gameplay is very solid and narrative does everything right as far as being well-rounded, plus it's a nice deviation from the formulaic call of duty campaigns we've gotten since MW2019 especially given the fact that it's not representing an actual ground war, but rather the cold war. despite this, it's not memorable and even though it is one of very few call of duty campaigns with side content, it feels like it drags on endlessly. worth a play if you enjoy call of duty? obviously. but compared to MWII 2022 for example, it's objectively a better game, though the lack of truly memorable characters compared to MWII is glaring, and a reason why despite better quality gameplay and narrative, MWII was far more memorable.

aside from the villains being a little cartoonishly evil and the drawn out missions, this is easily the best COD campaign. people enjoy mw and black ops because it forces you to make risky decisions (which is a charm that is absolutely gutted from the mw remakes), but i feel like the message is clearer here and the cast of characters is far more likeable, albeit not quite as fleshed out since they only had one game to do it instead of a trilogy. must play for COD campaign enthusiasts and best character in the game is ethan o7