Infinity Ward has laid out some changes that have been made to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in response to feedback from the game’s beta ahead of its launch later this week.
In a post on the studio’s website, the team broke down several change categories, including audio, UI, and movement. Most of these changes came from feedback on the multiplayer, but will also be applicable to the story campaign, as well.
The full list of changes reads as follows:
Enemy Visibility
We have added diamond icons above the heads of enemies. This should make it easier for players to clearly identify opponents in the game.Additionally, we’ve continued to tweak lighting and contrast for improved enemy visibility.
Audio
We’ve shortened the overall range of footstep audio which will allow enemy players to get closer to targets before they are able to detect footsteps. We have also continued to tweak teammate footstep audio, which will now be quieter following feedback from the Beta.The in-world activation sound effect volume range for the Dead Silence field upgrade has been drastically decreased.
Third Person
Following feedback from Beta, aiming down sights will now stay in third person POV for low-zoom optics. Only high-zoom optics (beginning with the ACOG and higher) and special optics such as Hybrids and Thermals will revert to first person POV. We believe this will enhance the third person experience while keeping the gameplay balanced. The feedback on this mode has been very positive, and we will continue to explore its use as a modifier.
Weapons
We have continued to tweak weapons across the game following both feedback from Beta players and game data. Players can expect more specifics on weapon tuning as we continue to support post-launch.
UI
We have been working hard on numerous updates to our UI that make accessing and customizing your loadout more seamless. We’ve made improvements to navigation of menus and will continue to optimize our UX.
Movement
Slide, ledge hang, and dive have been further refined. We’ve also addressed some movement exploits following Beta.
Matchmaking
We have implemented some changes that aim to reduce lobby disbandment between matches. We look forward to testing this at a large scale and getting feedback.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on Friday, October 28, though the campaign has been playable for those who pre-ordered the game digitally since October 20. For more on that, check out IGN’s review of the campaign (or check out the video version below), in which it was described as “underwhelming and overly familiar.”
Kenneth Shepard is a writer covering games, entertainment, and queerness all around the internet. Find him on Twitter at @shepardcdr, and listen to his biweekly video game retrospective podcast Normandy FM, which is currently covering Cyberpunk 2077.