Call of Duty has always been my spray n’ pray FPS game of choice where a few wasted bullets here and there would at the very least score kills to fill up my streak. But now that Treyarch decides to put a slightly higher health pool it forces my play style of choice to get thrown out of the window. With that in mind, it still manages to get my complete attention as the team-based gank squad gives the game a bit more flavor than the previous games ever did. Going “Han Solo” on enemies is a gamble of getting shot dead as you flank or getting gangbanged before thinning the enemy ranks. This provides a forced partnering up to lower chances of death and eventually giving the players to be more tactical and at the same time work as a functional team.
The level of plays has been tipped. Specialists and loadouts provide a bigger impact than before and communication with the team scores even bigger rewards. If I were to compare it to another game, I would most definitely say it’s an Overwatch or Paladins game that also focuses on class customization. Each of the 10 available Specialist implies different roles to play and sticking to each one gives a rewarding feel. A Ruin Specialist for example acts as a flanker in the group with its grappling hook ability that provides the high mobility and traversal capabilities but can easily die against a Battery Specialist for example that carries both a grenade launcher as well as a cluster grenade. Loadouts still play a definitive role in the game however like equipping “Armor-Penetrating” Rounds against Armored Users that beefs up their defense by a lot that gives such high killing power against non-AP round users.
Grab and Go! The new game mode Heist provides what the old school FPS games were like. No respawns and killing off every enemy or running off with the cash wins the round. It’s simple but also very reliant on tactical plays as well as decision-making since every game starts off with minimal cash and a pistol. Unlike Counter-Strike, my first FPS game on the PC, it’s not about only one side planting and the other defusing bombs which makes both sides have an even playing field. It’s a game centered on an even higher level of team play which makes it rewarding to those who stay parallel to it yet punishes players who stray away and diving in blindly.
But if that wasn’t your thing the other game modes still provide enough fun to play casually so sticking with what you like is never a bad idea. Control, Chaos TDM that includes both Kill Confirmed and Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy as well as Capture Moshpit that adds both Hardpoint and Domination modes provides enough fun and variety for any player that just wanted to have a blast and blast others for a weekend. As far as gameplay and gunfights go, it’s compact and smooth like butter making the entire experience fun and rewarding. Loading times aren’t as bad but at rare times would take longer than a minute. Mediocre internet connections also doesn’t suffer horribly which is a plus for anyone wishing to get the game in October. With the removal of auto-healing and the default booster packs in BO3, it’s refreshing to see the game in a new environment. And speaking of environment, each map included in the BETA provides tons of corridors and walls making hiding and flanking easier for anyone but also very tight which gives snipers an easier time to hold points unless flanked from behind. Every map feels a little too similar in a way that it’s filled with walls, I would definitely want to see a map made specifically for sniper fights. Two spawn points and one open center area with only a few crates for cover. This gives a slightly different approach but provides a fun and sniper-friendly shooting range.
All in all, I am very excited to see how the full game plays out and how September’s Blackout BETA would be implemented. While the BETA does not include any sort of split-screen mode it was mentioned that zombie mode will have it yet what I really want is local split-screen free-for-all with Bots and without the black edges like BO3 to fully maximize the screen just like how Plants vs. Zombies GW2 did (LOL!) Although I feel like it definitely needs more attention to adding new specialists provided that they scrapped single-player campaign to focus on the multiplayer aspects of the game. All we can do is wait, and wait I shall!
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