With everyone getting ready for the series reboot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (and whatever that entails for the franchise moving forward) I asked the team for their most iconic moments from the original Modern Warfare trilogy.

Andrew - “Crew Expendable”


I know a lot of people will immediately turn to the infamous nuke scene and the "All Ghillied Up" mission, but for me it was the very first actual mission in the Bering Straight, "Crew Expendable". It felt like everything modern warfare should be - small specialist teams, with overwhelming materiel support, inflicting critical damage (and operating with flexible morality). The prior games had done well to capture the look and feel of World War II, but it never made sense that you were a one-man army against the Nazi hordes. Modern Warfare managed to blend the core gameplay loop with a more believable narrative (and yes, I use that word loosely), while giving us modern weaponry and gadgets that felt fresh after the WWII setting became stale.

Douw - “Use something other than a knife!”


For as much as I enjoyed the twists and turns of the first two Modern Warfare single-player campaigns and the resolution of those events in the final game, I have to admit that like, most players, I have more time spent playing the game in various formats in the last days of LAN parties being a thing. And within that microcosm there were few things as fun or memorable than rushing to equip any and all mobility and knife perks you could and making sure to be “that knife guy” (not to be confused with TheseKnivesOnly who takes things to just another level) on any and all maps. Many a long charge down an alley to only be shot to pieces midway through were rewarded with a quick string of melee kills in another moment and just getting to be part of the reactions to either side of that coin will stick with me.

Lynley - Console FPS


The one memory I have that has stayed with me of Modern Warfare was that this was the game that showed me an FPS played using a controller was not only possible, but fun. Up to this point I had gamed primarily on PC, with brief sojourns to the Megadrive and PS2. FPS', though, were like RTS' the domain of the PC gamer; how else to get that head-shot using the imprecise controller? Well, generous hit boxes and the handy auto aim mapped to R2 helped in that regard. While still not as accurate for the average gamer as a keyboard and mouse, the controller was functional, enabling me to actually play the game with some semblance of competence. I still prefer the old mouse and keyboard of the PC and am much better in all modes using that control scheme, but I can now play FPS' with friends who are console gamers because Modern Warfare showed me that with some compromises a console FPS can be just as much fun.

Rob - “No Russian”


Not a very long answer to be very honest, but my main highlights is multiplayer on that Paris map, I think it was, and the brutality of mowing down innocents in the airport. Controversial or not, it was one of the first hard-hitting moments in a COD game, aside from the classic plot twist of a friend going AWOL or betraying you.

Sam - “Shock and Awe”


I remember the first time I played the original Modern Warfare and witnessed the infamous Nuke scene. At the time, it didn't strike me as anything meaningful or did I really understand the message and themes behind such a devastating cataclysm. As time went by, though, it dawned on me just how powerful that moment was. Never before has a game achieved such a level of immersion that I actually felt sickened to my core with how well Infinity Ward managed to portray the aftermath of a nuclear bomb. From you witnessing the nuke drop in the helicopter, to the shockwave knocking it out of the sky, and being forced to crawl through a kids playground while the radiation slowly killed you. I will always commend Infinity Ward for that moment, and stands high as one of the finest in COD history. Of course, MW3 had its fair share of Michael Bay action sequences, but the nuke scene packed substance to go along with its masterful cinematic punch.

Vittorio - “All Ghillied Up”


I think the moments that spring to mind was the awe I felt wandering through Pripyat, the echoes of history resounding through a doomed city. There was a perfect irony as a merchant of atomic destruction lost his arm as he dealt arms in a town ruined by a nuclear accident. Then, the moment I first truly felt like a sniper, checking windage, waiting for the perfect shot. That little flag was never so important. The entire final mission. I've read after action reports that seemed to be a facsimile of what I played. The running back and forth as one extraction point after another fell to the enemy. The horror of the final scene and the relief as, just for once, things went my teams’ way. Lastly, that moment in gaming that COD has been trying to recreate for an age: The shock and awe of trying to outrun a double-cross; being torn from the sky by atomic winds; waking up in the haze of a shattered helicopter and then dragging yourself from the wreckage still vainly thinking rescue would arrive. And that final blow of reality as you saw the rising mushroom cloud, the reaper unfurling its cloak over the city, casting its eyes on you before snatching your life away.

Keegan - "Always Check Your Corners"


The original Modern Warfare series was my first real introduction to first-person-shooters, with a heavy emphasis on being a somewhat realistic shooter for its time. I remember a line that has stuck with me through all my FPS endeavours and that would be the iconic lesson taught to me from the first Modern Warfare - always check your corners.

The intensity of not knowing whether or not an enemy lurked behind what looked like an innocent corner gave my young self many heart palpitations and a friendly reminder to always be on the look out for campers.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases on October 25, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.