Call of Duty Modern Warfare's Multiplayer: Every Little Detail We Learned From the Demo

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a return to form in ways beyond just the name — Twinfinite recently learned this after playing the multiplayer for over four hours.

Modern Warfare: Design Details

Progression is unified — progression earned in one mode of gameplay will transfer between additional modes. We didn’t see anything other than multiplayer but developers told us that whatever happens in multiplayer can transfer to other modes in the game and vice versa
Developers call their new take on gameplay “Down the Barrel.” They highlighted this by explaining how the physics of shooting a gun now work, which we saw in action when we went hands-on. All guns have variable recoil effects per usual but now, the recoil of the gun is transferred to you, the shooter, and as a result, your head (in-game) gets knocked back to demonstrate that transfer of concussive power from each gunshot.
Small maps in the game used for the 2v2 Gunfight mode are called Flash Maps.
Medium-sized maps used for 6v6 game modes are called Tactical Maps.
Large player count maps are called Battle Maps. Battle Maps will be used for game modes like Ground War, which is an “epic large-scale mode supporting more than 100 players.”
While symmetrical three-lane maps are present in Modern Warfare, they’re almost exclusive to the 2v2 Gunfight mode. This is because map design has shifted focus to freestanding buildings positioned around the map to create power play areas.

When designing non-Flash Maps, developers attempted to recreate the feel of maps from games like Doom where each map has key areas that players attempt to take control of in an effort to gain the upper hand. Instead of running down one of three lanes in a more symmetrical three-land map, you might focus your aim on the two-story building on the right side of the map because it gives you great cross-sectional sight lines across the rest of the map, for example.
There is no mini-map in the game. Instead, there is a compass at the top that shows red triangle-like shapes to indicate to you where players who are shooting are located.
Because there is no mini-map, one of the first kill streaks you unlock is the personal UAV which essentially gives you the mini map you’ll be missing.
Doors on buildings can be opened.
Doors that can be opened on maps can be opened by pressing Square or X (on Xbox One). They can be slammed open by sprinting through them or sliding into them.
Doors can be breached but you don’t have to press a button or sit through a canned animation to do so. Instead, you can simply throw your C4 onto the door and detonate it. This will create the breach effect used in previous iterations in the series.

When doors open, they have a unique tell to let players inside or outside know that a door has been opened.
Bullet caliber determines how well a bullet penetrates an object. The weaker the type of bullet, the less likely it is to successfully penetrate through an object. A stronger bullet like a .50 Cal will go through most materials like butter compared to a weaker-caliber bullet.
All weapons can be mounted onto any form of cover by pressing R3 or RS (on Xbox One).
If you mount a weapon on a horizontal form of cover, you can use the weapon like you would a turret — effortless left-to-right motion with heavily reduced recoil.
If you mount a weapon on a vertical form of cover, like a stack of boxes, you’ll lean into the object reducing how much of your hit box is open while granting your weapon reduced recoil.
Killstreaks have been brought back to make each life more meaningful in-game, according to the developers.

Your characters wristwatch shows the time of your console or PC.
Your character hand, arm and wristwatch is determined by the operator you choose.
Operators are not specialists — they are cosmetically-different characters.
You can customize your operator to have things like a gillie suit.
There are 30 to 60 attachments for every weapon in the game. The assault rifles have up to 60 attachments while smaller weapons like pistols might only have 30.
Active Idle is a feature built into the game that affects the way your character and gun idles. While idle, your characters arms and hands might shift, move and twitch as they would in real life. The gun will sway in the same way too.

Some optical attachments have what the developers called optical aberrations — it’s basically minimal magnification that shows while not aiming down sights. When you’re not aimed down sight, you will still be able to see that your scope has some magnification.
The faster you move, the farther away your gun gets from your eyes. The farther your gun is from your eyes, the longer it takes to aim down sights afterwards.
The gun will show bullet effects like smoke and gas leaving the chamber.
Bullets react differently based on what they hit. A bullet that hits metal will sound differently than a bullet that hits wood.
You can hear the hammer of the weapon drop before disconnecting. This is part of the game’s reimagined sound design for the series that serves to make the game more realistic, according to the developers.
On that same note, bullet shells drop from the chamber and you can hear it. Depending on the surface the bullet shell lands on, it might bounce and you’d hear that too.

There were over 90 channels of audio used for the game with 20 of those channels going to the player character sounds.
When hip firing, the gun will sound different to how it does when you aim down sights. When you aim down sights, the gun will sound closer to your face (because, well, it is).
Each gunshot packs its own unique sound based on where the bullet goes. For example, a bullet shot inside a cave will be significantly louder than a bullet shot in the open.
While no official details were given, the game director said there will be very high player counts but that we wouldn’t hear about that until a later date. Considering we played a round of domination with 18 players on our side, we imagine there’s a game mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with even more players on each side.
The game relies on a new engine to deliver what developers call an immersive and photo-realistic experience. This engine uses technology to allow photogrammetry, a new hybrid tile-based streaming system, world volumetric lighting, 4K HDR, DirectX Raytracing (on PC) and more.
The game will launch as Dolby Atmos capable for all supporting systems.
The game will feature Crossplay across PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Modern Warfare: Gameplay Details

There are ATVs in some maps that can be driven by you with a teammate on back — they use R2/RT to accelerate so they control differently than the ones in Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode which rely only on the sticks to be driven.
There are multiple buildings in each map with multiple stories that can be accessed in a number of ways. Sometimes getting to the second floor is as simple as climbing the stairs and other times, there are no stairs. In that instance, you might have to climb on a box, hop onto the roof and go through a window.
Operators are not specialists but they are cosmetically-customizable characters that you play as in multiplayer. There are Coalition operators and Allegiance operators.
There is the default operator, Spetsnaz operators, Jackal operators and Chimera operators. Within each of these sections are a number of operators to choose from.
Each operator has their own execution that can be performed by meleeing an enemy from behind. While executions might vary in look from operator to operator, they all act the same way.
You can fully reload your gun as you normally would or you can tactically reload. A tactical reload replaces your magazine with a fresh one and stores the old one that might have a few bullets left back on your person.

