As another year goes by, another Call of Duty game is the name on everybody’s lips. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has the CoD fanbase in a frenzy with the BETA having released this week. Being the sequel to the hugely successful Call of Duty: Modern Warfare released in 2019, expectations are extremely high. Not to mention this year marks the release of a new iteration of Call of Duty: Warzone alongside the main game, although it is not included in this BETA.
I’ve had a good chunk of time with the BETA so far, and it was a largely positive time. There were a few hiccups which is to be expected as I was unable to get past the login screen a few times, and also had a few crashes, but nothing crazy.
The graphical overhaul was the biggest change that I noticed from the last iteration. The weapons and player models are very smooth and look more realistic than ever. The level design is nothing to write home about, but when has a CoD level brought something special?
The other obvious difference to the last entry to the Call of Duty franchise is that the game is set in modern times with a modern arsenal versus the cold war era of Vanguard. The majority of the player base is ecstatic about this as modern era shooters are the most popular these days. I personally prefer WW2 era shooters. There’s nothing like that *ping* of the M1 Garand after you shoot the last bullet in the mag… I digress, back to MWII.
The game modes available in the BETA don’t include a traditional Team Deathmatch mode, which is somewhat of a disappointment, but understandable as the developer likely wants to test other game modes, and Team Deathmatch would steal most of the population.
As it stands, we don’t know what will change from now to release, but if previous BETAs are anything to go by, not much will. If the player is a fan of CoD, they will like this game. If the player is looking for an awesome shooter experience that is a massive improvement on previous titles in the series, they won’t. As is the norm with yearly release series such as this, there isn’t much to write home about other than slight incremental improvements. There are some movement changes – like the omission of slide cancelling – that may upset hard core Call of Duty players, but to the average gamer, won’t make much of a difference.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Open Beta runs from the 24th to the 26th of September, so if you are looking for something to play this weekend, maybe this is it!
Sam Russell – View Profile – View more by this writer
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