Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 explodes all sales records and stands out as a big success in the history of the COD franchise. But now players have their sights set on the release of free-to-play Warzone 2.0 and DMZ.
[Mis à jour le 14 novembre 2022 à 10h54] Just like in 2019, Modern Warfare 2 once again seems to be solidifying the base of a Call of Duty franchise that has been in slight difficulty for a few years. The brand new episode of Infinity Ward meets with unprecedented success in the history of the franchise, and will offer us in a few hours its free-to-play standalone: Warzone 2.0. A new take on the Battle Royale phenomenon of 2020 and a brand new game mode in the form of DMZ. In short, a huge free release on which we reveal all the essential information, from the date and time of release to the most detailed content.
Warzone 2.0 is scheduled for release on November 16, 2022 at 7 p.m. (French time). A game that will of course be completely free-to-play and available on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. But the Battle Royale 2.0 mode will not be the only novelty of this event-release, since November 16 also marks the arrival of the first season of multiplayer content for Modern Warfare 2 (and Warzone 2.0) but also that of the new mode of DMZ game. The latter promises to be an unprecedented extraction shooter intended to convince a population of more hardcore FPS players.
With such substantial content, we suspected that Warzone 2.0 would be a very nice baby, but maybe not to this extent. The size of Warzone 2.0 was recently revealed by a small leak on social networks, the game is planned for 115 GB on Xbox Series, and more than 110 GB on PC and PS5. Enough to hurt the hard drive of your console, which must almost sacrifice a third of its total volume to accommodate the free-to-play of Infinity Ward and Activision. A good reason to consider buying an additional SSD for your next-gen console.
Warzone 2.0 offers you a very classic Battle Royale experience, which should not seem very different to you from Warzone first of the name. What should seem totally different to you, however, is the DMZ mode (demilitarized zone in French), a brand new game mode launched alongside Warzone 2.0 which will offer an experience close to the most popular Extraction Shooters. Understand, survive in a hostile area by completing objectives before extracting yourself safe and sound. Enough to satisfy fans of hardcore shooters and bring a little more realism to the Call of Duty license. The game mode will be available on November 16 also next.
This is Tom Henderson which once again opened the ball of discussions around Warzone 2 today. The Scottish insider published an article for his newspaper TryhardGuides revealing to us all the information he was able to glean around the Warzone 2 map. Starting with his name, “Al Mazrah”. This map set in the Middle East will feature 18 points of interest, from a simple ruined village to a huge fortress to a convoluted cave system. Enough to imagine long hours of play in the map which will be in a way the Verdansk of Warzone 2.
But that’s not all, we expected it during the Call of Duty Next conference, Warzone 2.0 was presented to us in detail. A nice giveaway from Infinity Ward who invited 200 streamers and influencers for the first part of Warzone 2.0 in history. We were able to discover the “Al Mazrah” map, confirming the words of Tom Henderson, a desert and industrial map, also including villages, mountains, and all the diversity that is necessary for an excellent Battle Royale map. It will also be the largest map ever created by Infinity Ward, and will accommodate 200 players please.
Warzone 2.0 will not be a graphic revolution compared to its predecessor, but it does intend to deepen certain elements of its gameplay. By bringing various innovations, particularly in terms of movement, weapon customization and gadgets, the game intends to stand out from its predecessor and offer players a complete Battle Royale experience, taking the best from its competitors and its previous iterations. . On top of that, Infinity Ward offers plenty of quality of life improvements, and still hasn’t mentioned the existence of an SBMM. To be continued.
New moves: the success of Apex Legends may have made Infinity Ward think about this, but the studio has chosen to integrate new movement possibilities into Warzone 2.0. Operators will be able to dive, hang on to a ledge, while pulling of course.
New Gadgets: a tactical camera, a wall-piercing charge, a decoy, an electromagnetic bomb… If you imagine it, Warzone 2.0 will have it. Infinity Ward did not hesitate to present us with some of the new gadgets that will punctuate the gameplay of its future Battle Royale, and we hope that there will be enough to compete with the eternal heart sensor.
