Reception and Reviews

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the best-reviewed Call of Duty in years: Metacritic's PC page shows a Metascore of 86 from 18 critic reviews, every one positive, and OpenCritic a Top Critic Average of 85 with 96% of 28 critics recommending it, both read on Oct 25, 2026. Forbes' Paul Tassi called it the series' best Metacritic score in 15 years, against 65 for Black Ops 7. Critics singled out the campaign, the modular Kill Block map and DMZ's huge Hajin map; the criticisms were DMZ becoming paid, Vault Edition perks in DMZ, the launch time to kill and skill-based matchmaking. On Steam it is rated Very Positive, 81% of 4,226 English reviews (Oct 25, 2026).

Quick facts

Sources: Metacritic and its PS5, Xbox Series X and Switch 2 lists, OpenCritic, Steam store page and appdetails, all read Oct 25, 2026.

Review scores

Most outlets reviewed on PC after Campaign Early Access opened on Oct 16, some publishing a campaign verdict first and a final score at launch. Metacritic's PC score stood at 84 from 19 reviews on launch day and at 86 from 18 scored reviews on Oct 25, as reviews were added and scored (Tech4Gamers, Oct 23, 2026). Metacritic also shows an 89 from three critics in its platform panel, which matches the three Switch 2 reviews of 90 but is not labeled on the page we read.

Sources: Metacritic PC critic reviews, Metacritic PS5 critic reviews, OpenCritic (read Oct 25, 2026), Insider Gaming (Oct 18, 2026), TweakTown (Oct 19, 2026), Game Rant (Oct 23, 2026). IGN's final review was still in progress at launch, per The Shortcut.

What critics praised

2:21 The campaign. Reviewers broadly called it the series' best story in years. GameSpot rated it the best campaign "since Modern Warfare 2019" and said it ends the rebooted series on a high note (GameSpot, Oct 16, 2026). GamesRadar+ called the game a real return to form and predicted the mission Stranded will be argued over as one of the series' best missions for years (GamesRadar+). PC Gamer called it the most fun it had had with a Call of Duty campaign in years, while finding Mads Mikkelsen's Archer underused (PC Gamer, Oct 16, 2026). Game Rant praised Barry Sloane's Price and Young Mazino's Park (Game Rant, Oct 23, 2026). The campaign is covered from the Story page. The clip is Nintendo Life's video review on the campaign, a 16-mission ride it calls excellent in writing and performances.

Multiplayer and Kill Block. GameSpot called Kill Block easily the star of the multiplayer, and Game Rant called the whole package the best Call of Duty since Black Ops 2 (OpenCritic). Windows Central described it as the quintessential Call of Duty experience, TechRadar Gaming as Call of Duty at its very best (Metacritic).

4:45 DMZ and Hajin. GamesRadar+'s headline said DMZ is better than ever, Vandal called Hajin "by far, the crown jewel" (Metacritic), and GameSpot noted it is the largest map ever made for Call of Duty. See DMZ and Hajin.

The long development cycle. Destructoid saw the game as the series' strongest case for a full-length development cycle, CGMagazine as an exceptional finale to an uneven series, and Game Informer as a solid sendoff for the rebooted subseries (The Shortcut, Oct 23, 2026).

What critics criticized

GameSpot's list of weaknesses was the most specific: brief final boss fights, DMZ no longer free to play, only six DMZ story missions, Vault Edition advantages in DMZ, killstreaks instead of scorestreaks, and Kill Block limited to Gunfight at launch (GameSpot, Oct 23, 2026). GamesRadar+ objected to instant game-overs for hitting civilians and to a beach assault that kills players who stray from their squad leader. TrueGaming said DMZ needs to address its player count (Metacritic), and Insider Gaming found the new pipe climbing in the campaign flimsy (Insider Gaming, Oct 18, 2026).

On PC, DSOGaming criticized that turning on ray tracing disables every upscaler and forces Variable Rate Shading, and reported traversal stutters in the campaign (DSOGaming, Oct 23, 2026). See PC Requirements and Install Size.

What players say

Steam reviews started strong. On the first day of Campaign Early Access the game had 81.15% positive reviews from about 900, the best for a Call of Duty on Steam since Black Ops 3 in 2015, and 87.4% from over 2,000 a day later (Insider Gaming, Oct 18, 2026). TechSpot counted 94% of 4,068 reviews on Oct 19, the best Steam rating for a Call of Duty since 2010's Black Ops, against 38.7% for Black Ops 7, 45.7% for Black Ops 6 and 48.1% for Modern Warfare 3 (TechSpot). By Oct 25, 2026, two days after the full launch, the store page showed Very Positive, 81% of 4,226 English reviews.

The launch-week complaints were about multiplayer. Players called skill-based matchmaking "miserable", and multiplayer creative director Joe Cecot answered that Infinity Ward's goal is that every match is a good one, while keeping Classic matchmaking (Dexerto, Oct 23, 2026). The beta had an Open Playlist with reduced skill-based matchmaking, and the game launched without it (Game Rant, Oct 24, 2026). Others find the launch time to kill too long for a Modern Warfare game; Infinity Ward kept the slower time to kill of the beta's second weekend because players preferred it (launch notes). See Movement and Gunplay.

