Call of Duty Modern Warfare has 100-player battles, multiplayer detailed, beta dates
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Infinity Ward spilled the beans on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer components yesterday evening, revealing plenty of juicy details which should help this year’s outing stand well apart from what’s come before.
The larger-scale playlist Ground War is back, as it is every year. However, rather than a cap of 18 players, Infinity Ward has been messing around with huge 100+ player matches. Who’d have thought Call of Duty would eclipse Battlefield for the scale of its battles. Infinity Ward sounds as if they’re still messing around with suitable player counts but the engine absolute does work with triple figures. “These battle maps get much bigger” explained Geoff Smith, multiplayer design director. “And a higher player count. We play 64 all the time and over a hundred. We’re just trying to find that balance of what is the sweet spot.”
This scale is going to bleed into the new maps and modes, many of which will be larger in scope and complexity than we’ve seen from the franchise before. If all that sounds a bit hectic for you then COD: MW Ground War will also feature playlists for 12, 20, 40, and 64-player game types.
Those who want to slow things down further will find even further modes catering to small-scale warfare and differing playstyles. There’ll be tight 2v2 elimination modes, 5v5 Search & Destroy, Team Deathmatch, Domination, and a newbie in the form of Cyber Attack.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will be launching with full cross-platform multiplayer across PC, PS4, and Xbox One. This sounds like a logistical and balancing nightmare, particularly in a game as fast-paced as COD. PC players will have a huge aim speed and accuracy advantage, you’d think, although IW is implementing some fairly generous aim assist on consoles to try and even the scales.
If you don’t want to mess around with cross-platform play then you can just stick to your platform of course, although PC players will definitely stand to benefit from the grouped communities in terms of long-term player traction.
In terms of gameplay, COD: Modern Warfare is stripping things down further from what’s come before. Characters won’t have super abilities, there’ll be no jet packs and wall running. This is tight, weapons-focused combat at a breakneck pace. There’ll be a ton of weapons to mess around with, each of which has a unique and predictable recoil pattern. They can also be massively customised. Some weapons have over 40 unique attachments which can be switched in and out at the Gunsmith, tailoring it to your playstyle.
The mini-map’s out. Enemies won’t be laid out as red blips waiting to be executed. Instead, players are given a compass bar which points you in the direction of the action but never explicitly states where they are. This brings more of the action from the map to the environment itself and should add those attempting some more tactical play.
Should you want to get a hands-on test with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ahead of its October launch, Infinity Ward will be running beta tests throughout September. The timing is a little complicated as it depends on which platform you’re playing on and whether you pre-order the game or not, but it’ll be running on these dates:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer beta test
PlayStation 4 Beta
September 12 -13 (Early Access, PlayStation 4) September 14 – 16 (Open Beta, PlayStation 4)
Crossplay beta test
September 19 – 20 (Early Access, PC and Xbox One; Open Beta, PlayStation 4) September 21 – 23 (Open Beta, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare comes to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 25th.
