Weekend one of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II beta has ended. For four days, players on PlayStation platforms could hop on and get a taste of what the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise has to offer. Players got to see how the game plays, three 6v6 maps, the updated gunsmith, Perks and the menu systems.
Overall, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has the fundamentals nailed down. It’s a fun time with Infinity Ward making massive improvements to Modern Warfare 2019’s formula. Some areas, however, could use tweaking or outright reworks. Here are our impressions of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II beta.
The Good
It shouldn’t be too surprising that using any of the guns in the beta generally felt great. Infinity Ward likes to put a lot of weight and punch behind their guns, making them satisfying to use. While the game has significant visibility issues we’ll discuss later, there isn’t much to complain about regarding the look and feel of the weapons.
The same could be said for the movement mechanics. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II mixes the more realistic elements of Modern Warfare 2019 with some of the arcadey action of Black Ops Cold War. The result is a much faster-paced game than its predecessor, but it never strays too far into Treyarch’s territory. Infinity Ward also wisely removed slide-canceling, one of the cheesier movement tactics that came to dominate Modern Warfare 2019, Warzone and Vanguard’s betas.
Infinity Ward appears to be taking a page from Treyarch’s book regarding map design. Modern Warfare 2019’s maps were porous, with too many exposed angles that encouraged camping. Thankfully, the studio appears to be learning from its mistakes and is sticking to three-lane designs, but with an Infinity Ward twist. Marcado Las Almas is the best example, with three defined lanes, a handful of routes that lead into the different lanes for ambushes, and the studio’s signature power positions. Farm 18 too follows this philosophy, though visibility issues plague the map. Hopefully, we get more of these three-lane maps at launch and less of what we got with Modern Warfare 2019.
Of all of Modern Warfare II’s new game modes, by far the best was the new third-person mode. The mode puts players in a third-person perspective for a surprisingly fresh take on the Call of Duty multiplayer experience. Third-person opens up a greater view of your surroundings and gives new ways to approach movement, combat and taking cover. It’s a delightful addition that should become a mainstay in future Call of Duty titles.
All Things Mixed
Gunsmith was an interesting approach to customization in Modern Warfare 2019 and is back under the moniker Gunsmith 2.0 in Modern Warfare II. Like the previous iteration, players mix and match up to five different attachments, including optics, magazines, muzzles, grips and much more. The new wrinkle to the system are Receivers and Weapon Platforms, new features we broke down here.
On paper, it’s an excellent system that promotes weapon variety and cuts down on weapon grinding, which plagued Call of Duty: Vanguard. In execution, the result is mixed due to an over-complicated appearance and terrible UI. For example, it’s difficult to ascertain how to unlock your preferred weapons or attachments without digging into multiple menus. For launch, it would be great to get more in-depth details about how to unlock each weapon, Receiver and attachment within the Create-a-Class menu.
The same could be said about the new Perk Packages. On paper, it’s a great idea that rewards players for playing well throughout the match. In practice, though, it’s a system that only works if you’re in the game at the start. While the timer does shave off time equivalent to when you enter a match late, it can’t erase the fact that players who were there at the start are at a clear advantage. An elegant solution to this would be, as content creator TheXclusiveAce put it, allowing all Perks to be Base Perks, and then players earn ‘Pro’ versions throughout a match. Either that or Infinity Ward needs to make it so players aren’t dumped into ongoing matches.
Finally, while Marcado Las Almas and Farm 18 featured strong designs, Breenbergh Hotel hued too close to Modern Warfare 2019 map design. While it had three lanes, the angular corners that permeated the map were too punishing for rushing tactics but all too perfect for camping. Infinity Ward should potentially explore options to alter the layout.
The Bad
As we’ve alluded to for a while, visibility in the beta was horrendous. Visual noise from recoil, muzzle flash, and smoke made base weapons with iron sights nearly unusable. Equally concerning was the lack of differentiation between allied and enemy Operators. Factions are back, but many Operators across the teams look too identical. Infinity Ward should explore adding red enemy name tags above enemies, adding red lights to enemy operators (like what Treyarch did in Black Ops III and 4), or redesign the Operators to be more visually distinctive.
Speaking of Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games, it’s disappointing to see Infinity Ward backtrack on numerous quality-of-life improvements made over the past two years. While it’s fantastic to see Infinity Ward embrace features like swimming (which has been in Treyarch titles since 2015), why newer features like Combat Pacing and weapon sliding while mounted aren’t returning is a mystery.
One thing that can’t be overlooked is that Dead Silence is still not a Perk, and red dots don’t appear on the mini-map. Infinity Ward has already addressed this, stating they have no intention of adopting these features despite overwhelming community outcry for them. We respectfully ask Infinity Ward to reconsider. It was these features that made camping so meta in Modern Warfare 2019. Players don’t use red dots for hunting but to make informed decisions about where enemies possibly are on the map. Meanwhile, Dead Silence enables a quick-footed play style that players more interested in close-quarters combat prefer. These decisions decrease available playstyles, not increase them.
Simply put, since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and up through Black Ops 4, red dots on the mini-map and Dead Silence/Ninja have not been issues. Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games figured out how to balance red dots and Dead Silence/Ninja in Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, so there's no reason why Infinity Ward can’t find a way either.
No doubt the worst part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’s beta, however, is the terrible UI and menus. Call of Duty’s menus have never been the prettiest to look at, but they were always good at guiding players to what they’re looking for. Not so with Modern Warfare II. Instead of easy, comparable lists, items are now presented in giant blocks that require scrolling across the screen to get to what you want. In addition, basic Quality-of-Life features like the Mute All option are buried under layers of menus. In fact, it’s not only easier to mute the lobby in-game, but also actually easier to edit your classes in the middle of a game. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’s UI and menus are an unintuitive mess that needs to be addressed ahead of launch.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II so far is fun to play and an improvement over Modern Warfare 2019. The tweaks to the general design of maps, movement and the surprise addition of a third-person mode are all great joys. The moment-to-moment gunplay in matches is fantastic; it’s just the underlying elements that need tweaking, such as the Gunsmith and Perks. Infinity Ward has already said they’re working on improving visibility, which we’ll see in beta weekend two. It would be great to get some features and modes back from Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, and we hope Infinity Ward opens their mind to mini-map and Dead Silence tweaks. Overall, it’s a fun experience, but the menu and UI need a thorough rework.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II launches October 28 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Beta weekend two kicks-off September 22 for all PlayStation platforms and Xbox and PC players who pre-ordered. The beta opens to everyone on September 24 before ending on September 26.