C.O.D: Warzone Ploy

Warzone  is a section of  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare  that consists of two semi-open-world modes — Battle Royale and Plunder — that are available for free, with or without the main title. Battle Royale Call of Duty’s new take on the rapidly successful battle royale genre isn’t all that different to something like  PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds . It’s a some-verus-many scenario, but it’s ever so slightly less realistic. Players can be brought back from the dead, and you can buy ammo and other perks from buy boxes scattered across the land, taking popular elements from  Fortnite  and  Apex  Legends . Fifty squads of three players drop into a massive map stitched together with some classic  Call of Duty  locales. Once you and your squad mark a position on the map, it’s time to vault out of the plane and do your best to parachute down and land somewhere safe. You load up on equipment littered on the floor and get to hun...

This one might sound glaringly obvious, but it’s something that needs to be said. Familiarizing yourself with the weapons you’ll find in  Warzone  is one of the most important aspects of the whole damn operation. Not knowing your FN Scar 17 from your FAL can easily cost you a fight — and one fight is all that separates you from getting booted back to the main menu. There is an insane number of guns in  Modern Warfare , and they’re all in  Warzone , too. Find which weapon best suits your style and learn how each handles and operates. Getting the drop on another player is no good if you pull the trigger expecting a barrage of bullets only to take one potshot and get blasted down. Don’t go thinking a semi-auto assault rifle is a full-auto, or that a bolt-action sniper is a semi. Trust us, it doesn’t feel good to lose a fight because you didn’t understand your weapon. You can absolutely pick this all up as you go. After all, it’s a matter of learning from your ow...

You might think that by  Warzone  being new, everyone starts off on the same foot. You’re wrong. Both  Warzone  modes allow players to bring their typical multiplayer loadouts from the base game into the fray. In Battle Royale, you can pick one of these up by coming across a loadout box, while in Plunder, you start with your preferred loadout each and every time you drop in. So what’s the big deal? Well, the guns, perks, and attachments you can slot into your loadout are locked behind level gates. You don’t have access to everything right off the bat. But those of us who’ve been grinding away since  Modern Warfare  launched last year have some very fancy weapons and daunting attachments. Are newcomers at a disadvantage? Sort of. These weapons are still “Player” ranked as opposed to the rare, epic, or legendary equipment anyone can pull out of a cache in the field, but starting out with a scope or optical sight is a damn sight better than staring dow...

Even though the late-game will see many players rocking loadouts that make them invisible to the scanners, UAVs are still a hugely powerful tool in Warzone, helping you to stay aware of where enemy squads are around you. Moreover, you might not have realised that they can actually stack - if three players on your squad call in a UAV at the same time, you'll be blown away by the detail you receive. You'll get an advanced look at every enemy on the map, not only showing you where they are but also which direction they're pointing in, in real time. It won't last long, but if you've completed a few contracts and have cash to burn it could give you some lasting insights into positions and tactics. 

There's also a range of field equipment that you can find around the map as you go, which can help you out in a pinch. Whether it's field cover to block an enemy's sightline, the Dead Silence field upgrade to make you quiet for a spell, or more, there are a lot of ways these can help. One fun tactic that's been discovered involves the field drone you can find. If you use the drone, and a teammate has C4 equipped, they can actually drop the C4 on the drone to turn it into a miniaturised, mobile bomb. Try it out for yourself, and let's hope Infinity Ward doesn't patch it out. 

Cash is important, then, but when you hit up a Buy Station it might be worth knowing what your priority should be. As we said, a UAV can be a huge help, but the top priority in your squad should be for someone to buy a Loadout Drop as soon as possible. These airdrops let your whole squad pick one of their standard multiplayer loadouts to swap into, getting their customised guns and equipment.  That's like slipping on a glove in this context, letting you get in the groove with a loadout you're comfortable with, and most of the best players are now using it as a way to dominate the late-game of each match. Follow suit, if you can! Once you do, pick your loadout as quickly as possible to avoid sitting-duck danger. While you can obviously feel free to experiment with perks, too, we'd highly recommend running with Cold-blooded and Ghost by default, as these will make you invisible to standard UAVs and heartbeat monitors, while also making you infinitely less obvious thro...

