History VideoGame / CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019

Also, for the first time since ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'''s PC port 11 years prior, ''Modern Warfare'' foregoes the business model of paid map packs entirely in favour of releasing new [[https://callofdutymaps.com/Call-of-Duty/modern-warfare/ Multiplayer Maps]] and Operations at no extra cost. On top of that, in a series first ''Modern Warfare'' also has cross-platform play between all three platforms, bringing the community closer together than ever before.

** While not on the same level as Treyarch's ''WaW'' or ''Black Ops'' series, this game is certainly more violent than previous Infinity Ward entries at least, as the game isn't afraid to perforate skulls and show you dead citizens or people being slaughtered with more gruesome detail than any of their prior titles. You even bash a Russian soldier's skull in with a cinderblock early on, caking the screen with blood briefly. In the campaign, high-powered weapons and explosives can [[AnArmAndALeg dismember limbs]] and [[YourHeadAsplode remove heads]]. Of course, all of this is optional and can be toggled on or off in the options menu.

** While not on the same level as Treyarch's ''Black Ops'' series, this game is certainly more violent than previous Infinity Ward entries at least, as the game isn't afraid to perforate skulls and show you dead citizens or people being slaughtered with more gruesome detail than any of their prior titles. You even bash a Russian soldier's skull in with a cinderblock early on, caking the screen with blood briefly. In the campaign, high-powered weapons and explosives can [[AnArmAndALeg dismember limbs]] and [[YourHeadAsplode remove heads]]. Of course, all of this is optional and can be toggled on or off in the options menu.

* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Throughout the game, the player switches between new characters Farah Karim, CIA operator Alex, and Kyle Garrick. They interact with several new characters as well as old favorites like Price, [[spoiler:Griggs, and Nikolai.]] Nothing indicates that the three player characters are anything but new faces for the rebooted game. [[spoiler:At least until the epilogue, where Price receives files for his new task force, and asks that Kyle "Gaz" Garrick joins the team along with Soap and Ghost.]]

* InNameOnly: Although it is stated that the conflict in Urzikstan is a "civil war", we do not see any Urzikstanis that support General Barkov's occupation forces. Instead, all the skirmishes involve Barkov's army vs two of Urzikstan's freedom fighters (representing the extremist Al-Qatala, and the more moderate Urzikstan Liberation Force) who, unsurprisingly, are also at odds with each other.

** While not explicitly presented as such unlike the aforementioned classic maps, Sudal Harbor is actually a remade version of the original ''Call of Duty''[='s=] Harbor map.

* HateSink: The Barkov-led Russian forces portrayed through most of the game are vile war criminals who torture, interrogate, and kill Urzikstan citizens (including children) under the vague premise of "being terrorists" when the Urzikstanis just want to live peaceful lives. They also indiscriminately use chemical nerve agents against civilian targets. The Al-Qatala "freedom fighters" are portrayed as slightly ALighterShadeOfBlack, playing up the WellIntentionedExtremist role claiming they fight for Urzikstani freedom from foreign oppression but involving acts of terror against western societies that haven't acted directly against them (and they also kill children), and moreover, according to multiple in-game conversations, they may even have done these ''before'' the Russian invasion. Ultimately neither are portrayed as anything but evils that must be eradicated and the forces led by the Karim siblings act to quell both sides (Barkov for invading their homeland and oppressing their people and Al-Qatala for giving their people a bad name, which is implied to be the reason for Barkov's invasion in the first place).

->''"[[NecessarilyEvil We get dirty, and the world stays clean. That's the mission.]]"''

Also, for the first time since ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'''s PC port, ''Modern Warfare'' foregoes the business model of paid map packs entirely in favour of releasing new [[https://callofdutymaps.com/Call-of-Duty/modern-warfare/ Multiplayer Maps]] and Operations at no extra cost. On top of that, in a series first ''Modern Warfare'' also has cross-platform play between all three platforms, bringing the community closer together than ever before.

