COD WW2 - Post Patch thoughts!

Hello everyone and welcome to the Love of Gaming blog, it's been a little bit quiet here but that's due to the Easter Holidays that have just past. Now we're back up and running and I did get a chance to spend around 5 to 6 hours with Call of Duty WW2 since the new update, last Tuesday. 
I have to say, it was an impressive and exhaustive list of tweaks. There have been quite a few alterations since I last played in January... I think, so I'm finding myself in what I often call the "sweet spot" when it comes to a COD multiplayer. Most of the balances and changes have been made bettering the game over it's launch version, but before the tweaks go too mad and start nerfing guns all over the place in what a COD multiplayer normally becomes; "balance hell".

Anywho, I have to say it's been a blast playing WW2 these past few days, the game has had a second wind, this patch has rejuvenated this game for me. Whilst the maps are still not my cup of proverbial tea, the enhancements to weapon handling and movement make navigating maps like Marie Saint Du Mont far more easy. Unlimited sprint it seems, makes all the difference. 
Below I'm going to give a short rundown of the features that I feel have done WW2 a whole world of good:

Shotguns are a viable main
The shotgun revival is here, I haven't enjoyed using a shotgun this much since MW2! At launch it was all about the combat shotgun, it outshone everything else (unless you knew how to handle the Luftwaffe drilling). But now they've all been tweaked and you have far more bang for your buck, literally. The range boost to the two shot kill range is a big help, a lot of time it felt as though if you didn't get the one shot kill, you were dead. 
The Toggle action is still the worst of the bunch, apparently it has a one shot kill range but it's unreliable on average it's two to three shots and the range is still poor and the fire rate not enough to compete with SMGs in the Shotgun ranges.

Unlimited sprint ups player engagement in a positive way
I thought it was a step back when they capped sprinting, I know they wanted to make WW2 feel more like the older, slower COD games but the reality of it is, we like to move fast, we like to get into the fight quicker and quicker but we also don't want to spawning on each other's backs. Unlimited sprint is the great enabler and I'm glad it's back. 

Divisions account to playstyle
This was a no brainer in the first place. Locking weapon perks to each division was a bad idea especially in the case of Shotguns and Sniper rifles, whose sharpshooter and incendiary abilities are kind of essential parts of their repertoire. Sure, the incendiary shells are locked in as an attachment but they're such a useful damage modifier.
Now you can equip all the weapons and keep their once division locked attachment/trait regardless of which division you're in. The freed up slot has been filled and now each division caters to a playstyle rather than a weapon of choice. Airborne is all about mobility, mountaineer is now a stealth class and you can now obtain maximum stealth ability.
With this division update, it seems crazy we had it any other way. The divisions and by extension, the loadout options felt confused and misdirected. Now we have focus and it's improved and extended the level of playability the game has to offer.

Launchers can be equipped to all classes
Who actually, genuinely thought it was a good idea to make players sacrifice a basic training skill to equip a launcher? You almost never ever saw launchers, coupled with the fact that it's very difficult to shoot down most of the aerial scorestreaks. 
I like the boost to the Bazooka's projectile speed, I can now consistently hit recon planes from anywhere on the map. The damage nerf in my opinion is extreme, though I must admit I haven't used the Panzershreck yet, but the bazooka is virtually useless against infantry. The damage nerf is there to dissuade you from spamming a match with bazooka fire (which would happen as the launched basic training allows you to restock explosive ammo). I have to admit, I was that guy in MW2 spamming a match with RPGs so I can see why they're desperate to never create that situation again.

There is one addition that in my opinion is a bit "meh". And that is...

Blitzkrieg, is this what they wanted?
I'm no fan of the score streak system, it doesn't do enough to reward playing the objective and only forces players who are good at chaining kills to chain even more. The addition of Blitzkrieg is only of benefit to people who are score streak hunting and are good at it. The odds are, they were probably pretty good at doing it before. Requisitions should not be here, especially in light of this new basic training. 
I preferred the way they handled things in Infinite Warfare, where you modified streaks and that affected their scores, but this is how they have decided to do it.

Overall, I'm very happy with the 1.3 update, it ticks a lot of boxes for me and brings the playing ground to a sensible medium. I don't feel like there is any crutch play going on yet, there are still far too much basic training skills and although a few of them have been removed, tweaked or completely altered, I find I still focus only a few basic trainings that are far more flexible. 

I'll really have to get on WW2 more often, now it's even more of joy to play and if you see the name Parabellum09 above someones head in Domination and they have a Luftwaffe Drilling resting in their hands, be afraid... Be very afraid.

COD WW2: Vive La Resistance!

Hello everyone! Welcome to another entry in this little blog of mine. For a week now I have been enjoying "The Resistance" event in Call of Duty. I find these events very effective when it comes to drawing me back into the game, the promise of double XP and a plethora of easily obtainable loot crates, has me crawling back like a penniless man to a pawn shop. But there's more on offer than cosmetics and grinding, for the first time (I never played MWR) I played Prop Hunt and what an amusing aside that mode is. Granted, I'm more interested in Demolition, but Prop Hunt is something to be experienced. At least once.