New weapon customization: Modern Warfare 2 brings with it a new Gunsmith system, allowing more accessories to be added to their weapons.
Underwater combat: if a wet toe was fatal in Warzone, Warzone 2.0 intends to incorporate underwater combat into its formula. Operators will therefore be able to swim underwater at different depths, and even shoot. The ballistics of the bullets will of course be influenced by the resistance of the water.
Revamped vehicles: Vehicles are a huge part of Warzone, and Infinity Ward intends to capitalize on that. The studio claims to have improved the possibilities of interaction with vehicles, allowing the player to climb on the roof or shoot from a window. Tires can also be destroyed and repaired, and vehicle physics have been improved.
Proximity chat: the game will also integrate a proximity voice chat system, allowing you to happily spoof your enemies stashed on the first floor of a house before throwing them a bread of C4.
Multiple proximity circles: for the first time in the short history of Battle Royale, the circle of play will be able to be divided into several zones. Of course, these areas will come together at the very end of the game to determine a winning team.
Strongholds: some areas will be populated by aggressive AI, which will allow players who wish to risk their stealth or their lives to recover rarer loot.
Gulag: the Gulag, pillar of the Warzone experience, has been profoundly modified. It will now pit two teams of two players against each other in a fight to join their respective teams.
Of course, these different additions will allow Warzone 2.0 to offer us new “sandbox” moments. The new movement possibilities offer different options for approaching a fight, and give the player the feeling of freedom that made Warzone so successful in its early days. Between new gadgets, vehicle interactions, underwater combat, Warzone 2.0 could well find this little grain of madness and unexpectedness that served its predecessor so much. Failing to offer incredible graphic innovations (which is good news for older generation consoles and more modest PCs) Warzone 2.0 seems well on its way to reconquering the kingdom of Battle Royale.
Warzone is three years of success for as many different Call of Duty titles. Between Modern Warfare (2019), Cold War (2020) and Vanguard (2021) there is a huge technical difference, in particular due to the difference in the graphics engine. At the same time, Warzone had to adapt to the integration of the assets of these three games and their graphics engine, sometimes going through long periods of technical difficulties, and suffering from a discontinuity in terms of gameplay elements. It is true that combining modern warfare, the Cold War and Second World War, it can make the game confusing, technically and spiritually. However, the good news is that Warzone 2.0 and Modern Warfare 2 will share the same graphics engine, which will then be adapted to the next titles of the license.
New starting point
Who says new Warzone also says new starting point for all players. Infinity Ward has insisted that it wants to offer “innovative gameplay” to its players, an intention made possible by the new technical features of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Warzone 2.0 will therefore be strictly speaking a new Battle Royale, with a new progression system and more advanced gameplay than its predecessor. It will therefore not be able to integrate all the content of Warzone, which means a return to zero for everyone. Good news for neophytes, less good news for veterans who will no longer see the fruits of their relentless progress in the game over the past three years. From a Battle Royale perspective, a fresh start is pretty good. It’s hard not to consider the first months of a new title of this genre as the best of its existence, where skill-based matchmaking does not suffer too many balancing problems, and where the multitude of new players creates lobbies pleasant and balanced.
This is a question that remains legitimate, given the complexity of Call of Duty products, and their multiplicity. But like its predecessor, Warzone 2.0 will be entirely free. A free-to-play format that was particularly successful in Warzone first of the name, making for almost two years the most played Battle Royale of all time with 125 million active players per month. Since then, the game’s player base has shrunk by 60%, a fairly common phenomenon among Battle Royales after a few years of existence, due to sometimes very harsh matchmaking, and metas that are difficult to follow if you don’t. don’t have the right Call of Duty game to improve this or that weapon. And for Warzone 2.0, the format will remain the same, with standalone free-to-play tied to progression in the annual Call of Duty paid game, once again giving the advantage to players who own Modern Warfare 2 upon release.