Activision has been on a high recently with the astounding success of their flagship game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. They have doubled down now by releasing a new game with the name Call of Duty: Warzone. The mind-blowing aspect here is that the game is free-to-play for everyone and that it has cross-platform support between PCs and consoles.
This is definitely not typical for Activision as they have garnered quite the reputation for putting large price tags on their games. Call of Duty: Warzone seems to be a step into a better direction for gamers, and when it comes to gameplay, it does not disappoint in quality for its “price”. The game still provides the same entertaining and thrilling gameplay that one may have associated with the Call of Duty franchise.
Call of Duty: Mini? Maybe not.
The game works as a subset of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with the same game physics, game engine, and launcher. Players can also use their CoD: MW account to play CoD: Warzone which is an incredibly helpful factor for fans who had Modern Warfare on their PCs or consoles beforehand as it allows them only to have to download a 13 GB addon to the game as opposed to the hefty 90 GB download for those who don’t have Modern Warfare. The game also has similar system requirements as CoD: MW.
So what about gameplay? Well, the game features two game modes, Plunder and Battle Royale. In Plunder, players have to search for money, which is scattered around the map until they accumulate $1 million. This game mode is incredibly fun as it forces players to change their “camping” habits and makes them hunt around the map for the loot, creating more carnage and action.
The concept taken to a new level
The match may also go into overtime in which case the money collected is doubled and the team with the larger amount accumulated is declared the winner. A similar game mode was featured in Battlefield Hardline, but it is interesting to see CoD’s twist put into it.
The Battle Royale mode was an inevitable game mode due to the genre’s immense success. CoD: Warzone’s battle royale features a massive map of Verdansk, which probably constitutes a large chunk of the 90 GB download. With vehicles such as jeeps and helicopters combined with the whopping 150 players dropped in, the battle royale mode is exceptionally entertaining.
Battle for your right to respawn
While the base player count is 150, there are many chances for a player to get back into the fight after being killed. After the first death, players are sent to a “gulag” where they have to fight 1-on-1 to earn their spot back. Even after this respawn, you can be revived again by your teammates. Another exciting factor is the maximum squad limit of only three players compared to the norm of four. However, this worked out for Apex Legends, so maybe Activision knows what they’re doing.
The game has been incredibly entertaining and well-received by the community. The seamless gameplay and thrilling modes with the addition of CoD’s usual chaotic action has probably created one of the best combinations for both a battle royale game and a CoD game as well. The servers have also managed to take on the extreme load of players at launch, so let us hope that Activision runs with this formula for this game. The game is currently available to play for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
YouTube: Let’s Play – Call of Duty Warzone [Gameplay, No Commentary]
Photo credit: All images used are owned by Activision Blizzard and were made available for press usage.
Sources: Call of Duty / Blizzard.net / Activision press release
