Another season has dropped for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone and I like to drop my thoughts on the Warzone aspect of things. Without further ado, let’s get straight to it! Now that season 5 has dropped, there’s really only one thing I’m excited for in Warzone at the moment. The world reveal of WWII: Vanguard! If you log into Warzone tomorrow (August 19th) at 10:30 am Pacific time/1:30 pm Eastern, you’ll be there to watch the world reveal of not only the next call of duty, but an idea of what’s also coming to Warzone. We saw the leaks a while back and have all pretty much accepted that the next cod is infact a WWII game so, there’s really no surprise there. It’s all about what’s going to happen tomorrow! I personally feel like it has been too long for a new map. I don’t consider the reskin of Verdansk to be a new map by any means. WWII: Vanguard will surely give us a completely new map to play on and I sure hope they announce a plan to give us updated maps often, but I’m not holding my breath. WWII: Vanguard aside, let’s talk about the current season and situation in Warzone. Along with a new battle pass loaded with the usual goodies, there have been some major weapon balances to the game. At least according to the patch notes. I can’t honestly say I see a difference in any of the weapons I’ve always played with, so you tell me if it has affected your game play. At this point with the game, we don’t really see much of anything, but sprinkles of changes to the map and what’s available on ground, but you know what we haven’t really seen at all? Numbers of cheaters dwindling down… I know a lot of people like to assume that anyone that takes them down is a hacker, but there is a problem with cheating in this game and it’s plagued like no other MP game out there. I have been watching streams and personally experiencing cheaters more and more online. I am sick of it. Gone are the days where I could rack up high kill counts and wins in traditional BR. I end up with cheaters on my team, cheaters in the enemy teams and it’s just gotten ridiculous. I know the difference between an aimbot mod and someone that legitimately took me down. I was just playing a little while ago and was killed just before the gulag closed. I spectated my killer and sure enough, this guy 40+ kills, wasn’t even trying to hide the fact he was cheating. Or she for that matter. I couldn’t honestly say, but anywho. This player would be sprinting and just suddenly turn in the opposite direction, start firing and was killing people they couldn’t even see. I watched them finish the match with a bunch of other spectators that all … Read More
Starfield not coming to PS5, but Rambo is coming to Warzone!
Things have been shaking up a little bit with the announcement that Starfield will not be coming to PlayStation consoles. While it shouldn’t be a real surprise considering Microsoft now owns everything Bethesda has ever worked on, but I think this stings a little because a lot of us were hoping Microsoft would allow Bethesda to develop some of their upcoming games for PlayStation as well, but as time goes by, it gets clearer that this idea just might not happen at all. Granted, Deathloop is supposed to be a PS5 timed exclusive and while we haven’t heard that it has been canceled for the PlayStation, it was delayed into the fall and that has sparked a lot of questions. Questions like: is the delay solely to squeeze in more time to officially cancel the PlayStation deal? Will the game still be timed? Will we ever see another elder scrolls game release on PlayStation consoles again? Elder Scrolls doesn’t have anything to do with Deathloop, but damn it, it’s on my mind! In other news, things are about to get a little more retro in Warzone Black Ops: Cold War. Starting May 20th, players will have access to the Rambo and John Mclane (from Die Hard) operator bundles. These bundles will include skins for both characters, weapon blueprints and a whole lot more! We’ve pics online, some are complaining that the characters don’t look good enough and that is arguable if you really care enough about it, but they don’t look that bad and I think I think I’m looking forward to it. Along with the limited time bundles, there will be some limited time events dropping in Cold War and Warzone to celebrate them! In warzone we will see things like the Nakatomi Plaza from the first Die Hard film and survival camps from the Rambo franchise. Warzone will also be getting a limited time game mode called Power Grab. From the sounds of it, it will be like a Kill Confirmed/Battle Royale mashup. Call of Duty Balck Ops: Cold War will also be getting some limited events like Die Hardpoint, Rambo’s Gun Game and Multi-Team Elimination. But wait! There’s more! Limited time medals are going to be showing up in the game that will reward with 2xp. I think that’s going to be cool to see, but I just hope I don’t get distracted and lose my streak, haha. There are a slew of other things coming with this update, but I don’t have all the details on them. I let you know what’s going on after we’ve checked it all out hands on rather than going by the snippets I know. I’m not sure if we should be surprised, but GTA V is getting a PS5 version released. I remember when I bought GTA V on PS3… good times. I was really hoping we would be closer to the release of GTA 6, but maybe this is just to give us a … Read More
