Last week, Infinity Ward dropped a treasure trove of trailers and blogs about the upcoming instalment of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
The game, set in a modern fictional escalation between South Korea and North Korea, has been met with a positive reception so far. The new Call of Duty looks grounded in reality, using real, familiar locations and crises to make the game relatable without having to sacrifice the bombastic cinematics that have defined the franchise.
Infinity Ward is Doing Something New With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
Infinity Ward seems to be driving Call of Duty in a new direction with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
While the rest of the world is busy musing over the plot or gameplay changes, the new game has unsurprisingly resonated with the stars of the show: the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
Reactions from Marines and other Korean reservists and military enthusiasts have been an interesting blend of amazing obsession with detail and the Call of Duty equivalent of ‘look, I’m on TV’.
Bravo 6, Going (Almost) Accurate
Before diving into what people are saying and what the game got right and wrong, it’s important to acknowledge that this is a clash of titans. This looks to be the closest Infinity Ward has gotten in its depiction of a modern military, and for the most part it’s a faithful recreation of forces that went through significant overhauls in recent years.
On the other side, you have Korean military experts. Most of the discrepancies here were pointed out by military blog Korean Defense Blog, which specializes in news and analysis of defence matters in the peninsula, and Korean Marine-turned-YouTuber Haebyung Dance. If you care about shooters or military analysis at all, I highly recommend you give both a follow.
You can find a more exhaustive list of things on this thread by Korean Defense Blog, and Haebyung Dance’s breakdown and reaction to the trailer.
The Devil Wears Camo
At a first glance, the South Korean marine scouts in the trailer look the part. The helmets, plate carriers, backpacks, and accessories are there, but things start getting fuzzy once you hone in on the details.
Most of the equipment is styled in the correct WAVEPAT (also known as Marine Digital) camouflage, but ‘most’ is the key word here. Despite the Korean marines wearing the appropriate Type 1 MBPA plate carriers and backpacks, these are dyed in coyote brown.
Coyote brown is the standard color for vests and backpacks in the US Marine Corps, also featured in the game. I don’t buy the theory that this camo mix-up is because of exercises simply because Korean marines are still using the domestic Type 1 vest. As you can see here during an exercise between the ROKMC and USMC last year, Korean marines stick to domestic equipment and camo.
Another thing the first image in the article above clearly shows is that Call of Duty had a little mix-up with the patches. The left arm correctly has the name tag in red, but it is missing the rank insignia on top of it instead of the flag patch. As explained by Haebyung Dance, the standard placement for that is actually down the middle of the shirt, but this is routinely moved to the left arm velcro patch instead during operations because the plate carrier covers the original spot.
The new game has unsurprisingly resonated with the stars of the show: the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
The ROKMC weapon selection is also a little confusing at times. Most shots show protagonist Private Park and his fellow Marines rocking the K2C1 assault rifle, but some shots have Frankenstein’s carbine on display.
As spotted by HappY_NizM, many marines in the trailer use K2C1s kitted out with the receiver from the DR200 civilian export version of the K2C1. Meanwhile, it uses the shorter 305mm barrel option instead of the standard issue 465mm.
Ironically, one of the few displays of older weaponry is in the hands of a nondescript South Korean Joey Badass sporting panoramic NVGs and a base model K2 rifle with no accessories. As explained by Korea Defense Blog, the old K2 has been phased out from frontline units, and it is especially not in use with special forces.
Accuracy issues aside, I just hope this guy is lucky when he fires blindly into the night, because it is functionally impossible to aim using iron sights using night vision.
Things Get Weirder Up North
The main antagonist of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea for friends and family. Finding accurate information about North Korean troops is understandably difficult, especially for its elite units. Infinity Ward likely had to go off of what little comes out in parades and publicized exercises, but some creative freedoms are ineviable here. Nonetheless, there are some interesting, occasionally confusing, things to note.
This looks to be the closest Infinity Ward has gotten in its depiction of a modern military
As noted by gosari0530, the North Korean operative sweeping through the village in search of the defector is sporting a rather bizarre assortment of medals. The wording on them appears to have been machine translated from English to Korean, leading to some nonsense making it into the trailer like a medal labelled ‘bravery’ or another with just ‘swimming’ on it. To Infinity Ward’s credit, they correctly depicted the medal for Hero of the Republic on the officer’s chest.
A separate issue is that of physics. Medals are traditionally held either by a pin, but I have seen some Soviet-era medals from my family that have a screw and nut locking mechanism. Both of these have one thing in common: neither is getting through that thick velcro pad on the officer’s vest.
Another curious bit here is her choice of sidearm. Per both Korea Military Blog and Haebyung Dance, our North Korean hero uses a Daewoo K5, the standard issue pistol of the South Korean military. Now, I have a few theories for that.
The simplest is that this is a reused asset from the South Korean armory. However, it is also possible that this is hinting at some plot points. Is this officer originally from South Korea and deserted to the North, however rare that may be?
Alternatively, the weapon may have been captured during the events of the campaign, potentially found in the manhunt for the deserter. Meanwhile, her goons are packing a variety of AK-pattern rifles, likely modernized local Type 58 and Type 88.
The paratroopers seen dropping into South Korea in the trailer, on the other hand, are armed with supressed Russian AK-12 rifles, but with the skeletonized stock typically seen on the AKS-74. On top of it being a cool-looking rifle, it’s a nice nod to the straitening military ties between North Korea and Russia in recent years.
Does Accuracy Matter This Much?
The answer should always be yes, but putting my personal biases to the side for a minute, you need to remember the context here.
To quote (A.I.R.), ‘you must remember the term PTSD’. South Korean men go through mandatory military service between the ages of 18 and 35, so this is something the average Korean player is much more intimately familiar with than viewers anywhere else.
On top of that, Korea has an huge military reenactment scene that prides itself in its attention to detail, so it’s no wonder it would double down on wanting to see its local Marines dressed properly.
None of these issues are dealbreakers in any shape or form, but I’d love to see Infinity Ward touch them up on the road to release. After all, if the next Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is as good as it looks, we’ll spend way too much time staring at these uniforms, so they might as well look right.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 comes out on October 23 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the Switch 2.
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