Prop Hunt, is an idea so bizarre you could swear someone was either, drunk, high or both when thought up and no doubt is doubly more enjoyable when complemented with either of the former. To those not in the know, Prop Hunt is a round based mode with two teams: one team is the hunters. Armed with SMG's, stun grenades and hoards of ammo. The other team are props; a box, stack of tyes, German road sign, bomb or all manner of objects you would see in a map. 
At the beginning of the match, the Props get thirty seconds to scamper round the map and get themselves blended in to the surroundings. Once the timer is up, the Hunters can seek. Every so many seconds there is a "whistle", where each of the props does a loud audible whistle, giving the Hunters some clue to where the Props are hiding.
This mode seems to play out similarly each game. In the early stages of the round, Hunters are cautious. They pay attention to each object, identify what stands out or what wasn't there before. As the timer ticks down things get desperate, the Hunters spray every object they come across in a mad panic, pinging themselves up all over the map, making it easier for more evasive Props to maneouver around, completely out of sight.

I almost fell of my sofa with guffawed laughter as I watched an "L" shaped piece of pipe, make a break for it with several Hunters in tow. It's like some terrible Benny Hill comedy sketch come COD. I can practically hear that jaunty trumpet bleating in my ears.
However, it isn't always a pleasant and jovial experience. In one match, on the London Docks map, I started the game as a small fuel can. My first thought is that I should hide in plain view, to be overlooked, right under a hunter's nose. So I headed for the middle of the map and that's when I spotted the stack of boxes through a gateway, a place commonly used to head glitch the courtyard. This is where I would "hide in plain view".

I wasn't at all impressed when a "teammate", a fellow prop, whom appeared as a long wooden barricade, decided to "hide" adjacent to me, against a wall. No sooner had the game begun that the first Hunter appeared in my sights, took one look in my direction and opened fire. Expelling me from the round. He did not however, notice the wooden barricade so out of place against the wall, over extending over the wall and askew. In fact, for the next two and half minutes nobody seems to spot the now squirming barricade until there are only two Props left! Then the fool makes a bloody run for it, right in front of Hunters! Spamming it's flash grenade effect in a vain attempt at survival.
To say I was livid is putting it lightly. I was seething! I shouted at the screen "what the fuck!" and "me, you saw me! What about the bloody wooden gate thing!" and "what a load of shit". 
Now, I'm not pleased with losing my rag but it was a bloody good hiding spot I thought and I'm furious to discover it wasn't!


Now I've rambled on enough about Prop Hunt I really should be talking about something else, like how Sledgehammer games tossed the community a bone and buffed health regeneration after shattering the dreams of a reduced sprint out time.
There was a plethora of tweaks, adjustments and fixes that have fine tuned the WW2 multiplayer experience and they're very welcome. Sledgehammer over the last few weeks became quite vocal on the Reddit, alluding the changes and fixes to be made and they've made good on their word. I do hope that the communication remains and it won't be a case of going back into darkness until weeks before the next big update. 

One thing that does bug me with each update is the secret nerfs and hidden buffs, did you know that they had nerfed the sound of footsteps? I didn't until I watched The Xclusive Ace's youtube video. I really do detest these under the radar alterations, they're often the ones with the greatest impact on the game and for god's sake, why keep it secret when the most hardcore of your fanbase will certainly unearth this sneak in as a little as week? Just bloody tell us and be done with it!
Oh look, I've rambled on again...

There is one last grumble I feel I need to voice and it's due to my status as an "Xboner". Unfortunately for me, COD these days favors the Playstation, offering "early access" to multiplayer maps a whole damned month before us Xboners. It's an extra month of rummaging through the current circulation of maps, half of which I still despise. I need some fresh content to rejuvenate my interest further. 

Anywho, I hope you've all been enjoying the Resistance event and if you've had enjoyable stories to tell from Prop Hunt I would be delighted to read it.

As always, hit the +1 button and follow if you like what you read and you look forward to reading more.

Thanks for reading.

COD WORLD LEAGUE: Enters New Orleans!

Hello everyone! Hope you've had a great week! The blog has been a little on the quiet side, but that's due to a little project I have in the pipeline. I also finished Okami HD this week and I'm planning on writing a game analysis for it as well. 
But most important is the COD world league kicks off tomorrow at 8:00pm London time! I really enjoyed watching the highlights from the Dallas tournament. I find it spiriting to see the true team tactical play that goes down at these tournaments. I'll be watching tomorrow and seeing how the teams get on. This is the first time I've actually followed any of the CWL tournaments, I normally stick to EVO but I'm quite into CWL now.

Mentioning COD, we're also on the verge of what should be a very big update to the game. Michael Condrey has become quite vocal with the community recently and a good thing too. I'm not sure whether we'll see reductions to sprint out time and health regen, I know the community is begging for it though. 
I think we're more likely to see a health regen buff than a sprint out reduction, believe it or not. WW2 is actually quite a fast paced game, compared to say BO3 (that I replayed recently), and it's due to the small nature of maps, there is a very low time between interactions with other players. It can be quite frenetic. Also, time to kill feels very quick. I haven't done any hand testing, but each skirmish is a very brief event in WW2. But hey, we'll see!

