Movement is also expanding in a big way. Players will be able to climb, hang, and shimmy on edges and pipes in Modern Warfare 4. The devs showed someone hopping onto the back of a large parked truck, hanging off the side of it and firing their pistol over the top, and then shimmying around the corner of the trailer and hopping off backward. These moves, coupled with new slide and mantle options, make it look like getting around maps in MW4 will be a slick and satisfying experience. Will it make it hard to actually hit targets as people exploit these new moves? My gut tells me yes.
It also seems like Infinity Ward has been inspired by the recent influx of bodycam shooters, as Modern Warfare 4 zooms out the FOV and renders the gun differently to provide a more “realistic” experience. The end result looks similar, though not quite the same, as a lot of bodycam shooters on Steam. Add in new animations for when you get close to a wall or corner, and the end result does indeed look much more like I’m watching a real person run around a map with a gun. Will that make multiplayer more exciting or change things up in a big way? Not sure, but at the very least, I think Modern Warfare 4 will have some of the most accurate and realistic gun combat I’ve seen in a game.
Lastly, Infinity Ward showed off the game’s third mode: DMZ. Yes, Call of Duty is trying to do an extraction shooter mode again. What was shown at the event looked interesting, like something that might be a bit more grounded and challenging than Arc Raiders, but not quite as intense and sweaty as Marathon. But…there’s a bunch of weird embargo restrictions on what I can and can’t say about DMZ until it’s revealed completely at a later date. So instead, I’ll just move on and talk about it when I can do so freely and without looking at a list of rules.
Modern Warfare 4 doesn’t quite feel like the next chapter of Call of Duty. Instead, it feels like Infinity Ward taking what has worked in recent entries and tweaking bits and bobs to create something grittier, realer, and more grounded than what’s been seen in some past titles. It very likely might work, but I’ll need to see more and get my hands on the game in October to find out. And remember, MW4 won’t be on Game Pass at launch.