Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, already pre-orderable from GamerSandy, seems to have all the credentials to revive the saga after the half misstep made with the uncertain Vanguard,
an episode that has not been able to breach the hearts of aficionados, nor is it was able to attract new users, perhaps calling to arms some nostalgic, dry from a few years of deathmatch to the last breath, attracted by the setting similar to that of the very first chapters of the saga.
The early access beta, which we were able to test in the first person from 16 to 20 September, allowed us to get a rough idea of the competitive multiplayer by Infinity Ward, a mode that inherits much of the feeling of the direct predecessor and introduces small and great news, also aimed at those who will appear for the first time at the brand starting from next October 28, the day in which the production will make its debut on PC and consoles of the current and past generation, Nintendo Switch obviously excluded.
If the menus did not appear to us as clear as we would have liked, now a congenital defect not only of the series but also shared by other productions of the same genre, after having overcome the initial disorientation we have become familiar with the competitive methods proposed. Four of these, namely Dominion, Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy, and Hardpoint are quite classic, already seen in other episodes, and relatively standard for competitive FPS. The last two, however, namely Knockout and Prisoner Rescue, represent a relative novelty.
Both without respawns, in fact, base their raison d'être in the fundamental collaboration between team members, a feature often not encouraged by the brand and on the other hand a lot of riding in the direct rival, or Battlefield. The impossibility of returning to the game once killed, unless you are rescued by an ally within the time limit, forces you to take a more reasoned, strategic, measured approach. The pace of each match is significantly lower than usual, while one realizes that only by proceeding compactly, carefully checking each blind corner, can the damage of an ambush be limited.
Lovers of strategy, or those who have never endured the continuous respawn of classic deathmatches, will find a new dimension, certainly more welcoming, in Knockout, which requires the elimination of every member of the opposing team, or in Prisoner Rescue which, divided into two shifts, he puts you now in the shoes of the kidnappers, now in those of those who have to worry about rescuing the hostages.
From this point of view, even the third-person mode, yes you read that right, caters to those looking for something new or in need of extra help to digest the gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. The wider view, in fact, allows you to more easily see the enemies behind, around the corners, and at distant points on the map. You will take part in battles that clearly move away from everything that the brand has represented up to now. But being an extra, as well as something quite distinct and separate from the classic first-person matches, one can only applaud Infinity Ward's willingness to offer his audience something new, which somehow makes the gameplay more manageable even for any newbies.
On the map front, the work done so far seems to be going in the right direction. The classic three-way layout, with one main and two secondary roads surrounding and crossing the central area, seems to be the stylistic figure ridden with effectiveness and luck in this Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.
Farm 18, for example, allows for some healthy sniping near the two teams' respawn points; it encourages mid-range clashes in the road that divides the complexes of buildings that frame the area; fragments into a series of narrow paths and blind spots that pull the fastest trigger.
In short, each map of this beta stood out for the variety of proposed situations and approaches that allowed, to the benefit of the freedom offered to the user in terms of loadout, influenced by tactical choices and personal tastes, rather than by the conformity of the scenario. in and of itself.
In this regard, the Gunsmith has undergone a partial revolution. Game after game, not only your character will level up, but also the weapons with which you will accumulate kills. In this way, you will unlock the various central bodies which, with appropriate modifications, will give life to rifles, machine guns and so on.
Although it seems a useless complication compared to the past, where new weapons were directly unlocked to be customized from time to time, in reality, the system expands the freedom of choice and makes the progression more rapid. Using a central body to hold a tactical rifle, in fact, you can still unlock a particularly efficient shotgun, even if you only rarely rely on this type of gun.
In addition, many gadgets that you will unlock are compatible with more central bodies, making even in this case the more malleable and permissive customization, without forcing you to play countless games with weapons that do not meet your taste or that are badly suited to your skills.
At the moment, the weapons made available in this beta of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II all seemed quite balanced, with only two exceptions: the Kolstov-74u seemed too efficient even at long range, while the M16 it is essentially unusable due to the lethal mix of low rate of fire and unmanageable recoil.
Interesting the additions of the Electrocutioner and the Piercing Charge, new throwing devices that can be equipped in your loadout. The first, as the name suggests, stuns the opponent who is in his area of action. More interesting is the Piercing Charge, which sticks into the walls and hits the enemy hiding beyond the obstacle, a gadget that will be very useful for making the campers stationed in the dead corners pay for it.
Small revolution also with regard to the perks. Unlike what happened in the previous chapters of the brand, these bonuses are activated progressively and automatically during the course of the game. This means that only in the final stages of the battle will all participants be able to count on the most impactful power-ups, to the benefit of the spectacularity, and the tension, in those matches with an uncertain outcome.
We've been playing this Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II beta quite a bit. We had to test it intensively to give you our reasoned opinion, of course, but we would be lying if we didn't candidly admit that we were glued to the screen also because we were having too much fun not to allow ourselves one last game.
The dull homework of Vanguard already seems a faded memory, canceled by the solidity of the competitive multiplayer that awaits us starting from October 28th. The innovations made to the Gunsmith, to the perks, to the proposed modes, not least the games with a third-person view, all go in the direction of making progression more malleable while allowing experts to better manage their loadout and newbies to get fun and satisfaction while struggling to obtain refreshing results in terms of pure results.
Not long before the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, scheduled for October 28, the conditions already seem excellent.
