Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has officially launched, with gamers jumping into Infinity Ward’s latest release and enjoying all the content on offer. While there are numerous modes and maps to enjoy, the weapons featured within the game are unsurprisingly one of its main attractions. Thanks to the addition of weapon platforms to Gunsmith 2.0, gamers may be shocked by the sheer number of guns featured in the latest Call of Duty title.
Usually, Call of Duty games will launch with around 30 weapons that are spread throughout the various categories. For instance, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War featured 29 weapons in its day one arsenal, while Call of Duty: Vanguard offered gamers an impressive 38 weapons. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 takes things to the next level, though, offering a spectacular 51 weapons for gamers to customize and wield in combat. Going forward, it would be great to see this become the new standard.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s Smooth Development and Weapon Platforms Resulted in a High Gun Count
One reason for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s jaw-dropping number of weapons is likely its smooth development. Infinity Ward had a full three years to work on the sequel to its 2019 game, with insiders often reporting that the creation process was going smoothly and Activision was pleased with what it was seeing. This is in direct contrast to Treyarch’s situation with Black Ops Cold War, as the studio had to deal with COVID-19 and was forced to get its game out a year early since Sledgehammer needed more time to make Vanguard.
A rushed and challenging development explains Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s 29 launch weapons, though 51 guns and melee tools is impressive even with Modern Warfare 2’s three years in the oven. The other thing that seemingly contributed to the large count is weapon platforms. Through this system, gamers can unlock and change the receivers on certain guns to unlock variants of that weapon. These variants behave much differently, with the fully automatic M4 and three-round burst M16 being one example. By having 33 platforms in the game, Infinity Ward was able to turn a single gun into multiple weapons, expanding the lineup.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Should Be The First of Many 50-Weapon Launches
Given how happy fans are to see Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s large weapon count, replicating this success with future games would be ideal. Fortunately, one big step is already being taken toward this, as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is set to be the first two-year Call of Duty game. The second year of content will supposedly be comprised of remasters of classic Modern Warfare 2 maps and campaign DLC, and in that time, Treyarch will be continuing its work on Call of Duty 2024. With an extra year of development, Treyarch will have more time to polish its game, but also more time to create weapons.
Additionally, the weapon platforms featured within Gunsmith 2.0 should be a permanent Call of Duty feature. The concept not only improves progression, as it pushes players to use more weapons so that they can unlock extra guns, but it guarantees a higher weapon count than what would be possible without it. Much like the option to toggle between Killstreaks and Scorestreaks, weapon platforms are a terrific feature that can and should be carried over to other games in the series.
With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s post-launch Seasons set to add even more guns for players to unlock and use, the future is very bright for Infinity Ward’s newest title. More guns means a larger camo grind and more variety in matches, with both contributing to the overall replayability of the game. While more depth for Spec Ops is needed, and more 6v6 multiplayer modes/maps would be welcome, it is hard not to be impressed by Modern Warfare 2’s starting lineup of guns.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.