Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is more about "having fun" than its 2019 predecessor

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Modern Warfare 2 won't have the "provocative or uncomfortable" aspects of 2019's Modern Warfare

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will bring the focus back to having fun after 2019's Modern Warfare divided fans with "provocative" and "uncomfortable" elements, Activision says.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 creative director Patrick Kelly compared the upcoming sequel to its predecessor directly, claiming it'll be more about "entertainment and having fun" this time around.

"When I look back at what we did with [2019 Modern Warfare], and I'm very proud of what we did in 2019, but there was a lot of stuff that was, at times, more provocative or uncomfortable. We're trying to focus a bit more on entertainment and having fun in this one," Kelly says. 

Kelly doesn't go into specifics about how the ways in which the Modern Warfare sequel is apparently more fun-focused, but he goes on to say that the developers "want the game to feel real and alive." That suggests that whatever elements are making Modern Warfare 2 less provocative aren't taking away from the series' realism. 

Kelly later teases that Modern Warfare 2 is a game "where everyone is playing together and having fun." Again, that's somewhat vague, but he does clarify slightly here by explaining that "no matter what your skill level or your interest, you can play in the same spaces together; you have your objectives, you have things you can do."

While 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was largely well-received, there was indeed a lot of talk about whether it was entirely tasteful. Our review said the game "attempted to tactlessly gamify a variety of war crimes in the service of fashioning a bombastic entertainment experience," adding that Infinity Ward "stumbled in its desire to hold a mirror up to the modern military machine or engage with the messy politics that fuel its characters and the broader strokes of the story."

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.