When the developers show us MW2 for the first time, it’s quickly clear: this is just a refinement of the 2019 formula. It sounds unspectacular, but in the end it could be good for the fans.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is a sequel that builds extremely carefully on the Modern Warfare reboot of 2019. What awaits us at release on 28 October 2022 is no CoD revolution – that much is certain after the reveal. But what seems almost tentative definitely has system and, on balance, could be just what the brand desperately needs after Modern Warfare 2019.
But what is this actually about? Shortly before the release of the official Reveal trailer, we were able to get an in-depth look at Modern Warfare 2: The developers talked to us about their vision for the shooter, showed us extensive gameplay scenes from the story and explained the most important new functions in multiplayer. However, we were not able to play the game ourselves and Warzone 2 and the mysterious DMZ mode were not yet discussed.
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Car tyres and water?
If we had expected big new features that would stand out like a beacon from the usual CoD gameplay and completely freak out genre fans, we would have been disappointed by the presentation. Instead, there was talk of the new water engine, improved AI, fixing car tyres and splitting the multiplayer maps into “battle maps” and “core maps.”
Wait, car tyres? Water? Not exactly the stuff explosive game magazine headlines are made of! At least one would think so. But behind all the deep stuff lies a potentially clever strategy that could pay off much later – for developers and MW fans alike. In this article, we therefore classify what the innovations of MW2 really mean.
The crucial difference
Modern Warfare 2 sees itself as the logical consequence of Modern Warfare 2019. On the one hand, this means: action bombast in the campaign with heaps of explosions, wild chases, stealth missions with night vision and tough sayings in Special Forces slang.
Task Force 141 is back, of course, chasing evil terrorists across the globe and of course uncovering a vast military conspiracy. So far, so Call of Duty. The announcement trailer says it all in this regard:
On the other hand, we can once again expect a multiplayer potpourri of Spec-Ops co-op, classic competitive 6-versus-6 matches and ground war with many players, vehicles and the sandbox feeling that Battlefield once had. And then there’s Warzone 2.0, a new Free2Play version of the incredible Battle Royale success.
Of course, none of this is new. Instead, Infinity Ward wants to tighten the screws exactly where the predecessor ran out of steam. Here are the most important improvements, which may not sound like much on paper, and the reasons why they could make the decisive difference in the final game!
The Vehicles
In 2019’s Modern Warfare, vehicles always seemed a bit like they were kind of crammed in as an afterthought, despite all the technical hurdles. They sometimes controlled clunkily, often reacted questionably to collisions and had a rudimentary damage model at best – not even tyres could be shot.
Warzone players suffered most from this: Time and again, the developers had to partially or even completely disable vehicles to stop glitches, bugs and exploits. Modern Warfare 2 now seems to include the integration of vehicles from the beginning. Multiplayer lead designer Joe Cecot tells us:
“We wanted to do so much more with vehicles. You can now lean out of cars in all seats and shoot, or climb onto the roof to jump onto other vehicles, or activate the parachute as you drive over a cliff!”
And the physics are also supposed to play along better now: “You can destroy doors, rear-view mirrors or the bumper and tyres burst when shot at. And that also has an effect on the handling. You can even repair destroyed tyres on your vehicle,” says Cecot. The wreckage of destroyed vehicles will also remain as cover elements this time and will not simply disappear.
(Water vehicles will play a major role and will be used in the campaign picture as well as in the multiplayer and in Warzone 2. Equipment such as mines or grenades are adapted for use in water.)
In addition, the vehicle fleet is to grow: Infinity Ward has already announced a large transport helicopter and new amphibious vehicles, which are to enable new tactical options. If all this pans out in Modern Warfare 2, Battlefield may finally get some real competition in terms of Combined Arms missions through Ground War, where infantry, tanks and air vehicles fight in tandem.
The AI
One of the biggest criticisms of Modern Warfare 2019 in our original review was the lack of intelligence in the AI enemies. Especially in the Spec-Ops co-op, enemies only became a challenge through their sheer mass and let the missions degenerate into dull bot matches that hardly anyone was interested in soon after release. But in MW2 everything is supposed to be different and better, promises Jack O’Hara, Game Director at Infinity Ward.
“Our new AI is not meant to be cannon fodder, but to really bring Modern Warfare to life and instil respect in players – in all game modes. They will coordinate with each other, check their surroundings and look more natural in their animations,” O’Hara explains.
To illustrate the point, animation director Mark Grigsby shows us a short demo of an AI soldier from MW2 moving autonomously and without a given script through a training area: he takes cover behind objects on his own, peeks carefully around corners and secures his surroundings seemingly consciously and purposefully with his weapon.
This is quite impressive and makes the character look like a trained operator who proceeds methodically and knows exactly what he is doing. The developers are so confident with their new AI that they plan to use it en masse: Up to 300 NPCs will be on the map at once in some game modes, Jack O’Hara tells us. And yes, in this context the makers also explicitly mention Warzone 2!
