Review is campaign only
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The story is commendable but not necessarily a masterpiece. The characters are certainly not boring and have interesting personalities but the game does not really give you much opportunity to deeply connect with them (this may just depend on the player's emotional ability). The villain is honestly very generic and you never really find out his intentions for starting the SDF and the war (aside from a computer located in the captain's office). IW could have benefitted from more main missions to allow you to know the characters more. The side missions system in IW is a great feature but those side missions could have been engaging main missions instead. Side missions in this game do at least try to be unique from one another but holistically speaking, they are a bit repetitive and can get a bit boring at times.
What I also find really good with IW narrative-wise is the script writing. By far, IW has the most "realistic" script writing insofar as the dialogue consists of good use of military jargon. The delivery of the characters' lines is superb and sounds very real.
In terms of gameplay, the aerial combat is undoubtedly the best feature of IW. Flying and fighting in the Jackal feels surprisingly smooth and very entertaining. Ground combat however is a different story. For one, the level design is very incompatible with the gameplay mechanics. The game offers you jetpack and wall-running capabilities but the levels barely give you enough room to jump around and there are barely any walls to run on. Titanfall 2 did a way better job regarding this. Additionally, the audio design needs improvement. The guns sounded too weak and felt unengaging to use at times. The NV4 is by far the best sounding weapon in the game, but that is only because the others didn't sound as great.
TL;DR IW's campaign is far from abysmal and probably falls between an average to above-average COD campaign. If you love the sci-fi FPS genre, then this game is worth the try.
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The story is commendable but not necessarily a masterpiece. The characters are certainly not boring and have interesting personalities but the game does not really give you much opportunity to deeply connect with them (this may just depend on the player's emotional ability). The villain is honestly very generic and you never really find out his intentions for starting the SDF and the war (aside from a computer located in the captain's office). IW could have benefitted from more main missions to allow you to know the characters more. The side missions system in IW is a great feature but those side missions could have been engaging main missions instead. Side missions in this game do at least try to be unique from one another but holistically speaking, they are a bit repetitive and can get a bit boring at times.
What I also find really good with IW narrative-wise is the script writing. By far, IW has the most "realistic" script writing insofar as the dialogue consists of good use of military jargon. The delivery of the characters' lines is superb and sounds very real.
In terms of gameplay, the aerial combat is undoubtedly the best feature of IW. Flying and fighting in the Jackal feels surprisingly smooth and very entertaining. Ground combat however is a different story. For one, the level design is very incompatible with the gameplay mechanics. The game offers you jetpack and wall-running capabilities but the levels barely give you enough room to jump around and there are barely any walls to run on. Titanfall 2 did a way better job regarding this. Additionally, the audio design needs improvement. The guns sounded too weak and felt unengaging to use at times. The NV4 is by far the best sounding weapon in the game, but that is only because the others didn't sound as great.
TL;DR IW's campaign is far from abysmal and probably falls between an average to above-average COD campaign. If you love the sci-fi FPS genre, then this game is worth the try.