Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s Warzone is one of the most popular games at the moment, but there is no denying that it has some pretty serious issues. There are so many cheaters on PC that Infinity Ward can’t keep pace with banning them, matches will occasionally be so laggy that the game is virtually unplayable for the entire lobby, and there is still no duos mode on the playlist. While the April 28th update won’t fix all of these issues, it will be addressing some of the most serious bugs, while adding some new features that sound very interesting. The full patch notes from Infinity Ward can be found here.
The first thing that players will notice is that data-wise, this update is BIG… 15 gigabytes in fact, which will add on to the already massive 100 GB file size that the game already takes up, if you own the whole game or not. If you have a 500 GB drive on your console, that means that this one game will take up over a fifth of your entire storage, even if you only use the free-to-play Warzone. If you own the game, you will have an additional update within Modern Warfare after the file is installed, Warzone players will not need this secondary update.
Outside of bug fixes, a few changes have been made to Warzone. Trucks have returned to solos, but with decreased speed and maneuverability in order to keep them balanced. Additionally, a new item has been added to the game: the Armor Satchel, which will allow players to carry 8 armor plates at a time instead of just 5. Satchels will be replacing the Gas Mask as a guaranteed drop for scavenger updates. Gas masks will still be rare drops in crates. Satchels do not come with plates in them, they just increase capacity. They will drop on death and will be bootable by other players. Having three extra plates will be a huge advantage, particularly late in the game, so this new item could be a lot more important than most people realize.
In terms of customization, Infinity Ward is adding ‘Gunsmith Customs’ which essentially allows you to combine attachments and body changes from different blueprints instead of being locked into the attachments unlocked by one blueprint and the other attachments that you have unlocked normally. This should allow for even more loadout tweaking, and give new players access to more powerful guns earlier. Also, we will have a whole new gun to add to our loadouts: the MK9 Bruen LMG, which is described as having “high accuracy and reliable damage.” Hopefully, it could be an LMG that is actually viable for use in Warzone… but that still seems doubtful.
Another big change is the addition of the Most Wanted Contract. You will now be able to put a contract on yourself instead of a random nearby player. This contract will make you visible to everyone else on the map. Infinity Ward promises that this massive risk is worth the reward, so it is safe to assume that evading the contract should give you enough money to buy back your entire team. This should be useful for players making a last-ditch attempt to bring back their team, but also could be useful in competitive and aggressive play to lure more players into a trap in order to rack up kills.
Other changes in the update include a rating system for plunder matches and the return of Shoot the Ship playlists in multiplayer. As of posting, this update should be available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC right now.