CoD: Modern Warfare 2 MP Beta Introduces Satisfying Maps And Overhauled Gunsmith

1 year 6 months ago

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer beta is officially live, and this weekend gives PlayStation users first crack at Infinity Ward's continuation of the rebooted Modern Warfare series. Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer beta offers a pretty familiar offering, but there are some solid maps and a completely overhauled Gunsmith feature worth checking out.

Better map designs than Modern Warfare 2019

One of Modern Warfare 2019's biggest shortcomings was the over-abundance of massive and cluttered map designs used across multiplayer for matches of various player counts, so it's nice to see the developer scale back Modern Warfare 2's standard maps to better fit Call of Duty's traditional 6v6 combat. We only get to sample three standard maps in the current beta, but as previously announced, all of Modern Warfare 2's standard maps were designed for traditional 6v6 matches. This gives hope that Modern Warfare will have an overall stronger map pool at launch.

The beta 6v6 maps include:

Valderas Museum is a museum located in Spain. The map feels like the largest of the three, with plenty of space to fight in and around the museum. This map works well for Domination, and looks to be a solid map for other objective modes at launch.

Farm 18 is a military facility set inside an abandoned cement factory. This is a map the developer said was inspired partly by the small Shoot House map from Modern Warfare 2019, and it definitely feels reminiscent of that or even Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's Vacant map.

Mercado Las Almas is a small marketplace with fast-paced routes. The matches play quickly and chaotically, especially near the marketplace center. I also appreciate the vibrancy of this map. Modern Warfare featured mostly drab-looking maps with washed-out color palettes, so it does feel nice to see a bit more color to the environment.

Modern Warfare 2 still features interactable doors, but it's not like Modern Warfare 2019's abundance of loud and clunky ones. There are far fewer doors that can be opened and closed on the beta maps, so it doesn't feel like an overwhelming amount of extra pathways and camping spots to stress over.

Although not showcased in the beta yet, Infinity Ward says Ground War has separate maps designed specifically for the large-scale modes. One Ground War map called Sarrif Bay will be available sometimes during the open beta. An additional map looks to also be available later in the beta, with the large-scale Invasion mode being added in the coming days. More impressions to come with Ground War's integration into the beta.

Mostly familiar MP with a few new objective-based modes

Modern Warfare 2's beta includes two classic Call of Duty modes: Team Deathmatch and Domination. Additionally, the beta lets players test out new modes called Prisoner Rescue and Knockout.

Prisoner Rescue is a 6v6 mode that requires players to take turns either trying to defend or rescue two prisoners on the map. Rounds of Prisoner Rescue can also work like Call of Duty's Search and Destroy objective mode, ending if one team is completely wiped out. Of course, players can revive their fallen teammates to get them back in the match to avoid a full team wipe.

Prisoner Rescue mode

Knockout is a mode Infinity Ward described as Gunfight meets core multiplayer. This mode features fast rounds in a best-of-five match, where both teams fight to hold a bag of cash. A team can choose to either hold the bag for 60 seconds or eliminate the entire enemy team to win the round. While Gunfight is traditionally a 2v2 or 3v3 small-scale mode with one life per round, Knockout is a 6v6 mode with the ability to revive teammates.

Unfortunately, both new 6v6 modes are a bit underwhelming based on our limited time so far, especially when Knockout is said to be inspired by Modern Warfare's popular Gunfight mode. There are few differences between how the two modes play, so I'm not sure why Modern Warfare 2 would even need both options, as Knockout and Prison Rescue are both round-based modes that usually devolve into rounds of Team Deathmatch with very few people ever bothering to play the objective. It typically comes down to whether you want to pick the mode with the cash bag or the hostages. Between the 6v6 player count and the ability to revive, neither add the intensity or satisfaction that comes from winning a fast round of 2v2 Gunfight, where the stakes feel much higher and rounds are usually won from intense 1v1 or 2v1 situations.

I'd love to see Knockout or Prisoner Rescue modified to add more interesting layers of complexity, perhaps with elements of Black Ops 4's Heist mode, which was a no-respawn, round-based, tactical mode that required teams to steal a bag of cash and reach an extraction point. Heist also allowed teams to win simply by eliminating the enemies and not playing the objective, but doing so wasn't easy in the earlier rounds, as Heist eliminated custom player loadouts in favor of a Counter-Strike-style "Buy" system to earn better guns and gear for later rounds. You had to really play your life and earn better gear to be successful. Heist and Gunfight 2v2 were much more interesting and more satisfying to play, so hopefully we see more inspiring modes later down the line for Modern Warfare 2.

Mostly similar movement feel, but new movement mechanics

Overall, the player movement feels mostly the same this year, though sliding doesn't quite feel as fast and fluid as before. A second movement option has also been added with Modern Warfare 2 with the ability to "dolphin dive." Dolphin diving involves diving into a forward prone position, which was a movement originally made popular in Treyarch's older Black Ops titles.

In addition to choosing to dive headfirst into battle or slide towards or away from the action, players can also hang from ledges. Players have the option to fire their pistol while hanging from ledges, but I didn't find myself in many of these situations in the standard map playlist. This is definitely something that will be better utilized in the large-scale Ground War modes and even Warzone 2.0.

Weapons and Gunsmith overhaul

The Gunsmith's new look

Overall, the guns look and sound great, with the reload animations and gunfire audio similar to Modern Warfare 2019. Longtime fans will recognize assault rifles like the M4 and M16 and there are three submachine guns to choose from, with one being the return of Modern Warfare's Fennec. The only sniper made available in the beta is the Signal 50, which is a beefy-looking .50 cal anti-material rifle, but it doesn't unlock until level 20. Week one of the beta is level capped at 15, but players can get hands-on with this sniper during week two, which has a level cap of 30.

While Vanguard gave players 10 attachments to include in their custom gun build, Modern Warfare 2 is dialing the customization back with a limit of five attachments. However, it also adds a whole new layer of complexity with the Gunsmith's new Platform system, which is designed to eliminate the grind of unlocking the same attachment over and over for different guns. Check out our full explanation of Modern Warfare 2's overhaul of the Gunsmith 2.0, but while it does sound a bit overwhelming at first, it should help unlock attachments a bit faster than the last two Call of Duty games. When you unlock a gun in the same shared family, you also have the same attachments unlocked and ready for the new weapon.

Author
S.E. Doster

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