Warzone 2.0 brings life to a dying game
Call of Duty’s second attempt at the Battle Royale genre with Warzone has been one of the biggest players in the genre since its launch in early 2020. It received a lot of attention for its many problems, including tons of hacking and people feeling that the game is profitable to win . Many hoped the release of the new Warzone 2.0 could fix some of the issues that 1.0 suffered from. The changes aren’t bad, and they make the game a different experience than 1.0. It makes it feel like a fresh new game.
By far the best change is the 2v2 gulag, which gives you a random teammate to fight with. The proximity chat is a lot of fun, trying to convince the enemies to team up to take down the new caretaker so all 4 people can get back into the game.
The new map is not good, and it feels empty, unlike the previous Verdansk. Another controversial change is the loadout system as you can no longer buy them. You have to go out and find them during a mid-round event. I actually like the change because it feels like I’m not going to get destroyed by someone who did the perfect loadout. With all these changes, some fans were worried that Activision would fumble and ruin the game they once loved. But I feel the changes are good and make the game an overall better experience.
Warzone also suffers severely from performance issues such as terrible frame drops, layers and some textures that just won’t load. Nothing breaks, but it’s boring to have so many problems that are very frequent. It really takes me out of the game when I can’t drop in without freezing for a couple of seconds.
Another problem is the battle pass, which is very tight and has a confusing progression system. It would be nice if there was no match pass, but I understand why there is one, but it just feels unnecessary.
Warzone 2.0 comes out with a new mode called DMZ which is similar to the game Escape from Tarkov where you drop into the map and collect weapons, money and valuables. But if you die, you lose everything you haven’t saved, so it makes carrying around a bunch of stuff in the hope that you don’t die tense. I think it’s pretty fun and the challenges are pretty fun to try and tackle with friends. The challenges are actually challenging and feel rewarding when you complete them. I’ve noticed that the weapons are very easy to find, so I just pop in with just a throwing knife and find something from there. The DMZ is a great new addition, but I feel like it won’t last long. I just don’t see it being a mainstay in the Call of Duty series unless it starts receiving a lot of updates.
Overall, Warzone 2.0 is a much needed update to a game that has felt stale for a long time. It feels good for something to start from scratch to give a new name and reputation. Hopefully, Activision can use this fresh start to make a better game that can appeal to more people.
