Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Beta Preview

September 24, 2019 at 3:40am
By Jason Stettner

It certainly has been an interesting situation with this latest Call of Duty title. Modern Warfare 2019 is the reboot of the franchise as I’m sure you’re aware and it’s presenting many firsts for the long running Activision juggernaut. For a shooter series that has become somewhat stale over the years, this is quite the revamp. I’ve personally enjoyed some of the recent titles, but I know the stale aspect is a perspective on it so I wanted to make the mention.

There’s a new engine with this release, and this does wonders for the multiplayer experience. I was able to check out the beta on Xbox One X and I was very pleased with what I saw. It certainly feels like the series you know, but it feels fresh with some new ideas. With this particular preview I’m focusing on the competitive modes of largely twenty player combat. This is more of a focus on the traditional versus, as opposed to the new Groundwar as I’d like to cover that in another piece later on.

Moving past that initial information, it’s fantastic to see Headquarters return. That mode slowly died and disappeared over the years, so it’s great to see that come back. It was my primary playlist during the CoD4 days, that being paired with Search and Destroy back then. There’s also Domination present, and of course Team Deathmatch. Everything feels somewhat classical, while also being fresh and streamlined for this latest release.

The maps seem to mostly work well for the experience, there’s a good flow and a larger scale than ever before. That’s not even counting the Groundwar maps. There’s a sense of gritty action, more verticality through buildings you can venture through and many doors with interactions.

You’re able to either smash doors out of the way, or just slightly open them which is a nice change. The guns also feel as though they have more of an impact, and custom classes feel similar to what you’re most likely used to from the series.

I was rocking a combination of MP5 with an AK-47 featuring a red dot scope. This also felt somewhat nostalgic, and I found the two to be a strong combo. You get the quick close quarters splash of MP5 and a distance shot with the AK, just my thoughts there. I played the beta on Xbox One X and it looks fantastic. The enhancement there certainly brings an extra level of realism to the levels and it’s mostly smooth. I didn’t really notice any issues within these playlists and it feels different. They really seem to be trying some new things with the modes here.

There was also a more intense realism playlist, and one where everyone had night vision goggles with levels being set in the pitch black. This tells me that they’re experimenting, and that’s good for possible growth. The player lobbies are larger than usual, and it seems as though this explores an entirely new area of warfare for the franchise. We also have cross-play and that was in full swing during the beta event.

I didn’t notice much of a difference in play, it was neat to notice the other platforms mixed into lobbies. That will certainly expand the potential pool of players for launch, and far into the future. 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