeus who's an ultra-nationalist working with dictate ruthless dictator by the name of Al Asad each of them have a number two and together collectively the media has dubbed them the four horsemen but in game the only mention of these four horsemen is through achievements as a Kia's iconic speech wasn't written by Jesse Stern it was done by Rob Troy executive producer of the ant farm trailer house who marketed called duty for in fact these iconic lines were also born from the trailer not only was the K as one speech written by Troy it was ant farm who cast his voice actor and Infinity Ward liked him so much they decided to keep with this information it's easy to understand why the game has so little depth and it's villains and factions it's hard to have an in-depth backstory for the game's Russian Civil War when the mastermind behind it isn't given anything more than one scene in speech that frankly when infinity war picks up where Ant Farm left off is quite generic I highly doubt this stems from ignorance though and instead a priority list which is even more evident upon studying the game's Infinity Ward produced after modern warfare that to varying degrees of success all feature and overt antagonist even Treyarch iterated upon the villainous trio concept but while the convoluted plots and devious villains of post-world War two called Duty wasn't firmly established in this game it's superb presentation was mission briefings are slick as previously discussed but more importantly the sound design voice acting and music has aid gracefully particularly the last two as those were effectively unaltered a decade later Graeme Revell noir Michael Giacchino returned from Modern Warfare giving the musical reins to Stephen Barton the composer who'd go on to reconnect but respond for both Titan Falls and apex legends though at the time modern warfare was his first gaming score but was assisted by Metal Gear Solid in film legend himself Harry gregson-williams who like Hans Zimmer from autumn warfare 2 wrote the main theme as a starting point for their Protege and Steven did not disappoint [Music] it might not have the tearjerkers and heart pounders of Lauren baps masterpiece but each track perfectly suits the scenario features in those repetitive drums are so effective where they ordinarily aren't in video games because there's no barrage of gunfire to drown them out letting the beat warn of what could happen and when dangers avoided it settles right back into scoring the cold ambience of Chernobyl and its implications in fact implication is this game's biggest storytelling strength being price in Chernobyl is powerful because it puts your leader in the same position you experience as soap making price more relatable witnessing a president be the victim of a coup in first person sets the tone for the rest of the game that no one is safe the ac-130 gunship mission is unnerving in its portrayal of aerial bombardment and that brings us back to where we started in this segment about whether Call of Duty is pro or anti war because I was seriously starting to question my own comments about this mission being a disturbing commentary when Jason West Vince Zampella and Robert bullying all comment about how cool it is but then Jacob Minkoff directly referenced this mission as making him feel profoundly uncomfortable and said it's largely inspired the direction of the latest game so is this game's story cool or critical is it a commentary or is it isolated is it empowering or tragic really I think it depends on the player what I mean is if someone approaches this game with only the base assumptions of shooting baddies to stop the big baddie they're not lost the game isn't so convoluted or heavy in its subject matter to stop someone from kicking back with a controller in their hands like previous installments but unlike those games modern warfare is genuine grit raised questions about war interventionism and technological superiority and while the game may conclude with a cinematic car chase before killing the four horsemen's leader into saturated bullet time it fades to white and says that everything even the cargo ship from four hours ago is covered up nothing you've done Nets any reward or acknowledgement to the greater world one of my favorite moments is no fighting in the war room when the nukes are disabled and there's no dramatic camera shots no ocean blasts not even a computer graphic the game portrays saving the world with all the Flair of someone's nine-to-five job because as far as your character is concerned it is their job and I think this argument from Modern Warfare supporting both approaches stems most of all from his creators Jason West might view the ac-130 from a gameplay perspective of giving epically powerful God cannons after being pinned down by a wall of enemies or sneaking through forests for hours but Stephen Fukuda says the level was uncomfortable by design the team was as varied as the audience who eventually played it and perhaps that is what helped in the game success it's neither schlock nor arthouse it doesn't ignore players but it doesn't confront them directly either they