Call of duty
If you want to get a taste of what it’s like to battle it out with 200 other players in an ever-shrinking arena of chaos and death, now’s your chance. The massive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone “Season 4 Reloaded” update is now live, bringing with it the largest battle royale the genre has seen yet. It’s no slouch, at 22-36 GB depending on your platform, but we’re used to that. If you’ve got a slow connection, make a cup of coffee and get downloading, because that’s just sort of how this game goes.
The update comes with a ton of new content Aside from the aforementioned 200 player limited time mode, Warzone is getting supply run contracts, which will get you a discount on purchases if you get to the nearest buy station in time. We’re also getting a Juggernaut Royale mode, where one player gets to clomp around in a giant Juggernaut suit, as well as the spotter scope, which lets you scan the environment around you without that glint that gives away your position.
Both Warzone and Modern Warfare are getting the Rytrec AMR, a .50 caliber sniper rifle that you can unlock though an in-game challenge.
We’ve also got some big balance changes that address some long-overpowered weapons. The Grau and MP5s are getting some much-needed nerfs, hopefully bringing some variety back to both Modern Warfare and Warzone. For the full patch notes, click here.
Speaking of Modern Warfare, we’re getting a new map there: Cheshire Park, a London neighborhood with garden and conservatory to provide a pleasant, floral backdrop to the never-ending ritual of death and revival. We’re also getting a Team Defender mode that plays out like a traditional capture the flag, but with only one flag. You get points by holding onto the flag and not getting killed.
The store is getting some new stuff, as is traditional. The headline there is the new operator, Roze, as well as a legendary assault rifle Juliet blueprint.
It’s a big one, in nearly all ways, and it will require the full commitment of both your hard drive and trigger finger. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare continues to redefine the series’ place in the world of shooter space, buoyed by the free-to-play Warzone to become the most popular installment in franchise history. It almost begins to raise questions about just how the team will handle the transition to a new game in 2020, something I highly doubt Activision would be doing were Call of Duty not grandfathered into yearly releases even as the rest of the industry has moved on to games-as-service models. I’m particularly interested to see how the team handles a massive suite of weapons in Warzone as new ones from the new title join older unlocks.