As for the comments on shotguns, I'm not sure about the sawn off shotgun, but the Luftwaffe is actually a bit of a beast. The key is to ADS with it, it's terrible from the hip. Pellet spread is wild. When you ADS, the pellet spread is very tight. It's one shot kill potential isn't quite as great as the combat shotgun, which has received a ridiculous buff! It totally out classes the others. That needs addressing ASAP.

Anywho, hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy yourselves some COD! 

COD WW2: The One Month Update! (Multiplayer)

Hello everyone! It's been a Month since COD WW2 was released and as you'll know very well it wasn't smooth sailing. But Headquarters is back to being a social space, or rather a loot box showroom, if you're feeling cynical. We now have the first Ranked season that actually uses the actual CWL rules and lastly the BAR got that nerf everyone seemed to think it needed.

I've also changed my opinion on a few niggles I had with the multiplayer, most things still stand. I'm still not overly keen on the majority of the maps but I've discovered a few things that have enriched my Call of Duty experience, allow me to explain:

"The easily defensible positions are perfectly suited to setting up an LMG"

In my review of WW2 I was pretty harsh on the weapon balancing, in particular against LMGs. Most of COD's maps are medium in size and the general slow nature of these guns ends up being a hindrance and not an asset. However, a place I have found them to absolutely shine is in War mode!

War modes maps are super focused attack and defend maps. You don't get the snaking sight lines and there's room to breath. The easily defensible positions are perfectly suited to setting up an LMG with the bi-pod. I've racked up ridiculous kill chains using this strategy and you can also use to the LMG for offense. LMG's have the best damage when shooting through cover and attaching FMJ seems to nullify damage drop off completely. Using an LMG with FMJ means you can wipe out defenders behind cover and buy your teammates time to capture objectives.

A perfect example of the LMG's benefits can be found on Operation Neptune, during the second phase of map on the Allied side, you're tasked with destroying ten pieces of machinery. You normally have to breach into the Axis bunker to destroy them, which is naturally teeming with enemies. The safer strategy is to use an LMG to penetrate through the walls and destroy the targets in relative safety. 

"the thing is like a cannon"

Another weapon category I changed my opinion on is the Shotguns, before I said that only the Combat Shotgun was worth using, but since then and having seen TaborHill's very informative YouTube video regarding the Luftwaffe Drilling, I have seen the benefits of the other shotguns. 

The Drilling is an interesting weapon, when firing from the hip the pellet spread is completely wild. It's very difficult to get enough pellets to kill an enemy but when you aim down sights, the Drilling's pellet spread changes dramatically. All the pellets collect in a very tight spread, the thing is like a cannon. It's one shot kill potential almost matches the Combat Shotgun, the ability to fire the second round so quickly gives it an edge over the other two shotguns in finishing enemies off. It's also the only shotgun that can use the incendiary shells with no downside. It seems the damage over time effect is cumulative with how many pellets hit.

I haven't heard of a nerf to the Sniper rifles or the tolerances to quick scoping but generally speaking, you don't see Sniper rifles as often as you did a couple of weeks back. The player base is steadily returning back to assault rifles for staples with a mix up of SMGs for run and gunners.
You tend to see the most variety of weapon usage in the War mode which is still just an amazing and fun mode to play. I just wish the care packages dropped more than just the flame thrower. Even some Molotovs would be handy but it's a small bit of nit picking in a mode that I otherwise find is perfect. 

Headquarters is now sorted, you access it from the main multiplayer menu (that lets you select all the various modes) it does mean you have to load the area but it's not that much of an inconvenience, even if you do only use it for turning in and selecting orders. 
The only odd thing I've noticed is the "Special Assignment" order hasn't refreshed, but still runs a 24 hour timer. Not sure if it was supposed to be a one off order or is supposed to refresh but the fact it's on a never-ending 24 hour timer is a bit miffing. 

Primed basic training has been nerfed, they've almost completely eliminated the reduction in flinch but it's still a worthwhile perk for the extra attachment. With the Infantry Division you can have four attachments on one weapon which is pretty ridiculous and can create some interesting weapon variants, so it's still pretty versatile. On the flip side it does mean more people are experimenting with other basic trainings.

"quitting is quite rampant at the moment"

Ranked modes first season has begun and to be honest, I was quite disappointed. You play ten placement matches and then get assigned to a rank, starting from bronze and ending with masters. From there, you play matches. Win and you slowly rank up, lose and you rank down, naturally. 
My two big issues with this mode is one: connections are awful. Most of the matches I played post placement were awful for connectivity. Packet loss was all over the place and bullet reg was just so off. This hopefully will change, but it is to be expected when the game is now prioritising skill over connections.
Two: the placement system was way off. I have been annihilated by players way above my skill level, but are in my ranking section. (Silver) I'll probably wait a bit to see if the better players crawl up to their respective rankings. I should make clear is well that season one is generally a placement season and so as things progress you should be finding better matched lobbies.

