Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is Definitely Better Than the Original
As someone who has played hundreds of hours of the original Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer back in 2009, I was eager to dive into the MW2 Remastered campaign in 2020. After completing it multiple times now, I can say with confidence that the remastered version is superior to the 12 year old original in almost every way. Here‘s why.
Superior Visuals Make Everything Pop
The heavily enhanced visuals are the most obvious improvement. Textures, models, effects and animations have all been overhauled to take advantage of modern hardware. This means MW2 Remastered boasts visual fidelity that rivals any AAA blockbuster in 2020.
Everything in the environment, from brick walls to foliage has an incredible level of detail that was impossible in 2009. Characters have realistic wrinkles, pores and facial animations that make them feel like actual people rather than polygonal dolls.
According to Digital Foundry‘s technical analysis, texture resolution has been bumped up significantly:
| Texture Resolution | MW2 Original | MW2 Remastered |
| Environment | 512×512 | 4096×4096 |
| Weapons | 256×256 | 2048×2048 |
| Characters | 512×512 | 4096×4096 |
As you can see, weapons textures are 8x higher resolution in the remaster while environments and characters are an astonishing 16x higher resolution! This allows intricate details like fabric textures and debris to really pop.
Lighting is also far more sophisticated, with realistic shadows and reflections. New post processing effects like motion blur and depth of field make everything feel modern and cinematic. It‘s an immediately obvious night and day difference. Trust me, once you see MW2 Remastered in action, you‘ll never be able to go back to the muddy, low res original.
Audio Design Worthy of a Hollywood Blockbuster
Alongside the visual overhaul, the audio has also been fully remastered to deliver an immersive, theatre-like experience. Brand new high fidelity weapon sounds will rumble your subwoofer, from the thunderous boom of Barrett .50cal to the cracking echo of an M4. Iconic sounds like grenade explosions feature richer bass, while snap of reloading shotguns is especially visceral.
The soundtrack dynamically swells during high octane set pieces to get your adrenaline pumping. Quieter moments use ambient audio like wind, rain and chirping birds to set the mood. MW2 Remastered probably has the most advanced audio engineering in the whole Call of Duty franchise, sounding as good as the latest Star Wars or Marvel movie.
“The improved audio design is noticeable straight away. The punchy, rattling automatic gunfire sounds meatier, environ-mental audio has more subtle layers to it, while the orchestral score has added bombast.” – PushSquare
With 7.1 surround sound support, you can accurately pinpoint enemies based on sound cues. And the stellar voice acting performances truly shine thanks to enhanced clarity and spatialization. Overall, your ears will be blown away by how real MW2 Remastered sounds.
Enjoy The Epic Campaign in Smoother Fidelity
Thankfully, MW2 Remastered retains the exact same thrilling campaign as the original Modern Warfare 2. This means you still get to experience that outrageous rollercoaster ride of globe-trotting missions, from snowy Kazakhstan to the favelas of Rio.
Price, Soap, Ghost and the rest of Task Force 141 are back with their signature banter intact. All your favorite moments – escaping the Gulag in Russia, defending Burger Town from waves of enemies – are just as you remember them. Except now, the gameplay is smoother and more responsive thanks to improved aim assist, higher FPS counts and better overall optimization.
Respawning is also faster, allowing you to get back into the action quicker after dying. The game even added some quality of life improvements like automatically regenerating health when cover, instead of requiring manual healing. Overall, it plays like a dream – just with a slick modern sheen.
Enjoy Additional Content and Integration
On top of the stellar remaster, MW2 also adds some brand new content. There are now 50 hidden intel laptops scattered throughout levels that provide backstory details and lore trivia. Finding enough intel lets you unlock classic MW2 multiplayer maps to play through in the campaign!
As a huge fan of MW2 multiplayer back in the day, being able to relive classic maps like Highrise and Favela in singleplayer is an awesome nostalgia trip. Modern Warfare (2019) owners also get bonus player XP and cosmetic rewards that carry over to multiplayer and Warzone, giving you extra progression incentives.
Overall, the additional content and integration with the latest Modern Warfare provides some nice replay value and connectivity between the two games.
A Must-Buy for Call of Duty Fans
So in summary, MW2 Remastered takes the iconic campaign we know and love, retains the story and gameplay intact, then elevates every aspect to match modern standards. The stunning visual overhaul, cinematic audio design, smoother gameplay and bonus content make this the definitive way to experience MW2‘s epic campaign.
As someone who has pumped endless hours into the multiplayer over the years, getting to revisit Task Force 141‘s journey looking and sounding better than ever was an absolute blast. Is MW2 Remastered worth the $20 asking price? For hardcore Call of Duty fans, this is a must-buy.