A new Modern Warfare patch is live, and the folks at Infinity Ward are taking another swing at the M4 and 725 shotgun. There are also some stability improvements, riot shield fixes, and tweaks to footstep audio. The devs posted the full patch notes over on Reddit. I’ll be touching on the M4 and 725 shotgun tweaks as well as the footstep audio.
First up, the best gun in Gears of Wa… I mean Modern Warfare – the 725 shotgun. Straight from the patch notes:
725: Reduce range.
It sounds like a decent enough nerf to me. But wait, it appears the pellet spread when ADS (aiming down sight) has been tightened up.
YouTuber TheXclusiveAce posted a video going over the changes this morning, and his testing shows an increase in range when using ADS with the 725 shotgun. The 725 shotgun section starts at 6:50 in the video below.
Because the pellet spread was tightened up while using ADS, you’re getting more pellets on target despite the reduction in damage range. More pellets mean more damage and a one-shot kill at longer ranges. This appears to be only the case when using ADS. The nerf to damage range will be more obvious when hip-firing.
Next up, the M4.
M4: increase hip spread, decrease damage to the head.
The big change here is the damage modifier for headshots. I’m hoping it’ll help reduce those instances where it feels like you get instantly killed. According to TheXclusiveAce, you’ll now need two headshots and body shot to get a three-shot kill. Before today’s patch, it was one headshot and two body shots.
And finally, footstep audio.
- Adjusted to always play walk footstep sounds when in ADS and crouch independent of speed
- Increased the speed in which you can remain using the walk footstep sounds by slightly pressing on the movement stick
The wording isn’t the best, but basically, the same footstep audio will play while in ADS or crouching no matter how fast you are moving (some weapon attachments let you move more quickly). Pre-patch, jogging audio could play in these scenarios because you were reaching a certain speed threshold thanks to certain attachments. Now, the same audio plays no matter what.
It’s a small change that only affected footstep audio in certain scenarios. After watching TheXclusiveAce’s video above, footsteps still sound about as loud as before. It’s still way too loud. I don’t think crouch walking should be the same as using Dead Silence, but it needs to be much quieter. A waiting player should have to listen carefully for soft footsteps. It shouldn’t sound like a clumsy Riverdance performer heading there way.
Overall, today’s patch does some good things. The nerf to the M4 makes sense, and it’s good to see some fixes to the UI and Challenges. Modern Warfare isn’t where it needs to be quite yet, but it’s nice to the devs pushing fixes.
Now, take a bigger swing at Claymores, tone down skill-based matchmaking (especially when in parties where player skill doesn’t match up), and stop making me play Tavorsk Bridge on Ground War all the time.