Our first look at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer came earlier this month via a Twitch livestream with influencers. Today, Infinity Ward dropped over five minutes of sweet direct-feed footage without any commentary. Let’s take a look.
The gameplay looks slick, but I’m struck by how fantastic the maps look. We see three maps in the trailer: Pine, King, and Stack. Each custom made for the smaller, 2v2 experience Gunfight is going for. But smaller maps doesn’t mean the devs aren’t being as meticulous as ever with the map design.
Each one stands out visually. But none of them appear so cluttered that it makes spotting the other team difficult. It can be easy for devs to start tossing all kinds of stuff in a map to make it a visual showcase, especially with a revamped game engine. But not at the expense of player visibility. And so far, it looks like Infinity Ward is nailing it.
King is my favorite looking one of the three we’ve seen so far. I love the way the sunlight pierces through the skylight of the warehouse casting shadows across the map.
Each map offers a different visual feel. Pine pits two small teams against one another deep the forest at a small outpost that’s seen better days. King is a training area that would look right at home as the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare training course. Stack looks like another training area, but drenched in sunlight in the middle of a desert versus a run-down warehouse.
Despite five-plus minutes of gameplay footage, we’re only seeing a small glimpse of what Modern Warfare’s multiplayer is going to offer. The three maps we saw again today are custom-designed for Gunfight. These aren’t regular multiplayer maps with a section chopped off to cater to four players.
Infinity Ward has a much bigger reveal planned for August 1. Then, it will reveal what they describe as the “Modern Warfare Multiplayer Universe.” We should get our first glimpse at the more traditional Call of Duty modes then (Domination, Hardpoint, Deathmatch, etc.) And probably some sort of Battle Royale tease.
I have one multiplayer mode request. Bring back Headquarters. I loved the intense action as you captured the Headquarters and fought back the enemy team with no respawns until they destroyed it.
Check out Call of Duty’s official Twitch channel on August 1 for the big reveal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer.