There’s always a little something for everyone.
The not-so-late addition to the Battle Royale craze has hit the online market and this time it came from ActiVision as they release a free spinoff to their well known Call of Duty Franchise, Warzone. Opening up their servers a day after information about its existence was leaked on the internet, Call of Duty Warzone easily became a hit as the free to play model allowed it to surpass the 15 million player mark in less than a week before its release.
Now before you all say that this could possibly be just another run of the mill Battle Royale title, Warzone does come with a lot of Call of Duty multiplayer elements mixed into the traditional drop and loot gameplay of the BR genre, and those include loadouts, special abilities such as drones, Kill Streak abilities, equipment caches, a money-based economy, in-game mini-missions and a sizeable map that nearly lacks in blank spaces as it is cluttered with structures and loot.
Get your supply box over here
Together with your standard battle royale and all its additions, Warzone also came with another game mode, which is, personally, is the more easily enjoyable 150-man, every team for himself multiplayer spinoff, Plunder. In contrast to your standard Battle Royale, Plunder gives more emphasis on Warzone’s money economy as the goal is not to be the only squad left but rather be the squad with the most looted cash. As such, while other Battle Royale add-ons are still present in Plunder, the concept of being sent to the gulag after being taken down for another shot of getting back in the map is completely removed as players can still respawn and drop as long as the timer hasn’t reached 0 yet.
Welcome to the gulag
In a way, Plunder gives you the feel of the usual COD multiplayer setup, only on a larger map, and with more objective-based gameplay, which many, of course, would largely ignore just for the joys of a free for all killing spree. You also don’t drop with just a handgun in Plunder as you come into the battle with your own pre-selected loadouts, and spending more time in Plunder mode also means easily leveling your guns and perks, allowing for more customization and tweaks in your gameplay, which can, of course, translate to the traditional Battle Royale mode.
Would you go on a lootfest, capture points or maybe hunt targets?
Objectives range from securing points to getting more loot and even taking down fellow players as targets, each of them rewarding more cash once completed. Now even if getting more cash is the goal of the game, getting a lot of it early on could also mean painting a huge target on your heads as Plunder shows in which areas the top-earning squads are located, promoting action by allowing players to easily hunt each other down. Other hotly contested points include cash deposit zones which allow players to secure their loot as to not lose part of it if taken down by an enemy squad. These features ensure that the hotspots are not only concentrated on one area and promote the messy action that many COD fans have come to love.
Now, does this make for a great Battle Royale game? Debatable, but sure as heck, it’s more fun than just crouching in a corner and waiting for everyone else to die out while you outrun the toxic circle.
TBH, it’s the only mode in which I’ve won so far.
Call of Duty Warzone is Free to Play and download on the PC, PS4 and Xbox One