With the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles available, many games from the previous generation have making the leap to next-gen with special patches. These upgrades enhance these older games to improve their performance on PS5 and Xbox Series X, often offering features like better frame rates, higher resolution graphics, and other bells and whistles. Many popular games are getting the next-gen upgrade treatment, but one that’s been left out so far is 2019’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfareis a reboot of theModern Warfaresub-series, featuring fan favorite characters and maps from the originalModern Warfaretrilogy of games. It earned strong reviews from critics at the time of its release and is one of the most successful video games of all time in terms of sales. Over time, theCall of Duty: Modern Warfareexperience improved even further, as developer Infinity Ward ensured that the game had a steady stream of new content throughout 2020, adding maps, game modes, and much more to keep the experience fresh for players.
RELATED:Call of Duty 2021 Will Be Gritty and Controversial, Says Leaker
But withCall of Dutygames having annual releases,Call of Duty: Modern Warfarewas eventually phased out forCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This is especially unfortunate, asCall of Duty: Modern Warfarewas phased out at the top of its game, and the massive file sizes of both titles means that many gamers have to choose between one or the other. But withBlack Ops Cold Warsuffering from numerous and excessive technical problems, it’s a shame thatCall of Duty: Modern Warfarehasn’t been given a next-gen facelift to make it a more compelling choice forCoDfans on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Big Performance Boost
WhileCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris plagued by some unfortunate bugs, including some rather game-breaking ones, it does show how impressive aCall of Dutygame can look with a next-gen upgrade.Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warcan be played at 120 frames per secondand it also supports ray-tracing visuals.Call of Duty: Modern Warfarewith ray-tracing already exists on PC, so it doesn’t seem like it would be that big of a leap to add that feature to the console version of the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
The performance boostCall of Duty: Modern Warfarecould enjoy on PS5 and Xbox Series X is reason enough to give the game a next-gen upgrade. It’s safe to say that many fans would willingly pay the$10 fee that Activision has been chargingfor its next-gen upgrades if it means that they can playCall of Duty: Modern Warfarewith better graphics and performance.
Tons of Content
Infinity Ward and Activision spent a year releasing new content forCall of Duty: Modern Warfare, giving the game the most significant post-launch support out of anyCall of Dutytitle in history. But whenCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warcame out and players had to make room on their hard drives for the new game, that effort was seemingly wasted. And it’s a shame, too, becauseCall of Duty: Modern Warfarehas more maps, and more popular maps, than the latest entry in the series.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfareis home to fan favorite new maps like Shoot House, as well asremastered classics like Shipment fromCall of Duty 4and Rust fromModern Warfare 2. The game also has plenty of weapons that players spent an entire year unlocking attachments and custom skins for. Not to mention plenty of playable Operators and other content that players unlocked forCall of Duty: Modern Warfarein the various Battle Passes that were released for the game.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfarealso has more variety when it comes to the available game modes when compared to its successor. And whileCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris catching up with Gun Gameand other modes,Modern Warfarealready had those kinds of modes available to players right off the bat. There’s simply more reason to keepCall of Duty: Modern Warfareinstalled thanBlack Ops Cold War, so it would be great if players were given some next-gen enhancements so they don’t have to miss out on those features.
Less Technical Problems
It’s no secret thatCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warhas some serious technical issues, some of which have persisted since launch. Perhaps due to the fact that the game had less development time than other recentCall of Dutygames or due to other reasons entirely,Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris often prone to crashing. And theCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warsplit-screen feature is still completely brokenat the time of this writing.
RELATED:Call of Duty File Sizes Are Getting Seriously Out of Hand
Call of Duty: Modern Warfarehad its fair share of bugs, too. But with the game over a year old at this point, the developers were able to squash many of those bugs, and the result is a much more polished and technically-sound experience thanBlack Ops Cold War.Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warmay one day get to the same level of polish asModern Warfare, but as it stands,Modern Warfareis objectively the superior game from a technical standpoint.
Season 7
If Activision did decide to move forward with aCall of Duty: Modern Warfarenext-gen update, it would be perfect if it coincided with the rumored Season 7 for the game. Even though Activision has seemingly moved on toCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warentirely, rumors have persisted thatCall of Duty: Modern WarfareSeason 7 is waiting in the wings, set to add even more multiplayer maps to the game along withSoap as a playable Operator.
Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen, but combiningCall of Duty: Modern WarfareSeason 7with a next-gen upgrade for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X could very well convince those that have moved on to other consoles to re-download the 2019 fan favorite.
Activision Has Updated Some of Its Other Games
Activision has already given updates to some of its games, or plans to in the future. This includesCrash Bandicoot 4, which is receiving a substantial next-gen upgrade in March, as well asTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. Since Activision has been giving next-gen upgrades to these games, which have a fraction of theCall of Duty: Modern Warfareplayerbase, it only makes sense forModern Warfareto get in on the action as well.
There is Hope
While Activision has not officially announced aCall of Duty: Modern Warfarenext-gen upgrade for PS5 or Xbox Series X, there is still hope that one may materialize. Late last year, plans for aCall of Duty: Modern Warfarenext-gen upgrade leaked online, and that leak combined with Activision’s next-gen upgrades for its other games makes a PS5 and Xbox Series X optimization patch much more likely.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfarespent a year adding new content to the game, and even then, many of theleakedModern WarfareDLC mapsnever made it in. The game has a built-in playerbase of millions of players, and it’s clear that it was better-received than 2020’sCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. ConsideringCall of Duty: Modern Warfare’s quality and sheer breadth of content, the game deserves a next-gen upgrade so that it can stay relevant and players can enjoy its content longer.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfareis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
MORE:Activision Remasters That Could Come in 2021 and Beyond