While tactical reloads aren’t new for the game, ADS reloads are. For the first time in a Call of Duty game, you can reload your weapon while aiming down sights, allowing you to keep your target in your sights while reloading your gun.
There is a new type of sprint in the game called the Super Sprint. By pressing the sprint button twice, your character will quickly boost forward. Your gun is lifted up meaning it takes even longer to go ADS after a Super Sprint.
Unlike regular sprinting, you cannot Super Sprint forever — it only lasts a few seconds.
There are three sets of perks in the game.
Perk 1 perks (in parentheses, we’ll explain the perks new to Call of Duty): Double Time (triple Super Sprint length and refresh Super Sprint on kills), E.O.D., Scavenger, Tracker and Tune Up (increases your field equipment recharge rate by 50%)
Perk 2 perks: Ghost, Hardline, Kill Chain (allows kills earned by kill streaks to go toward continuing your kill streak), Overkill and Restock

Perk 3 perks: Amped, Battle Hardened, Cold-Blooded, High Alert (your field of view vision pulses when an enemy outside your field of view spots you), Shrapnel (additional lethal equipment) and Spotter.
The lethal equipment in the game are as follows: Frag Grenade, Semtex, Molotov cocktail, Claymore, Throwing Knife, C4, Thermite and Proximity Mine. While these are the order they’re shown in the lethal equipment menu, we were told this order or progression was not final as the game is still in development.
The tactical equipment in the game are as follows: Flash Grenade, Smoke Grenade, Stun Grenade, Stim, Decoy Grenade, Gas Grenade, Snapshot Grenade (gives you enemy tells within the radius of the grenade) and Heartbeat Sensor. While these are the order they’re shown in the lethal equipment menu, we were told this order or progression was not final as the game is still in development.
Larger weapons like the assault rifles can have up to five attachments equipped by default. Those attachments are broken up into the following sections: Muzzle, Lasers, Optic, Stock, Barrel, Perk, Underbarrel, Magazine, Rear Grip
Smaller weapons like pistols have the same sections of attachments but are missing the ones that wouldn’t make sense such as Stock.
Each of these sections of attachments contain attachments that vary both in look (which allows your gun to take on its own unique look custom to you) and feel. That feel is determined by the pros (noted in green) and cons (noted in red) listed alongside that attachment’s stats.

Weapons can have a perk attachment independent of your three perks. This is where you’ll find perks like Sleight of Hand and Fast Melee.
Weapon attachments are changed via loadouts created in the game’s Gunsmith menu.
Killstreaks are back in the game and replace Scorestreaks. The kill streaks are as follows with the number of kills needed in parentheses following each one: Personal Radar (3), Counter UAV (4), UAV (4), Care Package (4), Cluster Strike (5), Cruise Missile (5), Precision Airstrike (5), Wheelson (7), Infantry Assault Vehicle (7), Emergency Airdrop (8), Vtol Jet (8), Chopper Gunner (10), White Phosphorus (10), Support Help (11), Gunship (12), Advanced UAV (12), Juggernaut (15).
We played Team Deathmatch, Cyber Attack, Gunfight, Headquarters and Domination. Headquarters, Domination and Team Deathmatch are exactly what they’ve always been. Gunfight is the 2v2 mode you can check out here and Cyber Attack is basically Search and Destroy — 6v6 with an objective to either detonate or defuse a bomb to win the round, although eliminating all enemies will win you the round as well.
There is a new game variant called Realism. In this game variant, there is no HUD or UI, healing is gone and there are no hit or kill markers. We were told by developers it’s intended to be the most immersive Call of Duty mode in the franchise.
The Barracks are back. This is where you can create and customize your Clan Tag, Calling Cards and Emblems.

Executions are new kill animations unique to each operator and triggered by meleeing an enemy from behind.
Field Equipment includes items like an ammo crate that can be thrown down by pressing R1+L1/RB+LB. Others include a trophy system, a deployable cover, a controllable drone, bullets with increased damage and more.
At some point in Call of Duty Modern Warfare’s progression, you can unlock Field Equipment Pro which allows you to equip an additional Field Equipment.
On some maps, it will be nighttime or there will be section of a map with something dark like a cave on it. By pressing down on the d-pad, you will put on Night Vision goggles. This allows you to see in the dark and a gun laser will be shown to determine where you’re aiming.
With Night Vision goggles on, you won’t be able to aim down sight but you also won’t be confined to just hip firing. Instead, with the goggles on, your gun will have a laser equipped that shows where you’re aiming. When you fire, the gun sits somewhere between ADS and hip fire — it’s odd and it took us a while to get used to it but developers told us it’s realistic.
You can equip different types of lasers to your gun that react differently in the dark. Some lasers can’t be seen by the enemy. Others always show. Some lasers only show when you aim in on the weapon.

That’s it for every little detail we learned from Call of Duty Modern Warfare multiplayer.

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About the author

Wesley LeBlanc

Wesley LeBlanc is a graduate of the University of North Florida with a Bachelor's Degree in Multimedia Journalism. He has a passion for entertainment and the industry surrounding it. He's either playing video games or writing about them. When he isn't doing that, he's reading about them. Get a life, right?