The Modern Warfare that started it all. I didn't grow up with the franchise at all so I don't really have any attachment or nostalgia to this game. I will say that I only played through the campaign and not the multiplayer because I've heard it's very dangerous to do so and Activision doesn't give enough of a shit to fix it. Overall, I thought the game was serviceable. I had some frustrating snags (granted I was playing on Hard mode, one step under Veteran) with the last couple of missions, which makes sense in terms of difficulty curve but I felt there were some deaths that weren't my fault. The story was pretty fun, I like the dynamic between the SAS unit specifically. General COD gameplay which I'm sure gets a bit more refined with the later entries.

A sequel that gets the time in the oven that the first one deserved. The single-player content alone blows the first one out of the water, but the refined gameplay mechanics and movesets also show the massive improvement this game is. While the story is pretty straightforward and kind of underwhelming and there have been some horror stories regarding jank and bugs, the game itself feels great to play and each character has been lovingly crafted to play exactly how you think they would alongside some extra sauce that makes them stand out from the rest of the cast. The roster is divisive, where people have good reason to be critical of the cuts made in favor of weird replacements but it's also combined with the fallout of a post-Ultimate world causing high expectations. I don't mind the roster personally but I don't judge others for their critiques. Online is really solid, like amazingly smooth. There are some really gross bugs that have caused me to lose some of my ranked points and those really blow. The additional Day 1 DLC is a bit scummy (like $20 for the DLC AND additional costumes for $10 is yeesh), but I will admit that I splurged because it was on sale and I wanted to support the devs. DLC characters are fun picks in a vacuum but as a package is pretty disappointing, especially since no new series are added or veterans return. To not end on a downer though, if you're looking for a new mascot platform fighter to mess around in, this is a good choice. And if you were burned by the first one and are skeptical, I can confirm that this game is good. I'd wait for it to go on sale though.