Fight for survival, and find out if you’re worth it
Back in the heady days of 2017-2018, there was a concern among the gaming community that, in the wake of theunprecedentedsuccess of Epic Games’Fortnite,everyvideo game brand under the sun was going to leap onto the “battle royale” bandwagon. Y’all remember the E3 memes, right? With Dolan? Yeah, you remember.
It didn’t really turn out that way. Oh sure, many established franchises wentstraightfor a piece of the Last Person Standing pie, whilst new IPs such asLawBreakersburst onto the scene to amazing… umm… Look, the point I’m making is, the whole industry didnotgo battle royale crazy. Today,Fortnitecontinues its dominance, while a few successful alternates such as EA’sApex Legendsplease their own dedicated audience. The genre is alive and well, and it didn’t ruin video games forever.
Last week, like a bullet out of the blue, Activision launched a new entry in the genre, marrying the billion-dollarCall of Dutyfranchise with the grim mercenary appeal of originatorPlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. This isn’t Acti’s first rodeo, having previously tried its hand withBlack Ops IV‘s “Blackout” mode.ButCall of Duty: Warzoneisn’t quite the same animal. In fact, this free-to-play release introduces features and innovations that help inject a new lease of life into the mass multiplayer shooter.
For the most part,Call of Duty: Warzonefollows the tried-and-tested battle royale mechanics to a tee. 150 players parachute into the huge, desolate, and grim island of Verdansk in squads of three, before procuring weaponry on-site, and engaging in battle with over 100 players in intense sharp-shooting combat. But whereWarzoneexcels over some of its predecessors is in its incredible depth of activity when it comes to finding and earning weaponry.
While there’s plenty of top-tier hardware laying about in loot boxes dotted throughout the map, there are also shops with which to purchase some real premium death-dealers, as well as the famousCoDperks (UAV, airstrikes, attack drones, and the like). If youreallywant to kit yourself out against the odds, then players can also earn or purchase airdrops which, when opened, allow access to your custom loadouts fromCall of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s standard multiplayer modes.
On top of this, players can find and accept “Contracts” around Verdansk. These are essentially side-quests, such as the capturing of buildings, or bounty-hunting specific players (sucks to be that guy). These Contracts not only reward you and your buddies well, but they add an extra level of activity, additional tasks beyond the standard “search and destroy” battle royale gameplay.
PerhapsWarzone‘s finest feature – and I mean “finest” – is the fantastic “Gulag” mechanic. When you are killed in battle, you are captured and chucked into a grim, Alcatraz-style prison cell, along with all other recently-deceased players. Once here, you are thrown into a randomised one-on-one showdown with another unlucky sap. Should you lose this fight, it’s essentially game over, but should you win, you are then re-spawned back into battle royale with one final chance for glory.
This is agreataddition to the genre, not only offering players a second chance, but coming up with an exciting, engaging way to make themearnthat chance, via a gimmick that perfectly fits inside theCoDuniverse. Even as the surviving team member, knowing that your running buddy is currently in the Gulag, and eagerly anticipating their possible return, adds a great tension of the unknown. The Gulag is not onlyWarzone‘s best innovation, but it could force other battle royale titles to step up their ideas in the next generation. It’s a concept that shows there is still much to be explored within the genre.
Alongside battle royale,Warzonehas a second mode – Plunder – which is all about the mon-ay. In Plunder, players must gather up as much cash as possible, before depositing it on a helicopter at a nearby landing pad. But be warned, anyone killed immediately dropsallof their cash, and the highest-earning players are eventually marked out as bounties. It’s a much more frequently combative mode than battle royale, with deeper strategy beyond just hunkering down against the odds. I can imagine, played with a full team of friends on comms, that Plunder’s frantic dash for cash – and desperate attempts tohold ontosaid cash – would be a riot.
Of course, all of these ideas and innovations count for nothing if the core game doesn’t pass muster. As expected from the reliableCall of Dutybrand,Warzonehas few faults in regards to its fast, slick, and stable gameplay. Running on the same top-tier engine and assets that make upModern Warfare,Warzonelooks and sounds fantastic. Presentation is excellent, with neat opening and victory sequences, and a miserable “dragged to the Gulag” cutscene that lends character and meat to the undeniably bare-bones “We’re just having a massive scrap” setup.
The hollow husk of Verdansk feels like a thriving metropolis that collapsed in the space of a weekend, featuring a business district, marshland, storm drains, a military base, even a sports stadium. It’s disquieting to the point of haunted, and the silence can be deafening, jarring you into action with the crack of distant rifle fire – or the roaring engine of a party of killers, bearing down on you in one of the map’s many abandoned vehicles.
Anyone comfortable withModern Warfare‘s combat will be instantly at home inWarzone, which carries a similar pace and punch toMW‘s Ground War mode, without quite the same level of “pinned down” frustration. Time to Kill is managed by an important armour mechanic, which allows players to collect and apply up to three levels of armour, an absolutenecessityin the thick of battle. Once naked – not literally – then at the very least players have the comfort of knowing health is regenerative. That’s not to be relied upon. Aim fast, aim well, put your mark down. You can be sure they’ll do the same to you.
An important aside:Warzone‘s download latches onto the standardCall of Duty: Modern Warfareinstall, and on PS4 adds around 20GB of overall data. However, if you donothaveMWinstalled, and just want to downloadWarzone, then you’ll need a whopping90-100GBof storage space – a shocking HDD footprint. So those with internet caps should take heed before they pull the trigger.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis a welcome evolution of battle royale, which doesn’t alter the core elements that make the genre so appealing, but does add innovative side-missions, comeback mechanics, and loot strategies, all painted over with a coat ofCall of Duty‘s unmistakable million-dollar gloss. There’s nothing really here to attract those who are already disinterested in the genre, but battle royale fans, particularly those who like their battles grounded in “real life,” would do very well to check outCoD: Warzone. It costs nothing, and might well become your new addiction.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis available to download now onPS4,PC, andXbox One.