rode the line accepting all who approached it custom classes experience points challenges attachments camos perks ranks knives and prestige none of these things existed in Call of Duty's multiplayer prior to modern warfare infinity ward's last game didn't even have 16 players on xbox the jump from Call of Duty 2 to 4 in its features speaks volume to how much it meant to have a dedicated multiplayer development team from the start 16 maps a dozen playlists half a dozen modes of modifiers like hardcore and old-school that could combine along with a progression system that was an outright revolution RPG elements had existed in FPS as before this stalker and Bioshock came out the same year after all and the concept continued with popular games like Borderlands in Dead Island but in 2007 battlefield 2142 was the closest unlock tree you could find in a military multiplayer shooter and that was a team-based game exclusive to PC for consoles there wasn't anything else that allowed players to progress their profile in this method unlocking weapons attachments camos perked etc and certainly nothing would call of duty's aggression halo 3 was the game's biggest competition and the two were often compared on the uneven grounds at their first-person shooters and while it's a comparison I'm not interested in from a gameplay perspective how the two kept players engaged couldn't have been more different halo 3 was a successor of its predecessor with the multi players engagement mechanisms beyond its genre defying gameplay being to rank up in a variety of playlists but in Call of Duty 4 even when players were losing they were gaining experience to level up on a path to earning abilities weapons and in turn play styles that potentially lead to future victories or they were close to completing challenges guaranteed to get them to that next rank and it proved to be hopelessly addictive while the debate over which system is best will likely run on for as long as we're alive there's no question which one in 2007 was fresher in most games including Call of Duty 2 were still following what was the standard back then quick place searches and/or service with no reason to play the game other than for the sake of it but called the D fours mixture of moment-to-moment action with a persistent profile was an untapped market copied at a record rate not all games on screen or Call of Duty clones but there's no question where the idea of custom loadouts and persistent unlocks was popularized this became the benchmark whether your game was first person in underwater cities third person in ancient cities on ps3 xbox360 or Xbox Live Arcade about aliens in an alternative history or robots in a retro future and it's because of this ubiquity that today called the divorced systems feel pretty vanilla red dot sights fire rates and helicopters don't quite pump the heart like they used to and when the free-to-play korean shooters this game spawn have improved upon its balance killstreaks and weapon selection it's difficult for the inspiration to deliver its old thrills though without the initial excitement comes an opportunity to reflect upon call the divorce success as established passions amongst lovers and haters were riding high in 2007 returning to call the d4 s massively expanded feature set were they worthy additions and the answer is mostly that may seem puzzling at first upon discovering that all of these perks no longer exist and plenty of them have a notoriety attached juggernaut met you sucked martyrdom made you scum and eavesdrop was patrolling there's definitely some filler double tap might have been entertaining but not only would it drain your ammo supply in magazines stopping power ultimately accomplishes the same goal of dealing more damage with none of the downsides but the most notable thing about call de DeForest perks is their emphasis on explosives all but bandolier in bomb squad had the subtlety of prices beard the beginning of any Search and Destroy round is just chaos but then I played black ops 4 where you're subjected to QuickTime events unbearable equipment rescue to kill abilities and it really put things into perspective the explosive called the d4 are annoying when literally everyone is using them on a particular map and mode Bogg and vacant really brought the worst out of us but the appeal of called the d4 is created classes the flexibility and creativity it offers the players for example as they seem to be a recent talking point claymores and cold the d4 they weren't an instant kill switch as in so many games including its own sequels there one second delay forced players to be precise in their placements in order to earn a kill accomplished by angling them at 45 degrees placing them next to cars or the cheekiest I've seen firing at them downrange that is if you were even using them for kills at all many players at higher skill levels still use them even though competitors could dodge the blast in their sleep because the explosion would act as a sound indicator behaving as Intel in a game where dead silence was a common pick despite frustrations there's a depth of this game systems that