It’s that time of year when leaves start to fall, the weather gets cooler, and days feel shorter. For gamers, it’s also when “Call of Duty” releases its next installment to the series, and this year, it’s “Modern Warfare.” 

This year’s “CoD” brought back the three original game modes: Campaign, Multiplayer, and Special Ops. These modes have different components that are all connected in some manner making “Modern Warfare” feel like a complete game. The CoD franchise seemed to be dying off after these past lackluster releases, but “Modern Warfare” might have single-handedly saved the franchise.

The Campaign will have you play as Alex, an American operative sent to the fictional country  Urzikstan to help Farah and Hadir Karim, siblings and freedom fighters, fight a chemical war against Spetsnaz (special forces) Russians and an unknown terrorist dealing deadly gas. The gas is used in London, where Kyle, a European operative, handles the terrorist attack with London’s police force. Unexpectedly, the situation at hand was blown out of proportion and our heroes must save what’s at stake with the assistance of the fan-favorite Captain Price.

Multiplayer feels balanced for once and is better than ever for it. It carries the same aspects from previous “CoDs: Modern Warfares” but has gameplay improvements. Weapons feel familiar and compatible with` anyone’s playstyle. Game modes still maintain the sweaty, aggressive competition. Scorestreaks like the UAV and my favorite, the Juggernaut suit, make staying alive worthwhile and beneficial for your team. With this year’s release of “Modern Warfare,” multiplayer flows as if you’re an actual soldier on the battlefield; everything counts, from the doors you open to the corners you turn.

When players load into a multiplayer match, the soldiers don’t stand there holding their weapons with a big, awkward countdown in the middle of the screen anymore. They now have cool operative intros like rappelling from a helicopter or jumping out from the back of a truck. Weapons are now modified with a gunsmith tab with tons of attachments to choose from. Players can pick a specific operative to play as, whom they must unlock completing specific prerequisites; such as finishing operations in Special ops, completing campaign missions, or getting a certain amount of kills.

In the maps, players can finally open, close and even peek through doors. You can be tactical with your next move or go in guns blazing! The little things like the awesome juggernaut suit playing rock music while you gun down your opponents will put a smile on your face. Rock music never sounded better while you rain bullet shells by your feet.

Following the Campaign, there is the Special Ops mode. Special Ops is the third game mode which are operation missions which you, or a complete team of 4, can accomplish objectives. Operations are missions that take place after the campaign ends, which I find satisfying. Missions do take some time to complete and are challenging, but once you complete them, you are rewarded greatly with XP, new operators to use, and even skins to your guns.

Like every CoD, there are flaws in the game. “Modern Warfare’s” con is “camping.” When a player finds a spot on the map where they can just sit and pick your team off one by one, is camping. We all have camped in CoD before and that’s okay, but “Modern Warfare” literally encourages camping. Every map has small crevices to peek through, buildings with lots of windows, even the top of buildings are camping grounds. Aside from potential disconnects from the server mid-game, unusual gun mechanics/recoil when firing, and lag, camping is your only major threat to an otherwise enjoyable “Modern Warfare” experience.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” nonetheless, is another installment that every player can enjoy, whether old or new.  “Modern Warfare” won’t be a game you put on the shelf and play later because it’s Call of Duty and they come out with one every year. Old players can enjoy the fast-paced flow without all of the futuristic aspects from past CoDs. New players will still see modern adjustments to accommodate their CoD needs, like crossplay and the weapons gunsmith. For $60, you won’t regret the purchase.