The next iteration of Call of Duty is on the horizon. Releasing on October 28th, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a sequel to the 2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Alongside a new campaign featuring everyone’s favorite Task Force 141, the game promises a further evolution of special ops, multiplayer with fresh modes and maps, and the next iteration of War Zone—Call of Duty’s free-to-play battle royale. So, in the meantime, players have a beta to sate their curiosity. But unfortunately, the Modern Warfare 2 beta doesn’t leave much to write home about.
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If you’ve tried out past Call of Duty betas, you know the drill. Unfortunately, if you’re excited about Modern Warfare 2‘s campaign, the beta isn’t for you since the only offering is multiplayer. This may change for the final weekend of the beta, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
Nevertheless, the beta gives a decent idea of what’s to come regarding multiplayer. It offers multiple game modes, a few that are familiar—like Team Deathmatch and Search and Destroy—and some not so familiar. Two new modes are featured in the beta: Third Person Mosh Pit and Prisoner Rescue. The latter bares a striking resemblance to Rainbow Six Siege, where one team is tasked with rescuing two prisoners, and the other team defends. Everyone has a single life, and respawns are limited. Going in, I thought I would dislike the mode, but it turned out pretty fun. The objective is a shake-up from other game modes, and I can see it becoming as competitive as Search and Destroy can get.
Third Person Mosh Pit, on the other hand, has a few snags. The game mode is exactly what it sounds like: instead of playing in first-person, you play in third-person. This perspective switch is fun, allowing you to peek around corners. But while hip-firing doesn’t change your perspective, aiming throws you back into first-person as you look through your scope. The transition is a little jolting and feels sluggish.
Currently, there are only a few maps to play, even between all the game modes. But they provide a decent amount of variety in location, obstacles, and lanes. And in each map, there is a combination of close-quarter combat and long-ranged combat opportunities, though all feel like they lean more towards the former. Nevertheless, there’s not much to complain about the options we’ve been given for this beta.
The only problem I encountered at the time of writing, which probably won’t see the light of day when Modern Warfare 2 releases, is that weapon progression isn’t explained. Whereas most Call of Duty games give you information on how to unlock certain guns, usually by getting kills with another weapon, the beta gives no rhyme or reason to what gets unlocked. Although, with the limited amount of guns available, it’s not hard to figure it out.
But, overall, with the handful of maps and game modes offered in the beta, there’s not much to complain about. The game modes run well, there aren’t any game-breaking bugs, the maps provide a decent amount of variety, and the combat feels fair. But there’s also not a lot to get excited about. Nothing jumps out as entirely novel or something I know I want to play for hours at a time. And if a Call of Duty game can’t entice people with its multiplayer experience, I know many people aren’t going to stick around.
Nevertheless, I’m interested to see what the following weekend of the beta brings. And even if the multiplayer in the beta isn’t something for you, the campaign and special ops mode sound like they have promise. So only time will tell if Modern Warfare 2 is a hit.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 beta will be available on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation from September 22nd through the 23rd for people who pre-ordered and open to everyone from September 24th to the 26th.