I didn't fully appreciate until recently take juggernaut for instance one of the game's most hated perks for all those times and you've got somebody in your sights and you pull the trigger just to see that icon flash before your demise but the perks of facts are directly countered by one of the most popular abilities in Call of Duty's history so ideally unless you are following a stereotype you wouldn't equip this on everything but save it for classes that benefit directly from it such as an aggressive auto shut ESET up and/or for holding down objectives martyrdom and last stand there's not really any defense for especially combined with juggernaut are you though I must admit these perks might have stood out to me more a teenager because I was into all the Zerg rizz montage stuff dealing with juggernaut Last Stand is a lot more annoying when using a bolt-action rifle than an mp5 and the go-to explosive classes which use martyrdom sonic boom and three frags being so infuriating on shipment and vacant is more to do with those maps in the perks sure ripping all of these perks and abilities out of the game would have made those Maps more playable but too much would have been sacrificed people wouldn't be able to tailor their classes to their exact place now which is what's distinguished Call of Duty and now that multiplayer games have drifted off to explore other trends it may become unique again with time and of course this was Infinity Ward's first ever create a class sequels like black ops 4 have had a decade of iteration to work with and they still screw things up another thing that's admirable about called the d4 is which respectively it's restraint in one sequel extra sprint became unlimited sprint changing primaries became changing classes an extra explosive damage became extra extra but unlike future games the perks still retain their significance extreme conditioning does make me play more aggressively but not mindlessly because timing your character's energy leads to further success it's this depth and flexibility that kept players engaged even after they reach the maximum rank modern warfare does hold up it's undeniably less polished than the sequels visuals in general rather muted in color and movements not as refined but all told people could play this game in the 8th generation with pleasure and well they did I think part of the reason why Call of Duty grips so many is the fact your enemy never feels out of reach when you face an experience quake player you get stomped when you meet a halo pro they crush you meet this guy in StarCraft you might as well leave the room there's times in these games where I look at a really good player and think I can't do that a Call of Duty I think I can even when I actually can't because even if that other player is vastly more experienced with quicker reflexes and more precise aim he's never far from death one m16 burst or a few Desert Eagle rounds is all that's needed to put him down which feels good and cold it eats whose emphasis on bolt-action rifles you needed precision to succeed but with steady aim grip and the intention gun you don't this is why things like the grenade launcher martyr dome Last Stand and juggernaut existed it allowed less experienced players to earn kills in ways previously impossible they can enact immediate revenge on the person who just killed them knock enemies back in a satisfying explosion or survive bullets they otherwise couldn't this success ability is what established Call of Duty's reputation of being a baseless casual game amongst agitated fans of more punishing competitive shooters similar to how our Cade racers are written off by sectors of the simulation community and in both cases they're missing the point of these in those games as established online games always carry the potential of being completely pummeled there's people out there who endure heavy losses as a learning experience but considering the majority of people play games for entertainment constant failure isn't considered entertaining so when Xbox Live became a viable platform more games attempted to address this halos was a ranking system in games today have gone as far as addressing it within the design rather than rules the reason for so many team-based and battle royale games is that it's easier to accept losses when you're not the only one at fault and/or what tools are available to you isn't in your control call duty force solution was lowering the initial skill required while giving everybody reasons to stick around none of these solutions are foolproof but Infinity Ward managed to motivate more people to play without a complex ranking system which had the flaw of longer queue times everybody and anybody could hop in and start fragging almost immediately which didn't really exist prior to cod 4 multiplayer was intimidating for newcomers with tutorials complexities skilled opponents meanings on microphones and for all the tangible reward of nothing meanwhile in modern warfare you could start a simple game of shoot that guy and the first enemy seen blow him up which is fun and though that player probably hates you now they'll