Speaking of the Ranked playlist, quitting is quite rampant at the moment. It doesn't seem to take long before people start bailing, which surprises me because you get temporary bans if you quit even one match. 
I also was not aware that the only three modes in the CWL rule set are Capture the Flag, Hardpoint and Search and Destroy. I think, personally, Search and Destroy sticks out like a sore thumb is a more of a convoluted elimination mode. I pretty much not a fan of the S&D mode, others may not find this an issue. I was hoping to see the CWL would use COD's original modes like Kill Confirmed or even Grid Iron. I think it's a shame that the Defender mode from Infinite Warfare hasn't found it's way in WW2 or it's Ranked playlist. But that's my gripe.

Well, personally I think things are moving forward very well. I guess it'll be around two months until we see the next map pack launch, I hope to see more War mode maps are released going forward. If I had to guess, I imagine we'll see one War map to three standard maps plus a zombies map. 
I do wonder how Loot crates will evolve over time, so far everything is cosmetic with the only bonuses being extra experience for certain special weapon variants. I do like that these variants change the look of the gun almost entirely, it's a nice detailed touch. I wonder what sort of new weapons we'll see and how Sledgehammer introduce them to us, I know the community is not a fan of them being locked behind loot crates. But this all remains to be seen.

Enjoy the rest of your week everybody and I'll see you again this Friday!  

Call Of Duty WW2 Review: Old feels new!

Hello everyone! Well Call of Duty WW2 has been out for a little while and I've already dedicated most of my evenings to it! Poor old Infinite Warfare received huge unwarranted backlash when it was announced, but little did the wider world realise that Activision had already commissioned a return to COD's roots and stopped Sledgehammer creating a sequel to Advance Warfare. Instead putting them in charge of the first COD game to go back to the world war since World At War in 2008! 

"Let's not beat about the bush and get straight in to talking about the multiplayer: it's not fantastic."
  Let's not beat about the bush and get straight in to talking about the multiplayer: it's not fantastic. Not to write the whole affair off, but there a two components that WW2 critically hasn't done well. The first problem is the maps: I don't know what happened in the meeting when they were talking about map design but they were very much mistaken. WW2 continues the trend of three lane maps of small to medium size, but where it goes wrong is pathways. 

Let's remember Black Ops 3, (the best multiplayer since MW2 in my opinion). Three lane, mid-sized maps. Localised spawn locations at either end with some cover, two flanking routes and the larger middle route. Normally the flank routes had one interconnecting pathway into the middle route, otherwise they connect back up near the spawn hubs. 
This meant that the designers had great control of player movement around the map, which means it's easier to place  strategic cover, reduce camping spots, improve spawn logic and give the players a better understanding of the map. 

WW2 however, chooses to have lots of interconnected pathways from the flanks to the central map area. Which in turns makes it much more difficult to predict player movement for the designers and the players. For a designer it means a bit of head scratching where to appropriately put strategic cover and for the player it means a headache when deciding how best to flank the enemy team and where to expect another player may approach from. 

The issue is further compounded by the fact that aesthetics have taken some precedent in the maps this time, so yes they look more prettier but it's just stuff that gets in the way of sight lines and movement. There are pointless bits of cover littering some of the maps and makes them feel a bit maze like. 
I'm not sure at all why they decided to do things this way, I don't remember anyone complaining of not having enough pathways? Sure, not everyone likes mid-sized three lane maps but WW2's maps are just a headache.

When I played BO3's multiplayer, I was able to predict enemy movements around the maps without using the minimap. The maps were that well designed you could get into a flow, but I can't in WW2. There are two many pathways to look down if you're rushing and it feels like you're flipping a coin as to which route an enemy player may come down. Unless you've got a recon plane or something going on, it's very difficult to predict player movements.

 "yes, quick scoping is still here."

The next critical flaw is weapon balancing, it's pretty bad here. LMGs are a waste of your time for instance. The movement penalty, general low magazine count, recoil and long reload times makes them pale in comparison to anything else. Rifles have a far better damage profile, quicker fire rate and quicker reload times. Their clip sizes are also pretty modest. Apart from some specific occasions there's just no reason to choose an LMG over an assault rifle.

Sniping is pretty beastly this time around and yes, quick scoping is still here. Anyone using the Mountain division (more on them later) gets aim assist when aiming down sights, and the assist is pretty strong. Far more than any COD I've played since MW2. The result of this is most lobbies have multiple snipers using the one shot kill Enfield, either amazingly or pathetically. Obviously one of the issues with having sniper rifles so effective is that in the right hands it's a laser beam of death at all ranges. Some snipers can outgun shotgun users, as the sniper rounds have no damage drop off range where the shotguns can have pretty strict ranges.

Strangely, only the SMG's get silencers this time, but playing covertly isn't as big a deal this time around partly due to the map design as I said before predicting player movements is a lot trickier now. Their damage profiles are also pretty strict and there doesn't seem to be a big movement bonus over the rifles and so for a better damage profile most people go with a rifle. 

Lastly shotguns get beefed up like they did in BO3, and so in the right hands they can be pretty devastating. But the rate of fire for them is pretty poor, so if you fail to nail that one shot kill you're just sitting duck even in close range. 

"the pick 10 system is gone!"

I mentioned the Mountain division earlier, that's because the pick 10 system is gone! Instead you choose between five divisions that are designed around each of the weapon categories. You can level the divisions for additional perks, so for instance in the expeditionary division, if you equip a shotgun as your main weapon you can load incendiary shells into it. But only if you run shotgun as your main weapon, you don't get this ability if you main any other category of gun.

