While we’ve already seen the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer reveal trailer, that’s not all we’re getting, as Activision has dropped a TON of MW2 multiplayer info today! Gameplay mechanics, new modes and more have been revealed too!
Note: while some of the info here have been reported by us months ago, it’s worth noting that more info about it has been shared, which explains why stuff we mentioned before (like being able to swim and fire your sidearm underwater) are in it.
Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Info:
Same as we reported before, players will be able to fire underwater using their sidearm and certain equipment. Being submerged will affect the bullets too.
In the Open Beta, maps with water showcase these advancements. Water can be used as a stealth or escape mechanism for you to lurk in or retreat into. If you’re not traversing by boat, wade into water as you would normally, and when the water is deep enough, change stance, or sprint and look down to plunge underwater. Fire underwater using sidearms and certain equipment, and you’ll see your weapon’s projectile is affected by the increased density, meaning you may need to lead your aim.
Activision has confirmed that players will be able to slide and dive in Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer. Here are some of the new ways players can traverse the environment in the game.
You can either Slide or Dive to the floor, depending on your running speed. As before, a Slide occurs when you go from a Sprint into a Crouch. The new Dive occurs when you go from a Tactical Sprint into a Crouch. Think of the Slide as more combat focused as you land with your gun up, while the Dive doesn’t move you as far along horizontally but allows you to quickly do a tactical drop, enabling a window dive from a building or a swift drop into cover to avoid enemy fire.
For more vertical maneuvering, look for the Ledge Hang. A natural progression from a Climb or Mantle, this allows you to peek from a Mantle and look around. Infinity Ward is also testing the ability to pull up a pistol (if you have one equipped), and engage from a Ledge Hang. Those wanting some spectacular helicopter mounting can jump and Ledge Hang from one. And the days of face-planting into the edge of a building may be numbered; you can now Ledge Hang and Mantle out of a parachute descent, assuming the building has something to hold on to.
Activision has explained that the game will feature more destruction, and you’ll be able to blow out a vehicle’s tires and more.
Dynamic destruction and more action-oriented maneuvers on the various new vehicles are things that Infinity Ward is particularly focused on innovating. Expect a variety of tactical advancements, including:
- Leaning out of vehicle windows (and shooting, both for the driver and passengers).
- Mantling onto a vehicle roof.
- Destroying vehicle sections (bumpers, doors can be destroyed with an RPG or high-powered rifle)
- Blowing out tires, slowing or incapacitating a vehicle.
- Having the ability to employ multiple ground, air, and water vehicles, depending on the game mode and map.
As for Tacticals, Field Upgrades, some of the new items have been revealed, though this isn’t the complete list.
Tactical Camera (Field Upgrade)
Throw this at a surface and a small camera and tripod unfolds, monitoring the area (see image below). This is accessible by anyone on your team. Should an enemy approach, the camera emits a warning sound. Throw out multiple cameras for an impressive surveillance system that spots and marks enemies. Imagine the final circle of a Battle Royale, where this can offer you an extra pair of eyes on a structure you can’t visibly see.
Shock Stick (Tactical Equipment)
A tactical piece of equipment with multiple uses, depending on the environment, is the Shock Stick, which adheres to surfaces before sending out a burst of electricity that harms foes, destroys equipment, and causes vehicles to go haywire. But what happens when you throw it into the water? Try it and find out!
Drill Charge (Lethal Equipment)
Foes entrenched inside a building can be a real problem to neutralize. Previously you could throw in a Flashbang, then charge in blasting. A Drill Charge changes all that — lob this onto the outside of a building and it starts to bore a hole (any enemies close by will hear it and see a grenade indicator). Once the drill is through, it launches a grenade that inflicts splash damage that flushes foes out (or rips into vehicles if placed on one).
DDoS (Field Upgrade)
A DDoS attack lets you know if there’s equipment or vehicles in your visual vicinity, deactivates them temporarily, and disrupts enemy sensors in the immediate area. When your foes are scrambled, try lobbing a Drill Charge at a stalled vehicle to force the enemy out. Just one of the various and interesting ways you can combine your or your squad’s equipment. . . .