stick around to complete the challenge for that sweet sweet red tiger and get revenge on you to fuel a kill streak just like campaign multiplayer wrote a line in this case with the skill gap while concluding every game with an update on your consistently developing profile it's a powerful formula and with power comes problems most evidently that there was nothing to prevent skilled players from exporting what's intended for newcomers giving everybody the m16 right off the bat the richer didn't get richer but it led to entire clans of camping m16s one UAV was all it took to then predict one burst engagements while avoiding the martyrdom and last stand perks from a safe distance and unlike bolts actions juggernaut does little to contest it there's something we take for granted in an age of character based games when one of them is broken you at least only have to deal with the one abomination in Call of Duty at the peak of their popularity you have to deal with six of them or worse you will witness exploits and whatever's the latest game when I played infinite warfare months after launch 90% of players were still using variants of the env for my eyeballs have the ak-74 use outline burned into them from black ops any match of Call of Duty is only as good as the lobby or in snipers aren't remotely overpowered in cod4 but you'd find entire lobbies of spinning teenagers not that I'm guilty turning what's meant to be an engaging obstacle into a tedious instagib lobby without the fun of actual giblets the difference is there's nothing you can do about the mp40 drum mag bread she or MOG 12 but those snipers you can counter with juggernaut auto shot II even the m16 clans could be counted with a variety of perks as UAV jammer intense silence and the cancerous explosive class was most prevalent in modes the game wasn't designed for which is why I'm not that bitter while it's true that called 84s multiplayer doesn't feature anything mechanically superior it's remarkable how small the margin of quality is model refer to has better Maps artistically and dynamically but they're not that much better and so much of the templates it uses were expansions of what called the d4 started black ops is a better per can unlock system but set improvements to perks mostly stem from what was removed rather than added kolduny for being so basic today after being so unique when it launched is illustrative of how gripping its systems and designs were while I loved the dynamic of a firefight in Halo the speed of quake the strategy of siege or large-scale of battlefield sometimes I want to be selfish where those other games can require preparation alertness tactical assessments call of duties deathmatch is like therapy all I need is a loadout tuned to my immediate interests and the great thing is if I do want something that requires tapping into areas above the brainstem those experiences is to through its variety of objective modes where those same deathmatch arenas become strategic battlegrounds with their own Vantage flanking routes and dead zones and while this formula had been drained with other games moving to other avenues it means that many will still be going to call duty for that immediate fix but even with a new standard some people wanna mess with it most obviously the pros pros with a background in Call of Duty's 1 & 2 which as mentioned didn't have any of munna Warfare's new features and being that almost all of them were meant to make the game more accessible and flexible when hosting a tournament 4 called ad for future ESL employee Rob black cleaved almost everything laying the groundwork for what would eventually become as taken up by other developers Pro mod promod is a bizarre Beast because it's forever attach a call to d4 amongst its most dedicated players on PC and yet I'm sure for many people even those who pour thousands of hours into the game have never seen this before that's because there were really two competitive scenes called the d4 on xbox 360 under MLG and Pro Mod under various primarily European leagues and I said beast intentionally because this competitive mod for modern warfare was neck in neck or counter-strike source in terms of audience players and prize pools so what does the mod do well it restricts you to one of four classes remove all attachments but silencers discards perks and kill streaks and removes the muzzle flash from my understanding everybody does have the effect of stopping power and the weapons do feel like that this isn't hardcore but the game actually gets easier because you only need be on target for a split second the mod is instead a template used to set the most even playing field for competitive search-and-destroy matches and it is a lot of fun provided you're in the correct environment it's unlikely to find the ideal v e5 Cora matches if you're just a Randy like me but certain servers will limit the number of snipers one team can have as were the rules and tournaments and when you're not fighting a battalion of montages it becomes evident why these changes were made I've played both variants a search-and-destroy on consoles and while enjoyable there