Call: Modern Warfare 4 achieved a 90 percent positive approval rating on Steam with 1,812 user reviews following its October 16 campaign early access release. The title breaks franchise trends by omitting Xbox Game Pass access at launch and pricing the Standard Edition at $69.99 alongside a Vault Edition.
Call: Modern Warfare 4 has arrived for pre-order customers seeking early access to its single-player campaign, opening to an unusually receptive audience on Steam user reviews. Out of 1,812 submitted ratings, 1,630 registers as positive, securing a Very Positive score that outpaces recent series entries.
That early momentum stands in sharp contrast to the reception of prior franchise chapters on Valve’s platform. SteamDB metrics place Black Ops 7 at 38.71 percent, Black Ops 6 at 45.75 percent, Modern Warfare III at 48.19 percent, and Modern Warfare II at 47.10 percent, leaving older titles like Black Ops III as the previous modern benchmarks for PC players.
Infinity Ward Concludes the Rebooted Modern Warfare Arc Across 16 Missions
Developed by Infinity Ward under new studio leadership Jack O’Hara and Mark Grigsby, the title serves as both a finale for the subseries plotline that began with 2020’s reboot and a fresh creative direction.
Reviews for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's campaign are looking pretty solid so far. It is shaping up to be one of the highest-rated campaigns in recent CoD history. Here's are some of the ratings that the campaign has received. Note that most reviews are still in-progress, so… pic.twitter.com/aRBcE9Y5Ls
The plot centers on an unexpected North Korean invasion and a chase for the series antagonist, Vladimir Makarov, whose hunt turns personal after the events of preceding titles. Reviewers note the inclusion of notable characters such as cartel leader Valeria Garza, known as El Sin Nombre
, and Urzikstan Liberation Force founder Farah Karim, alongside Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen portraying the antagonist known as The Archer. Captain Price tails the terrorist through a nightclub with some light parkour over rooftops and through crowded streets into an alleyway for a hand-to-hand brawl. Samuel Roukin’s haunting stare as Ghost and Barry Sloane encapsulating Price’s grief and moral quandaries with seriousness bring weight to the narrative, while Maria Elisa Camargo playfully ribs at him.
Pricing Tiers, Early Access Schedules, and Xbox Game Pass Omission
The release strategy separates the single-player experience from competitive multiplayer and the DMZ extraction mode. Players who digitally pre-ordered or pre-purchased Call: Modern Warfare 4 gained campaign access starting October 16, while DMZ unlocks on October 20 ahead of the full platform launch on October 23, 2026. The game lands on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Unlike previous releases, Xbox Game Pass subscribers do not receive the game at launch and must wait until holiday 2027 unless they purchase a separate copy. Purchasing options include the Standard Edition priced at $69.99 and the Vault Edition. PC players require an 115GB SSD storage requirement, alongside mandatory TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot configurations.
Platform Adaptations and Open-Zone Gameplay Experiments
The campaign mixes traditional linear set pieces with open-ended exploration. One standout mission, titled Stranded, takes players behind enemy lines and incorporates mechanics inspired by the forthcoming DMZ extraction mode, allowing exploration of snow-covered environments complete with tactical equipment and puzzles.
On portable hardware, Nintendo’s platform receives its first entry in the franchise since 2013’s Ghosts on the Wii U. Digital Legends developed the Switch 2 adaptation, delivering motion capture, audio, and vocal performances matching competition platforms despite hardware constraints. The Nintendo Life reviewer noted that after playing through the campaign on Switch 2, they did not feel they were getting a “lesser” or “lite” version, and praised Digital Legends for their work on the fully-featured version of the game on hardware the size of a paperback.
Expanded Multiplayer Offerings and Upcoming Content Milestones
While campaign impressions dominate early discussions, the full October 23 release brings traditional competitive infrastructure. The package includes 12 new core 6v6 multiplayer maps alongside larger battlegrounds supporting infantry and vehicle combat. Developer Infinity Ward emphasizes grounded gunplay and enhanced weapon visibility, while campaign progress unlocks cosmetic items and operators that carry over into multiplayer and DMZ modes upon launch.