With the official world reveal only occurring just a few days ago and a full gameplay trailer landing soon after, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hype train has well and truly left the station. Though only a few minutes of gameplay was shown off, it seems as though Modern Warfare 2 is retaining what made the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot so compelling, while also hearkening back to some of the most nostalgic moments of older Call of Duty titles.
From the footage released so far, it seems as though 2022's Modern Warfare 2 will be taking players to some familiar locations, such as an oil rig and a cargo ship. And to make the journey even more nostalgic, some iconic Modern Warfare faces are also making a return, with Captain Price once again leading his Task Force 141 in a variety of life-threatening special forces operations. So with Modern Warfare 2 diving into the series' past while continuing to push the franchise forward, some fans may want to brush up on their Call of Duty history before MW2's October 28 release date.
The Original Modern Warfare Trilogy
The first stop for any fan looking forward to 2022's Modern Warfare 2, the original Modern Warfare trilogy is an absolute must-play. Though the new Modern Warfare games are technically reboots, with different stories and character backgrounds, the general essence of the series still resembles this original trilogy greatly. With Modern Warfare 2 bringing in Soap, Ghost, and Gaz, players might want a refresher on just who these characters are.
2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare introduces the team that carries through the entire series. Though they aren't officially Task Force 141 until the game's Mile High Club epilogue mission, the entire crew is here, even including the Russian pilot Nikolai. Modern Warfare offers a fairly succinct and compelling story and manages to keep its central characters at the heart of the narrative, just as the new Modern Warfare 2 looks to be doing.
2009's Modern Warfare 2 is the direct follow-up, continuing Task Force 141's story. This time, the team swaps one Russian arms dealer for another, but the new one is capable of starting a new world war. Modern Warfare 2's plot gets a little convoluted towards the end, but its many twists and turns have cemented it as one of the most engaging campaigns in Call of Duty history, with plenty of iconic set-pieces along the way.
2011's Modern Warfare 3 doesn't quite reach the same heights as its predecessors, but it's far from being one of the franchise's worst entries. Modern Warfare 3 shows the aftermath of MW2's world-changing ending and shows how Task Force 141 is trying their best to fix the situation at hand. Despite this original Modern Warfare series being over a decade old now, the gameplay holds up incredibly well, and remastered versions of the first two games in the series make them a pleasure to play all these years later.
Modern Warfare (2019)
With 2022's Modern Warfare 2 being a direct sequel to the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot, it's probably a good idea for fans to jump back in and remind themselves of that game's story. While Modern Warfare 2 doesn't look to be tied to its predecessor all that much, with Farah making no appearance in the recent trailers and practically no mention of the previous game's antagonists or story, it does still serve as a good introduction to this newer version of Captain Price.
For those on the fence about picking up Modern Warfare 2 for its fairly hefty $70 price tag, playing through 2019's Modern Warfare will also be a good indication of how much the player enjoys the gameplay of this newer Call of Duty series. Although it maintains the same general mechanics as the rest of the franchise, Modern Warfare does add some new features, such as the ability to prop a weapon against a wall and shoot from around cover.
Call of Duty 2
Widely considered to still be one of the best campaigns in the entire franchise, Call of Duty 2 is an engrossing trip down memory lane that fans of modern Call of Dutys should go on at least once. While its gameplay and visuals may be a little dated at this point, with the game releasing in 2005, its wide cast of characters and the globe-trotting campaign still makes it an incredibly fun experience. And, as a fun little detail, Call of Duty 2 even includes a mustachioed British special forces soldier named Captain Price, though the two characters are not canonically related.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launches October 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.