Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has been surprisingly good about responding to player criticism and fixing issues with the game. From spawn tweaks to the addition of smaller maps with dedicated Modern Warfare playlists, many of the game's major issues have seen at least some attention. Some things are much harder to fix, like camping and skill-based matchmaking, but for the most part, the development team has been very attentive to fan criticism.
However, as Modern Warfare's Season 2 has been delayed, the game has begun to feel slightly stagnant. In all this time without any significant changes, many players have begun to feel the sting of one more major issue with the game that hasn't seen quite enough attention. Weapon balance is constantly getting tweaked in Modern Warfare, but it has been far too long since the last big balancing changes made a significant difference to the meta of the game.
Modern Warfare's Stagnant Meta
The extension of Season 1 was a bit of a disappointment for many players who wanted to new weapons and content as quick as possible, but the developers are right to take their time and iron out any bugs before launch. In order to sate the appetite of impatient players they released the crossbow in Modern Warfare, but it wasn't quite enough to distract anyone from the current state of the meta. The primary issue with the meta in Modern Warfare is simply that even with numerous tweaks and fixes, it really hasn't changed much at all.
The difference between Modern Warfare's top-tier weapons at launch and the top-tier weapons in Season 1 is surprisingly little. The big players are still the M4A1 and MP5, with the new guns rising to the top despite the time it takes to unlock them. Other guns are able to enter the top tiers because they are fun to use, but for players who want a competitive advantage there are very few worthwhile choices. That's a problem in a game with a huge variety of guns and customization options as one of its major selling points.
This wouldn't even be such an issue if it weren't compounded by other mechanics in the game. The fact that Modern Warfare's skill-based matchmaking is so strong encourages players to always use whatever strategies and weapons give them the most competitive advantage unless they want to lose miserably. Even then, some weapons being slightly stronger than others is not much to complain about, but it becomes frustrating when just a few weapons have such a big gap in power over all the others.
Several other ARs can be used in lieu of the M4A1 in a pinch, and the MP5 has its fair share of competitors in other SMGs, but the fact still remains that all the other weapon classes in Modern Warfare lack options. Shotguns are a joke, LMGs aren't really viable, DMRs are niche, and sidearms are boring. In a game all about guns, there are far more useless options than viable choices. Players who want to experience more than mid-range rapid-fire monotony are left to twist in the wind.
Fixing Modern Warfare's Gun Balance
Right now, a way to see what a proper weapon balancing fix would look like in Modern Warfare is actually already in the game. Hardcore mode is currently the best way to experience a version of Modern Warfare in which almost every gun has roughly equal stopping power. In Hardcore mode, just a single bullet from most guns- and two or three from the rest- is enough to finish off any opponent from almost any distance. This means that players will see a lot more guns in use than in standard gamemodes.
Of course, Harcore mode is not for everyone, but it is a great example of how much more varied and complex the game can be when every gun has its merits and won't hamper the skills of a good player. There is nothing stopping a player from running around with an Uzi, even though in standard games the weapon is practically useless. The only guns that lose out are sniper rifles and DMRs, which lose their one-shot appeal, especially on smaller classic maps.
Hardcore mode illustrates that when every gun is a lot closer in power to its competitors, the game benefits. This means that the solution to weapon balancing is actually not too complex. The developers simply need to buff each class of weapon until it can compete with assault rifles in at least one area. It wouldn't hurt to bring the stopping power of the M4A1 down a bit, but a better option would be making other weapons more viable, not making popular weapons weaker.
The best way to buff guns is not just to boost their DPS either. It would be far more beneficial to give unloved weapons better attachments and perks to make them more competitive. Not only would this buff weapons that need it, it would serve the dual purpose of adding more variety to the guns that already exist and giving players a reason to use all of their new load-out slots. The weapons that most deserve buffs are the FAL, the SA-87, the Uzi, and practically every marksman rifle.
A recent buff to the Scar was a step in the right direction, but even small tweaks to the M4A1 and MP5 would put them more in line with other top-notch guns like the MP7, the M-13, and the RAM-7. At the very least, Season 2 of Modern Warfare is likely to include Battle Royale, which will make sniper rifles a much more popular choice than they are currently.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.