I wasn’t all the time only a Battlefield man—I additionally love an excellent twitchy, 6v6 Name of Responsibility match, however a cerebral palsy prognosis in faculty benched me, leaving my days of chasing weed-themed calling playing cards and golden skins within the mud. I lingered and languished in DICE’s digital warzones, a strolling memoir who “might have gone professional”, fondly recalling gnarly killstreaks and insane quickscopes like Roy Batty on the finish of Blade Runner.
Trendy Warfare 2’s explosive Floor Battle and Invasion sport sorts have introduced me off the CoD bench and again into the sector, brilliantly synthesizing the tight gunplay and accessibility of MW2 with the massive scale maps of Battlefield.
I spent numerous time in Trendy Warfare 2019, however not often ventured exterior of Warzone, Workforce Deathmatch, and Hardpoint, solely ever queuing into Floor Battle throughout bouts of utmost boredom. As a longtime Battlefield fan, the shortcomings of Infinity Ward’s first crack at 30v30 Conquest had been plain as day to me—bad maps, worse spawns, and the tacit refusal to steadiness the armory, it was a poor mimicry of the large battles that DICE focuses on.
Trendy Warfare 2’s Floor Battle builds on the unique mode in some key methods which might be so good, they’ve me hesitant to return to DICE’s struggling sequence.
Trendy Warfare 2’s 5 Floor Battle maps are superior, channeling the chaotic power of Battlefield 3’s notorious Operation Metro, however with extensive open areas to assist automobiles and killstreaks. If you happen to thought Santa Sena was chaotic in 6v6, its 32v32 variant is an entire different ballgame. Floor Battle is, for me, the one a part of the Trendy Warfare 2 package deal that channels the out-and-out absurdity of the 2009 authentic. The nonsense on show right here is uniquely hilarious—seeing scores of B2 bombers flying low over the border wall to wipe out a Mexican cartel armored column seems like pulling again the veil on the deeply deranged writing room that gave us the unique MW2’s white home stage.
It’s not simply the theming that makes these maps a pleasure, although. Take Taraq, a cross-stitched composite of each Name of Responsibility map that takes place within the Center East, the place the enjoying discipline seamlessly pulls collectively a blown-out downtown, an oil discipline, and a mosque into a huge sandbox to play out essentially the most devastating imperial battle of the millenium (to this point). The oil discipline’s rolling dunes wrap round a loving recreation of a fan-favorite map, Rust, with a great deal of cowl and sightlines too extensive to successfully management. The sport slows all the way down to a crawl in these outskirts, until your staff is rolling tanks and heavy air cowl as much as the purpose.
The Battlefield comparisons really feel most related when behind the wheels of Trendy Warfare 2’s new suite of automobiles. There’s a brand new heavy tank, cargo helicopter, and Armored Personnel Carriers, the latter two fulfilling transport roles. Anybody on the staff can soar into one in every of these closely armored tactical insertions and park them wherever, permitting a gradual stream of Seal Workforce Six knockoffs to swarm any flag.
The helicopter doesn’t even want a pilot, actually—you’ll be able to simply set it and neglect it within the air and it will hover. Sadly, automobiles nonetheless have the identical stiff dealing with from Warzone, typically leading to automobile fight feeling like a match between two scaled up RC vehicles. It’s nowhere near Battlefield 1’s legendary tank battles, however provided that DICE can’t appear to get that lightning to strike twice, it’s hardly a dealbreaker.
Somewhat, the benefit and fluidity of infantry to automobile fight (and vice versa) ferments some actually nice interaction. Not one of the vehicle-mounted cannons ship exact sufficient fireplace or close to sufficient splash injury to function an overpowered resolution to swathes of massed infantry, and use of the Double Time perk to dash for longer successfully neutralizes suppressive fireplace lengthy sufficient for daring C4 and thermite vegetation. It’s actually Battlefield in micro, very a lot appreciated given the tendency of DICE to dump swathes of negligibly useful automobile upgrades and unlocks onto their automobiles.
Floor Battle compelled me to make a little bit of a mindset change from my common lizard-brained CoD routine of stubbornly dumping SMG fireplace from the hip. These techniques can work right here, however some wonky controller solely goal help meant that I used to be simple pickings for quick-scoping youngsters.
My greatest performing matches had been the results of a playstyle I’ve by no means related to CoD earlier than: affected person and observant play. My gameplay appeared and felt like a type of pre-recorded Ubisoft demos, rigorously utilizing each instrument in my package to maximise my possibilities of survival. I used to be utilizing the mounting system to peek round corners, continually monitoring my spare ammo and grenades, and all the time holding an eye fixed out for the place my deployable cowl package might give our boys an edge in a sideways firefight. My greatest weapon is the M16, tuned by way of gunsmith to extend the recoil simply sufficient to reliably have the third bullet join with the pinnacle when aimed on the chest.
Gunsmith is nice for lots of causes, however I believe it actually lives as much as its potential in Floor Battle and Invasion by offering an open-ended sandbox that rewards earnest engagement with its methods. Lastly, the dozen variations of grip tape and shares have a objective.
The person expertise isn’t all there but—I’ve been enjoying crossplay with a good friend and we suffered simultaneous crashes on PC and PS5, a real first for crossplay on the whole. This was apparently a identified bug with events that Infinity Ward says ought to now be mounted. Whereas that particular concern isn’t a Battlefield downside (but, give it time), Trendy Warfare 2’s server stability, netcode, and efficiency are altogether higher than most Battlefield video games on launch, and CoD’s level-based development is simply a way more accessible strategy to unlock weapons and instruments than Battlefield’s terrible challenge-based unlocks, the worst of which made you play the horrible dogfighting maps on janky European servers with >150 ping to unlock a drone that you simply use twice.
I additionally need to name out Invasion, a Floor Battle variant with barely fewer gamers (20v20) that populates the sector with dozens of simply dispatched AI-controlled grunts, TItanfall fashion. It’s an actual boon for informal gamers, with mobs serving as a buffer between aggressive squads of gamers, giving these on the backside of the scoreboard one thing to blow away and contribute to the staff rating. It’s good for these days when my hand ache is uncontrolled and I’ve a scope I’m useless set on unlocking.
Trendy Warfare 2 (opens in new tab)’s Floor Battle and Invasion sport sorts are hammering the Battlefield pleasure facilities in my mind. On the finish of the day, we’ve solely obtained a set quantity of leisure time obtainable to us, and my incapacity means I’m all the time gonna be hesitant to leap headlong into hours leveling weapons and chasing unlocks in one other fashionable army shooter. Infinity Ward’s 64-player choices put DICE on discover—no matter’s subsequent within the Battlefield sequence, it ought to be impressed, secure, and higher than the aspect modes of its competitor.
