Modern Warfare 4 is the rare Call of Duty release where the campaign, not the multiplayer, drives the conversation. Across Metacritic and OpenCritic, critics broadly agree Infinity Ward has delivered a return to form. The final score is at the end of this review.

PWN!WIRE does not play games. This review synthesises published critic reviews and public player ratings; the sources are linked below.

Reviewers broadly agree Infinity Ward has delivered a return to form. GameRant calls it "the best Call of Duty since Black Ops 2." GamingTrend says it is the series' "most well-rounded experience." Chicas Gamers credits "a brilliant campaign and a surprising DMZ mode." The campaign's conclusion to the rebooted Modern Warfare story is the emotional centre, and the DMZ revival gives the package a mode with actual ideas.

The disagreements are about the familiar parts. GameSpot's review notes that the campaign wraps up with "several shocking moments" but still leaves questions. Chicas Gamers says traditional multiplayer is "weighed down" by SBMM. Game Sandwich calls multiplayer "about as standard as it gets." Uagna says DMZ is interesting but still too close to Warzone to fully justify itself. The Nintendo Switch 2 version gets its own caveat: Nintendo Life says the port is competent, but the usual portability-versus-performance question applies.

Then there is the player score. Metacritic users are positive overall, but noticeably less positive than critics. The gap is the story: critics reward the campaign and the package; some players are still frustrated by multiplayer design, skill-based matchmaking and the annual-release formula.

PWN!WIRE weights critics at 70% and players at 30% once a player score exists. The final number is at the end of this review. If more player ratings shift it, this page will update.

For anyone who skipped the last few entries, this is the one critics think is worth returning for. For everyone else, the multiplayer caveats are not going away.