Call of Duty: Modern Warfare offers a realistic gaming experience. However, in some situations, this realism can be detrimental to a shooter. Especially the lighting conditions can lead to unfair firefights.
Why can realism harm CoD? The fast-paced first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare aims for a high level of realism in gameplay and graphics and thus foregoes jetpacks or other science-fiction gadgets.
This approach makes sense for gunplay, movement, or the appearance of the characters. But realistic conditions do not always yield the desired effect.
This is particularly evident in Modern Warfare when it comes to weather. The constantly shining sun has already caused some bugs, curiosities, and can even become unfair.
Realistic sunlight leads to unfair spots
Why is this a problem? In a competitive shooter like Modern Warfare, fair conditions are very important for an enjoyable gaming experience. If it often feels like the opponent has an advantage we can’t compensate for, the fun disappears and frustration arises. Sometimes even controller-destroying frustration.
Some players believe that a game like CoD: MW should forego realism to some extent to keep the game fairer. When the sun shines from a specific angle onto the battlefield, it can currently happen that the effects almost completely obscure the view of the enemy.
While it may look nice, for many players it has no place in a competitive shooter like CoD.
What does that look like? A large thread has now formed on reddit that gathered nearly 25,000 upvotes in a day (March 5, 14:30) and shows the problem in full with a photo.
On the right, the view of his opponent. The sun shines from behind and the player has a clear view of his blinded enemy.
The player on the left can only identify the opponent by the nameplate and attempts to land some good hits. Although the killcam on the right shows the conditions inaccurately, the visibility differences can still be significant.
Players want better visibility, but no tracers
What do the players say about this? One comment stood out significantly and even amassed almost 4,500 points. “LargeCatNipples” says: “Give it an upvote! This needs to be on the front page! One of the biggest issues in this game!” and captures the sentiment of many readers.
Many advocate for less realism but also clarify that they find the colorful tracer rounds go too far and demand more realism in that regard.
What was going on? The players then had a lengthy discussion about how MW wants to be more realistic with its lighting, but purchasable items make everything irrelevant again:
- Nass44 on reddit: “The whole discussion revolves around the fact that Infinity Ward wanted to make this CoD installment particularly realistic. That’s why they added these environmental effects everywhere, which are toxic to gameplay, while on the other hand introducing microtransactions that throw all of that aside.”
In hundreds of comments, users discuss what realism means in a game, how important it is for a shooter like Call of Duty, and whether the “tracer attachments” are cool lasers or just silly.
What is the issue with tracers? Some purchasable bundles bring players “tracer attachments” that give bullets a color effect. Particularly the pink variants do not look realistic and seem somewhat out of place.
However, there are plenty of players who enjoy such gimmicks, and I also had to laugh at some crazy weapons from the predecessor Black Ops 4 and would love to play with them. Just as I would like to slowly play the battle royale.
But in a game that prides itself on being particularly realistic, such absurdities have no place for many players. Especially when more realism comes at the expense of gameplay disadvantages.
What are your thoughts on realism in shooters like CoD or Battlefield? Do you find the tracers annoying or is it still acceptable?
