But, but...I am not allowed to like CoD!

Yes, here we are again. Another CoD and another year of what the hell the next developer screwed up - or did they this year?

Call of Duty Modern Warfare has certainly divided opinion after a strong and solid Beta that was released, coupled with early news that there will be no loot boxes to the sounds of joyous high fives in the community. The game has managed to retain a lot of positives from the beta into the launch unlike other CoDs and has been highly praised on the fact they've kept many underlying mechanics and gameplay to the level that everyone wants.

So why the hell are people still hating on this game?

Well, we all love opinions don't we? And when it comes to the Call of Duty franchise its unlike any other game that i see out there over the past 5, 6, 7 years that takes this level of criticism. You see, most criticism that is strong usually comes with emotion. And emotion for this game is strong. Possibly the highest I ever see on a game, because it is the basics of boys and their toys imagination of being Action Man: The Greatest Hero of Them All (don't lie, you sang that line in your head, didn't you).

So my view of the world as I see it right now for this CoD is that people jump to the negatives straight away, forgetting the positives. I understand that to a degree - this one still has some glaringly obvious ones.

Maps - The most open maps a CoD has ever had. Yet still manages to have a 762 snugs for camper based play to pick you off 4 seconds after you spawn
Skillbased Matchmaking - Not a massive negative for me, but i've had the odd game whereby you get a Road Rash punch in the face at 150mph, and the same happens every 2 seconds until the round is up
Challenges - Can be cumbersome in how they are implemented and only one at a time is frustrating at times
Menus/UI - Overall, that is a shambles, like most CoDs because they do not care about it

Most importantly though, I find its the behaviours we're all used to that come out because we want CoD to do well so we can get that nostalgic feeling back when we played early CoDs and ransacked every team in town.

Let me be clear - This game has the ability to give you that feeling. Open your mind to it.

For all the weaknesses, the pros are clear as day and when they get things right, regardless if it is part of Activision, the developers deserve some credit for listening to the community. What am i talking about? Well:

Gunplay - These has to be one of the best CoD games ever for overall gunplay. Guns feel solid. Nearly every gun does (apart from Pistols at the time of writing this but thats not fundamentally a bad thing).
Gunsmith - The amount of customisation thats available at your disposal is huge. It gives the game a sense of depth to each and every gun. When the game is all about the guns, you want variety at your disposal and you have stacks of it here
Changing Loadouts IN GAME - Why o why we have never had this is insanity. It looks like the smallest of Quality of Life changes but it makes a huge difference to the game. Loadouts can be really overwhelming to most people and usually once you've made it you'll stick with it but now theres more incentive to change an attachment mid-game and try more varied loadouts
No Prestige - I see this as a massive plus which to some may be surprising. To Prestige in CoD literally helps nothing other than seeing how huge you wanted your forehead to be. I was with many others that used to level up to 55 and never Prestige as i wanted access to all the guns. This way you have that but can still unlock further items and attachments the more you go into the game. Having Season ranks after that level is a way they can keep a certain amount of grind to the game with access to vary the offering to the player base with specific seasonal content in the future. Its a great model to have to help players return more often
Choice - In my opinion there's more than enough choice in gamemodes AND maps. Whilst maps require some fine tuning, they aren't all as bad as people say they are. Apart from Piccadilly. Piccadilly can die by being sucked up in large Black Hole with loot boxes. Some have some great verticality and decent sized lanes that have a twisted on how interlocking doors connect each lane. Just because its never been done before doesn't mean its a bad thing.
Gameplay - Over the past week i've noticed it doesn't matter what style of game you play any longer. It all depends on what you mode you play in. You can run around all you like in Hardcore and dominate the scoreboard like a madman, or, take it safe and steady in Core.
Score and Killstreaks - Not too hard and not too easy to obtain. Not many seem OP and the ones that do, usually can be shot out of the sky reasonably quickly. UAV spamming doesn't seem an issue any longer like it was in the beta. The Personal Radar is a great alternative and also gives away your position so with great reward comes with great risk.

Veteran CoD players really need to give this time and try all gamemodes. Clearly, in a party it will ALWAYS be better because people will react to how you're feeling and make you feel brighter. Even if you're team is getting spanked. Our mindsets have to change from this CoD forward. We can't just keep labelling it same old CoD anymore and also running around trying to find the first piece of info to royally fuck it over.