Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Groundwar Beta Preview

September 25, 2019 at 5:29pm
By Jason Stettner

Like with my previous look at the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, I feel that Infinity Ward is aiming to innovate or at least try new things with this year’s release. This is quite present within the revamped Groundwar experience that brings us matches that are larger than we’ve seen in the traditional competitive multiplayer.

Now, obviously Battle Royale has had some large player caps, but for the regular versus we really haven’t seen anything like this in the series previously. It’s definitely more in line with what Battlefield offers and it might hit that niche well considering the somewhat troubled showcase that the Battlefield franchise has had in recent years.

Going past that, this is a 32v32 player mode. It’s a large scale experience with a bigger map than usual and vehicles. It feels more like Call of Duty 3 quite honestly, and it’s been quite some time since the multiplayer in this franchise has resembled anything close to that. There is some work that’s needed on the vehicles in terms of the interface, but it does largely work fine as is. It’s a neat setup as you’re battling for positions, and can actually select your spawning situation across the map.

This feels like a much faster paced, and hectic version of what Battlefield usually provides. There’s just a ton of people here, and it’s epic. There’s a sense of war that feels denser, and that’s great. The conflicts are continuous, and there are so many people moving around in a concentrated spot which is very different. I found a good balance of a close range, and then a medium to long weapon was best. There are many spots where you’ll see enemies and just not be able to hit close to them with a close quarters weapon.

This is in contrast to entering a building where you need something with a faster fire rate. There are also many, many snipers in this and opportunities for players to shift around outside the confines of the action. I like what they’re doing with this mode, it’s a lot of fun to play and different. It was perhaps the most enticing part of play for me in the beta, and I just hope there is a good selection of distinct maps for this offering at the full launch. I look forward to seeing the final iteration as there’s potential for this to be a core mode within the franchise moving forward, at least I believe so.

For a more visual context, I experienced this on Xbox One X. It did look largely great, but it takes a little for the textures to load once you’re flown into the level. Hopefully that’s smoothed out a bit, so that it looks great the entire time through. You can read our preview of the campaign from E3 2019, or the general franchise hub for additional coverage. Be sure to check out the video for a look of this game in action on the Xbox One X console.

Read our Modern Warfare Campaign E3 Preview
View our Call of Duty Hub