The perks you obtain as you level a division are the main rewards and do apply to any other weapon you equip as a main. For instance in the expeditionary division, as you rank up you can equip a tactical and lethal grenade at once, next rank you throw further and while sprinting and finally at the last rank you can resupply grenades off dead bodies. So the divisions are quite potent and choosing the right one for your playstyle is important. It is wise you evenly rank them up as depending on the game mode a division can help you succeed. It's also clever to mix a division with a different weapon category. Mountaineer division get stealth perks which are perfect for a rush class rather than a sniper.

Maxing out a division nets you a new weapon in it's respective weapon category and then prestiging a division rewards you with a basic training skill which are basically a perk. 
There are lots of basic training skills, over twenty. They're a mixed bag of useless, half useful and useful perks. I think they really could've chopped these down or allowed us to pick at least two at once, but only choosing one out of twenty just means only the crutch trainings get chosen. There's not a whole lot to sing about the basic training perks as most of them are perks from previous games.

I like the divisions, they're a good idea. Not wholly implemented well though as some of the skills are pointless. Like a bipod for an LMG. Reduced recoil and faster reload rate, what's so bad about that? Well you cannot move, they keep the damage profile and every map already has minigun emplacements which have a better damage profile, faster fire rate and also infinite ammo! 
I could go on nit picking all the strange design decisions in the multiplayer but then this article will go one for ages!

"War's maps are amazing!"

Now I want to be positive, and to be honest this is a big positive, so big I wish this mode had more maps and was the main part of the multiplayer experience and I'm talking about the War mode.

Those maps that I mentioned aren't good? Well War's maps are amazing! The maps are designed around attack and defend and the attackers are always positioned at a disadvantage, but it works!
So, to give you an idea of how the War mode works and how the maps flow let me tell you about Operation Neptune, a Omaha beach themed level. 

Allies start on the beaches and have to charge up to Axis lines and plant charges to get access to the cliffside. 
The Axis get to stay in the bunkers atop of the cliffs and using minigun emplacements they get to tear up the beach. 
To help the Allies there are NPC soldiers running around keeping Axis players preoccupied. 
Once the Allies breach the shoreline they can build ladders to scale the cliff and/or breach the lower bunker and gain access to a trench that leads up into the bunkers for additional flank routes. All the while the Axis players will be rebuilding any defenses and patrolling the trenches around the bunkers. 
All the allies have to do now is sit in the bunkers to capture them like a domination flag. If the allies accomplish this then the Axis are forced to retreat to bunkers further up the hill. 
In this stage of the battle the Axis have to defend radio equipment in a large bunker, and the allies have to breach the bunker and destroy the equipment. Sound simple but this bunker is easily defensible. However if the Allies destroy the radio equipment then the final phase of the mission is initiated.
Again the Axis have to retreat before the timer counts down and mortar fire commences. This last stand is at two flak cannons that the allied players must destroy by planting three bombs on each cannon and the Axis naturally have to prevent them. This last push is the hardest section of the map, once one cannon is destroyed a tank arrives to help the Axis troops and it becomes much more frantic.


The Axis players can win by halting the allies within the time limit and naturally the attacking side has the greater obstacles to overcome, but the imbalance in the maps is what makes this mode so interesting and makes the maps so playable. No more spider web pathways! These maps have such focus that they're design is just sublime and they're a real joy to play. There are only three maps currently, but I really do hope they put out more than one war map per map pack, because War is the saving grace of WW2's multiplayer. 
I wish more shooter games included modes like this, it sort of takes me back to playing counter-strike, having the attack and defend dynamic.
The worst thing to say about War mode is it's very frustrating when your team don't use tactical grenades like the smokes when it comes to completing objectives and grenade spam is very present and it takes a long time to rank up the Armoured division for it's flak jacket buff.

Now I do understand the hardship in designing maps that must be suitable for team deathmatch, domination, hardpoint, search and destroy and capture the flag is pretty immense and it's no wonder that they get it wrong from time to time. Ultimately, something has to give so that all those game types can function in that map space. Because the War maps only have to accommodate one game mode they get to be refined and well balanced, WW2 really shows the weakness of having multipurpose maps.

"I found the Final Reich mission was really newbie friendly"


Nazi zombies returns again, (I guess this is now the official co-op COD mode) and I was pretty surprised by it to be honest. Infinite Warfare's spin on the mode was enjoyable and was easier to get in to for newcomers (traditionally this mode is tough as nails) and WW2 follows suit. You can play a little prologue that explains the basics as each iteration has some tweaks to the formula but I found the Final Reich mission was really newbie friendly and unlike previous games where each "easter egg" was so vague and long winded to activate, you can actually do a fair few of the objectives in the Final Reich without reading an FAQ.

One thing that does really help is you get a lot more points from zombies this time around and the cost of weapons and stat bonuses isn't extortionate. You can also choose a class which affords some passive bonuses and an ability that you can charge up before activating which add to your arsenal and are a welcome addition.
If you like COD zombies you'll be happy here as there is plenty to get your teeth into and it never gets old watching your character remove a zombies head with a shovel.

