The problem with the campaign is that it hasn’t progressed since, um, Modern Warfare. It’s a shooting gallery albeit a pretty one that has some decent set pieces. Clean House is (as far as I can see) the showpiece but it’s nothing more than a spooky horror house. If you’re playing on veteran difficulty and you’re looking the wrong way as a spooky ghost terrorist pops out then you instantly die and it’s back 10 seconds to try again. Press the button fast enough and it’s onto the next pop up terrorist. It’s boring and old gameplay with some new shiny graphics. Well, it’s not all boring, but it’s not the most engaging. Well, it’s sometimes engaging, but it’s not innovative. Frankly, I’d take this over last years no-campaign at all bull shit but that’s not to say that this campaign is all that. It’s often quite horrible as bad guys shoot an awful lot of unarmed innocents. Think No Russian but rather than participating in the atrocity you’re walking alongside it watching it unfold through a window. It’s a nasty bit of work really. I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be taking away from the whole spectacle either: terrorists are bad? Yeah, sure. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s that the devs don’t have any ideas left; instead they just steal a whole bunch of scenes and ideas from the films they’ve been watching as you repeat sections of 13 Hours or whatever.
Mind you, I haven’t finished it yet, so I’ll reserve judgment, but whereas I’m enjoying it for what it is (and how pretty it is), I’m not exactly bowled over at the leaps and bounds in gameplay they’ve made since the original MW was released.