Call of Duty Warzone, after bugs and glitches of Season 1 we look to Season 2
Call of Duty Warzone
Call of Duty Warzone is preparing to blow out its first candle. In fact, in March, Activision’s battle royale will celebrate an important anniversary, the first of many considering the long-term support that the US company has already made clear it wants to deploy. Launched practically at the beginning of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, coinciding with the tightening of confinement measures worldwide, Warzone has literally exploded, attracting around 30 million players in just two weeks and reaching dizzying heights at the end of 2020. surpassing 85 million players. Together with Animal Crossing it became one of the iconic games of the lockdown, it has continued to grind success despite the recurring technical problems, balancing and an exhausting fight against the cheaters that abound in the lobbies. To date, Warzone is still one of the most popular multiplayer shooters and is not about to give way.Warzone Season 1 between bugs, glitches and cheaters
Season 1 will end in a few days, the great free update that involved every mode of Black Ops Cold War, including indeed also Warzone. An integration that is anything but simple considering the particular historical period that has called into question the classic forms of face-to-face work. A lot of resources have been spent to build what is in effect a bridge that connects Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare and Treyarch's Cold War, and which one day will also connect the mysterious CoD 2021. The arrival of over 30 new weapons from Cold War, however, has shaken the already very delicate balance achieved over time by the arsenal made available by Modern Warfare. A flurry of criticism from players arose because of the DMR 14, a semi-automatic tactical rifle practically effective at any range, with minimal recoil and excellent rate of fire that monopolized the meta until it was downsized.In short, every new season has put one weapon in the spotlight over another, whether it was the Grau, the Bruen or the Origin, there have always been moments dominated by a gunshot compared to another, but such a total integration between two very different CoDs required much more than a simple nerf in favor of a balancing that also involved the MAC-10 submachine gun and the Diamatti pistols with akimbo specialties. The balance problems lasted until the first weeks of January and paradoxically ended up restricting the wide selection of weapons that the arrival of Cold War should have brought to a few choices. The worst effects, however, have been suffered by the rhythm of the clashes, with engagements so rapid that the conduct of the games is anything but fun given the loss of that aura of tension that accompanies every large-scale battle royale.
Fast and deadly battles are on the agenda in Rebirth Island, the real new map added to the game. The island, where secret Soviet bioweapons structures teem, presents itself as a much smaller battlefield than Verdansk hosting only a maximum of 40 players per game and a new re-entry mechanic. No gulag, but a timed return while one of the teammates is still standing. Of all that the season has brought to Warzone, it was one of the best additions, especially for those who appreciate close-quarters combat and love the frenzy of tight-space gunfights typical of the series.
Not even Rebirth Island though she was immune to problems. Warzone players have been victims of a staggering variety of different bugs: from malfunctioning weapons that prevent you from seeing the target if you attach long range optics, to gear drops that completely block the game once recovered, through to the infamous "stimulant glitch" that has reappeared in the game for the fifth time and the invisibility bug that forced the developers to temporarily remove the helicopters. If we add to these unpleasant events the cheaters that shoot hidden in the walls, that have an unobstructed view with the wallhacks or an enviable aim assist that keeps the reticle fixed on the opponent, playing Warzone in recent months has not always been pleasant despite the commitment to improve the situation.
Season 2: what we would like
In the last few days the first trailer for the new season has been released that will involve Call of Duty and we could not help but write black on white our wishes after reflecting on the progress of season 1. The main battle royale games on the market offer, or have offered, several maps to battle on. Fortnite with the launch of Chapter 2 has introduced a new island with 13 different locations. In Apex Legends either new maps are added, or one of the current maps receives a considerable update, then for each season, there is the rotation of the maps in the game to vary the battles a little. Although Rebirth Island was added to Warzone in December, this map is very small and has not been designed to replace the gameplay dynamics that the large Verdansk area allows.Easter egg, teaser and speculation do everyone thinks that with the next season at the start, it will be Verdansk who will undergo the greatest changes. Warzone season 1 ends on February 24 and there is already a lot of movement that has made fans curious. Strange terminals taken from Black Ops Cold War's Zombies mode have been spotted in the Stadium and the hospital and are presented with a message that should "activate the zombies". Although nothing happens, this message has set in motion the fantasies of fans who have wondered if finally the nuclear warheads that were supposed to raze Verdansk to introduce season 1 will play a key role in the next season. What better time to destroy everything than a zombie emergency? There is still no confirmation from Treyarch, Raven Software and Activision, but it would not be a completely out of context idea considering the importance that zombies have always played for the Black Ops series. The time has really come for Warzone to radically change and more in line with what is shown in the trailer for the new season is the scenery of the Ural Mountains already seen in Dirty Bomb mode.
And if it really isn't yet time for a new map entirely revised from scratch, Verdansk will have to change its face further than what it has done in the past if it really wants to continue to keep a large number of players. There are many maps published over the years that could be integrated into the game to give new loot and engagement points. Apart from the vital and necessary changes to the goal, an extra effort must be made to rescue the players from the inevitable boredom. Recently even strange lightning bolts appeared in the sky and it would not be bad if to make things more interesting a dynamic weather system was also active or more events were introduced over the months, after all we are approaching the first anniversary and it could be the opportunity to celebrate in style.
After the first integration with the most recent CoDs, we expect future updates to proceed with fewer problems in terms of bugs and glitches. Since communications moved almost solely to Raven Software there has been less confusion and a clear attempt to be more transparent. Glitches and bugs can always happen, but what's important is the timing with which problems are resolved. The other commitment we expect from developers is in the fight against cheaters, a real plague of online multiplayer games. Warzone is a very popular game and as such attracts a very annoying number of unfair people. More than 300,000 permanent bans have been made worldwide since launch, but permanent bans only slow things down; when it's all too easy to create a new account to throw yourself back into the fray, cheaters don't think twice about getting back on the pitch to ruin everyone's experience.
Strengthening the anti-cheat system is the first step that the developers have taken into consideration, especially if there is the intention, as evidenced by the statements of Johanna Faries, to push Warzone also towards the competitive side by including it in the Call of Duty League - however competitive they can be considered the battle royale that they also rely heavily on chance and luck. But even if you just wanted to implement a game mode classified as competition, far greater efforts are required than legal battles against cheat providers or sweeping exclusions of unfair people. Apex Legends and Fortnite use Easy anti-cheat, Valorant has their own Vanguard anti-cheat, and for the sake of their franchise Call of Duty is also investing in improvements to the internal anti-cheat software and additional detection technology.
