The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare beta kicked off this weekend, bringing a huge sense of nostalgia, frustration, victory, defeat, and encounters with campers. Nevertheless, the latest rendition of Call of Duty focuses more on realism and tactical gameplay, but that seems to have given the game an identity crisis.

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Following last month’s alpha, the Modern Warfare beta offers more traditional 6v6 and 10v10 game modes that Call of Duty Players are more familiar with. You have your Team Death Match that puts players in a map, where your only objective is to kill one another and reach the target number of kills first. Domination is the other staple, having players take on capture the flag-like gameplay, where you have three points (Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie) to capture and score points holding the objectives for longer. Headquarters is a game mode where players are required to capture the “headquarters” that spawn on the map. The team that capture the point will then have the right to respawn removed, as they earn points for the amount of time they hold the objective.



As the beta went on, we received a mode called Cyber Attack. This seemed to be a spin on Search and Destroy, where players can either kill the entire enemy team, or plant an EMP device in the enemy’s objective. The twist comes in the fact that your opponents enter a knocked down state, while there are others still alive. Players can choose to resurrect their fallen allies, or simply push objective. To nobody’s surprise, my teammates often felt the need to unleash their inner Rambo and attempt to clutch 1v5 situations, with imminent defeat soon to follow.

Players were later given access to Night Maps, which revolved around players playing in the dark, with night vision goggles. If you’re reading this and wondering how that works - it just doesn’t. The mode has a long way to go before it can be any sort of fun. For the most part, you’re having to strain your eyes thanks to the lack of light. Whenever someone does create any sort of light source, you’re instantly blinded for the next ten seconds. Activision will have to take that mode back to the drawing board because there is a lot left to be desired. I understand the novelty behind the Night Mode, but it only serves to give you a visual work out and possibly cause a trip to the nearest optometrist shortly after.

If the tedious Night Maps didn’t get your attention, Activision gave us access to Realism Mode. This mode essentially removes the HUD and any other helpers to make the game feel, well, more real. It’s fun for the fact that you actively have to pay attention to everything around you, but that fun is short-lived as soon a camper catches you in their sights. Last, but certainly not least, Gunfight made a return, which I found myself more attached to than the more traditional modes. The 2v2 mode was fast-paced, fun, and just relied solely on how well you could shoot at the opposing team.

That may come as a surprise, but I felt like this mode captured the realism Infinity Ward was trying to go for, more than the traditional modes did. This year, Call of Duty feels very realistic, and it’s that very aspect that makes the gameplay feel somewhat bipolar. The gun gameplay makes it feel like you’re meant to rush in and treat the game like a fast-paced FPS, but the excruciating attention to being realistic, makes the game feel like it’s meant to be more tactical. It’s almost as if Rainbow Six Siege and old-school Call of Duty games had a baby. The result feels like somewhat of a mixed bag. Campers were a big problem in the Modern Warfare beta, but I almost can’t blame them. One of your tools at hand is literally a shield that you can use to hold a position. It’s the fact that the game encourages this, while also pushing players to run and gun, makes me feel very confused as to which side of the field Modern Warfare wants to sit on. You can argue the fact that it offers different playstyles, but for now, it doesn’t transition well in gameplay. That being said, they can definitely fix this by the time the game launches, however, it feels like Modern Warfare is having an identity crisis.



That being said, the gun gameplay has to be some of the best to date in a Call of Duty. Everything feels fluid, while recoil is present but very manageable. Snipers now require more precision, and the gun customisation feels fantastic. You can feel your weapon change, and evolve with each and every item or perk you equip onto it. The guns themselves feel very different too. SMGs each have their own pros and cons, with some boasting higher rates of fire and lower damage to feel more balanced. I never went into a gunfight feeling that I would never win it because of the guns I had at hand. I did notice that LMGs were much more efficient at dealing with larger groups of enemies, but that’s what you would expect from a gun that has such a large magazine. I could feel the nostalgia of the old Modern Warfare while looking at the guns in the loadout menu, but that nostalgia leaves as soon as you enter the battlefield. There have been multiple concerns regarding the lack of a mini-map during the beta, and I would have to agree with the sentiment. Much of the rushing that players enjoy from their Call of Duty experience was hampered by overly cautious camping, which resulted in a much slower game.

The beta maps catered heavily to camping, with a copious amount of buildings having doors that open and close. One map, in particular, Grazna Raid, is a small, clustered city perfect for getting shot in the back because someone is lurking in a dark corner. The ability to open and close doors will definitely take some time getting used to. For example, I pushed through a building only to get shot in the back because I couldn’t distinguish the difference between decor and a real door. That being said, a camper was tending to their bonfire in the other room, heard my footsteps, and opened the interior door just in time to make me regret ever walking in. The UAV matters now more than ever, since it serves a temporary mini-map. Thankfully it doesn’t require many kills to get, so a competent team should have one available most of the time.



Operators no longer have superpowers or one-shot tasers, so that is a very welcomed change. You simply have various soldiers to choose from, and a feature called “Field Upgrades”. This can vary from putting down a shield, to giving yourself a special type of ammo. Field Upgrades aren't limited to a specific operator, so you can always mix and match to your heart's desire. As I mentioned earlier, weapon attachments feel amazing. The Gunsmith has been overhauled to give you a visual representation of how your attachments change your weapon. The beta allowed players to level themselves and their guns, which unlocked new weapons and attachments respectively.

There is a fine balance with how many attachments you can load onto your weapon which can dramatically change the weapon’s overall feel, depending on how you build it. Arguably the best feature in the beta was the ability to change your loadout while in a game. I often found myself changing attachments to cater to the types of gunfights and scenarios. For example, a sniper with a short-range scope helped hone in on enemies in close-range situations, while I could always change the scope to target enemies hiding in the far corners of the map.

Modern Warfare shows a lot of promise for next month’s release, but the focus on realism has affected gameplay. Whether or not that’s good, depends entirely on the player, but I felt like it slowed the pacing of the game dramatically. There is a lot to love about the new Call of Duty, however, minor tweaks will fix the game dramatically. I just hope that Infinity Ward doesn’t sacrifice fun in its pursuit of realism.

If you're interested in the Modern Warfare beta, you can try it out in this weekend's beta window. It will be available to all players and we will get our first taste of cross-play.