Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Season 1 Overview

Infinity Ward released the season 1 patch to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on November 16.. The highlights of this patch are: the release of the highly anticipated Warzone 2.0, Tier 1 mode, a Battle Pass and the newest addition to the mix, DMZ. These changes bring more variety to a gameplay loop that would have grown stale without them. Let’s dive into further what you need to know about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s season 1.

Tier 1 Mode

In comparison to its predecessor, Modern Warfare 2 launched with bare-bones features. It lacked all the bells and whistles of Modern Warfare (2019), but the most heart-wrenching absence was the lack of a hardcore mode. Players of games like Rainbow Six: Siege will have gotten used to a fast time to kill and ruthless engagements. The transition to Call of Duty for these players is tough, since the standard game modes only hold the latter. Hardcore rewards care and accuracy more than your ability to slide through doors going brrrt with the Fennec. Meanwhile core (standard) COD, leans into the player’s loadouts more than their individual skill.

Before you shout “mad cuz bad”, please consider; In standard COD, if you are able to equip the most in-meta gun, you’ll probably win 70%-80% of your engagements even if you don’t land the first shot. This encourages strong meta-centered play, where lobbies are dominated by players using the same three or four guns. (In the first two weeks of MW2, it was the Fennec 45, Kastov 762, SP-R 208, and the Akimbo X-13 Autos) Meanwhile in hardcore, the player can equip most weapons and have a fighting chance if their skill is high enough.

Tier 1 is the new hardcore, and based on the short queue times, a significant chunk of the playerbase were waiting to play it. In Tier 1, switching to your pistol has never made you feel more like John Wick.

WARZONE 2.0 and the Battle Pass

Probably one of, if not the most, successful BRs in gaming, Warzone was a massive success. With access to the weapons, operators and cosmetics of several Call of Duty games across multiple seasons, Warzone evolved so consistently that the players who loved it always had something new to come back to. I foresee Warzone 2.0 could have a similar outlook as its former iteration. It has all the right ingredients: Quads, Trios, Duos and Solos, Buybacks, Cash stations, contracts, and the always-present restricting circle. But what’s new?

The Gulag

The gulag is back in Warzone 2.0, but it’s been given a couple tweaks. The first is that the gulag is now 2v2s. This sounds like a lackluster change until you consider that you’ll be matched with a random player. You and this stranger are then pitted against another two random players. This means if you defeat your opponent, you’re guaranteeing at least one (potential) enemy is going back into the map with you. The second change is the introduction of the Jailer, a powerful non-player opponent who, if killed, will release all four players back into the warzone, which brings us to the next change.

Al Mazrah

Al Mazrah is the new warzone map. It’s quite the change from the scenery of eastern-European-esque Verdansk and the much smaller rebirth island. It’s set in the fictional United Republic of Adal, which is used in both the campaign and special ops missions. Al Mazrah has more of a vibrant orange/red setting, which is a welcoming change from the green/grey map of before. It’s not just the aesthetic that’s better, Al Mazrah is bigger; not only is the actual size of the map larger, but it’s packed with more structures and points of interest, making it prime real estate for fights with your friends, enemies and- potential friends?

Other Changes

• Assimilation– the new feature in squad-modes that allow you to recruit players you would otherwise be killing.
• Proximity Chat– Now you can taunt your prey or joke with strangers in the open-mic Warzone 2.0
• Interrogation– Ever played R6: Siege? “interrogate” your downed opponents to reveal the location of their squad.
• Circle Collapse– Rather than forcing all players into one spot as the gas closes in, sometimes you’ll be separated into different circles that will eventually merge towards the end of the match.
• New Gear– With EMPs for claymores and drilling charges for campers, Warzone 2.0 is giving players more options to change the meta.

Battle Pass

Just like in Modern Warfare (2019), you’ll have the opportunity to unlock operators, weapons and cosmetics through a battle pass system. The pass has been reworked to allow players to choose a path and prioritize what they want to earn first. This is done by earning tokens by playing and spending them to buy out the “sectors” that hold the most appealing unlocks.

DMZ

DMZ is the new PvPvE extraction mode that has come with this season. It’s set in Al Mazrah and you have the option to go at it alone or head in with friends. Jackfrags has a great video breakdown of DMZ, but here’s the rundown;

1. Pick missions and loadout.
2. Spawn in
3. Fight and Complete
4. Get loot and complete objectives
5. Extract
6. Repeat

DMZ and its mechanics can be described as the terrifying lovechild of Tom Clancy’s The Division, Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. In order for DMZ to be a potentially great game mode, it needs to avoid the commercial pitfalls of the above titles. It needs to be massively rewarding like Tarkov, but without the brutal learning curve and severe punishments for failure. It would need to provide an enticing mission and PVP experience like the Division without becoming a bullet-sponge-filled, mind-numbing grind. And finally, it should just avoid being like Hunt: Showdown entirely. Just kidding! We haven’t played nearly enough to know what’s fun about that game, and that’s the problem with Hunt; its niche fanbase is loyal but small, making it difficult to justify updates and new features.

It might be too early to say whether DMZ will be a massive flop or if it’s here to stay. One thing is for certain; it’s not quite what anyone expected. In the meantime, there are weapons and rewards that you can only acquire through DMZ, so why not give it a go?

Recap

With the addition of Tier 1 mode, grinding to level guns is a significantly less daunting task, Warzone has had a dozen new features that make it feel like a new game again, while still retaining the old gameplay that made it fun to begin with and DMZ, while new and unfamiliar for most, is a decent extraction mode for the casual gamer who is looking to drop in and loot with two of their buddies. All in all, season one has provided enough to set Modern Warfare 2 off to a good start.