For a year and a half of Warzone’s existence (the release took place on March 10, 2020), the main battle royale map has gone through several significant changes at once, but gamers are tired of running around the streets of Verdansk. It is for this reason that the news of the release of a new training ground for virtual battles has caused such a stir on the network – tens of millions of gamers around the world have felt the breath of something fresh, unknown and bright. And today, December 8, all Vanguard owners were given the opportunity to try Caldera a day ahead of everyone else – and I, as an ardent fan of this battle royale, is ready to share my impressions.
Just like in GTA Vice City
When the first footage of Caldera with huge expanses of water around (it is logical, because this is an island) appeared on the network, many decided that now it would be possible to swim, cut waves on boats or, for example, hide from enemies in streams. Unfortunately, only the latter has come true – now you can really use the water features of the landscape inside the island in order to get a slight advantage in the form of knee-deep camouflage. But the water outside the island still brings only instant death – it is especially dangerous at the docks, where you can easily accidentally jump over the fence right into the clutches of liquid death.
Disguise goes to the next level
What I really liked was the almost complete absence of large open locations with which Verdansk was directly strewn with. The caldera is replete with small vegetation, all kinds of houses, buildings, trees, stones and other natural shelters that allow you to move around the map more freely. If earlier I could sit on the roof and easily notice the enemy running along the slope, now it is more difficult to notice opponents, and I have to shoot wisely, because the cover allows the player to quickly hide, load armor plates and fire back. This is to open the door to a world of more active gameplay, which, of course, is only beneficial for the game.
Also pleased with the almost complete absence of high-rise buildings – situations when someone took over the “Hospital” and closes everything within sight, on Caldera there will be about a hundred times less. Yes, you can climb higher on the volcano, there are a couple of buildings like a lighthouse that rise above the landscape of the island, but most of the island was strewn with low houses. Turning them into a stationary point for shooting enemies running into the zone is quite problematic, which once again hits those who like to sit for ten minutes at the window, looking out at their opponents. Accordingly, you can safely put on some kind of green camouflage, pick up an AR-ku with a thermal imager and go hunting.
Flying is fun, but very uncomfortable
The rumor about the appearance of airplanes on which it is possible to plow the air spaces of the new map turned out to be true. Around the runways, you can find a lot of flying vehicles (I think their number will be drastically reduced soon), from which you can shoot right in the process of flight. And yes, machine guns inflict serious damage, but the physics of flight at the same time remained at the level of helicopters – everything is the same wooden and inconvenient. Probably, if you get used to it, you can easily fly and destroy targets, but do not forget about the rocket launchers (they began to be carried very actively on the second table) and air defense systems that tear the plane apart in a few hits.
Important and not so little things
The developers again reworked the “Gulag”, which became brighter, multi-level and, for me personally, uncomfortable, but this was also very expected – this location is changed very often. But the new engine, about which everyone dreamed, no one has delivered – Caldera is just a new map, a shell, if you like, but not an improved version of Warzone. Because of this, all the elements loved and disliked by gamers remained in their places – boxes make noise, contracts are thrown onto the roofs of buildings without stairs, events are voiced too loudly, and weapons from the new part (in this case Vanguard) have many imbalanced chips.
Firstly, you can safely pump STG44 and Type-100 from the new Call of Duty part – they will obviously be in the meta in the next couple of weeks. All because of the perk on crits in the torso, which allow you to demolish the enemy with 5 hits with full brute, which is generally a fabulous bonus for the SMG. Secondly, weapons from Vanguard in Warzone allow you to put ten modules, which instantly kills interest in any donuts from MW and CW. Thirdly, the silencers on weapons from the new COD work too efficiently – it is difficult to hear shots almost at close range, even more so at a distance. And, of course, you can safely breathe out – “Tishka” was left untouched, and the “Ninja” perk was not added to Warzone (and in general the perks remained old, from MW 19).
A breath of fresh air with an eye to the future
To be honest, I expected more. I wanted a new engine with interesting gameplay mechanics, the ability to swim and dive, some new contracts or some other cardinal changes. In fact, it turns out exactly the same Verdansk, only in a different wrapper, with imbalanced weapons from Vanguard and, possibly, slightly changed gameplay. Perhaps the new anti-cheat will help reduce the number of auto-scoped villains, but I can already see planes flying uselessly, the universal use of STG44, the same type of camouflage and thermal imagers on each rifle. Maybe the reason is high expectations, or maybe Activision just relaxed.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