"I don't get how people can say COD games don't look good!"

Finally the campaign, I was unsure what to expect going in. The European theatre has been done to death in games and movies so was unsure how engaging WW2's campaign would be but I've got to say I was really impressed. 
It looks gorgeous, that's the first thing that hit me. The character models, the environments and set pieces it's all wow, wow. I don't get how people can say COD games don't look good! They must have vaseline on their glasses or something, I mean it isn't going to have the fidelity of Battlefield but then COD runs at 60 FPS instead of 30.
And the sounds, the guns have a real grunt to them. They sound powerful, the noises really pop in your ears and the sounds of explosions all around is an audio treat. WW2 grabs your senses and throttles them, never letting go. 

It plays as good as it looks and sounds, too. The Nazi AI on the normal difficulty is engaging, the level design is very good and you never spend too long doing the same thing. There's some great pacing here and I like that you don't always shoot your way out of a situation. Nazi's can be forced to flee or even surrender! It just keeps things fresh and interesting and adds humility to the game. 
The campaign also sports a very interesting level called Liberation where the player infilitrates a Nazi garrison in Paris and you have to find your Nazi contact whose helping you bring down the garrison and liberate Paris. It's a really clever level and I won't go into too many details and spoil it for you. It's not quite as perfect as All Ghillied Up but it's certainly pushed the bar when it comes to interesting COD levels.


The story is nothing to write home about, you do get involved in some historical battles including The Battle of the Bulge which was a highlight for me. The characters are one dimensional and the dialogue is cheesy, it's like a 90's movie full of macho bravado. The story tries to go somewhere dark but ultimately COD knows it's not the platform for such things and nips things up very quickly. 

WW2 changes the health system that's been in use for so long now and brings back a health bar and health packs. Your life does not recharge at all! You do have a teammate that will give you a free health pack after you kill enough Nazis but I never found myself too often bereft of health packs. (You can hold up to four). But I have to admit I prefer the old recharging life bar, in a COD campaign it's an interactive movie and it seems odd to have to concern yourself with this one bit of resource management.
All your allies actually have abilities that charge as you fight, one can highlight enemies for a while, another will resupply your grenades. But I was generally only fussed with the health packs as ammo is plentiful regardless.

Expect the campaign to last around six to seven hours, add a few more if playing Veteran and you could easily hit around twenty hours if you're a trophy hunter or completionist as there's quite a few hidden collectibles. So hidden I maybe found two of a possible thirty three!


Overall, WW2 is a good package but your mileage will definetly vary depending on how well you get on with the multiplayer maps and if you like the War mode.
I personally will be bingeing on War mode, well at least until I start playing Battlefront 2 but don't let my Star Wars bias dissuade you. There is fun to be had here but those maps are definitely going to be crux of whether you'll keep this game or move on. Stick to War mode, you won't regret it.

Hope you enjoyed the review and if you did, then please give a +1 and follow the blog. Have a great week everybody!
   

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare: Bon voyage to space!

Hello everyone! It's almost November which means we're creeping ever closer to the release of the next COD installment; World War 2! But I'd like to talk about Infinite Warfare, a game that I personally really enjoyed.

The COD franchise is one that's close to my heart, in that it is one of the most enduring franchises out there, that receives an enormous amount of negative comments and feedback, despite it's solid sales and positive review scores. It's developers put a huge amount of time and energy into each title with a meticulous focus on the details. Each title is so ambitious and is constantly evolving to keep it's fans satisfied and engaged.

Call of Duty Ghosts is perhaps one of the weakest titles released, and not through the fault of the developer to be honest. It's a halfway point, trying to keep itself held back from pushing the series further into the future like Black Ops 2 had but also had to deal with being the first COD for the next gen consoles.
Despite being the weakest entry, it's still a great and fun game to play. Sure the campaign is practically ludicrous and plays out like a cheesy Steven Seagal action movie but it had it's moments.

Advanced Warfare took the plunge and went full on future warfare and was quite a divisive title, introducing exo-suits to the multiplayer really changed the tempo of the game and there were a lot of people not happy with this new direction, but I really liked it.
I got really stuck in to the multiplayer on Advanced Warfare and it was perhaps my most favourite multiplayer iteration since Modern Warfare 2 and then came Black Ops 3, that at first I really didn't gel with but several months later after it's release and it had a healthy dose of patching I got back in to it and really became addicted! I played Black Ops 3 exclusively for several months, I was that in to it.

However one place Black Ops 3 didn't do so well was the campaign, which for me is the single player refuge, or rather a starting point for any COD game that helps me understand the nuances of the controls and new weapons.
But Black Ops 3 campaign was designed for four player co-op, despite a robust zombies mode (the reigning COD co-op mode these days), and when you design a game for co-op it doesn't play well for single. Which is really at odds with it's story, which is a very interesting take on technology and how we integrate it into our lives. I won't dabble on about the story, other than say it's well worth your time but I've already written a lot without talking about the star of this blog: Infinite Warfare.

When I saw the release trailer, I wasn't particular impressed but I was interested in the jump to space travel and conquest. Over time I watched it again and finally I was starting to get excited. I really got hyped up for Infinite Warfare, I've always been a fan of space settings in media so this was sort of perfect for me.