were certainly a couple patterns ones that could never happen in pro mod making the game more engaging but what's most interesting about call to d4 is mod support is that it in many ways is still evolving pro mod can represent earliest days meanwhile today a group of individuals have taken it upon themselves to create all new single-player missions I don't know what trickery they're using but it's surreal to experience brand-new SpecOps style content in a game that never had it and the most compelling missions are when those modders do things the franchise in all that sentries haven't done swapping characters in real time during a mission are hunting for enemies also in ghillie suits our concepts I never expected from a Call of Duty game though I'd be lying if I said the mod is of a professional quality for example in one of the levels you need to hunt down a fleeing target great idea but he can't escape he just does laps of the complex and in that covert mission the way enemies detect you is of the most binary method you're in sight or you're completely invisible and there's no one between as enemies have no memory of where you last were allowing you to sprint in open fields as long as you dive every couple of seconds I don't hold blame against these modders though even in vices article about Pro Mod it's mentioned that Activision didn't do much to support the PC modding community so that they're even able to structure campaign missions at all is an accomplishment though if they want to set their sights on a bar of quality to aspire to then this is it while hardly a Star Wars fan I have to admit this mod is badass galactic warfare fulfilled the dream of a fast paced infantry focused Star Wars multiplayer game by just being called 2d foreign Star Wars this is a total conversion mod in every sense of the term as modders didn't just recreate the perks and kill streaks but even the ambient tension music played in multiplayer with their own soundtrack unfortunately cold 2d form modding was as inaccessible for users as it was for the amateur developers while it's awesome being able to join custom servers out of the box there's no cohesion within the mods themselves you might start up pro mod or galactic warfare but the moment you go to that browser it's just called the d4 and without even the mod you've selected as a search priority not to mention that every little adjustment made to a format like Pro Mod is considered its own mod leading your mod selection list to become cluttered very fast and not all variants are created equal it's like I walked into a teenager's bedroom in the end it didn't even matter to Activision because the company's profits on consoles had dwarfed the PC audience that launched called duty in the first place and rather than making mods easier for developers and users to expand upon what was shown to have great potential in cod4 was dropped entirely in the sequel never to be resurrected even when modern warfare itself was call today for already had varied experiences amongst its platforms for consoles it was an outright revolution for PC it was a notable step up for the DS it was playable two years later for the Wii it was admirable but 10 years later recalled it e4 remastered it was both the devil and the angel the former is why what I'm about to say next is likely to tilt a couple viewers who I can only beg to stick with me this is one of the best remasters ever made normally these remasters are nothing more than resolution buffs we've seen this in Final Fantasy Splinter Cell and prototype though re-releases aren't always so fruitless the HD collections of Metal Gear Solid jak and daxter Ratchet and Clank and many more are a wonderful way to play 6 gen classics a modern hardware conveniently and summary masters like The Last of Us act as a complete edition including all the downloadable content not everybody owned as well as subtle enhancements but Modern Warfare remastered enhancements aren't subtle graphics have been overhauled all new animations are added the game's opening level is extended to include the gut content it goes so far as to tie in modern warfare 3 flashbacks it's even bolder than the overhauls made a halo 1 and 2 and whereas they took artistic liberty to certain levels losing their atmosphere and intent I can't identify one moment where this game feels like a departure the most obvious difference is the lighting call the d4 carries a blue tint in most levels but remastered likely due to technology has much warmer more natural color tones which I feel suits the game's pursuit of realism in its visuals even on an aging Xbox one at 1080p this game looks downright gorgeous at times very nearly matching the production of it's fully budgeted counterpart and because the original employed motion capture the improved graphics aren't layered onto overly stiff characters you'll occasionally see an NPC or vehicle oddly twitch but from picking up live grenades and taking cover these ten-year-old animations ain't bad even if their creators moved on I hate seeing my old self it's not flattering at all but while the visuals are absolutely ideal the sound