Could it be true at last? If the South Korean Ratings Board is to be believed, it is! A Twitter user named Nibel discovered a rating entry for the Call of Duty title, submitted to the Board on February 26, 2020 and requested by official developer Blizzard Entertainment. No consoles were attached to the listing.
This potential entry into the popular first-person shooter franchise would be a remaster of the single-player campaign portion of 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Modern Warfare 2 was an extremely successful entry into the series, receiving a 9.5 from IGN, a perfect 10 from the Daily Telegraph, a 39/40 from Famitsu, and many other similarly high ratings.
Mixed thoughts
While excitement for the remaster’s potential release has generally been high, some doubt remains. In 2019, the Call of Duty franchise rebooted their most popular sub-series with a game simply titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was also received positively. Some fans expressed sadness or concern upon learning that this would be a remaster of the 2009 title, rather than a sequel to the 2019 one.
One Twitter user named Zeno responded with disdain to Nibel’s discovery, asking “What’s the point in remastering the sequel when they just rebooted the series anyway?” Nibel’s less-than-enthusiastic response was simply “$$$”.
https://twitter.com/zeno_raptor/status/1240950896147795969
Potential controversy
Others question whether a remastering of Modern Warfare 2 would be appropriate in the world’s current climate. The original release included the highly controversial “No Russian” level, in which the player is able to shoot civilians in an airport. Scenes from “No Russian” were shown at the White House in 2018 as part of President Trump’s argument that video games have become increasingly violent.
Whether “No Russian” would be included in a potential remake or remaster of Modern Warfare 2 is a question which has been asked on Internet forums and in fan communities several times since the game’s initial release. Currently, there is no information about how a potential remaster would handle the controversial level.
A stand-alone release
The South Korean Ratings Board entry seemed to indicate that the remaster of Modern Warfare 2 would be a stand-alone release. This comes as a surprise to many, as the remaster of the original Modern Warfare was included in the Legacy Edition of another title in the series, 2016’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. This bundling may have been a result of the remaster including only the single-player campaign, stripping away much of what the original release contained.
Have we heard this before?
This is not the first time that a Web site has seemingly indicated that Modern Warfare 2 will be remastered. It appeared on an Italian-language Amazon listing in 2018, which claimed that it would be released for both the PlayStation 4 and the XBox One. Unfortunately, nothing came of the listing and it was ultimately removed.
We can only wait and hope that more news of a potential Modern Warfare 2 remaster will soon be forthcoming.
