KitGuru Games: Modern Warfare II is Mechanically Perfect

It's been 13 years since Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 first released, and in the decade since, the Call of Duty franchise has both made great strides in trying to keep the series feeling fresh whilst also maintaining that which makes Call of Duty…Call of Duty. Modern Warfare II (2022) represents the latest and greatest from Infinity Ward and Call of Duty, serving as a reimagining of this now 13-year-old game – offering the tried-and-true COD experience while evolving the player movement and controls in order to make it what I believe (after playing the game for 30+ hours) is the most mechanically perfect multiplayer FPS yet. Allow me to explain:

Call of Duty has always been a relatively simple first-person shooter control-wise. From the very first game, released all the way back in 2003, controls have remained mostly the same with all CODs sharing in the ability to walk; sprint; aim down sights; shoot; reload; melee and crouch/prone. Regardless of whether you are storming trenches in WWII or boosting left and right during the 22nd century, all Call of Duties share such similar systems.

That’s not to say that different entries don’t introduce their own additional mechanics, because they do. We have seen the likes of Advanced Warfare include versatile and fast-paced jetpacks; the original Black Ops add dolphin diving; and a number of Call of Duty titles allowing players to wall run. Many of these thematically-linked abilities have come and gone depending on the game, but with the release of Modern Warfare II, it truly feels as though the COD franchise has found its latest baseline set of mechanics which all future titles will springboard off from.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, despite Call of Duty being a first-person shooter, I will not be discussing the game’s guns nor how it feels to shoot. That’s because in my opinion (and many others agree) Call of Duty has always excelled at its shooting – from the very first game all the way until 2022’s Modern Warfare II. Of course, the gunplay has evolved and improved over time, but no one was wondering whether it would feel good to shoot guns in Call of Duty. No, what I want to talk about today is how the game offers you the ultimate flexibility and freedom when it comes to controlling your character. The team at Infinity Ward have managed to do so through two primary means.

Player Ability

Back in 2009’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, players had a core yet concise set of movement and momentum abilities. As briefly mentioned earlier, players were able to walk, run, crouch, go prone, aim down sights, shoot a gun, reload, swap weapons, melee enemies and climb ladders. In the years between then and now, your player character has slowly but surely been beefed up with many more ways to engage in battle. Some games added features while others took them away. In only discussing the boots-on-the-ground COD entries, we saw the addition of ‘dolphin diving’ – allowing players to dive while sprinting. Speaking of sprinting, the player’s physical movements have seen great strides taken, with later entries in the COD series allowing you to tactically sprint, shoot while running, slide (and shoot while doing so) – among other smaller tweaks.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare II feels in my opinion not only the most refined but the most complete game when it comes to character control. While some of the functionality I will list did first appear in 2019’s Modern Warfare, the sequel took all the mechanics from the first game and only added upon it – meaning all that which applies to 2019’s entry also applies to MWII. With that, the reimagined Modern Warfare series (and MWII in particular) greatly expanded upon the freedom of player movement, allowing you mantle over nearly every object in game (within reason); mount your gun on most surfaces for added precision at the cost of mobility; as well as being able to both slide and dolphin dive depending on your particular need in the moment – with sliding being advantageous for allowing you shoot while doing so and offering you much greater control in general.