Off the Shelf Media

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (MW4) is the latest title released in the Call of Duty (COD) development cycle, this time coming from Infinity Ward. Recently, the closed beta was released to the public. After much excitement, fans finally got to get their hands on the highly anticipated new game from Infinity Ward, a studio we haven’t seen release a Call of Duty title in four years. 

The beta featured 22 weapons, five maps, and six game modes, with 20 levels of progression to sink your teeth into and decide for yourself whether this game is worth it. To no one’s surprise, the game has a ton of issues, and a large portion of the community seems extremely disappointed with what Infinity Ward took more than four years to create. 

In this article, I’ll try to shed some light on the game strictly from a beta perspective. Keep in mind that betas exist so developers can collect feedback and make changes, so take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt and try the game for yourself. As someone who has played competitive Call of Duty for most of my life, my opinion may differ from yours.

But first, some disclaimers. This game will play much differently at release when everything is unlocked. Not having certain perks and a larger weapon pool will completely change the game when it officially comes out. Infinity Ward may make changes before release that make the game more fluid and streamlined. This game may also completely flop before Grand Theft Auto VI comes out. But from what I’ve seen so far, people aren’t happy. Including me.

Gameplay: 1

The overall gameplay is lacking in a lot of areas.

Modern Warfare 4 feels extremely clunky compared to recent predecessors. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (MWIII), released in 2023; Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (BO6), released in 2024; and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (BO7), released in 2025, all had great movement systems for the games they were centered around. 

Modern Warfare III, developed by Sledgehammer Games, incorporated a movement system that actually felt like a Modern Warfare game, not too fast, not too slow, just right for the more boots-on-the-ground style of Call of Duty. Modern Warfare 4 takes everything Call of Duty has learned over the past three years and completely throws it out the window.

The pacing of this game feels like your operator has 1,000 sandbags strapped to his back while carrying whatever weapon you’re currently using. Weapon attachments also cause so many unnecessary penalties that it makes zero sense to grind weapons for attachments if the guns are just going to be better without them. There is no world where an attachment should penalize you so badly that it completely changes how a gun handles. 

Attachments in Call of Duty have always had stat buffs and debuffs, but these are way too severe. A light submachine gun shouldn’t suddenly handle like a light machine gun (LMG) because you put attachments on it. This is not Battlefield; this is Call of Duty. 

The movement system doesn’t deliver what we’ve come to expect from Modern Warfare games either. The short version is that it feels like you’re playing the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from 2019 with 20 dumbbells strapped to your back, and everything the game has to offer is preventing you from moving around anywhere. 

It feels most similar to the movement mechanics from the 2022 release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which didn’t have mechanics like slide canceling and then simply added slide canceling to it. The bigger issue is that this game lacks an identity. Does it want to be a fast-paced shooter like the games before it, or does it want to be more tactical? The game doesn’t seem to know, despite having a solid foundation to accomplish either. If Infinity Ward sees fit. 

Movement just feels super clunky with the way it’s currently designed. When you turn on Tactical  Sprint. Yes, Tac Sprint is back; you immediately get a notification telling you this will slow your aim-down-sight speed and transition-to-target time when you enable Tac Sprint Assist, another penalty for movement. There are way too many barriers when it comes to movement in this game. I don’t understand the point of bringing back elements of Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare III’s movement systems if you’re going to make it nearly impossible for players to actually take advantage of them. Stamina has also made its return, and you need to run a perk just to have a chance at disengaging from a gunfight. To me, this is an awful design choice and extremely disappointing.

The one place where this game specifically shines is the guns. Most of the weapons are genuinely fun to use, and a lot of them make sense for the game, except for the fact that the PPSh-41 is here. I have no idea who decided that, but sure! Weapons like the ISO Nightshade are really fun to use. They feel like Modern Warfare weapons, and the M4 is still in its prime, as usual. She’s as beautiful as the day she left us. With that being said, the Time to Kill, or TTK, is so fast that I barely have time to react. TTK is an essential part of an FPS. You need to be able to rip someone, but you should also have a reasonable opportunity to escape a fight. The TTK on most weapons in this game is so fast that you don’t even have time to think about your next move. 

The maps are also extremely subpar compared to what we’ve played in previous games. Before I rip the map design apart, I want to make one thing clear: spawn logic- the rules or algorithms that determine the spawn location of players, items, etc.- has a lot to do with how maps play. This is a beta, and hopefully Infinity Ward will adjust the spawns over time. My criticism here is specifically about how these maps played during the beta. Below, I am going to give my opinion on the maps based on what I have played. 

Silkworm is one of the most poorly designed maps I’ve ever played. It gives me PTSD from Border Crossing in Modern Warfare II, and if you know, you know. The different areas of the map make no sense. It’s like the entire thing was built specifically around people holding head glitches behind cars and boxes. You’re barely allowed to move, there aren’t enough decent flank routes, and you’re constantly getting sniped in the head by three dudes sitting in spawn.

Transit 213 is basically a different version of Shipment. It’s okay. Kind of fun, as long as you’re not playing Domination.

Cachette is actually my favorite so far. It’s a decent size, there are plenty of routes to take, and it’s great for Search and Destroy and Hardpoint. It’s easily my favorite map from the beta. Is it memorable? Probably not, but at least it plays well.

Rooftops I absolutely hated the first time I played it, but it grew on me after a few hours. Again, it’s a great Search map and actually makes you think about positioning. I wish there were one more underground route you could take, but overall, this map is decent.