mixing truly won me over there are nitpicks hold the d4 sound design was excellent too so weapons like the m4 g36 Baretta don't retain their punch but oh man that shotgun so weapons varying the effects themselves but the mixing has received an upgrade akin to the games lighting cleaning up previously compressed sounds and simulating how every element from voices to rockets echo throughout the environment and this blending of changes and additions all come to a head with the ac-130 despite Bravo six we'll cover you all the way to the extractions if it sounded powerful before now it sounds positively devastating capping smoking this is where I started to feel that someone who hasn't played quality for his campaign before should play remastered if possible because this sound serves to make the disturbing mixture of apathy humanity and destruction even more powerful that's what I appreciate most of all about remastered its changes are things you suspect Infinity Ward would have done had they made the game in this era and the best example is the nuke were you previously just watched now your character is active in the moment trying to save their fellow soldiers and hanging on like there's a chance at life it gave me goosebumps as if I were experiencing this scene for the first time again but the horror is fully realized with one simple addition for all Gilad up the designers talked about how the missions opening is not simply cool but seeing your captain decked out gave players a reference for what they look like - and Raven Software applied that technique to the game's most powerful scene developers this is how you remaster a campaign and Raven didn't stop there because this game spark Call of Duty's evolution from a single player to multi player franchise it needed multiplayer and it does in its entirety every launch map gun camo attachment and perk even eavesdrop that is dedication there is negative logic and having a developers spend their time implementing this ability and that's why it's fantastic they understood that remastered meant respecting everything the game carried but that didn't stop worthy additions from getting in such as more challenges prestigious and classes to unlock for the game's most dedicated players developers this is how you remaster multiplayer this is as I say again one of the best remasters ever made made released you know what's coming next Modern Warfare remastered was treading on radiated turf when it was announced to be only obtainable through the infinite warfare legacy edition for 80 US dollars and considering infinite Warfare's initial response it wasn't seen as a two-for-one deal during the time everybody should have been able to enjoy one of their favorite games impeccably reproduced only a portion could and when the game was eventually released as a standalone product multiplayer featured loot boxes premium currency unique skins and characters timed events all new weapons ranging from average to terrifyingly overpowered and the cherry on top of the turd sundae charging $15 for old maps which themselves cost half that in 2007 publishers this is how you ruin your game's reputation so I stand by Modern Warfare remastered being one of the best ever made and that Ravens software deserved credit for their work but the sheer greed from Activision goes against everything that makes this remaster top-notch on console I'd say this game is worth playing as it's relatively easy to find copies on sale which is worth it for the remastered campaign and enjoyable if compromise multiplayer on PC forget it [Music] since 2015 I've analyzed various games that have something wholly unique mass effects universe Max Payne style or metros atmosphere the gameplay of half-life 2 our halo 2 might have been relentlessly copied at one point but if since held the test of time from the games of today no longer being like them even within the same franchise or developer retro actively unique is something I described in many games as but modern warfare is the opposite its retro actively cliched in the same manner that a film like alien has had its blueprint photocopied into enough horror projects that if you've ever seen a space themed horror film you've likely seen alien if you've played a modern military shooter post 2008 you've likely played modern warfare but just like all other innovators and popularizes across any form of entertainment that doesn't mean there's no reason to revisit them for when something or someone is copied there is always something left ignored and the case of call duties campaigns it was never fighting alone using the game's fidelity and authenticity to respect those who served to let people enjoy and fear its content to feel empowered and extinguished going into this video I came in with the presumption that called it e4 while enjoyable hasn't aged as gracefully as titles I've covered because it more than anything else I've talked about became a template for an industry in a generation upon replaying the campaign and spending time in multiplayer across various versions that bias was very much confirmed at first but the more I thought about it and