Call of Duty Modern Warfare – Beta Impressions (PS4)
It wasn’t long after I booted up the Modern Warfare open beta on Playstation 4 that I was being berated by n00bhunter4244 over being killed by the same camped sniper three times. After I swiftly hit the “mute all” button, I felt a sudden slap in the face of nostalgia. I was back in my friend Mat’s basement in the year 2007 at the ripe age of 20 playing Call of Duty 4 on Xbox 360. I was still in University, still making minimum wage, and still slightly less than average at online first person shooters. Modern Warfare is not a reboot, nor is it’s sole purpose to instill its players with a sense of reminiscence about the early days of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. But if the open beta is any indication, it is absolutely a back to basics approach for the series and, whether intentionally or not, brings us back to a simpler time in the Call of Duty franchise.
What’s immediately apparent about Modern Warfare is the impact of Infinity Ward’s newest graphics engine. This game looks fantastic and runs like a dream. With 4K HDR on PS4 Pro/XBox One X and ray tracing capabilities on PC, Infinity Ward’s hard work from a graphical standpoint instantly sets Modern Warfare apart as a major step up in the franchise. And that’s only based on what we’ve seen from multiplayer. This has us waiting not so patiently to have our breath taken away by the visuals in the campaign, especially for the Michael Bay-esque set pieces for which the series is known. Enhanced rendering efficiency allows for a new level of detail in multiplayer maps and character models – be sure to look closely at the finer details in your soldier’s clothing and facial features in the pre-game menus. What is most striking are the animations, specifically in the weapons. The realism that comes from hip firing your weapon is the best we’ve ever seen. You can easily see the real weight, motion, and backfire exploding from a pistol or AR.
While the open beta maps do benefit from the graphical prowess of Modern Warfare, they aren’t particularity inspired. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing – I suspect Infinity Ward was purposely going after a simple and gritty approach for map building, especially since maps in recent series entries have approached “just plain silly” territory. But if you’re looking for awe inspiring multiplayer levels with ground breaking map layouts, you won’t find it. Everything feels fairly derivative, yet functional. It’s a bit like a German made car or a nice pair of brown shoes – it’s not interesting but does it’s job really really well for a long time.
Bundled with the beta are three medium sized maps – Grazna Raid, Hackney Yards and Azhir Cave – all of which can be played in 6 v. 6 and only Grazna available in 10 v. 10. Azhir Cave was the personal favorite for me. The centre of the map is made up of a large cave with a claustrophobia inducing low ceiling, but surprisingly long sight lines from one end to the other. Hackney Yards uses larger warehouse like buildings and high fences to create tight corners and sudden encounters. A catwalk with two large windows on either side in the main central warehouse is sure to be a hot spot of contention in every match. Lastly, Grazna Raid is the most urban of the three beta maps. A long central street can be used for longer range sniping opportunities (the reason for noobhunter4244 shouting at me) and smaller flanking side streets can be used to sneak to Domination capture points.
Another seemingly minor but actually major change for Modern Warfare‘s multiplayer is the elimination of the mini map. This brings the default play mode a little bit closer to the Hardcore mode of previous COD titles. While this may seem alarming for some, it actually changes the experience in a positive way. It’s nice not to have that little distraction in the corner and allows the player to focus all of their time on what is actually in front of them. I would describe myself as an extremely novice player, but having that mini map now feels like a crutch. This was especially noticeable when the mini map did appear temporarily after a team mate activates a recon drone.
A nice touch to somewhat attenuate for the elimination of the mini map is the compass displayed horizontally across the top of the screen. Along with showing the direction you’re facing, the compass also shows the area of the map you’re currently in – whether that be the playground of Grazna Raid or the catwalk of Hackney Yards. This will be huge in helping new players get familiar with maps and coordinate with other team members over voice chat (not me though, I’m still on mute all). Finally, a silhouetted Killstreak tracker now appears in the right and side of the screen. This is handy in showing a players progression towards selected kill streaks and allowing them to plan their positioning in advance of unlocking their cruise missile or attack helicopter rewards.
The new Gunsmith shamelessly mirrors the Ghost Recon series, but more than effectively fleshes out the games weapon customization system. While only a handful of new parts can be unlocked in the beta, up to sixty different pieces of equipment can be unlocked and added to gear (thirty for pistols). These include the standard set of under barrel, muzzle, optical, and stock attachments. What makes Modern Warfare‘s take on the Gunsmith unique is the ability to apply different Perks to each weapon. With a selection consisting of Sleight of Hand, Fast Melee, and several others, these added passive abilities will all be familiar if you’ve played a COD game before. Being able to assign Perks to individual weapons aids in each weapon is unique and promotes experimentation.
What initially drew me into Call of Duty‘s multiplayer was accessibility. This is a series that is admittedly difficult to master from a competitive standpoint, but extremely easy to jump in and play for a few short matches even if, like me, you struggle to keep your KD ratio at 1.00. This simplicity and focus was lost with Call of Duty somewhere in the current generation – and Modern Warfare appears poised to bring that back to the series. But assuming that the beta is an accurate representation of the final multiplayer product, Infinity Ward’s plan of attack with Modern Warfare may turn out to be a double edge sword. They will praised for restoring the franchise to former glory with true boots on the ground, raw and tenacious FPS gameplay with real world physics and gear. They may also be criticized for not taking risks and releasing a product too familiar to create staying power over the likes of Apex and Destiny. In any case, we’ll be playing when the full game releases on October 25th as the simple, straightforward, and rewarding approach to competitive multiplayer is something we’ve needed since leaving Mat’s basement twelve years ago.
