The short version
- The Modern Warfare 4 campaign opened early on October 16 for anyone who pre-ordered digitally. Reviews of the campaign landed the same day.
- IGN gave it 8/10 and GameSpot 7/10. GamesBeat scored the campaign 4.5/5 and is holding its full score until multiplayer is out.
- Most praise goes to the mission design and set pieces. The most common complaint is the open-world sections.
- The full game launches October 23 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. On Steam it's ₹4,999 in India and $69.99 in the US.
What the campaign is about
North Korea invades the South, and the story follows a young South Korean squad on a collapsing front line. Captain Price runs his own covert mission alongside it. According to the Xbox store listing, the campaign moves from Korea to New York, Paris and Mumbai, so Indian players will spot a familiar city along the way.
What critics like
The missions themselves. IGN calls them strong and consistent, and singles out a behind-enemy-lines level that borrows ideas from the DMZ mode. GameSpot praises the pacing and the spread of locations. GamesRadar points to big set pieces, good performances and some moral complexity.
PC Gamer's angle is interesting. It says this campaign doesn't feel like an afterthought, which has been a common complaint about recent Call of Duty games. Over on Reddit, a popular thread calls it the best campaign since the original Modern Warfare trilogy. That's fan reaction, not a review, but it lines up with what critics are saying.
Where they push back
The open areas. Nintendo Life and GamesBeat both say the open-world stretches sit awkwardly next to the tightly scripted missions and slow things down. GamesRadar finds some missions rigid, with restrictions that get frustrating. Even IGN, the highest score here, stops short of calling it one of the series' best campaigns.
What's still missing
These are campaign reviews only. Multiplayer and DMZ go live with the full launch, and that's where most players will spend their time. Expect final scores to move once reviewers have played those modes.
Our October release guide shows how Modern Warfare 4 fits into a packed month. On paper, if you buy Call of Duty mainly for the story, critics are pointing to this as the year to pay attention. If you're there for multiplayer, wait for those reviews after October 23.
