In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the playlist “Shipment 24/7” is considered the top game mode. However, MeinMMO author Maik Schneider discovered another mode that plays very similarly but offers all maps.
One thing in advance: I really enjoy playing “Shipment 24/7”. For a few quick warm-up rounds before the Warzone, for grinding XP, or for some quick, rough shootouts without much tactical challenge, there’s really nothing better.
But when the playlist update spits out new modes again, I often get in line first and see what developer Infinity Ward pulls out of the mode archive. One playlist particularly caught my attention, which even surpassed “Shipment 24/7” in my popularity scale.
Which mode are we talking about here? It’s the playlist “Lockdown”. This mode first appeared in mid-April in CoD MW and made waves when the government-imposed “lockdown” due to the Corona crisis was peaking. Hence the name “Lockdown”, under which surely some players suffered at the time. It’s basically a proper Corona playlist.
In this playlist, you play most of the regular multiplayer maps in different modes: Domination, Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, and Control. Plus, there’s an increase in player count – it’s played 10vs10.
Lockdown is the new Shipment, just better …
Why can this mode compete with Shipment? The increase in player count in the match makes the mode really strong. I find the maps in CoD MW 2019 generally well-designed, but usually too big and often boring because of that.
Here 20 people go against each other, which significantly increases the action and leads to ongoing battles even on the larger maps. Normally, matches start with 12 players, Shipment often only with 10. The selected modes complement this:
- Kill Confirmed: Team Deathmatch (TDM), where you need to collect tags from kills to score points.
- Domination: TDM with action rules – If you kill someone, you’re 30 seconds faster. When time runs out, boom!
- Hardpoint: There are 3 flags on the map that you need to capture. Held flags bring points.
- Control: There is a changing flag on the map. Points are only awarded when a team stands in the circle at the flag.
In both Team Deathmatches, you generally encounter fewer campers, as you have to move to gather points for the team. Especially “Domination” is really fun for me, as my favorite weapons, like the RAM-7, become more mobile after a kill, and campers turn into human grenades 30 seconds after a kill if they stubbornly remain in their spot.
Additionally, there are the two standard modes Domination and Control. Domination is my favorite in the current CoD MW anyway and Control also provides a lot of action. With 20 players, there’s really a lot going on, and you can continuously execute satisfying flanking maneuvers and disrupt the enemies.
Moreover, a problem of “Shipment 24/7” plays only a minor role in “Lockdown”: players who don’t care about mission objectives. Many start the chaos mode only because of the small map and try to gather as many kills as possible instead of capturing a flag or collecting kill tags. This also happens in “Lockdown”, but not as severely as on Shipment. Here, some soldiers even manage to not secure the area for even a second in 10 minutes.
All in all, a top mode that I look forward to every time, as there’s also a lot happening on the larger MW maps. The normal multiplayer modes in MW often can’t deliver that.
… but sometimes it has to be Container War!
What makes Shipment sometimes better? As much action as “Lockdown” offers, it still lacks the sheer chaos of Shipment. The map is so damn small that you often spawn in the line of sight of enemies and immediately get to watch the next kill cam. There’s nothing comparable in MW, except maybe the last moments of a round of Infected.
And also for XP grinding and leveling up weapons, there’s nothing better. If you want to quickly max out a weapon, you’ll score the most points here.
Thanks to the action, many CoD players love Shipment, but there’s a strong alternative. If the mode “Lockdown” is in rotation, definitely give it a try.
