The first session of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta is nearly over after five days of multiplayer action. The beta saw high player numbers on Steam and elsewhere, despite mainly being available to players who pre-ordered the game. Those eager players have had a lot of thoughts to share about their time with Modern Warfare 4 since. And, as you might have expected given all the pre-beta discourse, gameplay movement has been the main topic discussed, as the faster pace has divided players.
“Just a reminder – the COD YouTubers and streamers literally begged for this movement,” reads the title of a popular post on the Modern Warfare 4 subreddit. “I’ve been in and out of the COD YouTube space for some time now, and one thing that’s been abundantly clear to me is that nearly every single one wants this cracked movement. There comes a point where you can’t even blame [Infinity Ward] for making this movement, because all of the content creators giving them feedback have literally been begging COD every single game to crank movement to the maximum and make everything as fast as humanly possible.”
Reddit user KARMAAACS agreed, saying: “I think people wanted faster movement, but not this fast. It’s all relative. We don’t want [Modern Warfare 2]’s slow movement, but we also don’t want what is basically instantly mantling and everyone sliding around like in [Modern Warfare 4].”
Many players agree that two features in particular exacerbate their frustration with the game’s movement. The biggest offender is the slide, which has existed in Call of Duty for years but seems to have been given more power this year. Slides in Modern Warfare 4 retain player momentum and allow players to further carry that while exiting the slide.
This results in players entering gunfights with a slide and using that speed to chain into other slides during the same gunfight. And there are no limits to how many times this can be done, which encourages players to slide-spam. Making matters worse, slides can be cancelled by skilled players, which makes them especially harder to track in gunfights. A skilled player can cancel a slide to disrupt their opponent’s aim by quickly changing direction, or prematurely ending a slide with a jump to further confuse others.
Jumping is the other culprit, particularly as it appears to come with no – or any obvious – drawback. Players maintain their accuracy during a jump and can likewise jump as often as they want.
“Call of Duty is at a crossroads and unfortunately has backed itself into a corner,” argued SimpleGuy4141. “Slide cancelling, [for] all intents and purposes, is similar to wall bouncing in [Gears of War]. It was never an intended mechanic, just a byproduct of the movement system and player ingenuity.”
“I guess this is just COD now,” lamented Reddit user jorgejjvr.
If you’ve been following the discourse around Call of Duty in recent years, those comments won’t be surprising. As player movement became more fluid and advanced, the game’s pace has increased to a point that many older fans simply do not enjoy it any longer.
Black Ops 7‘s experiment with a Classic mode, which removed advanced movement, limited sprint and only allowed Black Ops 2-era equipment to be used, was a massive hit with players. Indeed, the success of the barebones PS4 and PS5 ports of Black Ops 1 and 2 weeks later proved there’s an appetite for COD multiplayer that feels close to the classics.
Time to Kill (TTK) is a similarly controversial topic. The TTK, measured in milliseconds, is the result of several interlocking factors such as weapon damage and networking code (netcode). Modern Warfare 4, as is typical for an Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty, has a short TTK.
Some have argued that short TTK along with fast movement is a bad combo. “Fast pace only works if you actually have time to react,” explained user naerro7. “A mid-range strafe fight needs two things: being able to move sideways and enough time to live in the gunfight. [Modern Warfare 4] removed both.”
The studio seemingly agrees weapons are too lethal in the beta, however, as we’ve already seen a few balance passes to reduce the damage of several weapons. According to calculations by YouTuber Xclusive Ace, beta patches have moved TTK closer to Black Ops 7’s, which is a big increase, making it possible to survive longer in gunfights.
The beta’s selection of maps is another element that left players worried about the variety of the launch package. The core argument is that all current beta maps provide one type of combat experience and pace, with chaotic spawns, predictable sightlines and compact sizes, despite changing locales.
Players have increasingly been referring to the beta’s maps as “brainrot”, a derogatory term about the mindless nature of the action. On the beta’s second day, the developer added a dedicated playlist featuring the smallest map in the beta: Transit 213, which many say is Shipment’s older sibling. Shipment, of course, being among the smallest maps in the franchise.
“The fact that it’s the beta and we’re already on a 24/7 small map playlist says enough about where this COD is going,” Reddit user ExpertConfusion6985 said, a sentiment many in that thread and elsewhere share.
Things could look a little different in the beta’s second weekend, which will be open to all players 28th August – 1st September and therefore include more casual players who aren’t as finely tuned to the game’s mechanics and meta. More casual players also means more variety in opponents, making for potentially fewer instances of so called “cracked movement” in public matches.
Modern Warfare 4 launches 23rd October on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2. The full game includes 12 6v6 multiplayer maps, as opposed to the four in the beta.
