Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its in-house battle royale mode CoD: Warzone are well received by many players. Some consider the game to be an almost perfect multiplayer shooter. But what is missing? Basically just 2 things, says MeinMMO shooter expert Sven Galitzki.
Modern Warfare is considered by many to be the best multiplayer shooter currently: CoD: Modern Warfare and Warzone are currently probably the most exciting options for player vs. player combat in the traditional format and for battle royale – also for me, Sven Galitzki, author and shooter expert at MeinMMO.
For me, Modern Warfare and Warzone count, like for many others, among the best multiplayer shooters of 2020; it is also the best Call of Duty I have played since Modern Warfare 3 from 2011, especially regarding the multiplayer aspect.
By the way, after Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, a remake of Modern Warfare 3 is apparently already in the works.
Modern Warfare received good reviews at launch and still excites many players with its traditional multiplayer. Warzone surpassed the “50 million players” mark in early April; in March, Modern Warfare and Warzone were for example the most successful free-to-play and purchased games in the PS Store.
Furthermore, Modern Warfare was the best-selling game in 2020 by the end of March – even though it was released in 2019. In April, the game is also performing strongly. Modern Warfare is doing quite a bit right. So what exactly?
He has been a CoD fan since the first game and has spent countless hours in the series. Thousands of hours in the Destiny and Division series are also part of his portfolio.
In Modern Warfare and Warzone, he already boasts hundreds of hours of gameplay.
Modern Warfare – Great Game with a Little “But”
What makes Modern Warfare so good? Quite a bit, as Modern Warfare gets a lot right. The game relies on proven and popular elements, but brings necessary innovations and learns especially from the mistakes of its franchise predecessors like Black Ops 4.
What many praise about CoD: Modern Warfare is:
- First and foremost the excellent gunplay
- The cinematic campaign offers single-player fans (and yes, there are quite a few) the best entertainment after they were left empty-handed last year with Black Ops 4
- Co-op fans get their money’s worth in Spec Ops mode
- Great diversity and scope of the traditional multiplayer. Since launch, more modes have been added, and there is basically something for every taste – from team deathmatch to domination to search & destroy. The hardcore format is back as well
- Many popular maps from previous installments and successful new maps that have already achieved cult status – such as Shoot House
- Free-to-play mode Warzone – the in-house and very popular battle royale can be played as a standalone version for free; owners of Modern Warfare received Warzone as a free update
- New content – whether new maps, modes or base weapons – is available for free and for all players simultaneously on all platforms
- No more loot boxes. Instead, a microtransaction and battle pass model seen as fair. Basically, the microtransactions only involve cosmetic items, which can be seen in detail before purchase
Why almost perfect? As good as Modern Warfare and Warzone may have started – some issues have crystallized since then that significantly dampen the fun for many players.
In short: The game does a lot well and right, but there are points of criticism – and they are clearly noticeable. If these issues can be addressed, then Modern Warfare could become the perfect shooter for some players and critics.
These 3 things must be addressed in Modern Warfare and Warzone
The biggest problem – Cheaters: The most pressing and annoying problem of CoD MW and Warzone, in the eyes of many players and numerous prominent streamers, is clearly the cheaters.
They have been criticized multiple times since the launch of Modern Warfare, but with the release of the (free) Warzone, this issue has seemingly flared up again, especially on PC. Whether wallhacks, aimbots, or seemingly immortal players – it’s all present. Some warn: If this isn’t addressed, the hype around Warzone could quickly fade.
With crossplay, the cheaters are therefore not just a problem for PC players, but also cause frustration and anger for numerous console players. This is also the reason why some PS4 players are disabling the popular crossplay feature.
Activision is actively fighting against cheaters, but for many it is far from enough and just a drop in the bucket. Players demand that action be taken more frequently and more strictly against cheaters.
By the way, hackers have ruined a tournament of top streamers from Twitch and Mixer in CoD Warzone.
Frequent bugs and technical issues spoil the fun for many: In addition to cheaters, recurring bugs or technical problems cause significant issues for the player community.
Whether weapon skins that cause more damage, matchmaking failures, lags, missing purchases from the shop, or double XP weekends where no XP can be earned – annoying errors continually arise, ruining the otherwise excellent multiplayer experience for many players.
Although the developers regularly supply the game with updates and hotfixes, they often cause more frustration than joy. Just recently, fixes for the game created more new issues than they actually wanted to resolve: CoD MW, Warzone: Update brings 4 annoying problems – What Activision says
This was seen as much better at the launch of the game according to some players. There is hope that Infinity Ward can manage the issues better in the long run.
What annoys many – The playlist rotations: Both in CoD Modern Warfare and in Warzone, the playlists are constantly rotating. So at certain times, only specific modes or formats can be played. Many players do not like this at all and consistently criticize it loudly within the community.
Some popular modes like Shoot the Ship are not available at all times. Depending on the currently active format, Warzone can be more or less attractive for numerous players, as not every week every group size is supported.
The players do not want to be told what to play; instead, they demand more permanent variety and options for their activities.
Infinity Ward has made it clear that with the limited playlists they want to keep matchmaking wait times short. However, why at least basic modes for every group size between solo and quads cannot be continuously available in Warzone so that everyone can truly enjoy, is something that hardly anyone can understand despite the explanations provided.
This would be absolutely sufficient for many fans. After all, they do not want every time-limited mode to be permanently available but only the basic formats of the battle royale. The same applies generally to the traditional multiplayer. There are certain formats, like Shoot House 24/7, that players simply wish to have as a permanent part of the game alongside rotating, time-limited modes.
What are the developers doing? Even if this still isn’t enough for many – a lot.
So far, over 70,000 accounts have already been banned in Warzone that were linked to cheating or hacking. In addition, new measures against cheaters have been implemented. Cheaters are now being matched against each other in “hell lobbies” to spoil each other’s fun. Some features, like a reporting function in the kill cam view, are still in the works. Activision and Infinity Ward generally pursue a “zero tolerance” policy towards cheaters.
CoD MW and Warzone regularly receive patches and updates, and the developers are also intensively taking care of the game during the Corona times. Although a lot is going wrong currently, they are still trying actively and regularly to address the issues in the game during these exceptional times.
The developers have also reacted to the playlist issues – even if probably not in the way many fans had hoped. Infinity Ward has explicitly explained in an interview about the future of Warzone why they are pursuing the current rotation policy and has officially announced that they will soon introduce the highly anticipated duos format.
Conclusion: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone do a lot right and can still excite masses of players in 2020. But there are currently three major problem areas that darken the otherwise excellent shooter experience for numerous fans.
However, the developers are doing a lot to improve the situation. They are already taking action against cheaters more actively and strictly. Updates are generally available frequently enough. If Infinity Ward could focus even more on the priorities of the community and perhaps even be more accommodating regarding the permanent availability of certain modes, they would be addressing the biggest concerns of the fans.
If these 3 problem areas can be managed better (not even necessarily completely), Modern Warfare along with Warzone could become the perfect shooter for some players and critics in 2020 – despite numerous competition and a release in the previous year. For me, this almost perfect shooter would finally be complete.
What do you say? What do you think of Modern Warfare and Warzone? How do you personally evaluate the shooter and its battle royale mode? And where do you see the biggest problems?
By the way: If you want to know what the developers plan for CoD MW and Warzone besides problem-solving in the current Season 3, then check out this article: CoD MW and Warzone: Roadmap for Season 3 – What to expect in the current season