Inflatable Decoy (Field Upgrade)
Everybody needs a synthetic polymer dummy that rapidly inflates after throwing, appears to be an enemy combatant, and acts as a proximity mine when activated again. It can also be left to fool foes into thinking there’s an enemy where the Decoy was dropped. The possibilities for subterfuge and violent confusion are immense. Also, be sure to help Infinity Ward name this helpful plastic fellow. His current, unofficial name is “Al.”
Perk Packages (Perks)
This consists of four Perks — two base, plus two more known as a “Bonus” and “Ultimate.” All are earned during a Multiplayer match, usually at the 4- and 8-minute mark in non-round-based modes. Kills, assists, objective and tactical plays can unlock these more quickly. Edit your Perk Package in your Loadout or utilize the several premade Default Perk Packages; preplanning a match is now more tactical than ever!
While Activision showed off Gunsmith 2.0 yesterday, there are more info revealed for it today.
Weapons Platform Topline Intel
In Modern Warfare (2019), every weapon was a separate family within Gunsmith. Now weapons are grouped into “Platforms”, allowing for complete control over the weaponry you bring into matches, based on your preferred playstyle. Here’s how they work:
- Rank up to receive every base Weapons Platform.
- The first weapon unlocked on a Platform is known by its Receiver.
- The Receiver is an attachment. Think of it as the core of the weapon that determines its primary use and strengths.
- Unlock more Receivers as you progress to access additional weapons within a Platform.
- Change a Receiver, and you completely alter the weapon; it’s considered a “new” weapon when building a Loadout but still lives within the same Weapons Platform.
- A Weapons Platform to try in the Open Beta is the M4. Here you unlock the base M4 AR, as well as four additional Receivers. You can change the style and scope of your armament completely:
- The four additional M4 Receivers are the M16, the 556 Icarus LMG, the FTac Racon Battle Rifle, and FSS Hurricane SMG.
- Change the Receiver to build a weapon with different capabilities (an Automatic Rifle, Light Machine Gun, Battle Rifle, or Submachine Gun in the previous example).
- This results in you building out the perfect weapon for a multitude of play styles.
Weapon Attachments: Specific and Universal Attachments
After picking your chosen weapon, start to level it (and the Platform) up, and augment it via two different “pools” of attachments:
- Weapons Platform Attachments: These are attachments usable only within the Weapons Platform. The core one is the Receiver. Expect barrels, magazines, stocks, and rear grips within this attachment subcategory.
- Universal Attachments: These are attachments usable across all Weapons Platforms, and examples include muzzles, underbarrels, ammunition, lasers, and optics.
Weapons use a mixture of Weapons Platform and Universal Attachments. Unlock a Platform Attachment, and it becomes usable across the Weapons Platform.
Unlock a Universal Attachment, and it becomes usable across the entire Gunsmith (for weapons that use the attachment). It only needs to be unlocked once (whether in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Warzone 2.0, or Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile as cross-progression of weapon inventories will be active) leading to an incredibly satisfying attachment progression experience.
Weapon Vaults: The Ultimate Weapon Blueprint
The FJX Cinder Weapon Vault, free to use in the Open Beta and full game for those who preorder the Vault Edition of Modern Warfare II, is an entirely unlocked Weapons Platform. In the case of the FJX Cinder, this is the M4 Weapons Platform. The following details exactly what a Weapon Vault entails:
- Owning a Weapon Vault means having every attachment from an equivalent Weapons Platform ready to use.
- This is the Ultimate Weapon Blueprint, instantly unlocking dozens of platform-native attachments.
- Access immediate customization with a collection of Weapons Platform Specific Attachments — receivers, barrels, stocks, rear grips, and magazines.
- Universal Attachments (optics, ammunition, underbarrels and foregrips, and muzzles) are outfitted to the FJX Cinder once they are unlocked normally.
- Every attachment inside a Weapon Vault features a specific cosmetic appearance; aesthetic properties are maintained across all corresponding attachments.
- Weapon Vaults are designed for those who care about appearance just as much as effectiveness, especially for a specific Weapons Platform.
We also get news about the new modes incoming to Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer as well, and it seems big-scale combat won’t be just Ground War!
Battle Maps (Up to 32v32)
Maps created for Ground War are known collectively as Battle Maps, and are based on key learnings from the creation of Call of Duty: Warzone’s Verdansk. Topline intel includes the following:
- Battle Maps are accessible within the Ground War modes, with multiple squads of players per team.
