In 2007,Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfarechanged the online gaming landscape forever. Introducing features like custom loadouts and killstreaks, the originalModern Warfare, along with games of the time likeHalo 3, helped to popularize the online gaming industry, and those features have become staples across the online first-person shooter genre. Since then,15 other mainlineCall of Dutygameshave released, with each trying to bring something new to the table, and tweak the formula in its own unique way.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2certainly tweaks the formula, but it’s made some controversial choices along the way.
Along with changing the minimap, the removal of certain perks, anda controversial UI,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2has changed the way weapon progression works quite significantly. While some previousCall of Dutyentries have tweaked the weapon system a little, they all tend to keep the overall structure of linear progression.Modern Warfare 2has changed that, and fans aren’t all happy with the new, overly complicated system.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Weapon Unlocks are Tiresome
InpreviousCall of Dutyentries, players would unlock a weapon by reaching a certain rank. Once that weapon is unlocked, players could then equip it, and by continuing to use it across matches, players would start to unlock a variety of attachments for that weapon, all along a linear, pre-destined path. While this simple system did the job for some time,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2doesn’t quite stick to this rigid tradition.
Instead,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2introduces the concept of a weapon “Platform.” Some ofModern Warfare 2’s weapons share a common Platform, such asthe M4 assault rifle shares the same Platform as the M16 and the FTAC Recon. Each Platform has its own progression tree. To unlock the next weapon on that tree, players will need to first level up the starting weapon in that Platform to a specific rank. Along the way, players will unlock a range of different attachments, which can then be used on all weapons in that same Platform. For instance, a grip initially unlocked for the M4 can then be used on the FTAC Recon once that weapon is unlocked and leveled up.
While this new weapon progression system isn’t all that complicated on paper, it starts to get a little more convoluted when other weapon Platforms are brought into the mix. The majority ofModern Warfare 2’s weaponsshare quite a few attachments, regardless of Platform. For example, most of the primary weapons in the game can all use the same selection of underbarrel attachments. This means that, to unlock all of the underbarrel attachments for just one weapon inModern Warfare 2, players will need to level up every single weapon in the game. When some of these weapons are also locked behind others in a Platform, it all gets a bit needlessly complicated.
For more casual players, this new weapon progression system is just a bit too demanding, requiring a lot of grinding and pre-planning to unlock the game’s best attachments. While this new system does add a lot of replayability toCall of Duty:Modern Warfare 2, especially for the hardcore completionists, it’s still just a bit too convoluted, and newcomers are likely going to be turned off quite quickly once they realize the amount of work they need to put in to even stand a chance in higher-level lobbies.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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