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As someone who has been playing Call of Duty for over 10 years now, I have a lot of experience with the series and I've been there for all those highs, and those low lows. When I heard then that the next title would be a return to where it all began for me, Modern Warfare, I was instantly excited to see what the pretty iconic team Infinity Ward reassembled for the project were going to produce. Especially when you consider that next years game is already in a poor state with development teams switching and so on, this game could be pivotal for the future of what was one the true king of gaming. So then, after a full weekend and plenty of hours with the game, what do I think about this year’s game? Let’s find out:

Before we go any further, I will simply say that I do like this year’s game and I am excited to see what the full package has to offer. Despite this, there are a fair few issues within Multiplayer in my opinion so as I go, I will be nit picking and being a little hypercritical of some aspects.

Look, Feel and Flow

This was the element I was most worried about for this game as it is built upon a new engine which doesn’t look like the traditional games. Initial gameplay and the 2v2 alpha experience made the game feel heavy and sluggish but fortunately, after playing regular MP modes and experiencing bigger maps, it doesn’t feel too bad. Its still not as smooth as something like Black Ops 3 or MW2 but it’s definitely bearable. I do prefer the smoothness of previous games but I'm sure that will come as they refine the engine further and gain some more experience with it. Visually, the game looks a lot better than previous titles with much higher detail and much better menu systems. You can really tell where the old engine was holding them back in some cases, maps load a lot quicker, there are no slow menus or loading and everything feels snappy and easy to use. The game holds a stable high frame rate and I only noticed a few small graphical issues which have been addressed by the dev’s already so it’s all positive on that front. One thing to note though, if you have a noisy console like my PS4 Pro, it will be extremely loud for the entire time you are playing, whether that be in menus or actually in game so just be ready to keep closing the app if you’re not going to be playing for a few minutes.

Moving onto flow and we encounter what is arguably the most ridiculous change in the franchise’s history, the removal of the mini map. This was a classic case of “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” as literally nobody wanted the mini map removed. It’s a fundamental component of COD and to not have it in the game is simply crazy, there’s no other way to put it. It murders the flow of the game as nobody knows where the enemy team, or their own team are. This is amplified by the fact that nobody knows the maps yet and all this comes together to create a very campy, defensive experience. As soon as someone gets a UAV, gameplay spikes, people get more confident and it feels like COD again. I know they have experimented with adding the radar back in but in my opinion, it shouldn’t be up for debate, it has to be there on release. Touching on maps, the 6V6 maps feel great and I don’t actually have a problem with any of them (bar lighting, more on that later). The 10v10 mode however is simply awful and I wont be touching that at all in the full game. If you recall, ground war from previous COD’s was 9v9 on 6v6 maps however 10v10 on MW has dedicated maps which I'm assuming will also be used for bigger modes such as 20v20 and 32v32, this means that you’re stuck on a huge map with only 10 people to try and find and couple that with the lack of radar, nobody has a clue what the hell is going on! These matches last an eternity and I found myself having fewer than 15 encounters on that terrible map in a full 10 minute match, that is simply not on. I'm more than up for 32v32 as I know that will be action packed and will actually fit the map it’s played on so bring that on!

I did also encounter a few other issues within the beta, whilst these are probably small issues when noted on their own, when combined with the other issues (especially the mini map) they do all add up to bring a splash of negativity to a solid experience. The first of these issues is the lighting, several areas within the maps featured are way too dark and I found myself turning up my brightness and leaning into my monitor just so I can try and make enemies out. The most common way I spotted enemies in these dark areas was via their nametag above their character which is simply not good enough. This needs to change and fortunately, Infinity Ward have noted the issue and are looking to fix before launch. Moving on then, spawns feel like they could do with some adjusting as I have spawned way to close to enemies on several occasions especially on the Hackney map. There are of course several other smaller issues such as killstreak animations and audio balance.

Weapons and Time to Kill

Infinity ward have spent a lot of time on the weapons within Modern Warfare, completely reinventing the custom class system to allow you to build out highly customized weapon loadouts. To compliment this, they have added a lot of attachments which each drastically change the way guns handle and look. I am a big fan of this as one of my favourite components of a good COD MP is having stuff to grind for and having a load of attachments available works as a good incentive to keep using each weapon. Guns can be completely transformed and I found myself using attachments that I wouldn’t usually go for and building some awesome weapons. Time to kill is fast with even SMG’s being perhaps a little to capable at longer ranges. AR’s dominate which is how it should be, and they do really pack a punch up close and at range. LMG’s feel a little underpowered as they tend to have a lot of recoil. Whilst I don’t mind this as we have had some OP LMG’s recently, I still think that they should be competitive so I would like to see their recoil reduced. Shotguns seem about right in the balance which is nice as they have been poor recently and I love a bit of shotgun gameplay! Snipers are alright damage wise but the one that we had available handles like a bus, and you feel like the slowest man alive when you are using it. These either need a buff or they need to give us access to the handling attachments much sooner.

Overall Impressions

Looking at the whole package then, I left weekend one feeling confident that this year’s game will be decent but I still believe that they do need to make some changes to really have the game reach its potential. Mini-map needs to come back, lighting needs to be improved and 10v10 needs to stay away from me at all costs. Gameplay feels new and refreshing and their content plans seem to suggest that we will have more post launch updates than ever before. I will be playing more Modern Warfare this coming weekend and I remain excited for launch on October 15th. If you have played the Beta, make sure to let me know your thoughts down below. If you haven’t played the beta yet, you can download and play this weekend! Make sure to check out the link at the foot of this article to get your copy of the game pre-ordered for launch and as always, make sure to keep it ShopTo for all the latest gaming news, reviews, competitions and more!