Call of Duty: Can Modern Warfare restore the franchise's somewhat tarnished glory?

Will the new Call of Duty prove to be the equivalent of a greatest hits album put out by a greedy, rights-retaining publisher to squeeze every last dime out of a dying property? This year’s Call of Duty will be taking us back to the contemporary superpower struggles, Middle Eastern flashpoints and terrorism-fuelled urban violence that are the trademarks of a present-day Call of Duty: Modern Warfare setting…and, unfortunately, the trademarks of the present-day in the real world as well. The three Modern Warfare games are also among the most popular in the franchise’s history, with the first Modern Warfare bringing the previously rather small title to global prominence back in 2007 and the third instalment selling more than any other Call of Duty. As you can expect, that whole ‘being a terrorist’ thing, didn’t exactly go over too well with a lot of mainstream media who were filled with righteous indignation It also marked the Call of Duty series being used as a convenient scapegoat for gun violence to distract the public — an easy strawman held up by politicians too ignorant or in bed with far too many lobbyists to even think about undertaking anything as gauche as actually doing their jobs and working proactively towards the public good. [lq> [/lq> Amazingly by some accounts, it appears that Modern Warfare’s creators have looked back at the series’ history of controversy and thought long and hard to themselves… “How can we top that?” From the accounts of those who have seen early footage and gameplay of the title, controversial actions and shocking consequences play an even more central role in the game this time round.