in fact as I say this think about it cold 84 isn't just the catalyst for all it inspired it's an orbiter it rides a line where everything else including its successors nudges or pushes another direction titanfall 2 being made by many of Modern Warfare's designers shares a great many qualities in its campaign but unlike call to d4 it's undoubtedly a game about granting the player power in their movement weapons abilities and partner-in-crime games about being a badass not being boots on the ground mono referred to Carrie Call of Duty's epic firefights into a fully alternate universe while Medal of Honor set itself in the reality of Afghanistan's post 9/11 invasions some extensions failed others succeeded but the point is Call of Duty 4 stands in the twilight of all of them where others push for grinding or immediacy for realism or excess modern warfare stood on the tightrope when 20 19's modern warfare was first revealed I viewed it as an entirely cynical product and from Activision's viewpoint I believe it still is but seeing how much went into this game was left behind and subsequently iterated upon through future installments to this very day it makes perfect sense wine for need award wanted to renew this classic it was the beginning of an era for Infinity Ward and only now have all of its intentions been realized freeing the studio and its members to start anew [Music] this video took far too long to make and it's all my fault making it wasn't a linear process I pause the patreon not once but twice as I wasn't comfortable with people donating when I spent weeks lying in bed not sleeping what alone working the regardless I feel like I've gotten over this hump of burnout and impostor syndrome everything started to come together in the last few weeks and I hope that effort and enthusiasm was on display I'll be posting an article detailing the making of this video and changes I'll be making to the patreon next year aim to give much more interaction rather than weeks of silence when there's a gap in videos to people were vital to this videos pre-production in story segments those being game brain in game g13 for the insight they brought to this game's development thank you to them and I definitely recommend their recent content linked in the description and an extra thank you to fix who I'm officially partnered with I've been following the record label since its inception being a Celldweller fan via Need for Speed and thanks to voice ins who's seriously the nicest man on earth I exchanged emails with fixed leading to the remarkable offer of having access to a vast selection of their music to be used in my videos to be clear this is a partnership not a sponsorship no money has changed hands no advertisements are forced and most importantly no creative control is taken from me in fact I felt bad because starting a partnership by dropping off the radar for weeks didn't seem like a good first impression but they've only been kind to me in all my interactions for the sake of avoiding potential conflict of interest I'll no longer be recommending albums that fix produces either in q and A's or patreon but you're certainly more likely to hear them as this agreement expands my music selection massively which will only make videos better for everybody that was a mouthful time to answer your most important questions will you add me on Xfire done when will you actually make a video actually called Ray civic when I kill this channel when is postal years later when I can imitate more lines than hi there would you like to sign my Titian why is daca be number one seized Okabe vocab a more like dhoka [ __ ] what the [ __ ] is wrong with Sparky what's your go-to meal peanut butter and Nutella sandwich oh if you were to choose between two brands which would it be Chevrolet or Ford gt40 Mustang Focus RS 200 versus the vet and Camaro this isn't even a debate Ford how important our game trailers judging by how different the reactions were between Jedi fallen orders announcement and release pretty goddamn important I've had developers personally tell me stories of marketing teams showcasing items and trailers that were literally cut two weeks earlier marketing and development is understandably handled by two separate departments but a big problem I find in marketing campaigns is a lack of consistency so often four years later projects the adverts over a games lifecycle I see sometimes barely resemble the game there even being ordered to sell and actually Antfarm an infinity war Don called 84 is a great example of a good collaboration which piece of media are you most saddened by its cancellation games or otherwise as mentioned I'm not a Star Wars fan but just reading 1313 s demise and Jason Schreyer book is enough to piss on anyone's parade it's equal parts gut-wrenching and inspiring to read multiple developers discuss that even years after cancellation they jump right back on board like a day never skipped if the chance ever arose whoever was responsible for cleaving that project how do you dream at night knowing you destroyed so many [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Raycevick