Lotus is another okay map. I think it works well for Search and Destroy, Hardpoint, and Domination. My biggest issue is that the buildings are way too open. There are way too many windows and sightlines.

If this game wants to succeed from a map perspective, spawns are going to be a huge issue at launch, but that’s fixable. The overall design of these maps, though? Maybe a 4/10 or 5/10. I think Infinity Ward should seriously consider bringing back maps from Modern Warfare III, like 6 Star and Rio, for competitive play because I don’t see many of these maps fitting into a competitive map pool with the way they’re currently designed.

Story: 0

Being that this is a multiplayer beta, there is really no story. Even in past Call of Duty games, there have been small stories integrated into multiplayer, but this one just has none at this time. 

Atmosphere: 0

The overall vibe of the game is also really disappointing. I understand that Modern Warfare games have a much different vibe than Black Ops. Black Ops is more colorful, cartoony, and vibrant, while Modern Warfare leans more toward the military-sim aesthetic. But the maps and overall presentation of this game look like a mobile game. The lighting on a lot of the maps is really, really bad. Many of the elements they’ve added don’t look remotely close to what you’d expect from a premium-priced game, especially from a franchise as prominent as Call of Duty. 

The game lacks memorable assets and environmental details that make the world feel new or interesting. Instead, it feels unfinished. Once again, the game seems like it’s having an identity crisis. The one decent thing I’ll give it: the Vault Edition skins are cool.

Value: 0

I have no idea why someone would play this beta and immediately want to spend nearly $60 on the game, let alone $90 for the Vault Edition. Again, this is a beta. Betas are important because you want to give your player base a taste of what you’re making and leave them excited for the full release while also receiving back critical feedback. 

Duration: 0

This beta made me less excited for the game. This is the least amount of time I’ve put into a Call of Duty beta in years, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. I’m not a Steam-chart spy, but seeing a massive player drop during a Call of Duty beta when COD betas usually put up crazy numbers speaks volumes. Infinity Ward hasn’t given us much reason to trust them in the past, and this beta hasn’t given me a reason to start trusting them now.

Total Score: 1/10

I’ve ranted a lot throughout this article, but that’s because I’m passionate about this franchise. There’s one last aspect of this game that I genuinely believe will hurt it much more than people realize: Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) needs to be completely overhauled.

Black Ops 7 gave us a matchmaking experience that felt much closer to classic Call of Duty. Some good lobbies, some bad lobbies, and then some lobbies where it feels like you’re playing for a CDL Championship against Scump and FormaL. Shoutout to T2P. That’s classic COD. 

I understand part of the reasoning behind SBMM. Casual players don’t necessarily want to get destroyed every game, and nobody wants to constantly play against sweaty players. I don’t want to either. That’s why Ranked Play exists. If this game wants to succeed, I think it needs multiple matchmaking options: an open matchmaking playlist and another option for players who want stricter skill-based matchmaking. If you’re really getting destroyed every game, I understand wanting that option. But you cannot force the entire player base to go backwards. We need different ways to play. The matchmaking debate has been going on for years, and if Call of Duty can’t find the perfect solution, then at least give players more options to choose from. The overarching problem is that Call of Duty has lost its magic. Actually, let me rephrase that.

Infinity Ward has lost its magic.

Treyarch has done a really good job with BO6 and BO7. BO7 is my favorite Call of Duty in recent memory. It was packed with content and had so much to do: tons of camos, fun guns, decent maps, and a Ranked mode I’ve really enjoyed. MW4 feels like eight steps backward. I wish I could put into better words just how disappointed I am with this game. But if Infinity Ward takes the feedback we’re giving them as a player base and makes even 80% of the changes people are asking for, we might be okay.

Do I think this game is worth buying?

In its current state? No.

Do I think changes will be made?

Probably, especially considering the backlash.

Do I trust Infinity Ward? 

Right now, no. 

As of Aug. 31, 2026: Thoughts on beta release’s second weekend

Okay, so I wanted to add a little follow-up blurb now that the beta’s second weekend has concluded. I still stand by what I said in the initial review: it’s a beta and betas are meant for change. So let’s discuss some changes. 

Undoubtedly, the second weekend saw significant improvements. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that most of the issues the community has spoken out about, including movement, spawn logic, time to kill, etc., have seen some pretty good changes, and I have to give it to Infinity Ward for changing it so quickly. 

The game’s pacing and fluidity are much better but still need some work. I think for weekend two, a lot of people were pleasantly surprised, but there is still a huge issue, and that’s the conversation of matchmaking. Matchmaking, in my opinion, has not been that bad. Yes, I got some crazy lobbies, but I’m used to that. I played about 50 matches this weekend, and I can say that out of those 50, 10 or less were a challenge, or I ended up backing out. I have no idea why, and I’m usually the biggest critic when it comes to matchmaking, but it didn’t seem that bad. But maybe I’m just like that… 

I think SBMM is still a huge problem for this game regardless of how I feel about my matchmaking. One of the biggest issues with Call of Duty right now is that they can never seem to get the balance of matchmaking and making the community happy. I think SBMM and Open playlists should exist across the games. It seems to be the only way everyone is ever happy, and I hope Infinity Ward does the right thing and adds both playlists to test the waters. I think forcing people to play one or the other is a bigger issue than just adding both playlists and letting people play what they want. This game took a step in the right direction this weekend, and I hope it continues to do so because I actually enjoyed myself. 

By Christopher Fusco