Warzone: Verdansk -1984
Season 3 has dropped in Warzone and there are a lot of mixed feelings that have come along with the latest update. Granting the fact that Warzone is free to play, there a lot of people out there that will say no one should complain because it’s a free game, but let’s be honest here, many of us that do play CoD titles, sink a little bit (or a lot) of cash on microtransactions and the season pass every couple of months. As a paring consumer and video game journalist, I am more than qualified and entitled to complain. So let’s get down to it! Verdansk: 1984 is the same map with some changes. It’s springtime and the map is a lot brighter and more colorful. So much so, that when you aim down sites, it can seem like the sun glaring a bit too much in your lens and distorts the picture a little bit. Soldiers seem easier to spit out of buildings and that’s kind of nice. Of course when a player is using that good ol ‘Rose skin and hiding in a shady dark corner, it can be really difficult to see them, but that’s not anything new, just been noticing it a little more often lately. Some of the buildings we are used to seeing and even taking cover in, are under development such as the stadium. Stadium looks to be much smaller of an area than it once was and that’s not because it’s missing the dome cover. It’s missing almost everything. Not to mention the damn is completely gone and has been replaced with Summit. We’re assuming we’ll be getting a back story as to what happened to Summit and why the damn would replace its existence sometime beyond 1984, but maybe they’ll save that one for season 4? The quarry has become the salt mines and there’s definitely some things I’m missing here, but you get the picture and you’ve probably already played and seen the changes to the map, but there isn’t much more to add to the subject. So, if you felt like the Call of Duty franchise has a nasty habit of recycling maps, this one takes the cake for you. Honestly, it takes the cake for me, but I have my reasons, so hear me out. The idea that we got the same map with a paint job is irritating to me. It’s been an entire year and while they have done things to try and keep the map fresh, Verdansk: 1984 feels lazy and unoriginal. I know the pandemic hit a lot of developers hard and they have had to work from home and that separation can really put a damper on things, but we’re talking a new map after a year, not a whole new game. I don’t even really hold the developers accountable. I hold Activision’s execs accountable because these are the same people that drove Vince Zampella away from Infinity Ward … Read More
Black Ops Cold War Reveal – How Cool Was That?!
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War got its first official reveal (August 26th) and it was definitely a different kind of experience. At least it was for me anyway. For the first time in CoD history, a game was revealed from within a game. I’m talking about Black Ops Cold War being revealed within the Warzone. If you haven’t heard about the initial reveal, I’m going to fill you in a little and explain. Unfortunately, if you did miss the reveal, you won’t be able to try again at this point. Sorry if that’s disappointing. I wish I could tell you otherwise. Playing through the Know your history game mode, you’re chasing clues and figuring out where to go next. You’ll be on a timer, so if you don’t get it right the first time, you’ll have to do it again. The game mode is active for 1 hour at a time, but it’s not a difficult puzzle to work through, so you should have no problems. Once you have completed all the clues/missions during the play through, you will be treated with the reveal trailer. Of course, the trailer was all over the web almost immediately after the mode first dropped, so you might have watched it already, but don’t let it discourage you from playing it anyway. You’ll be treated to several drops along the way and a couple more once it’s been completed. Not only will get a few cool drops in-game, but it’s also a lot of fun to play. I played with two of my friends and we had a blast. We were laughing as we would get into gun fights along the way and figuring out exactly what to do next. We actually completed it on our first run with 1 second to spare on the clock. Phew! That was a close one! The Know your history mode was a huge success for the Call of Duty franchise and it has people itching for more. Not only do we expect to see more announcements like this in-game down the road, but there is also speculation that this could have very well be the start of some new game modes within Warzone. As it is, Warzone gets different style game modes dropped in and out, but it mostly caters to BR and Plunder. While we have seen some large scale TDM modes so far, a lot of us are touting the idea of a National Treasure (The movie. Sorry if you don’t know it) type game mode. Where a clue leads to another clue and so on and so forth. I personally think it would be cool if we did have a National Treasure mode where all the squads had to track down different clues and not all the same ones like with Know your history. As players collect their intel, they have to survive until they have found the last clues before the timer runs out. If … Read More
