The big picture: Ahead of its official launch later this week, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is offering early access to its campaign for players who pre-order the game. As expected, thousands of players are taking advantage of the opportunity, and the vast majority apparently seem impressed with the gameplay, graphics, and storyline.
The game currently has 4,068 total reviews on Steam, including 3,438 from verified buyers. Of those reviews, 94% are positive, earning it a "Very Positive" rating overall and making it the best-reviewed Call of Duty release on Steam since 2010's Black Ops. The SteamDB ratings were first reported by Insider Gaming last week, when the game had around 900 reviews and an 81.5% positive rating.
In stark contrast to the overwhelmingly positive response to Modern Warfare 4, recent releases in the Call of Duty franchise have struggled to even reach the 50% mark. 2025's Black Ops 7 has a 38.7% rating on SteamDB, while 2024's Black Ops 6 and 2023's Modern Warfare III have ratings of 45.7% and 48.1%, respectively. The only other recent CoD title with a similarly high rating is Black Ops III, which currently has 84.3% positive reviews.
The positive initial reception for Modern Warfare 4 must come as a relief to Activision, which has struggled in recent years. Not only have the last few mainline CoD releases received lukewarm responses from players and reviewers alike, but the company has also faced significant financial and creative challenges, resulting in several rounds of layoffs since Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision in 2023.
However, Modern Warfare 4's unusually high rating could change considerably once the game becomes more widely available later this week and players get a chance to try its multiplayer offerings. These include 12 core 6v6 maps and the extraction-shooter mode "DMZ," in which multiple squads of up to three players deploy into an area known as the "exclusion zone."
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches Friday, October 23, on Windows, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. It is the last big AAA release this year before the much-anticipated GTA 6 launch in November, with most publishers pushing their upcoming releases to 2027 to avoid clashing with Rockstar's open-world juggernaut.