Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II - Vault Edition [Xbox]
The Call of Duty series is starting to get more than a little confusing with its titles and timelines. 2022’s Modern Warfare II is a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare (a reboot of 2007’s CoD4: Modern Warfare) with characters we’re already familiar with, and naturally many of the same themes, but with a more modern take on war and how it has changed over the years.
The storyline here centres around antagonist Hassan Zyani, a terrorist who is found to be in possession of American ballistic missiles, and who keeps managing to slip through the fingers of the various operatives tracking him down. Familiar names such as Sergeant “Soap” MacTavish and Captain John Price embark across the globe, spanning real-world locations such as Amsterdam and Spain, and the fictional Mexican city of Las Almas; as they try to pin down Hassan and his allies, and uncover the terrorists’ plans. Missions vary, with some interesting, fun callbacks to missions of the past; and fresh new ones involving stealthily swimming to take down your enemies, and another level where you must utilise whatever you find throughout the level to craft tools and weaponry to enable you to progress.
A game about guns and war needs the combat to sell it, so luckily the combat here feels great, with satisfying, punchy gunfire and tight, accurate controls to match. Driving sections where you can manoeuvre to passenger seats whilst driving, or even to climb out and perch on top to shoot enemies - or to hop across to other vehicles to hijack them - gives you tonnes of freedom in how you complete the convoy mission, which makes it all the more fun.
One thing that Call of Duty always does right is the visuals - it always manages to look absolutely amazing. From the cutscenes with some of the most impressive character animations we’ve seen yet, to the world itself and its unbelievably detailed environments, the team at Infinity Ward have done a fantastic job. Amsterdam in particular is spectacular; having been there not too long ago, it gave us both a weird sense of deja vu walking down certain streets, though sadly you can’t explore too far off the strategically planned path. Some of the levels feel very reminiscent of classic COD levels, which gives it a nice nostalgic vibe, albeit with vastly upgraded looks. The voice acting across the full game is impressive, and this lends an air of believability to the story, drawing you in.
Obviously, Call of Duty has a huge multiplayer aspect to it, too, with both the MWII multiplayer and the free-to-play Warzone. Modern Warfare II’s multiplayer is a lot of fun, with different game modes to mix things up and a variety of maps in a range of sizes, giving players of all skill levels something to sink their teeth into. There’s loads of different options for online play, such as Daily Challenges, Quick Play, Party Modes (small to large maps that feature All or Nothing, Gun Game, Infected and One in the Chamber); Shipment 24/7, Shoot House, Close Quarters, 3rd Person Moshpit, and more. There’s also a bunch of other stuff to try out, such as Invasion and Ground War; so you’d be forgiven for taking a while to get used to what each map or mode has to offer, especially if it’s your first foray into a Call of Duty title.
Gun Game ended up being one of my favourites - a returning game mode from previous titles that allows you to cycle through weapons with each kill, which is a lot of fun, and prevents you from sticking to the same weapon; something that is all too easy to do once you get good with one. Regardless of which mode you play, you’ll level up weapons and unlock Operators, and this gives you a decent incentive to keep playing the multiplayer long after you’ve finished the campaign - and with such a huge player base, you’re never waiting long to get into a game.
Coming in at £99.99 on Xbox for the Vault Edition, which gets you all of the below listed content - it is a fair chunk of change to pony up. Luckily, it’s currently on offer for £74.99, so if you’re interested in the additional content included in the Vault Edition, now might be the time to grab it. If you’re just looking to play the campaign and aren’t all bothered with extra content and Battle Pass stuff, then you can grab the standard Cross-Gen Bundle for £69.99 (£45.49 currently); or Warzone 2.0 for your Battle Royale gameplay totally free. If you’d rather a physical copy, then you can usually pick it up for around £40 or less on Amazon, though this can vary wildly at times.
Vault Edition Contents:
Includes Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game
Red Team 141 Operator Pack: 4 Operators: Ghost, Soap, Farah and Price
FJX Cinder - First-Ever Weapon Vault
Battle Pass (1 Season) + 50 Tier Skips (for only one season)
10 hours of 2XP and 10 hours of weapons 2XP
Overall, I had a lot of fun with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, both the campaign and the multiplayer. Whilst I don’t play a lot of first-person shooters, Call of Duty always holds a special place in my heart with fond memories going back to CoD4 on my 360, so this was a fun, refreshing take on the series and kept me engaged throughout the story - and the multiplayer is one I’ll continue to dip in and out of whenever I’ve got the urge.
In the end, we decided to give Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II the Collecting Asylum rating of 8/10.
Are you interested in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Activision for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II - Vault Edition Xbox review code!