- They are nested within the worlds of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, allowing the teams to stress-test the areas for hundreds of hours, adjusting and refining as they go.
- This allowed the team to optimally lay out the Battle Map (and by extension, a POI within Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0) to cater to almost any circumstance, leading to a well-rounded experience in both Ground War and Battle Royale.
- Every building can be explored, vehicles can be driven, and various styles of gameplay are available within a single Battle Map.
- AI combatants appear on Ground War maps in the new Invasion Mode, adding atmosphere and providing the sense of a living, breathing world. This results in gameplay that is both chaotic and supremely satisfying.
Core Maps (6v6)
Nesting the larger Battle Maps within the Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 worlds enabled Infinity Ward to further refine the core maps:
- If Ground War maps present large-scale combat and warfare, Core 6v6 maps are where special Task Forces are deployed to neutralize opposing factions throughout the world.
- All the Core 6v6 MP maps are custom-made, built exclusively for 6v6 game modes. They are slightly smaller and more straightforward in design than previous MP maps.
- Valderas Museum is set in Spain, with very clean sightlines, easy-to-read thoroughfares, and modern architecture.
- Compare this to Farm 18, a training facility in an undisclosed location within an old, abandoned cement factory and a “Shoothouse” in the middle of it.
- Mercado Las Almas is a small bustling marketplace with fast-paced routes and lanes that blend together that lead to pure, frenetic fun.
- Expect a robust series of additional maps for Modern Warfare II at launch and across every subsequent season.
New Mode: Knockout
Aside from the fan-favorite core modes like Team Deathmatch and Domination, the following three brand-new modes are scheduled during the Open Beta. The first is Knockout:
- Eliminate the opposing force or hold the package to win. No respawns. Teammates can revive each other.
- Knockout takes elements from Modern Warfare’s 2v2 Gunfight and from the final circle action within Call of Duty: Warzone. It is a very fast, very tactical round-based mode.
- Two teams fight over a bag of Cash placed in the middle of the map. Running over the bag captures it for the team, with the bag holder’s position appearing on the minimap.
- You can drop the bag at will or after you’re downed. Hold the bag for 60 seconds, or eliminate the entire enemy team and win the round.
- This emphasizes team play; the use of Equipment, Field Upgrades, Killstreaks, and defensive tactics; and split-second decisions as you try to lock that bag down!
New Mode: Prisoner Rescue
A mode made with innovations to the equipment in mind and with “breach and siege” gameplay front and center:
- Leave no man behind. Locate the hostages and get them out alive or defend them at all costs. No respawns. Team revives are enabled.
- What happens when you take Search & Destroy and crank up the stakes? Each team has a prisoner to protect, held close to their spawn area.
- The hostages are impervious to enemy weaponry, but they’re immobile. Find the enemy hostage and carry them back to your extraction point.
- The Operator holding the prisoner is slowed, uses a sidearm, and can’t perform certain actions (like going prone or climbing).
- Points are awarded for every prisoner prevented from being extracted (Defenders) or for every prisoner extracted or held at the end of the round (Attackers), or if the defenders are neutralized.
- Ensure you have enough teammates to defend your prisoner while pushing forward to secure the opposition’s hostage. This can lead to a variety of sieging opportunities and outcomes.
New Mode: Invasion (Ground War)
Crank up the mayhem in a massive Deathmatch set across sprawling maps:
- This is war. A massive and chaotic battle with a mix of player and AI fighting alongside each other and against each time. Earn points by eliminating the AI and human enemies with Loadout items, vehicles, Killstreaks, and UAV or Counter-UAV assistance.
- The goal is straightforward — eliminate or be eliminated — but the fighting is fraught and involves more troops than any previous Ground War experience.
- Each team starts with multiple squads of human Operators, bolstered by AI combatants, all infiltrating the map from a headquarters.
- Advance! Each team — on foot or aboard a variety of vehicles — pushes forward, and the game determines a front line; this front line is the average player position across the battlefield for each team, which is used to determine respawn locations.
- Neutral Killstreak Care Packages periodically drop throughout the map. Grab one — don’t be on the receiving end of one!
- The team with the most points at the end of an allotted time wins.
We’ll have more on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare throughout the day, so stay tuned.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launches for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC on October 28, 2022.
Source: Call of Duty