I’m an absolute fan of ‘Battlefield’, but the multiplayer mode of ‘CoD: Modern Warfare II’ has won me over

Hectic. It is the first thing that occurs to me to define the online multiplayer mode of ‘ Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II ‘. The last installment of a legendary saga had a worrying reception in its campaign mode, so many expected (we hoped) to see if the online mode would change those feelings.

For me, it certainly does. As a frequent player of the rival ‘Battlefield saga, I was very curious to see what CoD: MWII had to offer, and the truth is that its multiplayer modes are a dizzying delight. Let’s see why.

Modes for all tastes

In ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’ —not to be confused with the 2009 title — we have no less than twelve multiplayer modes. The vast majority of them are 6v6 modes (6v6, the so-called modes on main maps), while “Land War” and “Land War (Invasion)” are the most ambitious in terms of player numbers and reach 20v20 and 32v32 players respectively.

Several of them are old acquaintances from the franchise. They are “Verse-all” (whoever gets 30 kills wins), “Team Showdown” (get 75 kills with your group), “Dominance” (control of three marked zones), “Hotspot” (capture and defend hotspots), “Headquarters” (seize and defend it without respawns), “Search and Destroy” (turns to defend or destroy an objective), and “Control” (turns to attack and defend objectives with time rewards).

But we also have news. The first is “Prisoner Rescue”, a mode in which we will have to locate and rescue the hostages, or avoid just that, without respawns but with team revives. The second is “Knockout”, in which the teams compete for a bag of money, and in which there are no comebacks either, but there are resuscitations.

There are two modes on battle maps ( up to 32v32 ). The first, “Ground War,” pits two teams against each other to capture an odd number of objectives, and is essentially an oversized version of “Dominion” that includes vehicles.

The second, “Invasion” pits the two teams against each other to achieve as many kills as possible, but here human players are mixed with players controlled by the game’s AI. That can be a drawback for experienced players — the bots are lazy, really — but it can also be a good entry point for new players, so they can not get so frustrated.

Here we must also mention the ‘matchmaking’ system of ‘Modern Warfare II’, called Skill-Based MatchMaking (SBMM). I found it curious but probably reasonable: that system tends to make each game different from the last: you can feel like Rambo or John Wick in one game and then look like an absolute disaster and not see them coming the next.

Those feelings become less pronounced over time, precisely because the system is fine-tuning more by putting you with players of a similar level who can pose a challenge without ending up saying ” look, I’m a package, I’ll leave it “. They reward and punish you in equal parts, which is crucial so that as soon as the game is over you really want to start a new one (something the game does without asking).

Playing the various ‘Battlefields’ I would normally jump right into the big Conquest multiplayer modes where you go up to 64v64, but the truth is that the 6v6 modes in Call of Duty have been fantastic. Much more frantic and dizzying, they reminded me of those old days when Quake was king and everything happened at a devilish speed.

The same thing happens with these modes. There is almost no time to breathe and the tension is constant: one has the sensation of not being able to take a short break in some corner.

Here, as always, seeing the enemy first is synonymous with being able to eliminate him, and the speed of the game and the size of the maps —which we’ll talk about later— make it difficult for controversial campers to succeed with that strategy, at least in the maps of the modes 6v6. Things change on the big maps and modes like Invasion, where this type of player can do more of his particular August.

I particularly liked the two new modes “Prisoner Rescue” and “Knock Out”. Although they are two variations of the same idea, I like that once you are eliminated there are no respawns and you can only continue playing if a teammate revives you. If no one does it, nothing happens, because I assure you: the games last a breath and you’re back in action right away.