Warzone – Season 5 thoughts
There is no doubt in my mind that you have heard about the Battle Royale phenomenon that is Warzone. Hugely popular and in my opinion, extremely fun when you allow yourself to enjoy the game. I know that some of you are thinking “What?! Enjoy a Call of Duty?” Yes, I said I have extreme when I allow myself to enjoy it. Much like other gamers, I get frustrated with the cheaters and issues with the game itself at times, but for the most part, I thoroughly enjoy Warzone. That being said, I have reached somewhat of a standstill feeling with season 5. The battle pass is a lackluster this time around, although one could technically argue that every pass has had its faults thus far. Regardless of that, I’m not here to nitpick season 5 or discuss the past seasons that are behind us. Sure, the stadium has finally opened up and wouldn’t you know it? Choo-Choo! A train has been added to the map as well. A new operator has been released and there’s a couple new weapons. Aside from these additions that we have come to expect with each season, there hasn’t been a whole lot added. Most of the gamers I have spoke with seem to be dissatisfied with season 5 and I have to say that I don’t feel that this is a typical case of being entitled as much as it is a literal lack of content. Cue the “How are you going to complain about a free game, you entitled twirps!” chimers. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on, shall we? Excellent! Check out this solid win in Warzone trios! https://youtu.be/m2KBAmVqXus So anyway, I think a lot of players were hoping the damn would have broken open op by now or that nukes were going to be set off and destroy the map and offer us a new playing field to battle on. While that all would have been cool to see happen, we can’t really be upset over something that hasn’t actually been confirmed is going to happen. I know many of us would like to see some significant changes by now, but it is August, so my guess would be we are going to see some major changes in October. Possibly sooner, but I think the CoD universe is going to make us wait just a little longer before seeing any meaningful additions or changes. If you’re a big Call of Duty fan, you probably know that I’m getting at the next Black Ops games. Black Ops has been getting teasers in the Warzone. While we haven’t had an official reveal yet, publisher Activision says Warzone has made the company rethink the way it reveals games and it seems as though Black Ops will get a reveal in Warzone. Are they taking a few pages from the devs at Epic? Will we see an actual video reveal during a movie night in … Read More
Warzone – Tips for a BR win
So, Warzone has been out for a month today and it should come as no surprise that the free to play title has reached over 50 million unique players thus far. With more Gamers downloading the game everyday, not everyone is prepared for the Warzone. I have put together some of my best tips to try and help out new and not so new players to help give you a little extra edge. Where to drop… This is an interesting topic as some players just want to drop into chaos and start a gun fight as quickly as possible and others like to drop somewhere unpopulated, so they can start looting and try to get a headstart for better weapons and equipment. Idf you’re new to the game, I would suggest taking a look at the map to see where the circle is located. Try dropping just outside of the circle and watch for enemy players to see where they go. This gives you a moment to breathe and pick up items as you decide on your game plan. Once you land… You’ve made it to the ground and it’s time to prepare for battle. Even if you didn’t see enemies dropping into the same site, stay vigilant. You never know when a squad or a solo commando will try and take you out quickly. You’ll want to ransack houses, buildings, whatever you see. As soon as you get your first armor plate, put it on for maximum health. Pick up whatever weapons you think you’ll do best with, but I highly recommend grabbing silenced weapons when possible. This will keep you off the radar and give a good opportunity for a surprise attack. https://youtu.be/39HPo4-MtfU Loudout Drops… perhaps one of the most important tips I can offer in Warzones Battle Royale mode, is grabbing a loadout drop. Loadout drops do come into the game on their own, but I like to buy one in the beginning of the match. A team that works together can easily pool the money together to buy a loadout drop early on. While I personally think loadout drops shouldn’t be a part of the game, they are and if you don’t utilize them, you are at a disadvantage. What should be in your loadout? Well, this is definitely up for debate, but I have a few suggestions that I think work well in the field. As far as weapons go, you should really go with what you are most accurate with. I use the M13 in both BR and Plunder for its incredibly low recoil. Using the perks Cold-Blooded, Ghost and Tracker are a great combo to stay off the radar and move comfortably through the map. Using Tracker can help a lot when trying to pinpoint a diligent enemy, but I also like to switch that out with Tune Up to reduce the revive time by 25%. It really depends on the players I’m partied up with. Slap a Heartbeat Sensor on … Read More
