Infinity Ward, the studio behind Modern Warfare 2, has released the patch notes for the second beta weekend. MeinMMO tells you what is changing, what to look out for, and how the community has reacted to the changes.
The kickoff for the beta of Modern Warfare 2 took place last week with a big event in Los Angeles, and as is customary at such events, many streamers and content creators were present. Immediately afterward, the public testing phase for the new Call of Duty began, and some of you have likely already tested the game.
While the access to the beta was exclusive to PlayStation players on the first weekend, players on Xbox and PC can finally participate in the test starting this weekend. There is even a complete open beta, for which you do not need to pre-order.
For the second beta weekend, Infinity Ward is offering the community two new maps: Shariff Bay and Sa’id. Additionally, you can test new game modes: Ground War and Invasion. You may already know Ground War from MW 2019, but Invasion is a new game mode. In this mode, you play 20 vs. 20 players, plus there are 20 AI opponents, and you have access to water, air, and land vehicles.
Check out the trailer for the beta of Modern Warfare 2 on PlayStation here:
The adjustments for the second beta weekend
The developers at Infinity Ward are diligently analyzing numerous games and gathering corresponding feedback from social media.
For the second round of the beta, the developers have already fixed several bugs:
- Diverse reasons for crashes have been fixed
- Some gameplay exploits have been fixed
- The layout and lighting of some maps have been changed
- The progression system around the gunsmith has been updated and some bugs have been fixed
Furthermore, Infinity Ward has made balance changes to many weapons. The developers emphasize that this is just fine-tuning – no weapon has been “nerfed into the ground.” If you want to know which weapon the gunsmith is available for this weekend, take a look at the linked tweet:
What things are the developers focusing on in the second beta weekend?
The community is very active and has already provided a lot of feedback. This has made Infinity Ward aware of a few things, and they want to take a closer look at these systems.
Mini-Map – Compared to Modern Warfare 2019, the new mini-map only shows enemies when you have activated a UAV. Previously, you would receive visual information in the form of a red dot when an enemy player fired their weapon. The developers are concerned that players might feel punished for using their weapon. Additionally, it is better design if you actively have to search for your opponents instead of just following the red dots on the mini-map.
Visibility – In the beta, some testers complain that it is difficult to track their aim when engaged in a firefight. Therefore, the developers are changing the brightness of your muzzle flash and considering various options so you can better distinguish enemies from friends.
User Interface – Many testers criticize the user interface. Compared to its predecessor, it is unnecessarily complicated. Infinity Ward wants to improve this and make it a bit more intuitive.
Perks – Many testers dislike the new perk system, where perks only become available gradually during a match. They hope that Infinity Ward reworks this system. The developers are increasing the rate at which you can earn perks for testing purposes – but only starting with the launch of the open beta on the evening of September 24.
Audio – The volume of various interactions will be reworked. Opponent footsteps are expected to become a bit quieter overall, but they should be easier to distinguish from other sounds and “friendly” footsteps.
Slides – Slides have been a major point of contention within the community for some time. However, the developers say that the decision to remove slide-canceling from the game has been mostly well-received. They want to revise the slide mechanics to make the gameplay smoother. Some players have also discovered a new slide-cancel.
How is the community reacting?
As expected, the community’s reaction is mixed. While most players welcome the open communication from the developers, the individual changes are still being discussed intensively.
Professionals and streamers criticize the direction of the game. In their opinion, it caters too much to casual players. The simplification of many mechanics is said to take away the depth of the game and thus part of its appeal.
Casual players, on the other hand, welcome many of the changes, praising the revision of movement mechanics. Many are happy that slide-canceling will soon be a thing of the past.
The people behind the American news site “CharlieIntel” have also drawn their conclusions. They say about the feedback from MW2: “It’s like 2019” referring to the predecessor CoD MW 2019 (via twitter.com).
Now it’s your turn: Do you welcome the changes? Do you think they go too far or not far enough? Feel free to leave us comments.
In addition to the beta, Call of Duty is also making headlines: The CEO of EA wouldn’t mind if CoD becomes exclusive to Xbox.
