Critics rank the campaign, led by a squad of young Korean marines, among the series’ best in years, then split sharply over the new Frontline mode.
About this review roundup: GAME MODE has not playtested this game. This is original analysis of the credited reviews and official information below, researched November 2, 2026. The displayed 7.8/10 is the equally weighted average of these two critics’ scores, converted to ten and rounded to one decimal. It is not a GAME MODE playtest score or a comprehensive review aggregate.
Released: October 23, 2026 (Campaign Early Access for digital pre-orders began October 16; DMZ early access began October 20; Steam’s US listing shows October 22). Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2.
One campaign, two very different halves
Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 4 launched worldwide on October 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2, published by Activision. Digital pre-order owners could start the story a week earlier through Campaign Early Access on October 16, and DMZ early access followed on October 20.
Both reviews describe a campaign that splits its time between a squad of young Korean marines and a separate thread led by Price, and both critics clearly prefer the first.
Where the critics agree: the story
| Critic | Score | Played on | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Park, PC Gamer | 85/100 | PC | Unmatched gunplay, a fun campaign and a standout new mode |
| Simon Cardy, IGN | 7/10 | PC, plus a couple of missions on Switch 2 | The best Modern Warfare story in years, held back by its maps and modes |
Simon Cardy’s IGN review calls the 16-mission, roughly seven-hour campaign the best Modern Warfare story since the 2019 reboot, and a proper single-player game in a way 2023’s MW3 wasn’t. He finds the invasion half, led by Young Mazino’s Park Hyun Jun and his squad, more affecting than Price’s Bond-style half, and wishes Mads Mikkelsen’s The Archer had more screen time. In his words, the campaign “made me feel something for the series again.” His reservations are unforgiving stealth and an imprecise counter-based melee system at key story moments.
Morgan Park at PC Gamer puts it in almost the same terms. He rates the roughly six-hour campaign as the most fun in years thanks to the Korean marines and an open-ended sandbox mission called Stranded, which Cardy also highlights. Park finds Price’s half forgettable and a waste of Mikkelsen, and notes that the North Korea premise flattens a complex conflict through an American lens.
The Frontline argument
Multiplayer is where the scores part. Park says Infinity Ward’s gun feel and sound are unmatched, and he likes the Korean-themed weapons and the per-gun apex attachments that change how a weapon behaves. He still argues that core multiplayer takes no big swings, with lopsided killstreaks, boxy three-lane maps and spawns that put enemies behind you. The fix, for him, is Frontline, a new mode with fixed team spawns that he calls the best thing to happen to Call of Duty multiplayer in a generation.
Cardy sees that same mode as the worst of the bunch, a place where spawn kills take over. He enjoys the slower time-to-kill, simpler movement and the shape-shifting Kill Block map, but finds the other launch maps forgettable and Ground War a weak imitation of Battlefield. He did report pleasantly smooth performance in the Switch 2 missions he tried.
DMZ also helps explain the gap. Park finds it a full, surprisingly generous extraction shooter, with banked cash and self-revives, even if its armoured AI soldiers are dull and PvP is only OK. IGN’s 7 leaves DMZ to a separate review, which gave it 8/10.
Who should pick up Modern Warfare 4?
Our reading is that campaign players can buy with some confidence, since both critics land on the same highlights. For multiplayer regulars, the decision comes down to Frontline: if fixed spawns sound like an improvement, Park’s view that this is Call of Duty “in the pocket” is the one to follow. If you mostly play classic modes on the launch maps, Cardy’s lower score is the better guide.
Cited scores and sources
Calculation: (8.5 + 7.0) ÷ 2 = 7.8/10, rounded. These are selected reviews, not every published score.
For a wider view, OpenCritic listed a Top Critic Average of 84 for the game when we checked on November 2, 2026.
Official game information and artwork source. Image: Activision.
The Verdict: Strong reception
Average of the cited critic scores, normalized to 10. See the methodology and individual scores above.
