Call of Duty: Warzone is far and away the most amount of hype the Battle Royale genre has seen since Apex Legends. After months of rumours and speculation, the standalone, free-to-play expansion to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare finally arrived on PlayStation 4 yesterday, bringing with it a gigantic map 150 players can call home and two modes to experience. It's a meaty package indeed that even brings its own selection of ideas to the table, and for that, it is completely competent. Fine, even. However, in a genre where the barrier to entry for the vast majority of its competition is quite literally zero, that simply isn't good enough anymore. Call of Duty: Warzone will gain popularity and recognition based on its name alone, but the experience it has to offer is steeped in simplicity.
And, depending on how much time you've spent playing various iterations of the Battle Royale concept, that could be a positive thing. Call of Duty: Warzone strips away much of the inventory management you'd have to deal with in Fortnite or Respawn Entertainment's genre masterclass -- opting instead for a set of options which would traditionally make up a single loadout in a multiplayer match. You've got two weapons, tactical and lethal equipment, and pieces of armour to boost your health. Ammo is looted separately and while it can be dropped and shared with other players on your team, that's as far as the game goes in terms of character-based complexities.
It makes for an undertaking which effectively kills the time you spend looting. Sure, you could search for rarer weapons equipped with better attachments, but then you're just as likely to source the same sort of loot from the enemy squads you run into and kill throughout the course of a match. The argument here is that it gets you into the thick of the action much faster. However, since the title is lacking in truly sought after loot, you never have much of a reason to actually return to searching for better equipment during quieter moments. Outside of ammo, which you'll feel like you either have too little or an abundance of, there's little to pull you back into scavenging after the opening few minutes of a match.
As such, Call of Duty: Warzone feels like the simplest take on Battle Royale for quite some time. When the core pillars of the genre are called into question, the title does little to iterate upon them -- actually taking a lot of it away in the case of looting. The shooting continues Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's hot streak of feeling phenomenal, but then the mode is based on those exact same foundations and mechanics. That all comes together to provide an experience reminiscent of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, in that it feels like the breakout hit which should lead to better takes on the genre further down the line. However, Warzone has arrived nearly four years after PUBG set the world alight. Newcomers will surely appreciate the simplicity, but we struggle to see how a hardcore following will form as competitors already on the market offer so much more depth.
One thing it does have going in its favour is the handful of cool, new ideas it brings to the table. Alongside looting weapons, equipment, and ammo, you'll also collect cash to spend at Buy Stations in exchange for killstreaks, armour, and a respawn for a deceased teammate. It's an interesting addition which gives you the chance to gain an advantage without ever having to engage in combat, with the likes of UAVs pinpointing nearby enemies on the map and airstrikes laying waste to anyone out in the open. Surprisingly, they don't feel too overpowered at the time of writing, but we all know how that can change.
Contracts spread throughout the map are another way of making money, providing you with objectives to complete. Whether it's simply locating three crates, securing a nearby point, or taking down a certain nearby player, they all come with a healthy cash prize. The idea works well in practice too, providing a constant money injection that can lead to bigger and better things should you save up for the more expensive items Buy Stations have to offer.
By far the coolest addition of all, however, is the Gulag. Taking the shape of the base game's Gunfight mode, players can fight for the right to respawn once per match across a single round, both equipped with the same loadout. If you get the kill, you'll re-join your teammates on the battlefield while the loser has to hope one of their buddies can accrue enough cash to bring them back at a Buy Station. Complete with a real-life audience and rocks which can be thrown from the stands, it's a fascinating take on the mechanic popularised by Apex Legends. You'll quickly begin to skip the introductory cutscene, but the idea behind the novel concept is one we can certainly appreciate -- at least giving Warzone something major to differentiate itself from the rest of the pack.
Plunder is the other 150-player mode you can participate in outside of traditional Battle Royale, tasking squads with collecting as much cash as possible. Infinite respawns and standard loadouts turn this offering into more of a normal multiplayer match than anything else, with the only things it borrows being the map and player count. It's fun enough for a couple of rounds, but we can't see it garnering much of a playerbase as teams aimlessly wander the battlefield in search of cash. Plunder attempts to create some chaotic action by marking those in first place on the map for all to see, which certainly puts those nearing victory on edge at least. It, however, cannot hold a candle to the usual intensity of a normal Battle Royale match when you're guaranteed to respawn after death.
Call of Duty: Warzone is more than likely going to do just fine for itself. It has the name Call of Duty in it, after all. However, in taking away much of what makes the Battle Royale genre the behemoth it is today, the game fails to provide much in the way of depth for players who have already mastered the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends. It is so laser-focused on the shooting that looting appears to have fallen by the wayside. And then you can mitigate the entire process by being lucky enough to run into a loadout drop where you'll be able to pick up the customised weapons and perks you've been using in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's multiplayer. The Gulag is a really, really cool idea, but this is not a Battle Royale offering we can see ourselves sticking with. At the end of it all, we couldn't help but wish we were playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode the entire time.
Have you had the chance to check out Call of Duty: Warzone yet? What do you make of it compared to other Battle Royale titles? Collect your loadout in the comments below.