The Maps
Maps were one of the biggest construction sites at the release of Modern Warfare in 2019, as their convoluted and asymmetrical layout became a camper’s dream in some cases, while others degenerated into a dull endurance run due to their sheer size. To quote from our review:
“One round of Headquarters on the huge map Aniyah Palace turned into a marathon for us because the mission objectives appeared far too far apart from each other. Despite continuous sprinting, our team had no chance of capturing an HQ“.
The locations for Grond War, on the other hand, were chaotic and poorly balanced because they had simply been ripped from the large warzone map Verdansk and thrown into the multiplayer. The concept of “every mode on all maps” just didn’t quite work.
With updates and DLC maps, remedies were soon found, but Modern Warfare 2 promises to clean up all these problems. So, what’s it going to be: classic and clearly readable 6-vs-6 maps for CoD’s core community, or big sandboxes for climbing, exploring and vehicle driving? “Both!” is the surprising answer from Geoff Smith, the design director for the multiplayer.
“We now basically divide our maps into two broad categories: Battle Maps for higher player numbers with lots of walkways, walkable buildings and space for vehicles. And core maps for classic 6vs6 with clean lanes and less climbing ”
With this logical separation, Infinity Ward kills two birds with one stone and appeases players from the competitive corner, who had loudly criticised the map design of 2019, and at the same time can continue with larger and more winding concepts that many MW players now know, love and also expect from MW2. The battle maps here come from Warzone 2.0, but were explicitly designed for Ground War and regular multiplayer, Geoff Smith assures.
The Gunsmith
One of Modern Warfare’s greatest strengths was the Gunsmith, where we were able to rebuild our arsenal beyond recognition: Different calibre, new barrel, better sights – more was possible here than ever before in Call of Duty. Game Director Jack O’Hara now promises: That was just the tip of the iceberg. In CoD Modern Warfare 2, the weaponsmithing feature is to be massively expanded:
“There will be more attachments and a wider scope of features on how to customise weapons. Add to that the all new attachment tuning that almost works its own game in the game. Once you have levelled up a weapon in MW2, you can tune each attachment individually, which has both positive and negative effects. Players can therefore adjust their arsenal even better to their needs and modify it to fit their play style ”
As an example, O’Hara shows us a barrel for the MP5 whose weight and length we can adjust with a slider. Depending on the setting, we sacrifice stability when aiming or speed when putting the gun on, in favour of less recoil. This gives us an idea of how much depth and complexity there could be in the weapon system of Modern Warfare 2.
Never touch a running system
The new water engine in CoD Modern Warfare 2 is highlighted during the presentation. Players can now swim, dive and use water vehicles in the campaign, multiplayer and Warzone 2. An elaborate new engine was created for this purpose, which calculates currents, reflections and even ballistics in and around the water.
New game modes and gadgets are supposed to provide more tactical depth: Infinity Ward shows us a spy camera that sticks to walls and a kind of mini-drill that spits out deadly grenades on the other side of a wall. Both should look strikingly familiar to players of Rainbow Six: Siege.
And then there are the two new game modes: In Knockout, two teams without respawn option fight for possession of a money bag in just one minute, and in Prisoner Rescue, a team of attackers tries to overcome the defenders’ lines, free prisoners and bring them to a landing zone. What all this makes clear: Infinity Ward isn’t shaking the MW framework. And it doesn’t have to, because Modern Warfare was already such a really damn good shooter and catapulted the CoD brand to new heights.
Instead of reinventing something that worked well a few years ago, they’re now ironing out quirks, introducing a few new ideas here and a few new tactical options there. The stupid AI, the faltering map design, the haphazard ground war, in short, the problem areas of the predecessor seem to be the main focus. Modern Warfare 2 is despondent, lacking in innovation – on the one hand, one could certainly accuse the title of that. On the other hand, MW2 could be exactly what fans want.
Editor’s Verdict
I admit that I was briefly disillusioned right after talking to Infinity Ward. Swimming through water is now MW2’s new flagship feature? Not exactly overwhelming! But the longer I thought about what I, as a fan of the first Modern Warfare of 2019, would want from a sequel, the more it dawned on me: this is the logical path for fans and the studio. Modern Warfare was extremely popular. Why experiment now and risk it all again? Why now fundamentally change the formula that propelled Call of Duty back to the top as a shooter brand a few years ago?
Instead, the developers are tackling everything that I myself criticised in the review from back then: the stupid AI, the poor vehicle integration, the faltering map design. All in all, it reads like the checklist for “Modern Warfare, but this time without blunders and quirks”. No, Modern Warfare 2 will not win any innovation prize and is guaranteed not to convince anyone who has been shouting “Call of Duty is always the same recycled crap!” for years anyway.
But Modern Warfare 2 could end a dry spell for all those who couldn’t do anything with Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard. Whether it really works, however, can ultimately only be judged once we have been able to play MW2 ourselves.
