Originally unplanned,Call of Duty: Modern Warfareappears to be getting a battle royale mode in the near future called “Warzone.” With games likeFortnite,Apex Legends,PUBG, and evenCall of Duty: Black Ops 4still holding massive popularity, the latestCall of Dutygame finds itself in a unique position with an opportunity. With the franchise taking its first foray into battle royales with Blackout, fans are curious what a battle royale fromCall of Duty’s most famous sub-series could look like.
WithCall of Duty: Modern Warfare’s battle royale mode on its way soon, Warzone has the potential to be bigger than any of the major players currently in the shooter sub-genre.
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Differentiating other battle royale modes/games between each other boils down to the defining differences between what makes them distinct.Fortnitehas its building mechanics,Apex Legendshas its special heroes and abilities,PUBGhas vehicles and a larger map, and each brings something unique to the battle royale formula. It’s why many believeit’s too late for aModern Warfarebattle royale, citing that they wouldn’t have anything to bring to the table. Even a video game franchise as ubiquitous asCall of Dutyhas to bring something unique to the table if Infinity Ward wants its battle royale to succeed.
Modern Warfare’s Warzone Map Size and Player Count
Many of the rumors and leaks are pointing toModern Warfarehaving several defining features,primarily the battle royale player count size. Glitching into the “Warzone” menu states that the mode itself will support up to 200 players per session. Of all the most popular battle royale games currently, most don’t exceed 100 players per session. Upping the ante to 200 players can result in a lot of things, depending on the scenario.
Environment size plays a big part in whether or not having 200 players in a single session is a good thing. SinceCall of Dutymultiplayeris generally associated with small-to-medium-range and close-quarters combat, it’s going to need a map to match. Infinity Ward should take cues from its Ground War maps, but not emulate its design one-to-one.
A bad example would be Tavorsk district, a map defined by tall buildings and verticality, and several cramped interiors and side streets. Even with Ground War sessions topping out at 50 players, maps like these get very crowded, meaning more frequent player deaths and cramped spawns. There was even a knownglitch that gave an unfair advantage toModern Warfareplayersto players on Tavorsk due to hit detection issues. Map design inModern Warfare’s Warzone would do best to follow examples like Korvnik Farmland, plenty of longer sight lines without compromising the close quarters elementCall of Dutyis known for.
Use of Killstreaks/Scorestreaks in Modern Warfare
Along with map design in general,Call of Duty: Modern Warfarecould go a step further from the standard fare of most other battle royale games. Initially, Infinity Ward wanted toskip developing a battle royale forModern Warfarebecause it wanted to focus on core multiplayer first-and-foremost. Many of the existing mechanics inCall of Duty: Modern Warfarelend themselves well to most multiplayer modes already in the game, so there’s no reason why they wouldn’t transfer well into a battle royale mode.
Any good battle royale game distinguishes itself from others with unique gameplay elements.Call of Duty Modern Warfarecould easily pull mechanics from its plethora of other multiplayer modes and add them in as well. Most will point toModern Warfare’s killstreak/scorestreak abilitiesas prime candidates for inclusion in aModern Warfarebattle royale. What better way to control space in a shrinking arena than ordering giant area-of-effect attacks on your enemies in tense situations? Other than Bangalore’s ultimate inApex Legends, this really isn’t a gameplay feature in most battle royale games, or at the very least isn’t on the same scale asCall of Duty: Modern Warfaremultiplayer.
Existing Mechanics in Modern Warfare
Other than that,Call of Duty: Modern Warfarealso has some similar mechanics in its core multiplayer that already exists in other battle royale games. Field Upgrades, like Deployable Shield or Recon Drone, are rechargeable abilities that each player gets sparingly per match. It’s likely theseupgrades/equipment will be added to the battle royale mode anyway, since they persist across all multiplayer modes inModern Warfare, but the main point is these abilities lend themselves to battle royale gameplay especially well. The success ofApex Legendswas built off each individual legend’s special abilities and how those abilities fit into a squad’s team composition, so it’d only benefitModern Warfare’s Warzone more.
Why Warzone May Be Bigger Than Blackout
There’s one last thing that Warzone has going for itself that may make it more popular than Blackout ever was: theModern Warfarereputation.Call of Dutyhas changed FPS gamesin formative ways, andModern Warfarewas a big part of that contribution.
Call of Duty’s triumphant return to theModern Warfaresub-series received a lot of good press because of its reputation. Many of the precedingCall of Dutyreleases have been all about futuristic technological warfare. Fans are attracted toModern Warfarebecause of its iconic characters and present-day arcade-y combat simulation. Even though theBlack Opssub-series has been thebest-seller of theCall of Dutyfranchise most recently,Modern Warfarepropelled theCall of Dutyfranchise into mainstream acclaim withCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare,and receives a lot of revelry from fans for that reason.
WithCall of Duty: Modern Warfarebreaking sales recordsand having the largest opening weekend for aCall of Dutygame this console generation, it proves that theModern Warfarename still carries a lot of weight. As long as Infinity Ward can use the strengths of its already great base game and craft a solid base forModern Warfare’s Warzone mode, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be a great addition to the battle royale lineup.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfareis available now on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
