Modern Warfare 4’s campaign features a disturbingly possible Korean-themed conflict—and emo Captain Price

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 marks the return of familiar characters from the franchise, but in a new region of the world and with increasingly higher stakes.

I attended a presentation at Infinity Ward last week where co-studio head Jack O’Hara said the team “wanted to refresh Modern Warfare,” and doing that meant a new setting. He explained that the team settled on Korea for a few reasons, firstly because “it’s on the other side of the world,” and the MW franchise hasn’t been there before.

“It was kind of exciting for us to go explore that new place in the world,” O’Hara said in an hour-long presentation about MW4’s variety of offerings. “New architecture, new cultural influences, and all the rest.”

Additionally, O’Hara explained that the world is currently in the middle of what is called the “third Hallyu,” which is a wave of Korean culture spreading throughout the globe. Influences referenced in the presentation included the Netflix show Squid Game, and K-pop groups like BTS and BLACKPINK. But the reality is, beyond impossibly attractive singers and dancers, the Korean peninsula has been in a state of deadlock ever since the Korean War with North Korea constantly having artillery aimed at South Korea’s capital of Seoul. At any moment, war could begin again, and that’s where MW4’s inspiration stemmed from.

“When we talk to Koreans, it doesn’t really faze them,” O’Hara explained. “It’s not something that really comes up often. It seems so distant and unrealistic, but it’s there, and for us that felt like a setting that might be perfect to [rip from realistic headlines].”

MW4 asks the horrifying (and sadly feasible) question of what would happen if that artillery finally opened fire, and the answer, seen in the game’s debut trailer, is a storm of missiles slamming into the civilian population, setting off a North Korean invasion of the southern country and another big-budget blockbuster campaign that stars a variety of characters. This includes a younger squad of South Korean Marines, including the new playable operator Private Park, who are accompanied by US military embedded with them. In South Korea, military service is a requirement for youth, so Infinity Ward utilized this to tell a unique story.

“For us, that’s an interesting perspective,” O’Hara said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve presented the grunt perspective since 2007, 2009. We’ve made things a little more about spec ops operators with the CIA handling it, telling them there’s a guy around the corner. It’s fascinating for us to go back to that perspective of young guys, 18 to 25. They have no idea what’s going on. They’re receiving an incomplete picture from reporters, and they’re just trying to survive.”

To tie it all together to the MW universe, returning characters include Captain Price, Valeria, and, of course, Ghost. The last we saw of Price, he was murdering a US military general within the Pentagon in Modern Warfare III, so Task Force 141 is no more and he’s on the lam. The studio heads jokingly called him “Dark Price” as he now sports a full beard and messy head of hair, moving in the darkness on a quest for revenge after the loss of his partner and friend, John “Soap” MacTavish. Needless to say, more murder is incoming, and Price is up to the task. So, too, is Ghost. And that’s where we’re left waiting to find out more.

The series of events throughout MW4’s campaign will take place on a global scale, bringing the fight to a variety of locations like both North and South Korea, New York City, Paris, Mumbai, and even Russia.

MW4 is launching on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on Oct. 23.

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