I have always been a Battle Royale fan, with PUBG being the catalyst for this fascination.
With the release of Call of Duty Warzone, I have sunk around 8-9 hours into Modern Warfare’s new take on the battle royale scene.
There are many things I have found to be an essential quality of life changes to the core battle royale experience that other games don’t bring to the table.
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However, there are a few aspects of Warzone which still leave me wanting a more satisfying experience.
Gameplay
As expected, the core gunplay transfers over to this game
mode very well. With the standard multiplayer already including bullet travel
time, it doesn’t take much adjusting to get used to the large-scale map.
With the addition of armour, the time-to-kill is increased
substantially. A necessary addition due to your vulnerability in some parts of
the map.
THE GULAG - Play the current gunfight game mode to preparefor the Gulag!
Similar to multiplayer, the M4 is still the dominant force on the battlefield. So much so, it seems you won’t be needing any other weapon if you really want to win.
I’ll cover the best way to win further down the article.
However, there are still some issues that need to be
considered. The servers, as expected, are very inconsistent with major lag
spikes occurring at the most inconvenient times.
You will also have the option to travel in a vehicle, whether this is by land or air I can’t recommend either.
You become a huge target with little health. The circle moves fairly slow anyway, so there is little need to put yourself at risk.
Lastly, the map feels well pieced together creating an archipelago of old and new Call of Duty maps.
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This makes for a densely populated map with both city skyscrapers for close-quarters combat and open planes for the patient sniper.
Mechanics
This battle royale has 150 players, instead of the typical
100. This paired with the ability to respawn teammates creates a chaotic
battlefield. This is great fun, but from a competitive point of view, becomes
frustrating.
The unique feature that Warzone brings to the table, is its bounties and challenges in-game.
DROP WITH YOUR TEAM - Team play is VERY important in Warzone!
This involves capturing flags and hunting other players. You are rewarded with a large sum of money; with this, you can purchase multiple rewards at a buy station.
This is the first issue I have with Warzone; it is far too easy to get money to respawn teammates, get killstreaks and most importantly, choose your own loadout.
If you create a class specified for Warzone, you can complete one or two bounties to have enough to spawn in your own weapons, making you a deadly force without needing to loot.
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There is also an additional respawn feature. If you go down and are finished off, you get sent to the gulag! Here you participate in a 1v1 with another defeated enemy. Whoever wins, gets sent back into the match.
This is a lot of fun and tends to favour the more
competitive player. However, it does add to the lack of intensity during the
match as you’re always aware you’ll have a second chance.
With all these mechanics to navigate in such a short time, Warzone seems overwhelming at first, but once you begin to understand and master the map, the meta, and the mechanics, you’ll start to dominate.
How to Win a game of Warzone
Warzone is clearly a more casual take on the battle royale scene, with features to help less experienced players get further in the game, however, this doesn’t mean it’s easy to win.
Here I’ll cover the strategies my team went through to go on
a massive win streak after losing our first games.
TRAVERSE THE WARZONE - Use vehicles to move around the the map quickly, just remember... you are vulnerable!
Stick together, having 3x the firepower and 3x the health is no match for solo players wandering around alone. This also allows you to push people with more aggression as you’ll be around your allies to pick them up if they go down.
Begin by looting a smaller area, and loot fast, you won’t be holding onto your starting guns for long.
You need to focus on completing challenges and bounties to gain money, this will allow you to call in a personal supply crate and immediately have a godly loadout from the start.
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I have to recommend the M4 with variable scope and the AX50. Without this strategy, it is very rare you’ll find both of these weapons with luck.
Now you are fully kitted out, look at purchasing at least a
UAV and an airstrike, this will give you the upper hand later in the match.
Finally, play the high ground. Positioning is key, especially in the late game. Having to push a team downhill is far easier than having an uphill struggle.
The Future for Warzone
Due to the arcade-like nature of Warzone, it is unlikely we’ll see any serious competitions. There may be a possibility this is removed at a later date. But until then, we’ll have to wait and see.
ONE TEAM TO RULE THEM - Defeat the other 147 players to win the match!
Although the focus is more towards fun than competition, high
skill players will always excel. Unfortunately, it is currently far too easy to
exploit the current meta to gain a competitive advantage over the other
players.
Finally, a current issue for Warzone is the servers. This is most likely due to the unexpected rise in player count, and not enough server space. This is an issue we’ll almost certainly see fixed in the next couple of days.
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What has your experience of Warzone been like so far?
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