The Call of Duty series needed a win this year. Last year’s Black Ops 7 was a clown car of bad decisions, featuring an always-online campaign mode with ridiculous zombie bosses and open-world Warzone. Worse still, the multiplayer mode (the only reason that many people buy the game) was entirely forgettable. Developer Treyarch was tasked with putting out Call of Duty games two years in a row — that crunch was a recipe for disaster.

On the other hand, that means Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward had plenty of time to cook up the fourth and final entry in its own series. Thankfully, the studio used that extra runway to its advantage.…