The long and short of it is, that Infinite Warfare in my opinion is the magnum opus of COD campaigns and has set the bar for campaign experiences to come. (look out WW2!)
I love the characters, the settings, the context, the look and aethestics. Well, I just like everything! It's so well paced and flows really well. It doesn't feel too rushed and it's ending is so poignant. We're used to seeing main characters die off in COD games since MW1 but in Infinite Warfare we lose almost everyone. So many characters sacrifice themselves for the cause, they really push the emotional aspect of warfare and the sacrifices people make.
Quite humbling of all is the opportunity to listen to crew mate's final logs in the endgame credits and while each one is completely fictitious, I couldn't help but feel emotionally jerked. Being a soldier is a sacrifice and it made me think of the real soldiers out there, risking life and limb for us to sit at home and enjoy the things we have.

You probably think I'm doo-lally, getting so worked up by a videogame but I'm quite a heartfelt guy and this COD really did make me think to myself; how would I react. How would I feel if I had to lay down my life to save the lives of family and friends back home, could I make those sacrifices?

 Moving away from my feelings, the campaign is just superb in every way. It's visually striking and cohesive. In the opening mission we're tasked with investigating a blacksite on the moon Europa! What a thrill!
Sure, the campaign really does take some liberties in order to populate the solar system, but this isn't a lesson in space and physics so I'm happy to enjoy the lunacy of it.
The SDF make for fun foes, there isn't a whole lot of developement around them as an enemy other than the obvious portrayal that they are inherently cruel civilization. They're pretty much portrayed in the same way you'd expect to see Nazi's portrayed in a COD game, which is one dimensional but it's more than suitable for our needs. These guys are bad, start shooting.

IW introduces us to space warfare as well, and it's an absolute treat! The controls are precise and fluid, the combat is visceral and engaging. I'd watched the takeoff from ground to space in the trailer tens of times but nothing compares to experiencing it for yourself with you're headphones on, your big screen TV, controller rumbling in your hands! Then a momentary pause, gasp at the beauty of space and the gently suspended craft and then bang! The assault begins and it sort of reminds me of Lylat Wars (or Star Fox 64 for those of you across the pond). If you remember those levels that were "all range mode" it's kinda like a version of that.
The dog fights are really well implemented, once you're locked on the game takes over piloting so you can focus on your shots on the enemy craft. Then you can free fire onto one of the SDF destroyers to bring it down.

Where it absolutely blew me away was the moment the Olympus Mons gates out right beside the Retribution, just as we come away from one victory over the invading SDF then we have this huge craft absolutely blow the good guys to pieces! It was so cinematic, so jaw dropping, I must've mouthed some cursed word in astonishment.

The core gameplay, boots on the ground is very COD, and so it should. If it isn't broken don't fix it, that's what I say. They have added in boost jumping which allows you to flank enemies in more interesting ways. Whilst not as developed as BO3, IW does include abilities that you can equip, such as hacking enemy Robots, or calling in your own aerial drone to shoot down targets.

Lots of weapon variety, we have the usual staples handguns, SMGs etc, though they come in two flavors: ballistic or energy. Energy weapons tend to deal less damage, but instead of their rounds penetrating surfaces like the former, they instead ricochet off giving a chance for trick shots.
One thing I do like, is that some weapons are hybrid, so for instance there is a sniper rifle that you can with the holding of a button, convert it into assault rifle which is a great idea and shows that they're really taking advantage of their futuristic setting and I was happy to see the Hybrids included in the multiplayer.

Instead of going from continent to continent, suitably we're going from planet to planet (or moon) and they did a good job of making each planet feel unique visually and purposefully. One planet will be say, a fuel depot another mined for precious metals or the aforementioned inhospitable Europa, as a secret weapons base.

While the SDF don't get a lot of backstory, or any of it's generals including the "main" Villain have little character developement. The same cannot be said for the crew of Retribution. Over the course of the game we get to know some key characters very quickly. The story makes time to keep these characters constantly in our minds eye and reinforces the bond between all characters. For instance, seeing Omar and Eth3n bond grow as they become close friends is a treat and makes their sacrifices all the more emotionally impacting to the player, even though the process happens in a relatively short amount of time. Infinity Ward don't want you to see these as throwaway faces, they want you to bond with them. Building that connection really works to immerse you into the game. You have to throw away the notion "this is just another COD" viewing everyone as expendable and prepare yourself for some involvement in the story emotionally, because it's then you will experience the campaign to it's fullest.

Now I couldn't talk about IW or any COD for that matter without mentioning the multiplayer. In fact, some people don't even bother with the campaign they just go straight into the online mode. It's the place most players will spend the majority of their time. (Here or Zombies, and I'm not a lover of that mode myself).

IW got a lot of flack for it's choice to move the series deeper into the future, and it was clear that advanced movement would stay. IW doesn't further alter the recipe set out by BO3. Wall running is toned down here, much to my chagrin! My favorite tactic in BO3 was to chain wall jumps for extra height and therefore advantage over my foes! I found most of the wall surfaces in IW are broken off or just placed in a way that makes you feel far too exposed to make it worth your while, but bunny hopping became the absolute bane of every player! Especially as high tier players clued in to the Synaptic Rig's exploit.

