Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4: The 7 gameplay features to make Infinity Ward great again

2. An expanded clan system

When Modern Warfare made its groundbreaking debut more than a decade, clan functionality was limited to the three-letter tag you could display next to your username. Over the years, Activision and its Call of Duty studios have experimented with a number of clan features though these have been mostly peripheral.

We’d love to see Infinity Ward revamp how clans work in Modern Warfare 4 in a way that goes beyond having a toolset for the serious competitive crowd. Collaborative challenges, custom cosmetics, and other features could prove to be quite the hook if done properly.

3. Double down on singleplayer

Say what you will about 2016’s Infinite Warfare. Despite being an all-round disappointment it easily has one of the best Call of Duty campaigns in recent memory. This was partly due to how it was structured, players returning to their ship between missions with a number of smaller, optional bounty hunts that had you chasing down enemy officers.

Modern Warfare 4 could benefit from a similar approach, giving players more to do than simply blitzing their way through the campaign in 6-8 hours, never touching it again. It could also take inspiration from Black Ops II and its branching narrative. Infinity Ward may finally give us a compelling reason to step away from online play by making its singleplayer story mode a focal point, helping them to finally get on level footing with their two sister studios.

4. Map Editor

Sadly, we don’t get enough map editors in video games nowadays, last year’s Far Cry 5 being a rare exception. With Fortnite’s Creative mode growing in popularity, it wouldn’t come as a shock to see Call of Duty mimic its seemingly unstoppable lead competitor. Again.

Being able to craft maps and modes then share them online with other players in the community is something Call of Duty has never done before. With Treyarch having introduced battle royale in Black Ops 4, hopefully we’ll see Activision take bigger risks and experiment beyond the series’ rigid formula.

5. It needs Captain Price, obviously

If Modern Warfare 4 does turn out to be the next game in this power-selling franchise, the team at Infinity Ward has the unenviable task of continuing the story after such an explosive, action-packed trilogy. Many of the lead characters are dead and much of the world is in ruin following a global conflict that saw entire cities completely blown apart.

This could be fertile ground for a new saga set during the aftermath. One that will hopefully star our main man Captain Price who, after the events of MW3, is still on the run despite having offed Makarov and saved the world. Alternatively, the sequel could provide us with a clean slate, though it would be a shame to ditch the existing Modern Warfare universe and its more grounded, contemporary setting.

6. Boots (mostly) on the ground

For a number of fans, Call of Duty: World War II’s return to “boots on the ground” gameplay following the double-jumping and wall-running of previous games was a welcome change in direction. Although others saw it as a regressive move, there’s something about that original COD blueprint that still holds up after years of being constantly rehashed.

That said, it would be a shame for Modern Warfare 4 to scale back its player maneuverability to the absolute basics. Black Ops 4 proved to be a perfect middle ground with its speedy and dynamic player movement. It wouldn’t for this to carry over though hopefully we’ll start to see online shooters experiment more with their navigation mechanics and how players can interact with maps.

7. It’s time to axe that season pass

Call of Duty is the only AAA multiplayer franchise still holding onto the season pass model of yesteryear. Locking content such as maps behind an additional paywall was once the norm though the landscape has (thankfully) changed. Getting rid of map packs will finally remedy COD’s issue when it comes to fragmenting its playerbases between multiple matchmaking queues.

It would be great to see Modern Warfare 4 emulate games such as Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege with a steady flow of free updates, perhaps retooling the season pass to offer other, purely optional, bonus content. With Treyarch having recently done something similar with its Blackout mode, this is a good sign that things are changing.

• Activision Blizzard
• Call of Duty

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