Modern Warfare 2 is bringing back the best ever Call of Duty mission, as footage from the FPS game’s new campaign trailer, alongside details from the actor playing Captain Price, reveal that there is a lot more to get excited for in CoD world than just multiplayer, Warzone 2, and the Modern Warfare 2 beta.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, from all the way back in 2007, was a complete reconceptualisation of the war shooter genre. Until then, with respect to a few poorly-received or sleeper hit exceptions, if an FPS was set in a war, it was set in World War 2. CoD 4 changed all of that – with its contemporary setting, weapon customisations, and low-key missions focusing on secret, morally ambiguous special forces wetwork, it portrayed a grubbier, nastier side of war, emphasising the small atrocities over the big victories. The night-vision raid in Blackout, Price cooly executing Al-Asad, the C130 gunship – CoD 4 wanted you to get your hands dirty, and feel the tension and reality of what you were doing. No wonder it features right at the top on our list of Call of Duty campaigns, ranked worst to best.
All Ghillied Up, the mission where you, as a young Price, accompany the soothingly-accented Captain MacMillan to an assassination in Ukraine, exemplifies many of CoD 4’s best qualities. Slow, steady, and laced with tension, it’s a showcase for the game’s focus on atmosphere and pacing over noise and bodycount. You crawl through the grass. You dispatch unwitting enemies from afar with silenced guns. MacMillan is constantly in your ear, praising you on a throat well cut. It’s the best and most memorable CoD mission to date, and now it’s back in Modern Warfare 2.
The latest gameplay trailer, confirming the campaign will become available a week early for fans who pre-order, shows a sniper, likely Price, lying in the grass, wearing a ghillie suit, and lining up a shot. Couple this with a tweet from Barry Sloane, the actor voicing Price in the Modern Warfare reboots, and it’s all but confirmed that All Ghillied Up is making a return. “Captain Price. Task Force 141. All Ghillied Up,” says Sloane, in a tweet spotted by Charlie Intel, that uses the hashtag “#ModernWarfare2”.
It’s another big reason to get excited about the new CoD, which is set to launch in October. You can find out everything you need to know thanks to our guide to the Modern Warfare 2 release date, DMZ mode, and more, as well as our walkthrough on the Modern Warfare 2 beta release date and how to play. You might also want to check out our guide on the Warzone sniper rifle loadout that is transforming the meta, or maybe try something non-CoD related from our list of the best FPS games on PC, including Doom Eternal and Rainbow Six: Siege.