While the single-player campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is intense, ponderous, and serious, the tone of multiplayer combat the opposite. It’s a romp through a battlefield playground, where players shriek for joy whenever they get a kill.
I’ve played the full single-player campaign and a number of matches in multiplayer, both with the beta test for multiplayer and with the final code at a review event. I played everything from Gunfight 2v2 (two players-versus-two players) to the Ground War maps where 32 players square off against 32 enemies.
Of course, I am not as skillful as most diehard Call of Duty players. But I have played multiplayer for every Call of Duty game that had the mode. And I like this one. I was able to progress. The weapons feel good and the maps are well designed. The action is fierce, and players will hand your head to you in so many ways. At times, it’s embarrassing.
Progression happens pretty fast. In three days of playing the beta, I was able to get to level 17.
Big changes for multiplayer
Above: Miniguns are always the answer to your problems.
One of the biggest changes is in the number of players that play on each map. With Gunfight, two players start with nothing in their hands and scramble to grab guns so they can shoot two enemy players in close quarters. It’s a fast game, where all you have to worry about is two other players.
On the other end of the spectrum are the 64-player Ground War battles, which can last a long time and feature 32 players against 32. You can have a field day as a sniper atop a skyscraper in Ground War or go on a rampage through the streets in a tank.
The modes include a new one called Cyber Attack, where you can capture a bomb and arm it or disarm it or try to take out all the players on the enemy’s team. You have multiple paths to victory. And you’ll see classics like Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Headquarters. Each battle features the Coalition against the Allegiance. I had no idea what that meas, but it seems like neither side has to feel like they’re the bad guys.
Weapons and mechanics
Above: Get ready — they’re coming.
You can now try to put barriers between you and the enemy bullets. But if the enemy shoots enough, you may lose your cover due to bullet penetration. You can mount weapons like light machine guns. You can breach doors, and use night-vision goggles during night mode.
The graphics look awesome for everything, including the landscapes and realistic gun mechanics when you fire your weapon. The sound can echo in places like a subway tunnel. And you can customize your weapon in the Gunsmith mode in between matches. I built up my light machine gun with better gunsights, a grip, a stock, full-metal jacket bullets, and a muzzle that improved accuracy.
I use the light machine gun even though it is slow to draw and I usually lose out in a gunfight. But I like it because it can hit targets at a distance and becomes more accurate as you home in on your target. It has serious stopping power, and I can camp out in strategic spots to take out the unsuspecting run-and-gunners. I can also use the light machine gun to bring down aircraft like drones or helicopters. The gun is also good for pinning down enemies while others go around for the kill.
But I also gave sniping a try, and it wasn’t so bad, especially after I trained to be a sniper in one of the single-player missions, Highway of Death. I learned how to account for both distance and wind. The bullets didn’t drop as much as I thought in the past, so I could actually hit some targets at a distance.
Here are my impressions of the different maps and modes that I’ve played, with videos of gameplay embedded. I also played a lot of the Azhir Cave, Hackney Yard, Grazna Raid, and Gun Runner maps. In each map, it’s not so hard to find interesting points to camp with a light machine gun or figure out where the enemies will approach. Night mode adds a lot of fun to maps like the dark Azhir Cave.
Gunfight 2v2
This is where you really see who has skill in hitting targets and outwitting opponents. Gunfight is a bit like a chess game where the enemy is trying to kill you. You can run down one of a few different alleys, following your partner or going to the other side. You have to get lucky sometimes and come up behind the enemy. And when you start shooting, you have to hit your target and do it fast. If not, you’re toast.
In the matches, the first team to win six rounds is the overall winner. In the match above, we had a heartbreaking loss.
Euphrates Bridge — Team Deathmatch
This map was my favorite because of the design of the pathways. If you get to the top of the bridge, you can have an unobstructed view of the battlefield and shoot anything that moves below using your height advantage. But the enemy has many ways to approach. They can get on the bridge on the other side and shoot down the bridge road. Or they can go under the bridge and hit you at the staircase.
Because of that, this is a map where it really pays to fight as a team. Your team can cover all of the different paths at the same time and shut down all enemy movement. I had to fight against a very organized enemy, and it took me time to learn how to counter their tactics, as I was pretty much fighting on my own.
Arklov Peak — Team Deathmatch
This map took place in an abandoned village with a lot of two-story buildings. It has lots of doors, fences, windows, and other places to ambush other players. It was tough for me to maneuver with my light machine gun. But I gave it my best shot. Quite a few times, I didn’t know where the front of the battle was.
Picadilly Circus — Cyber Attack
Cyber attack matches can be short and sweet, like the one above. In this match, four players square off against another four. You only get one life in each round, so you have to be careful. If you’re shot, you’re out of the match and have to watch as a spectator. I managed to do well in this round, and I helped win the match by grabbing the EMP device, picking it up, and moving it to a cyber box. Once I set it there, it went off and wiped out the enemy’s data box, and we won the round.
One of the twists is that a teammate can revive you after you’re downed.
Aniyah Palace — Ground War
Ground War is crazy, like trying to have a battle during rush hour in New York City. Way too many players are running all over the place. You have to take letters on the map, as with Domination. That brings some order to the battle, as the letters are color-coded, based on which side holds them.
As with Battlefield V’s play, you get a view of the overall battlefield and then zoom down to a particular spawn point when you respawn. You can spawn to your squad or even spawn into a moving vehicle. The maps have a variety of vehicles, but you’ll also encounter a lot of players with anti-tank weapons, as you can respawn with a different loadout if you see a tank.
Ground War is an excellent place to be a sniper, as the maps have plenty of spots where you can perch.
Crossplay between consoles and the PC
The biggest challenge of multiplayer will be the crossplay balance. When we played with a bunch of PlayStation 4 players on one side and PC players on the other, we were slaughtered pretty bad. This is a case of the old debate about the mouse-and-keyboard versus the game controller. I play with a game controller, but it seems like the mouse players have the upper hand. I am hoping that Infinity Ward will be able to distribute the PC players evenly among the teams. But players do have the ability to opt-out for crossplay.
The big benefit is players who have friends on three different platforms can now play together. To enable crossplay and to play Modern Warfare, players have to sign up for a COD account. You can use that account to create cross-platform friend and party lists. The developers previously said that crossplay was designed to factor in differences in controller type, but Ranked Play or competitive tournaments will not support crossplay.
Author: Dean Takahashi
Source: Venturebeat
