MeinMMO author Dariusz Müller is a big shooter fan, but he never really got into Warzone and other Battle Royales. Thanks to the new DMZ mode, he’s now spending countless hours in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.
With Call of Duty: Warzone, Activision released an extremely successful battle royale shooter in 2020, which found many fans – but I could never warm up to the popular title. Just like with Apex Legends, PUBG, or Fortnite.
To say that I hate battle royale shooters would be quite an exaggeration. I’m just not a fan of the genre and don’t have fun when I play it.
There are various aspects of battle royale shooters that bother me. This includes starting every match unarmed, the shrinking zone that pushes me to certain points on the map, and that the course of the match depends on luck or bad luck when looting. Also, I miss a permanent progression that is more than just reaching a certain rank.
Nevertheless, Warzone 2 is currently bringing me a lot of joy. Almost two weeks after its release, I’ve already spent nearly 30 hours in the new shooter. That’s impressive, considering I’m a huge Pokémon fan and the release of Scarlet and Violet fell within the same time frame.
CoD explores a new genre and becomes an MMO for me
With Warzone 2, CoD took the step into a new genre, the so-called extraction shooters. This genre is known primarily for games like Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. These are shooters where I arm myself and go into a danger-filled area, collect tons of loot, complete missions, and then leave the map at an extraction point.
Even though the gameplay might remind one of battle royale shooters, it plays quite differently. For example, I go into a match armed and don’t have to search for my loadout first. Looting is mainly for fulfilling missions or improving my gear.
Unlike in a battle royale, I have continuous progression in extraction shooters. I don’t start from scratch every round but work long-term towards a goal. For me, DMZ feels like an MMO, including looting and leveling.
Every round offers excitement
The main goal for me and my teammates is to get a second slot for the so-called insured weapon – a weapon that you always get back when you die. All other weapons and items are lost when you die in DMZ mode.
To get a second insured weapon, I roam the map Al-Mazrah with my allies and complete various contracts. In doing so, we fight against AI soldiers and enemy players, always keeping our goal in sight.
The constant companion on our missions is the risk of losing equipment and all items we need to fulfill our objectives. There is always a certain tension in the air. Someone could be lurking everywhere, looking to get their hands on our inventory.
I am reminded of another genre that I enjoy a lot: survival games. I spent thousands of hours in ARK: Survival Evolved and although I can’t expect any dinosaurs in Warzone 2, I think twice about straying too far from my teammates and diving into a battle alone.
Without DMZ, I would have never played Warzone 2
I’m pretty sure that I will never be a fan of battle royale shooters in the future either. The lack of weapons at the start of a round, the necessary luck when looting, and the ever-shrinking zone you have to stay in are just a part of the gameplay aspects that I don’t like.
But even though there are parallels between the modes, I find extraction shooters to be a completely different gaming experience and have a lot of fun with the DMZ mode of Call of Duty.
There are still a few corners here and there where improvement potential exists, but one thing I can already say with pretty great certainty: If there were no DMZ mode, I probably would have never downloaded Warzone 2.
If you want to test the mode soon, feel free to check out MeinMMO before your first round. We have some guides for DMZ mode as well as 10 tips I wish I had known earlier.