Warzone review part 2 – Plunder
Welcome to part 2 of the Warzone overview and review. If you missed the first which covers the Battle Royale basics of Warzone, you can read that here. https://thomasm64.sg-host.com/warzone-part-one/ Moving forward in part 2, we’re taking a look at the Plunder game mode and dropping a full review score. Let’s dig in! Plunder is definitely not a Battle Royale mode, but it is large scale multiplayer fun. Rather than a last man/team standing, the first team of three to collect 1 million dollars, will reign as the winner of a match. As simple as that sounds, there is a lot more than meets the eye here. For starters, at the beginning of a match you get to spawn with your own custom class load out. Those of us that have been playing multiplayer all along with the full game, will have some serious advantage over new players sharing a lobby. Not only are we experienced with our weapons of choice, but most have leveled up all of the weapons available. Luckily for new players, Plunder is littered with weapons and crates, just like the Battle Royale mode. That really gives them a sporting chance until they manage to level themselves up. So, loadouts aside, let’s discuss the main objective and how to get that win for you and the squad. The objective as I said before, is to be the first team to collect 1 million dollars in cash. You will find lots of loot laying around the map, so it’s important to pick up extra bucks you can find, but be vigilant. There will be enemy teams hunting down other players in order to kill them and take their cash. Not to fret, there are ways to secure that hard earned money you’ve got the duffel bag. As with the Battle Royale mode, you can also complete contracts for extra money and lootable items. There is no closing gas circle in Plunder, so you’re free to explore the map wherever or whenever you’d like. When you manage to score a large amount of cash, it might be wise to try and secure it. This way, if an enemy manages to kill you, you will leave very little behind. Whatever you manage to deposit, will be safe for the rest of the match. You don’t have to deposit the money. If you’re up for the challenge, you could always try and run the entire match without a deposit, but that is quite a challenge to win as the top three teams with the most cash will be highlighted on the map for all to see and hunt down. There are two ways to secure the cash. There are large helicopter pads around the map. Once a player calls in a chopper, everyone in the match is alerted. It becomes a dangerous game as some teams might be staking out around a deposit spot to ambush players and then steal and deposit the cash for themselves. You can … Read More
Call of Duty: Warzone has finally been revealed and released to the public. This is a major change in the way publisher Activision does things. Releasing a Battle Royale game isn’t a big deal, but releasing a Call of Duty BR game for free, that’s a pretty big deal in itself. You don’t PS Plus to play it online either. Warzone is a separate game from Modern Warfare, so you don’t need to pay to play it. It does correlate with the full MW title such as unlocks and xp. If you have the full game, you’ll level up extremely fast depending on what you do and how well you play. So, Warzone consists of two game modes. Battle Royale and Plunder. We will start with Battle Royale in this two part basics review. I’ll drop info on plunder in part 2. BR holds up to 150 players with squads of 3. The last squad standing is the winner of the match and it is considered quite a feat. However, there is a lot more than meets the eye in this BR mode. Lets dig in. When you first drop into the match, you start off with 2 pieces of armor and can wear up to 3, while holding 5 spares to repair damaged armor plates. Everyone has the same advantage with equal armor. Find plates around the map and don’t forget to repair them as needed. You can also collect cash and buy a 5 plate bundle at stores around the map as well. Armor aside, you also start off with a pistol to protect yourself, but the world is packed with plenty of other weapons to pick up and you’re definitely going to want to do that. You will see common weapons with no attachments laying around just about everywhere you go. If that’s what you see, grab it. There are much better weapons on the field, so be sure to keep your eye out for them when scavenging buildings and crates. On top of looting weapons, you get a personal loadout that you created before the match. These personal loadouts can be a major game changer if you pick one up. Your perks from your class become activated and you’ll gain an advantage overall. For instance, I don’t use High Alert in multiplayer, but I use it in BR, because if someone sees and they’re out of my view, the screen flashes yellow to let me know I’m in someone’s sights. It has saved me from several deaths and I highly recommend trying that perk. Collecting cash is more important than you might think. There are a lot of vendors (stores) to purchase extra items from. You can grab a scorestreak, a self revive kit, a decent amount of things, but there is also one particular item that is incredibly useful… If a teammate has died, you can buy them back into the match. That can be pretty useful, but hopefully, you won’t … Read More