Since the days of the original  Modern Warfare , the idea of using sounds of player footsteps to our advantage has been a big selling point for companies trying to peddle “gaming” headphones onto people who don’t know any better. Of course, using audial cues to track just about anything is a very real and basic practice that has been a thing in gaming far longer than the previous console generation. Still, it’s a massive part of the game, and one you can tweak in the sound settings. Sat right at the top of the  Modern Warfare sound settings menu is a drop-down box. Here, you can quickly switch between sound mix presets to fine-tune the game’s audio to your own listening preference and equipment. Expand the option and you’ll see a more detailed look at the frequencies you’re working with. If you’re using something like the Home Theater option on your $20 cans, you’re probably botching your ability to pinpoint precious enemy movements. Listen to the music change as you f...

There’s a lot to cover when it comes to the weapons you’ll use in Battle Royale. After all, what are you going to do without them? This one can be a bit controversial, but it’s a move I’ve personally had a lot of success with — bring a rocket launcher. Modern Warfare  has a few different launchers to choose from — the PILA, Strala-P, JOKR, and RPG-7. Most of us are familiar with the RPG-7: It’s long and looks funny but packs a serious punch. It’s not the one we’re recommending here, though. The Battle Royale map is huge, and when you’re on the run from the enclosing circle of  deadly gas, a vehicle can sometimes be your only option. The thing is, people are either very lazy or incredibly impatient. They want to get out of the field and into combat as quickly as possible. You’ll see people driving vehicles at all times in a match, so if you’ve foregone a secondary weapon in favor of a launcher like the PILA, you can do the whole “fire and forget” job to almost always wi...

Here’s another that might sound patronizingly obvious, but it’s a minor detail that can sometimes skip the mind when there are a dozen or so other things to focus on in a match. While audio cues can alert us to nearby threats, visual cues can fill in the blanks Bullets travel a good distance, and they’re not small enough to be completely invisible to the naked eye. You can use the bullet trails to get a good idea of your enemy’s position. Not only that, but you can also gauge the whereabouts of their target. Before you go running in, note that if you’re seeing a bullet fly from one side of your vision to the other, running right in will put you between the enemy and their enemy — who is also your enemy. That’s two enemies. Wait for a victor to emerge, and use their greed to knock them down.

Things can go wrong in a Battle Royale match almost immediately. Even before you hit the ground, in fact. The announcer apparently scans the skies, warning you of anyone about to parachute into your area. That means anyone who lands fast will absolutely grab a gun and attempt to shoot you out of the sky, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. For that reason (and a couple of others), you need to learn to land fast.  Warzone  gives you manual control over your parachute. You can open it as close or far away from the ground as you want, cut it halfway, and redeploy it again as you please. Heck, you can vault off a building whenever you want, too. It makes sense to dive toward the ground and play chicken with the terrain, opening the parachute at the very last second to cushion the blow, right? Wrong. While the game was probably designed with that idea in mind, savvy players quickly worked out that the quickest way to get onto the ground — and snag first d...

Another visual cue is an open door. There’s a reason you can tag an open cache to scream “someone’s been through here.” They might still be around, or they may be long gone. And you can use that simple mind game to your advantage. If you don’t want to alert encroaching enemies of your rough whereabouts, close doors as you walk through them. It’ll give approaching opponents the thought that they’re the first to pass through the area, lowering their guard. Hold still, listen to them charge through the building, and blast them down as they get too close and overconfident. Be aware that it’s not always a good plan. Open doors can provide cover in a pinch, and a shut door is a closed escape route. If you’re not all too confident yourself, it might be best to leave your doors ajar. If you know you can finish the job, however, set the trap and reel in the serotonin.