Call of Duty Next, the new showcase event for Activision's high-profile first-person shooter franchise, took place on September 15, 2022, and with it came all kinds of new details regarding the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and its various new maps, modes, and gameplay innovations. While reveals concerning Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and its new map and side modes were a major part of the event, the tidbits shared about the mainline title’s multiplayer were equally engaging.
The presentation focused specifically on two all-new multiplayer maps coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at launch, the first of which was Sarrif Bay, which is actually a small segment of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s Al Mazrah map. Sarrif Bay looks to be a relatively urban map that juxtaposes close-quarters building-to-building combat with gunfights that take place both on and in the water. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s swimming mechanic—which was notably absent from its predecessor—seems to be a particular point of emphasis, and it’ll be interesting to see how access to bodies of water can shake up standard Call of Duty gameplay.
The second new multiplayer map to be revealed was Mercados Las Almas, which appears to be a relatively standard urban environment with a three-lane design. Albeit standard fare for the Call of Duty series, some changes may have been made to accommodate for the title’s new six-against-six game modes. One of these new modes will be Prisoner Rescue, which looks to be a retread of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s VIP Escort mode. The other is Knockout, a mode that’ll see teams vying to capture a package in the middle of the map before time runs out.
The other major new mode coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is Invasion. An evolution of the classic Ground War game mode, Invasion will be a twenty-on-twenty deathmatch that will make use of AI soldiers to thicken the fray and discourage teams from pushing too far into enemy territory. The mode will likely feel fairly familiar to those who engaged in 20 v 20 campaigns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer component, and some are likening it to the Battlefield franchise, albeit a bit smaller in scope.
This is, of course, just a small portion of the information revealed during Call of Duty Next. From a new arsenal of weapons, deployables, and killstreaks to the all-new DMZ component of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, there’s quite a bit of information to catch up on regarding the next installment in the Call of Duty saga.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 28, 2022.