Comments 35
I played the training and the first game just to unlock the two items.
Don't really like it, so probably won't play it again. I prefer TDM
I'm really not all that interested in the 'genre' - but this sounds by far more fun/palatable than PUBG or Fortnite.
Stop me if I am wrong, but isn't PUBG a little bit of a technical mess on consoles?
I would think that, despite PUBG being out earlier, COD has both the name recognition and optimizations to make it more popular on consoles - especially with the crowd that only cares about playing the latest version of COD.
Would had preferred it without having to be in a team.
I'll give it some more chances.
I still haven't played the space adventure Call of Duty yet so I don't imagine I'll be getting around to this any time soon
The simplicity actually appeals to me a bit. I find the other Battle Royales a bit overwhelming personally.
Yeah I disagree. The fact that it is simple is a great thing imo. Ended up playing it for most of last night.
It's a good thing. If you took away the building side of Fortnite I'd probable enjoy it better
Yeah, this didn't hit quite right with me. Think I'll stick with Apex
Great article! I think the crowd here is pretty anti-hardcore BR in general, but it’s true that this game seems to lack depth that makes it hard to maintain dedicated following.
Most impressions I’ve read seem really impressed with it and def feel like it’s a better BR than blackout ever was
@LemonHaze you should charge Activision for this publicity. Forgive them for having an opinion lol
@LemonHaze It's not really a verdict, though, just a hands on. We'll of course continue to follow the game.
Played it for a few hours last night and it's great. Yes, there's less inventory management but I still found myself scavenging and looting for the better gear, which you can do if you ignore the Loadout drops. I found all the games to be tense, tactical and bloody riveting. Everything Fortnite isn't. And if course it's very early days so this mode can only evolve and improve
@LemonHaze Appreciate the feedback. Just our initial impressions really, I'm sure this mode is going to prove popular and we'll be sure to update our thoughts in the future.
You mean it gets rid of the awful RNG that makes these modes too repetitive and chance based with said “loot”? I’ll have to give it a look, this actually might not suck like other BRs. This might make a BR value fighting and not hiding. I’d say that’s not more of the same at all.
It being simple is actually selling point to be honest, if it wasn't so big in size i would download it.
I like the simplicity of the inventory and the fact that armour doesn't have levels,everyone has the same armour...has a lot going for it especially if they start to mix things up(amount of players in a squad for example)like they do with the mp playlist
I love this mode due to it's simplicity, the building in Fortnite and the other aspects of Apex made it hard for me to fall in love with either game, but MW offers me the best feeling gameplay of the two and is quick to the point of what it is.
I wish there was a system when you jump at the same time as jump leader like in Apex as I haven't found such a feature yet but aside from that I love it.
It is a nice alternative to playing TDM/KC for me.
@Jaz007 The RNG is what makes the likes of Apex Legends and Fortnite not repetitive.
@get2sammyb I think exactly the same. If they throw in some solos and duos I could happily stick with this.
@LiamCroft A grind to get the same stuff every time you start a match hoping it’s not trash? It’s just fluff if you ask me. This gets rid of the monotonous start they always have. Nothing like only getting a shot-gun after five minutes that can’t do any real damage when you unload both of its shots at absolute point blank range. Great that is. And then after quickly dying it’s another 10 minute of finding stuff and walking around before the next fight plus loading times for a new match.
@Jaz007 Call of Duty: Warzone still has the exact same style of loot though randomly placed everywhere. There's just a lot less variety.
The Gulag is so much fun! But when you have so much fun playing the side mode of the main mode then it's better to go to the multiplayer section and playing the 2v2 matches lol
@LiamCroft But from the looks of the hands-on it’s more ignorable and less effective and doesn’t place as much important on stats. And it’s there through fighting, encouraging fights instead of Bush hiding.
"By far the coolest addition of all, however, is the Gulag."
I quickly scanned the article and read this out of context 😳
@LiamCroft Another good thing in Warzone; you start with a hand gun default, not just the fists running around as a lunatic finding scopes an no guns as in other BR’s😊
I still prefer classic team deathmatch. I just am not a fan of the battle royale style games.
The only one I like is Tetris 99. Because it's TETRIS.
@KALofKRYPTO exactly my thoughts!
@johncalmc I hope you only want too play the singleplayer. 😆
@Flaming_Kaiser I only ever play the single player
@johncalmc I never had such a aversion towards a COD multiplayer game but this one made me not play the seasonpass. Which i got with the game it was on a massive discount thank god for that.
I feel they have a solid foundation upon which to build. The simplicity feels like a return to the classic COD days people yearn for. Thats why modern warfare sold so well, it's more realistic and grounded, I for one think it's leagues ahead of Blackout + Fortnite and maybe even Apex legends (a phenomenal BR) Clearly F2P looks like the future of multiplayer. As a professional cheapskate I am well chuffed
I actually really like it. It’s not supposed to be this radically new thing. It’s just CoD with a battle royale. I’m not even a big Call of Duty supporter yet I’m having some fun with it. The simplicity works well imo.
I appreciate the simplicity. I also enjoy running around doing the looting. I will continue playing this.
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