Battle royale gaming returns with solid features and design

BY Malik Giles/campus editor

In “Call of Duty: Warzone,” players will join in a group of three to battle against
other 49 groups in Verdansk, which divides into five main sectors. Photo courtesy of Infinity Ward.

For the past few years, battle royale has been the hot new genre in video gaming.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds brought the genre to light, Fortnite perfected it with continued updates while more and more gaming companies gravitated toward making their own unique battle royale.

Warzone is Call of Duty’s second battle royale game mode, and while the objective is still being the last alive, calling it unique is an understatement.

It is the first game in the genre to support 150 players with a decently sized map.

Verdansk is a heavily populated map making the gameplay so fast-paced that the players will have to think on their feet before landing.

The game has a conscientious currency system in which players can earn money to buy things that are essential to winning a match. These essentials include things like killstreak rewards and loadout drops which are both components from the multiplayer. Loadout drops are the players’ created weapon classes.

This feature has mixed reviews from players but also brings a nice blend of classic Call of Duty multiplayer into battle royale.

Warzone gives the players two ways to respawn back to the battlefield.

Currency is also a great way to revive fallen teammates but players must be cautious because this will alert other players. Players must go to buy stations to buy whatever they need. There are 50 buy stations scattered across the map which is a good amount.

The other way to respawn is through a Gulag match given once to each player. This is a great concept but it needs improvement. One aspect the developers can change is to remove equipment. Random weapons are just fine.

Armor is crucial to survival. Players take five seconds to start regenerating their health. Armor can protect a player from losing health points but once it breaks players are naked without it.
Warzone is an original take on battle royale but still has flaws.

Killstreaks should be disabled for the last circle, and calling airstrikes in a small space can be unfair to the players who are in an open zone of the circle. Occasionally, games would lag and frames would drop. This is the game’s early stage, so the developers should take notice of these mistakes in future updates.

There are currently only trios, solos and the plunder game mode with future updates to come. Players are hoping for them to add duos and squads. Call of Duty Warzone is a good game binge with friends during these times of social distancing.