The multimillion-dollar might of the largest game publishers was bound to break into the increasingly crowded field of battle royale games, a trend that began with the indie PlayerUnknown's "Battlegrounds" and then blasted its way into the mainstream.
Wrestling for dominance in a meta battle royale for players' hearts, minds and dollars is Activision, publisher of the Infinity Ward-developed "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" (2019). One must put the "(2019)" at the end of the game's title because there've been so many iterations of the franchise that the developer has seemingly run out of new names.
The core premise of the genre remains unchanged. A multitude of players parachute onto a map, scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill other players while avoiding dying themselves. As the match progresses, players are forced into a progressively smaller area, guaranteeing confrontation. Be the last man or team standing, and you win.
So what makes a "Call of Duty"-flavored battle royale different? Like many games in the genre, "Call of Duty: Warzone" is free, and is available on PC and console, with cross-play enabled. Instead of the usual 100-player limit, "Warzone" bumps that to 150, and up to 200 for special events. And of course, it's got the tight gameplay and weaponry arsenal of the "Modern Warfare" base game.
The biggest departure is the game's focus. For many in the genre, exploration and acquiring better and higher-tier equipment are key to survival. "Warzone" axes the need to fiddle with inventory screens and streamlines the path to getting the crucial gear loadouts players want, so that players can focus more on shooting one another.
Gear is plentiful all around the map, as are bundles of cash, which can be spent at in-game Buy Stations. These virtual storefronts allow players to buy custom goodies such as self-revive kits, loadout drop boxes, airstrikes and more.
DEATH IS NOT THE END
It can be pretty frustrating to spend 10 or more minutes running around a battle royale map, collecting equipment and getting ready to get into the fight only to be headshot by an unseen enemy. Game over, try again.
In "Warzone," the first time players die, they're sent to the gulag, which seems like some kind of purgatory. A player will face off against another slain player in what seems to be some kind of Ukrainian shower room. Whoever survives gets revived for another shot at the match.
Killed players waiting their turn for the one-on-one match can jeer and taunt from a balcony and throw rocks at the competitors.
For gulag losers, all is not yet lost. At the Buy Store, teammates can pay a hefty cash sum to airdrop an ally back into the fight. Presumably, the prospect of returning after death makes players more willing to take risks, leading to a more aggressive and exciting game.
There's always plenty to do in "Warzone." Every eight-week season offers daily and weekly missions, collectibles and Battle Pass tiers to complete, so players can earn new guns, skins, characters, trinkets, costumes and more. It costs $10 to buy a Battle Pass for the season to unlock all the content available, although for dedicated players, it's possible to earn enough in-game currency each season to pay for the next season's Battle Pass.
Holidays also offer special events and unlocks — for example, some recent Halloween modes featured zombies and other themes.
For players not willing to sacrifice the amount of time needed to unlock everything by playing the game, there is, of course, a robust microtransaction store (isn't there always, these days) that will let credit card warriors unlock everything to their heart's delight.
Despite its reported 75 million downloads, "Warzone" hasn't been able to crack the active-player count of its competitors such as "PUBG" and "Fortnite." A recent look at an off-peak live player count showed "Warzone" with about 300,000 players online, while "Fortnite" topped 5 million.
Part of that could be that many gamers just don't have the hardware specs or hard drive space to run such a demanding game. Just the "Warzone" portion of the game requires more than 120 GB; the full "Modern Warfare" package bumps that to more than 200 GB, likely making it the game with the largest-ever file size.
It's also a resource hog, gobbling up RAM and CPU usage, although if you can run it full blast, it looks and plays great.
There are also problems with cheaters on the PC version. Unscrupulous players can buy cheats that let them never miss a shot, see through walls or even fly. Console gamers might consider turning off cross-play to avoid PC players.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I think "Warzone" is a great addition for "Call of Duty" fans and serves as an excellent introduction to the franchise for new players, who may soon become paying customers. With its focus more on combat than scavenging and death-is-not-the-end mechanics, it also sets itself apart from its competitors.
If you do decide to try it out, just be careful not to get dinged for extra charges from your ISP.