Today marks the launch of Hungry Jacks’ much-anticipated collaboration with Call of Duty, bringing us the release of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Baconator Deluxe Meal.
This new version of the Hungry Jack’s Baconator Deluxe Meal doesn’t change up much of anything from the one already available, instead it’s more of a “Definitive Edition” that not only includes the base burger, chips and drink but also comes with bonus downloadable content for the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II in the form of a special themed Operator skin and one hour of double XP in-game.
For the uninitiated, the Hungry Jack’s Baconator Deluxe is a substantial burg’ that features two flame-grilled Aussie beef patties topped with four rashers of premium eye bacon, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo on a toasted sesame seed bun. Purchased as the Modern Warfare II edition it also comes packed in with a large thick-cut chips or onion rings and a drink. There’s also another option available that includes a Jack’s Fried Chicken Baconator burger instead of the beef variant, but that one retails for $2 more than the standard edition and I write about video games for a living.
After ducking down to my local Hungry Jack’s and picking up the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Baconator Deluxe Meal I excitedly brought it home and opened it to an initial wave of slight disappointment. To the creators’ credit I did read in the fine print before I pre-ordered the meal that it may take up to 72 hours for the Modern Warfare II DLC to be delivered digitally, but that didn’t stop the distinct feeling that the meal I’d placed on my dining table/unbuilt LEGO storage bench looked much the same as the last version I bought. A slight delay in the digital contents being made available isn’t the end of the world, just don’t go in expecting a particularly exciting unbagging experience.
Sadly, the lack of excitement continues once you get into the meal itself. Given the tie-in with a massive first person shooter franchise I was potentially expecting it to taste like an all-night multiplayer session with my mates, but that was noticeably missing. All of the features are here and work just as you remember, although if you haven’t jumped back into a Hungry Jack’s meal in a while you might have missed the big Thick-Cut Chips update that was implemented a couple of years ago – the community is still somewhat divided on that one but I enjoy the point of difference it creates with similar meals on the market.
Now, we haven’t been able to include any shots of the actual Baconator Deluxe burger once unwrapped as Hungry Jack’s and Activision Blizzard are cracking down heavily on spoilers, but you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect from the marketing materials that are out there. There were definitely a few visual issues with things like the mayonnaise clipping through one side of the bun, and it seemed to perform at under 20°C in parts but hopefully that’s something that can be microwaved out in future releases.
Overall the Hungry Jack’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Baconator Deluxe Meal is a tough one to review, as taken at face value it doesn’t offer much beyond the Hungry Jack’s Baconator Deluxe Meal already available. It’s the promise of that future Operator skin and double XP DLC that’s going to make or break it, so we’ll be sure to update this review once that lands and we can give a definitive opinion on the package as a whole*.
*I’m not actually going to do this, I’m already going to get in trouble for spending so much time on this gag.
Press Start Australia was not provided with a review unit for this article, the author purchased the product at their own expense.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is out on October 28th. The cheapest price is currently $78 from Amazon.
