Call Of Duty Warzone (2023) Review

It’s hard to believe that it has been three years since the arrival of what was the behemoth that is Warzone. The original launch came when COVID-19 sunk its evil claws into the world but it was to the benefit of Activision. This was because millions of people weren’t allowed to leave their homes and were stuck for things to do. This led to an instant surge in console sales and the casual crowd of gamers suddenly had disposable hours to spare. I was stood down for five months at work, so I spent my time going for random walks with my then 2-year-old son, eating, sleeping, and playing Warzone.

Last year the mode hit a little bit of a stalemate, the hardcore community was not happy with the new map Al Mazrah and the game functionality. The movement was not as fluid as in the 2020 iteration and amongst a plethora of other things, it wasn’t a memorable time whatsoever. We did get a few decent smaller maps in Ashika Island and Vondel, but they were suited to the growing popularity of the Resurgence game mode which presents respawn opportunities until the later stages of the game.

With this year’s release of Call Of Duty Modern Warfare III, there were many unanswered questions before the release of Warzone. What we did know is it would follow the same pattern as previous versions where players could dive in free of charge. I’ll put you out of your misery if you have been too busy to give it a go as yet, it plays a million times better than last year’s entry. Not just from a gunplay and movement standpoint, but from a map design perspective too. For me personally, the issue with Al Mazrah was that it was far too open with vast open land where you can easily become a sitting duck if you’re running on foot.

This is where Verdansk instantly became a classic, there were always opportunities to get out of sticky situations and dive into adjacent buildings or use a vehicle to blend into other surroundings. Urzikstan presents itself as a bit of a cross with Verdansk and Al Mazrah, it doesn’t appear to be as built up at first glance, but there is plenty of cover across all areas of the map for sure. For those who prefer close-quarters warfare, you’ll be pleased to hear that Ashika Island and Vondel have carried across and are fully integrated with MW3 weaponry alongside last year’s guns.

Those familiar with Warzone will notice that in terms of how the game functions, it pretty much follows the same premise this year. Drop in, loot, and survive till the very end whilst the yellow gas surrounds you and the circle grows smaller. There are a feast of subtle gameplay changes though that may not be instantly noticeable until you clock a few hours with the game. For example, the ghost perk that is well known for hiding you from enemy UAVs has altered and will now only make you vanish from the radar whilst you’re moving.

Another great change is the ability to put on your gas mask and remove it manually. I lost count of how many times I was killed in previous matches due to the animation of the gas mask being applied leaving you unable to engage in gunfire temporarily. Gas mask also counters tear gas which is handy since you can wear it permanently all match if you desire and it will only deplete when you encounter gas. Other great additions include red dots on the mini-map, ammo displayed separately in a backpack, and tactical stims boosting your movement. The structure of the game allows for more tactical decisions as a squad should you choose to.

Contracts haven’t changed drastically, there is still the most wanted one which will bring back team members from the dead if you survive the timer. The scavenger contract will give you three loot crates to find for a cash boost and some potential rare loot. You can also discover where the circle will move next by picking up the intel contracts, these are particularly handy if you and your team can get a string of them consecutively. All your favorite modes have been present from the beginning of this year, normal Warzone, Resurgence, and Plunder. Although they can’t stop pissing around with the playlists and removing modes for weeks at a time that people play. Like Resurgence quads on the new map at the time of writing don’t exist.

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare III’s version of Warzone almost encapsulates everything that made the original Modern Warfare (2019) version great. The developers appear to have taken on the grumbles of the last few years on board and given the fans what they want. Movement is much better and the ability to tinker with gun builds to take those all-important META builds to the fight pumps a little bit of excitement into the game.

I will add that the game isn’t without its issues, there are some visual bugs and almost game-breaking bugbears. One problem is going in as a duo whilst selecting quads does put you in a four-man squad, but they won’t appear on your HUD and aren’t visible on your mini-map. This isn’t helpful if you want to stick together and you come up against four enemies with two of you. I’m sure it is on the “to be fixed” list, but it has been like this for a good month now. It annoys me that year in, year out we still can’t turn off crossplay on Xbox especially since cheating through PC play is still rife. Other than this though, it is a solid outing for the mode and hopefully, it’ll be supported well until whatever comes next