Modern Warfare II (MWII) was released about four weeks ago, but it feels like it’s a whole new release with Warzone 2.0. On November 16, the world was treated to a new battle royal. The first version of Call of Duty: Warzone released on March 10, 2020. Warzone’s almost three years old; it lacked innovation. Two Call of Duty titles released in between both Warzone’s, Black Ops: Cold War and Vanguard. Warzone came out swinging, and from the looks of it, there’s not many misses.

Warzone 2.0 is using the same in-game engine as MWII, which makes the game fluid. The movement is noticeably slower this time around compared to its predecessor. The game makes up for that with new movement tactics employed. Players can now mantle on top of high ledges, slide, and dive whilst sprinting, jump off of vertical zip lines, and climb onto moving vehicles from the inside of them just to name a bit.

As well as a new movement, Warzone 2.0 revamped its entire looting scheme. A prime example is the new loadout system. Before, your squad could just run into a bunch of buildings, open up chests and extract money to quickly attain your custom guns, equipment, and perks. Now, there are only three ways for you to attain your valuable resources. The first is through the buy stations.

Unlike the last installment, you can not purchase a loadout drop for your team. Instead, the game allows you to purchase single weapons at a hefty $5,000. With cash being as scarce as it is in the game, this makes you reconsider buying your guns, as UAVs, Mortar Strikes, and Precision Airstrikes are all available to purchase too and are around the same price, so the game makes you cautious with how you spend your money. 

The other two methods involve some sort of luck. You can either conquer an enemy stronghold or pick your loadout up from a randomly dropping box. There are 3 different, varying strongholds in each game. The location will have enemies defending the site, with you having to defuse a bomb. After you defuse the bomb or have it blow up, your team will be able to secure that loadout. The other option is waiting for the game to drop loadout boxes inside of the zone.

Looting is completely different too. In this game, you can choose not only what you carry. Before, you could only carry 1 or 2 of each equipment type, but now you have a backpack. With the backpack, you could still have a well-rounded set, or carry  items in any assortment 

The main drawback I see is the map. While the map is massive and beautiful, it’s too big. Assets of older multiplayer maps had to be reused. Oftentimes, it feels like your character is doing cardio. Because of the huge map too, there are minutes when you have no action. 

Overall, Warzone 2.0 has been a breath of fresh air. While the premise of the game stays the same, the last man standing wins, and the second version of the battle royale has revamped its whole game. If you haven’t given it a try, the game will be a great breath of fresh air.