That's something I should talk about also, the Rigs. BO3 had Heroes, which I personally thought was a great idea so was pleased to see the Rigs. There aren't as many Rigs as Heroes, but each one has one payload and two abilities to choose from as well as three Rig traits you can equip one of, that serve as an additional perk, so each Rig is ready for tailoring to your playstyle.

But the aforementioned Synaptic exploit really did some harm to the game. In fact IW was very unfriendly to low tier or new players. Having no skill based matchmaking meant that in any game a group of average players having a good time against another average team of players, could potentially have the rug pulled out from under them if a top tier player joined the enemy team and absolutely decimated them by using all the clutch skills. I consider myself a mid-tier player at best, and it's really grinding to be top of your team with a mediocre score of 12 kills and 8 deaths, and everyone else on your team has 4 kills and 14 deaths. And why? Oh look on the enemy team only one player was positive and he has 40 kills and 5 deaths... It happens so often it's mind boggling, like the game actually wants to sift at least one highly skilled player into any match.

There's no disputing it, IW had a much higher learning curve that previous COD games. You really had to be playing consistently to be on top of it all. There are so many customization options further bolstered by the weapon variants that it makes it quite difficult to gauge what capabilities an enemy has based off their Rig use alone. In BO3 if you saw Battery you know she could have Kinetic armor or her grenade launcher. But if you see a Phantom Rig you have to wonder if it's using it's payload, it's camo or wall hack sight. Then when you attack, does he have the rearguard on? Can he hear me creeping up on him because he's prone? If he shoots me will my health regeneration be delayed? The thought processes for each encounter are really ramped up and it's going to be overwhelming when any two same Rigs can have such polarizing abilities, and I haven't even mentioned weapon variants.

I was going to talk about the Synaptic exploit but I've gone off on several tangents, so! The Synaptic rig has a trait that allows it to begin it's boost regeneration quicker than standard. In IW this window is smaller than it was in BO3 which is one of the reasons jumping about is more common this time around. But see, with this trait on the Synaptic rig it means that a fully depleted boost meter would start regenerating before the player even hits the ground and with precise timing skilled players were able to chain their jumps and were almost seamlessly able to bunny hop around the map.

Jumping around in this manner would on the surface of it, look like a bad idea. You're very exposed for one thing, but the Synaptic rig visually looks very slender despite having the same hit box as all the other rigs. Many players claimed this gave them a sort of placebo effect, where they only shot if their cross hairs were direct on the rig's frame so felt it was "harder to hit", but I personally don't feel this way. In all the hours upon hours of multiplayer I've played I never felt like I struggled shooting at a Synaptic Rig player, but the bunny hopping was annoying, trying to shoot a player that's bouncing around the map is tiresome and requires some extremely good reflexes, and by this point everyone and their mother has a Scuff controller which only broadens the skill gap for lower and higher tier players.

One thing I really didn't enjoy about IW multiplayer was the maps, coming straight off of BO3's which has had the best maps I've seen since MW2, IW uses the tried and tested 3 lanes but they clog up the sight lines with so much debris and obstacles. BO3's maps felt incredibly well crafted and were designed to encourage player traffic very deliberately and even to encourage play styles in very deliberate places. IW's maps just feel a bit wayward, almost a bit claustrophobic. It's reflected in the playstyles I find, most players use assault rifles or SMG's which are perfect for mid size maps. I think this is also the first COD I've played in a long time where quick scoping wasn't commonplace, which I'm thankful for but the maps don't really lend themselves to long range fighting with a few exceptions so it also wards off people like myself from trying their hand at sniping, which I haven't done in a COD game since MW2!

I don't think IW is the worst multiplayer we've had, to even say worst multiplayer doesn't mean a huge lot. No one game is significantly better or worse than the other and nothing is more relative in a COD game than the multiplayer itself.

IW introduced some good things, I think weapon variants was a good idea, despite a lot of people voicing their displeasure, especially as a lot of the variants are tied into the loot crate system which in and of itself is considered the root of all evil in the world. But that's another discussion to have and I don't wanna get bogged down on the loot crate system here. Yes, weapon variants, great idea and really well implemented. You can grind for them but it is incredibly time consuming to do so to be honest. It's a time equals reward scenario or obviously pay to obtain if you feel so inclined.
Variant weapons do have a slight negative effect as some variants act completely different to their standard versions and it has upset the weapon balancing. IW have been very quick to patch such things however so I do give them credit there.
I like that the new weapons were given to all players freely, at least in their default variant, though if you're not a season pass holder you will have to perform some minor challenge to obtain them but it's a good idea that helps stop people feeling left out.

I think it's a shame that Infinite Warfare got such a hard time, I mean it's release trailer was boycotted on masse and is one of the most disliked videos on youtube. It's such a shame and a slap in the face of every single employee of Infinity Ward who all put a lot of hard work in to this game and I think it shows in every facet of this game.

So to Infinity Ward I salute you on a job well done! And look forward to seeing what you bring us in the next few years.

I hope you've all enjoyed reading this article, if you have please +1, follow and leave a comment. Have good weekend everyone!