** The entire map of [[https://callofdutymaps.com/modern-warfare/warzone/ Verdansk]] in Warzone features modified maps from ''Call of Duty 4'' and ''Modern Warfare 2'', including "Killhouse", "Broadcast", "Vacant", and "Scrapyard".

On May 25th, 2022, Infinity Ward announced a sequel, ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareII Modern Warfare II]]'', released on October 28th, 2022. A second sequel, ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareIII'', was announced in August 2023 for release on November 10th, 2023.

On May 25th, 2022, Infinity Ward announced a sequel, ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareII Modern Warfare II]]'', released on October 28th, 2022.

* WarIsHell: While the series has regularly indulged in depicting the horrors of war, ''Modern Warfare (2019)'' takes it to another level compared to its predecessors. Gone is the glamourization of violence, BlackAndWhiteMorality and bombastic action from previous entries, instead being replaced by realistic violence that is PlayedForHorror at all times, both our protagonists and villains engaging in terrorist acts and horrific war crimes, and while still having some the series' trademark badassery, much of it is toned down to disturbing extremes. And as the cherry on top, like any civilians unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire, the PlayerCharacter is just as vulnerable this time around.
** The best demonstration of this is when that Farah and her brother Hadir are exposed early to the horrors of war in their youth, watching their parents get murdered by Barkov's forces and getting captured and spending most of their lives inside a concentration camp and brutally dehumanized by the Russian occupation that serves a CynicismCatalyst for Hadir as he joins Al Qatala to attack Picadilly in London in a brutal terror attack including a civilian having a bomb vest strapped with no way to disarm the bomb followed by a ruthless house raid which sees the deaths of mothers and children being orphaned by Price's squad.

* InNameOnly: Although it is stated that Urzikstan is in the midst of a civil war, we do not see any Urzikstans that support General Barkov's occupation forces, instead all the skirmishes involve Barkov's army vs two of Urzikstan's freedom fighters (representing the extremist Al-Qatala, and the more moderate Urzikstan Liberation Force, both, unsurprisingly, are at odds with each other).

** Warzone has a ring of poisonous gas which [[AdvancingWallOfDoom slowly restricts the playing field]]. Players can survive longer in the gas by picking up a gas mask, but it partially blocks one's view. layers can risk not picking up a mask to avoid the animation of taking off the mask when re-entering the circle.

** The [[spoiler:Juggernaut near the end of ''Into the Furnace''. Players who were used to seeing Juggernauts as slow, lumbering {{Mighty Glacier}}s will be in for a big OhCrap moment when this one starts ''sprinting''. And he is ''faster'' than the player despite being decked in full heavy armor and lugging around a PKM machine gun.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: The game's file size was only 61 GB at launch but has its Campaign, Multiplayer, and Spec Ops modes all in separate downloading files (with the Campaign requiring ''two'' separate downloads. The game is expected to have as much as [[https://www.gamerevolution.com/guides/607671-modern-warfare-download-size-install-space 175 GB in storage space]] by the time game support dies down, and well before that's even happened it's more than surpassed that on several occasions. And that's not getting into the shaders that the game seems to be constantly installing somehow. Almost every time the game is booted up, it has to install something, preventing the player from actually playing it until it's done, which could take anywhere from a few seconds to ''ten'' minutes. Trying to play anyway will cause the game to be very wonky for a few minutes after starting a match or campaign level.

* InNameOnly: Although it is stated that Urzikstan is in the midst of a civil war, we do not see any Urzikstans that support General Barkov's occupation forces, instead all the skirmishes involve Barkov's army vs two of Urzikstan's freedom fighters (representing the extremist Al-Qatala, and the more moderate Urzikstan Liberation Force).

Players play as a UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} agent codenamed Alex, SAS Sergeant Kyle Garrick, and local resistance leader Farah Karim as their missions to expose Barkov's oppression of the Urzikstani people and stop Al-Qatala's attacks intertwine and escalate, and eventually becomes a mission to stop the world from collapsing into WorldWarIII.