Strong campaign, multiplayer question
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 sits at 86 on OpenCritic, and the argument behind that number is whether the multiplayer keeps up with a campaign critics keep singling out.
The 86 is OpenCritic‘s Top Critic Average, and the 97% beside it is the share of critics who recommend the game. They’re separate figures. OpenCritic also ranks it in the 96th percentile of the games it scores. Infinity Ward and Activision released it on 22 October 2026 for PC, Nintendo Switch 2 and consoles.
Eight outlets, scores from 7 to 9
The table collects the scored Top Critic reviews we’re citing, as listed on OpenCritic on 28 October 2026. Scores are shown on each outlet’s own scale.
| Outlet | Score | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| IGN (Simon Cardy) | 7/10 | Great campaign; multiplayer “may not quite hit the mark” |
| PC Gamer (Morgan Park) | 85/100 | “The bar that this series should regularly aspire to” |
| DualShockers (Usama Mehmood) | 7.5/10 | Campaign send-off and DMZ praised; multiplayer has “a few screws loose” |
| GameSpot (S.E. Doster) | 7/10 | “Several shocking moments” and a finish “on a high note” |
| Nintendo Life (Gavin Lane) | 9/10 | Review framed around the Switch 2 port |
| Hobby Consolas (Alberto Lloret, David Rodriguez) | 86/100 and 85/100 | Two Spanish-language reviews |
| The Games Machine (Alessandro Alosi) | 8.5/10 | Italian: spectacular campaign, refined multiplayer, deeper DMZ |
| Everyeye.it (John Panzano) | 8.5/10 | Italian-language review |
Convert the out-of-10 scores to out-of-100 and these nine scores average about 81, below the 86 headline figure. IGN and GameSpot both gave it a 7. That means the rest of the Top Critic pool, the reviews outside this sample must be scoring higher than the ones here. It’s worth knowing before you treat 86 as a typical review.
The send-off is what earns the praise
IGN’s Simon Cardy scored it 7/10 and wrote that “multiplayer may not quite hit the mark, but a great campaign ensures Modern Warfare 4’s place as one of Call of Duty’s better recent entries.” GameSpot’s S.E. Doster, also at 7/10, wrote that Modern Warfare 4 “wraps up the series with several shocking moments and ends on a high note.” DualShockers’ Usama Mehmood (7.5/10) praised the campaign’s send-off for Price, and DMZ as well.
PC Gamer’s Morgan Park scored it 85/100 and framed it as a point about the series itself: “Modern Warfare 4 is the bar that this series should regularly aspire to, and a reminder that Call of Duty benefits when it actually tries to change.” Activision’s marketing chief has already pitched it as one of 2026’s two biggest games, in Activision’s CMO pitch for MW4 and GTA 6. The critics played at least the campaign half of that.
Multiplayer is where the reviews stop agreeing
IGN says multiplayer falls short, and DualShockers is blunter: it has “a few screws loose.” The Games Machine’s Alessandro Alosi, in an Italian-language review (our summary, not a quote), scored it 8.5/10 and called the multiplayer refined, alongside a spectacular campaign and a deeper DMZ. The same review lists narrative shortcomings, uneven AI and occasional repetition as its complaints.
the 86 isn’t built on everyone loving everything. Critics largely agree on the campaign. The multiplayer verdict depends on which review you read: IGN and DualShockers hold back, while The Games Machine praises it. Nintendo Life’s 9/10 is the highest score in the table, but it’s framed around the Switch 2 port, so it speaks to that version rather than PC. Hobby Consolas scored it 86 and 85 in two Spanish-language reviews, and Everyeye.it gave it 8.5.
For scale, our earlier roundups landed on an 85 for Star Wars Zero Company and an 83 for Control Resonant. Those are headline numbers from those roundups, so check the method before comparing them directly.
Buy if, skip if
- Buy if the campaign is your reason to pick it up: IGN, GameSpot, DualShockers and The Games Machine all single it out, and PC Gamer calls the game a reminder of what Call of Duty can do when it changes.
- Buy if you want DMZ: DualShockers praised it and The Games Machine calls it deeper.
- Skip if you’re buying it mainly for multiplayer and want a sure thing: IGN says it doesn’t quite hit the mark and DualShockers found “a few screws loose.”
- Skip if you want PC performance numbers first: none of the sources report measured PC performance.
Our take
We think the 86 is real but a little generous as a guide to a day-one purchase. A 97% recommend rate says critics are broadly happy, yet the 7s from IGN and GameSpot, and our subset averaging about 81, say the enthusiasm isn’t uniform. If you want the story, the evidence is strong. If you want multiplayer that overturns a few years of grumbling, two reviews say wait and read more.
For PC players, we’d hold off on a day-one buy until measured performance appears, since none of the coverage covers PC. Everyone else has an easy decision: buy it for the campaign, and treat the multiplayer as a bonus until more players weigh in.
Scores and quotes checked on OpenCritic on 28 October 2026. Spanish and Italian reviews are described in our own words.
