Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Lore & Background

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was developed by Infinity Ward over roughly two years by a team of about 100 people. After completing Call of Duty 2, the studio wanted to move away from the World War II setting. The team considered several directions before settling on a modern setting. Activision initially resisted the modern setting because it considered the move away from World War II risky. The new setting affected the campaign's structure and storytelling; the absence of Nazi antagonists required the team to make the game more story-driven and establish its villains through the missions themselves. Infinity Ward avoided directly depicting then-current wars, instead creating a fictional contemporary conflict. To improve authenticity, the developers observed a live-fire exercise at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consulted U.S. Marines with recent combat experience.

Reader's Guide

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is significant for breaking the Call of Duty series away from its World War II roots and establishing a modern military setting that would define the franchise for years. Its campaign, played from multiple perspectives including British SAS and U.S. Marines, was praised for its storytelling and set pieces, including the controversial nuclear detonation sequence. The multiplayer introduced a leveling system, custom classes, perks, killstreak rewards, and Prestige mode, which became templates for future first-person shooters. The game was the top-selling worldwide in 2007 and has been retrospectively hailed as one of the greatest video games ever made.

Did You Know?

• The game was developed over two years by a team of about 100 people.
• The multiplayer includes killstreak rewards: a three-kill streak calls in a UAV, five kills an airstrike, and seven kills an attack helicopter.
• The campaign contains 30 collectible pieces of enemy intel that unlock optional cheats and visual filters.