Other complaints: no Game Pass until Holiday 2027, console installs of about 160 GB on PS5 and 194 GB on Xbox with Warzone, Steam's phone-number requirement, and suspected generative-AI art in beta maps (Game Rant, Aug 23, 2026); Steam's disclosure says the team uses generative AI tools for some in-game assets.

Nintendo Switch 2 reception

9:06 The Switch 2 version was received far better than its beta. Nintendo Life gave it 9/10, calling it best-in-class bombast that doesn't shortchange Nintendo players (Nintendo Life, Oct 22, 2026), and Nintendo Insider gave 90, saying Digital Legends had "achieved the seemingly impossible" and praising gyro aiming, the Joy-Con 2 mouse controls and DMZ's performance (Nintendo Insider, Oct 23, 2026). During the August beta, Kotaku had called the port playable but blurry and unstable on a TV (Kotaku, Sep 1, 2026). Digital Foundry had not published a full performance analysis as of Oct 25, 2026. See Nintendo Switch 2 Version. The clip is the verdict of Nintendo Life's video review, ending on its 9 out of 10.

Players and sales

Activision had announced no sales figures as of Oct 25, 2026. On Steam the game cannot be counted alone, because it runs inside the shared Call of Duty app; that app peaked at 227,622 at launch, about double Black Ops 7's launch, per Tech4Gamers quoting SteamDB. See Steam Player Count.

Frequently asked questions

What is Modern Warfare 4's Metacritic score? Modern Warfare 4 scores 86 on Metacritic for PC from 18 critic reviews, all positive, as of Oct 25, 2026. Its PS5 score was still "tbd" that day.

What is MW4's OpenCritic score? MW4 has a Top Critic Average of 85 on OpenCritic, with 96% of critics recommending it, from 28 reviews as of Oct 25, 2026.

Is Modern Warfare 4 good? By critics' scores, yes: Modern Warfare 4 has the series' best Metacritic score in 15 years, per Forbes, with praise for the campaign, Kill Block and DMZ. Players criticize its matchmaking and time to kill.

What are MW4's Steam reviews? Modern Warfare 4 is rated Very Positive on Steam, 81% of 4,226 English reviews on Oct 25, 2026, down from over 90% during campaign early access.

What did IGN give Modern Warfare 4? IGN scored the Modern Warfare 4 campaign 8/10 during early access, and its full review was still in progress at launch.

Is Modern Warfare 4 good on Switch 2? Reviewers rate the Modern Warfare 4 Switch 2 version highly: Nintendo Life gave it 9/10 and Nintendo Insider 90, praising its controls and DMZ performance.

Is Modern Warfare 4 better than Black Ops 7? By review scores, Modern Warfare 4 rates far higher: 86 on Metacritic for PC against Black Ops 7's 65, and a far higher share of positive Steam reviews.

Sources

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Hit with Backlash Over AI Art, Game Rant, Aug 23, 2026
• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Runs On Switch 2 And That's The Nicest Thing I Can Say About It, Kotaku, Sep 1, 2026
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 PS5 File Size Revealed, Making It COD's Biggest Yet, Beebom, Oct 13, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 as a standalone release, Call of Duty, Oct 15, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Review, GameSpot, Oct 16, 2026 (updated Oct 23, 2026)
• Modern Warfare 4 review, GamesRadar+, Oct 16, 2026 (updated Oct 23, 2026)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 review-in-progress, PC Gamer, Oct 16, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 Review, The Greatest COD Campaign Ever, But Not Perfect, Insider Gaming, Oct 18, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 Emerges to Best Call of Duty Steam Rating in a Decade, Insider Gaming, Oct 18, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 has the best Steam rating for a Call of Duty game in 16 years, TechSpot, Oct 19, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 campaign earns the series' best Steam rating in over a decade, TweakTown, Oct 19, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 Launch Patch Notes, Infinity Ward, Oct 21, 2026 (updated Oct 24, 2026)
• Review: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (Switch 2), Nintendo Life, Oct 22, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Switch 2 Review - Is It All Here?, Nintendo Life, Oct 23, 2026 (video)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Review, Game Rant, Oct 23, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Switch 2 Review, Nintendo Insider, Oct 23, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 review roundup: 'a strong return to form', The Shortcut, Oct 23, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 Review Roundup - A Return to Form With Slight Misfires, Tech4Gamers, Oct 23, 2026
• The 'Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4' Metacritic Review Score Is The Best In 15 Years, Forbes via Yahoo Tech, Oct 23, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 PC Performance Analysis, DSOGaming, Oct 23, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 boss responds to SBMM backlash as players call it "miserable", Dexerto, Oct 23, 2026
• Call of Duty: MW4 Players Aren't Happy About Skill-Based Matchmaking, Game Rant, Oct 24, 2026
• Call of Duty: MW4 Players Are Not Happy About the TTK, OpenCritic News (from Game Rant), Oct 24, 2026
• Modern Warfare 4 Launched To 2x Player Count Compared To Black Ops 7 on Steam, Tech4Gamers, Oct 25, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Reviews, with the PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Switch 2 lists, Metacritic, read Oct 25, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Reviews, OpenCritic, read Oct 25, 2026
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 store page and appdetails, Steam, read Oct 25, 2026