Some Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 feedback is falling on deaf ears
Infinity Ward has heard fans' complaints, but is sticking to its guns when it comes to certain design decisions
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🪖 The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 beta kicked off on September 16, and fans have been leaving their feedback
🔑 The key changes that players would like to see is a change to the mini-map, target tracking, how perks work, and footstep sounds
🙉 While developer Infinity Ward will address some complaints, it’s being steadfast on others
😤 Some of the feedback has been a point of contention with fans since Modern Warfare (2019)
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 beta is well underway, with those who pre-ordered the game on PS5 and PS4 enjoying early access and a open beta weekend.
Developer Infinity Ward has shared a community update that outlines the community’s main concerns with the game at this early stage. And, despite encouraging feedback from players, it appears Infinity Ward is adopting a “we know best” policy.
The biggest gripe players have with Modern Warfare 2 currently is the game’s mini-map. The mini-map only shows enemy player dots when a UAV active, which was a change introduced in Modern Warfare (2019). Players have been asking Call of Duty developers to return to the old mini-map system ever since, but it looks like they won’t get their wish, at least not yet.
In a blog post on Infinity Ward’s website, the developer said:
“Currently in the MW2 Beta, we only show enemy player dots when a UAV is active. The design reason for this is that we do not want to punish players for firing their weapons. We also want players to actively search out the origin of a gunshot versus just traveling directly to where the dot is on the mini-map. We continue to gather feedback on how the game is playing in regards to this topic.”
Some players have complained that the way the mini-map currently works makes using a silencer attachment pointless.
Perks are also a contentious issue in Call of Duty, with Dead Silence in particular the subject of much discussion. The perk drastically reduces the sound of player footsteps and used to be a Perk but was changed to a Field Upgrade. Here’s what Infinity Ward had to say about the feedback around Dead Silence.
“Dead Silence is another hot topic as many players have expressed that they would like to see it as a Perk instead of a Field Upgrade. We believe it is important to game health that rushers are not able to move at high speeds without consequence. Dead Silence as a Field Upgrade creates a balance between freedom of movement and predictability of combat.”
Footsteps, which can make or break whether you get the jump on an enemy, have also been criticized for being too loud. However, Infinity Ward is thankfully making some changes to how they’re implemented.
“Footstep audio in week one of the MP Beta was very high, giving players long distance directional information about enemies. For Weekend Two we have some changes coming in. We are reducing the range of footstep audio for the various player movement states (jog, sprint and tactical sprint). This will help soften the cost of moving around the map. The second change is that enemy and friendly footsteps are now distinct. This should help players better understand what's going on as things move around on the battlefield. More details to follow.”
Infinity Ward has also promised to adjust the game’s UI, which players have said can be difficulty to read when editing perk packages and managing loadouts, and has also said that muzzle smoke opacity and muzzle flash opacity will be increased so it’s easier to track targets. Additionally, the game’s slide mechanic and Perk Package system will be tweaked and monitored during the beta’s second weekend.
If you haven’t played the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 beta yet, the game will be available to play on PC and Xbox consoles from September 22 to 23, and playable on all platforms on September 24 to 26.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is set to release on October 28 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The game’s free-to-play battle royale mode, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, releases on November 16.
Here’s the full list of PS5 2022 games and Xbox Series X 2022 games so you can keep track of all the release dates.