Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II multiplayer is now live. Servers clicked on at 9pm PT October 27th / 12am ET October 28th and hopefully they’re able to handle the load—and aren’t hit by a DDOS attack like Overwatch 2.
Modern Warfare II is a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot. It’s not a remake of the original Modern Warfare 2, though both this and 2019 have lots of callbacks to previous games, including new takes on old missions. I imagine we’ll see plenty of remade old maps as well in Multiplayer.
The game heads into pre-season tonight, which means there’s nothing except the Call Of Duty Endowment pack in the Item Shop. While the franchise has abandoned paid map packs, you can now purchase a Battle Pass which also won’t go live until November 16th when Season 1 kicks off alongside the release of Warzone 2.0.
Seasonal updates will include new Battle Passes, maps, weapons, game modes and much more. The DMZ mode is slated to launch in November along with Warzone 2.0, with raids coming the following month.
Still no word on when Gunfight will arrive in the game, but I’ll be deeply disappointed if Infinity Ward doesn’t include the game’s best tactical small team mode. I’m also hoping that it won’t be long before Warzone 2.0 gets Resurgence mode, either on the main map or in a new small map. Resurgence is by far the best part of Warzone.
The Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II beta gave gamers on PlayStation, Xbox and PC a chance to check out the game’s multiplayer weeks before launch.
It was a fun introduction to the game—but also a way to weed out bugs and other issues, of which the CoD community found many. Some of the biggest problems gamers had with the beta (myself included) were:
Poor visibility making it hard to spot enemy players especially in areas with low light or lots of busy colors.
Footstep audio problems that made it difficult to identify enemies.
Weird issues like extremely loud Dead Silence field upgrade volume when you’d activate—which is odd given it’s designed to make you dead silent.
Some players were unhappy with the mini-map which doesn’t reveal quite as much intel about enemy player locations as it has in the past.
Bugs and glitches galore, naturally.
Extremely awful menus that were confusing to navigate and poorly designed, making it hard to figure out how to view lobbies, invite friends to play or access menu options.
Of these, the poor visibility and UI were my biggest issues. I was less bothered by the footsteps and don’t have an issue with the way the mini-map works. Fortunately, it sounds like Infinity Ward has made changes to many—though not all—of player complaints. In the below patch notes, there’s nothing about the mini-map which sounds like it will remain the same.
One of the biggest changes is the addition of diamond icons above enemy heads to help with visibility. I’ll need to play and see how these work in practice. I was actually getting used to no enemy nameplates by the time the beta was over, but I can see how many players would find this frustrating.
Changes to audio, UI, movement, matchmaking and more have been made, all of which will hopefully make the game a smoother experience to play at launch than during the beta. We’ll know soon enough—Multiplayer goes live soon!
Check out the patch notes below to see all the changes from the beta:
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.
The single-player campaign for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II is out now, having released a week ahead of the game’s full launch. Anyone who pre-ordered the game can hop into the campaign and earn some extra rewards that will unlock with the multiplayer launch on October 28th.
The campaign is comprised of a pretty diverse array of missions, with stealth and puzzle-solving a pretty integral part of the gameplay—alongside all the shooting and blowing stuff up that these games are best known for. Some missions even have crafting.
You’ll also come across three safes during the campaign, which require combinations to unlock. You can figure this out on your own or turn to this handy guide to help you unlock the safes and get some pretty good loot inside. Here are all three locations, safe combination codes, and what you’ll find when you unlock them.
Unlocking all three safes will get you the Gentleman Thief achievement/trophy, so that’s an added bonus. Minor story spoilers ahead.
Safe #1: Mission 11 ‘El Sin Nombre’
You’ll find the first safe in the ‘El Sin Nombre’ mission. You’ve made your way to Mexico at this point and are trying to setup a meeting with the mysterious cartel boss, El Sin Nombre. You’ll get to a point in the mission where you’re given a mask and allowed to roam (mostly) freely around a mansion, though certain areas will be restricted by guards.
To find the first safe, head out the main entrance to the left of the elevator and walk past an open gate. You’ll see a balcony that you can climb up to without attracting the guards and then make your way up the staircase you find until you come to a room. You can silently dispatch the two guards you come to in this area.
Next, proceed through the stripper lounge until you reach another set of stairs. Don’t go down. Instead, take a right turn and head to a room in front of the elevator. This is Diego’s room. Go inside and head to the closed closet. Inside you’ll find the safe.
The combination code can be found by looking at the portrait in the same room. It’s 02-02-19. Inside you’ll find a Lockwood 300 shotgun and a bundle of Armor Plates.
Safe #2: Mission 13 ‘Alone’
You’ll find the next safe not long after in the ‘Alone’ mission. Soap has been separated from Ghost and has no weapons. Injured, you have to find crafting materials to make things like Smoke Bombs and the Pry Tool, which can get past locked doors and locked cases.
The first safe is located in the café above where you disarm a shotgun trap (and get the very useful shotgun in the process). Be sure to avoid jumping down into the lower area of the room you come to because you won’t be able to go back. You’ll find a locked office door in the café that you’ll need a Pry Tool to get past. Once inside, you’ll find the safe.
If you look at the 2020 calendar on the wall you’ll see the 10th of October is circled. It says 40th birthday on it. You have to do a little simple math here. If the birthday is the combination, and the person turned 40 on the 10th of October, that means the birthday is 10-10-1980 and the safe code is 10-10-80.
Inside, you’ll find a Throwing Knife and a silenced .50 GS Pistol—useful items for a largely stealth-based mission.
Safe #3: Mission 13 ‘Alone’
I guess it makes sense that these lower-octane missions contain all the safes. You need the contents more in these scenarios than others. The third safe is found just a bit later on in the ‘Alone’ mission when you come to a garage.
You’ll find it by heading to the back room of the garage, though you may need to take out some guards along the way. You can sneak past also but it’s definitely risky (I ended up in a firefight here when my cover was blown but was well-armed enough at this point to kill them all).
There’s a computer in the garage where you’ll find the combination code for this safe: 37-60-80.
Inside you’ll find another Throwing Knife and a Crossbow, widening your stealthy arsenal that much further.
That’s all the safes in the game (unless there’s more than remain hidden) though it’s possible we’ll see more safes or other puzzles in the upcoming Raids which drop in December.
Read more about the campaign Early Access right here. And look for my campaign review here on this blog in the next day or so. So far I’m really enjoying it!