Views: 1,286,069

Rating: 4.9419665 out of 5

Keywords: Raycevick, COG, connected, review, analysis, years, later, call of duty 4 modern warfare, call of duty modern warfare, call of duty 4 modern warfare retrospective, retrospective, call of duty mobile, call of duty modern warfare gameplay, call of duty modern warfare review, call of duty 4 modern warfare remastered review, supply drop, call of duty, Modern Warfare 2 Alpha, infinity ward, call, of, duty, remastered, spec ops, survival, PS4, XB1, XP, cuhnadian, claymore, cod, Halo, destiny, bungie, treyarch

Id: BgrnLDYRPgk

Length: 74min 45sec (4485 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 02 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Zzzlol94]

I love that he mentions Promod. It was such a big deal during CoD4s lifetime to keep people playing, even when MW3 had released 4 years later, the mod was still very popular. It's definitely one of few periods in CoDs life where mostly everyone was just having a good time. Playing Promod SnD on Crash/Crossfire. Strike, Overgrown, Broadcast and District being also available on servers with more variation, District being my personal favorite.

Also got to give a shoutout to the PAM4 mod as well. It wasn't as popular on public servers (which was very evident on my own clan's servers, shutting it down since it was dead 95% of the time, while promod had players all day long). It didn't limit the game as hard as Promod, as Promod had no sway on every gun, had a lot of graphical effects turned off and there were fewer weapons and you had no choice of perks (I think PAM4 had a very limited amount of perks enabled). That definitely made them stand out, and PAM4 felt much worse to play, more floaty. I don't remember it as well as Promod, so I might be wrong on something, but I know it was the tournament standard for a while.

[u/f_ranz1224]

My main takeaway from this is that its only been 12 years? Weve had 3 modern warfare games, 4 black ops games, ww2, advanced wafare, modern warfare, and a remaster. All in only 12 years. I know they are on a yearly release sched but thats still a lot

[u/SuperFlyJabba]

Just played through this entire series for some casual fun and the last level of the campaign in this game was one of my favorite segments of it all. Running through loads of guys as you desperately try to stop nuclear war from going down was so fun.

[u/Camocheese]

I really like how Raycevick talks about how games that attempted to imitate CoD4's campaign style really failed at it. In CoD4 (and most other CoD campaigns) you are always accompanied by other dudes. The campaign manages so well to walk that line of being a shooting gallery, and feeling immersive and realistic. Despite the fact that you mow down hundreds of soldiers, it doesn't feel like you're doing everything by yourself and the things you accomplish don't feel ludicrous. In Battlefield 1 you are a tank driver... and also, apparently, Solid Snake. Also, yeah, CoD4 on Veteran is pretty brutal.

About multiplayer, I was actually never the biggest fan of CoD4's multiplayer. At the time I was very much a PC player (nowadays I game a lot more on console) and at the time I played a lot of Counter Strike (Source). I was decent at CSS, I played a shit ton of ladder matches with some school friends so I was quite competitive minded as well. To me CoD4's multiplayer was kinda cool for a moment, but really stupid after 30 minutes. All the stuff from grenade spam, killstreaks (UAV spam), claymores and instakilling laserbeam guns felt really unrewarding to use for me. I was used to tapping heads in Counter Strike so an automatic weapon with very little recoil that kills with like 2-3 shots whether you shoot a dude in the head or pinky toe didn't feel particularly rewarding to me at the time.

I had actually played CoD2 competively as well (just online ladder matches) quite a bit prior to CoD4 and that game required precision because the bolt-action rifles were the most used guns. So CoD4 actually felt like a step-down in terms how satisfying getting kills felt like. I really only got more on board with CoD's multiplayer when I bought a PS3 during Black Ops 1's lifecycle. Getting kills with a controller made kills actually feel rewarding and the gameplay had kinda matured and gotten a lot more balanced at that point.

[u/CoyoteWhite305]

I disliked the whole TV drama approach they went with MW19 honestly, the older games were so good because they played like action/adventure movies.

[u/Muttbag]

How is the remaster on PC? Is it worth £35?

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/Eamonsieur]

What's the game that's being shown at 42:53 when he says CoD is "...neither schlock..."?

[u/Lightguardianjack]

I feel like while the main story has a ton of rough edges (well covered in this video) it does have some brilliant moments.

As stated, everyone talked about the nuke moment but I also liked the loading screen after the 2 nukes are launched later in the campaign. because at first you go "Well at least it's only 2 nukes" before the loading screen shows you each of the nukes splitting into 6 and hitting 12 cities total and showing the death count. "Ohhhh".