What’s up gamers! A week ago the second open beta for Modern Warfare 2 launched and I was able to get some hands on time with the game. This time around it feels like there’s something special added to the awesome sauce that makes Call of Duty so great. Somehow, Infinity Ward has been able to capture the original feel of Modern Warfare (2019) while fusing elements of the past MW games in the series but still have it feel fresh. My short time with the game was filled with awesome high intensity action that reminded me of why I fell in love with the series in the first place.
Re-learning The Ropes
With this new beta, I found the gameplay keeps true to the first Modern Warfare (2019) and it features some sharper visual enhancements and new mechanics. While the boots-on-the-ground feel is still there, MWII has some new elements to enhance the experience we all know and love. This time around you can do some simple yet game changing stuff like hanging off of walls, cars, and ledges, to pop over cover and take down opponents. As well, there is an alternate way to swap weapons and still hold your primary weapon which just felt more realistic than a full swap from previous games.
While these two mechanics may not be the most groundbreaking they’ve added, they still add some realism and fresh perspectives to the game. It’s also pretty fun to catch an unsuspecting enemy while hanging from the edge of a wall or vehicle. There is also an added option of being able to crouch slide or prone jump using the same button – which is genius. While running, a tap of the crouch button puts your character into a direct slide in any direction you’re facing, while a hold will have your character launch themselves forward into a prone position. Having the option to do both makes you feel much more free to make your own movement decisions on the fly, which was always possible, however, this time it feels more impactful.
The New Weapons and Custom Classes
This time around, MWII introduced a new way to customize classes. Once you unlock the create-a-class feature you still have the option to customize your weapons once you unlock the attachments, but a new feature was revealed where you can build new weapons from a base weapon system. The main one featured was the M4 base (receiver) which can be altered to become 4 other weapons when the other versions of that system are unlocked. Essentially the M4 can now become a M16, a LMG, a sub machine gun, and a semi-auto rifle by only changing out the receiver. It’s cool that one main weapon base can now become other weapons but ultimately it doesn’t bring anything new to the table since you could simply unlock those other weapons by playing anyway. We’ll have to see how these weapons and variants are going to be unlocked in the final release of the game.
New Multiplayer Modes
While the staple COD modes are all here, there are some new modes that seem to be changing up the flow. A new PVPVE mode called Invasion was playable and it opened up a large scale map that really changed the experience in my opinion. Truthfully Invasion mode felt like a true Battlefield game with such an open space, long and short range gunfights, and vehicles to use. The vehicle combat was crazy fun and it was intense trying to dodge rockets and not get destroyed. Overall I thought Invasion mode was impressive for a larger game type and it felt like Infinity Ward was stepping things up in a more grand scale, and possibly taking shots at Battlefield 2042.
There were a few other modes that were featured like the return of the Third Person mode, Prisoner Rescue, and Knockout. Unfortunately I did not have enough time to try out all the modes available but I did get some time with the Third Person mode and I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a nod to the first time it was introduced in the original MW2 from the old school days, however, I was looking to find a setting to keep the aim “over the shoulder” but for whatever reason, you could only aim down your sights in first person. While it worked and felt fine, I really was looking for that shoulder aim so it would be a full third person experience.
Final Thoughts
Right now the state of Call of Duty as a whole is pretty much everywhere. In some cases the floodgates have been opened with laser guns in WW2 settings, neon tracers, movie characters and sci-fi operators, and old school guns in modern / mixed time periods and there are pretty much no limits with whatever Activision and their developers want to release. While this may be fun for a few minutes, the true core Call of Duty war experience has been diluted to an almost unrecognizable state. When I got my hands on this new MWII beta, I felt the authenticity of the original games and that true grounded war experience with all its intensity that it used to be known for and it was awesome. I truly hope they cut out all the gimmicks and quirky stuff that takes away from that experience this time around. I am also speaking on future DLC packs and content as well.
It would be great if the content that gets released all stays within the vein of the MWII aesthetic and keeps true the balance of the core game. Only time will tell what the full release and post game DLC will look like, but as it stands right now, the beta felt like a few steps in the right direction with solid gameplay mechanics and strong roots to that original fast paced arcade style war experience that made us love the game from the very beginning. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 launches later this month on October 28th, and preorders get access to the single player campaign a week earlier.
As always I hope you enjoyed this post and thank you so much for your support and taking the time to read / watch my content. These days its been really tough to stay focused and get writing done for my blog, but I am glad I was able to finally get this post done. Truthfully, its been feeling like a dull chunk of time with not to many exciting things happening in gaming or life in general in my opinion at least, but I’m excited for MWII and linking up with friends for some Warzone 2.0 and multiplayer sessions. Have an awesome day!
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