Call of Duty’s second attempt at the battle royale genre with Warzone has been one of the biggest players in the genre since its release in early 2020. It received lots of attention for its many problems including tons of hacking and people feeling like the game is pay to win. Many were hoping the release of the new Warzone 2.0 could fix some of the problems that 1.0 suffered from.  The changes are not bad and they make the game a different experience from 1.0. It makes it feel like a fresh new game.

The best change by far is the 2v2 gulag, which gives you a random teammate to fight with. The proximity chat is lots of fun, trying to convince the enemies to team up to take down the new warden so all 4 people can get back into the game. 

The new map isn’t great and it feels empty, unlike the previous Verdansk. Another controversial change is the loadout system as you can’t buy them anymore. You have to go out and find them during a mid round event. I actually like the change because it feels like I’m not going to get destroyed by someone who made the perfect loadout. With all these changes some fans were worried that Activision would fumble and ruin the game they once loved. But I feel like the changes are good and make the game an overall better experience.

Warzone also suffers severely from performance issues like terrible frame drops, lag, and some textures just not loading in. Nothing is game breaking but it sucks to have so many problems that are very frequent. It really takes me out of the game when I can’t drop in without freezing for a couple of seconds.

Another problem is the battle pass, which is really cramped and has a confusing progression system. It would be nice if there was no battle pass, but I understand why there is one but it just feels unnecessary.    

Warzone 2.0 comes out with a new mode called DMZ which is similar to the game Escape from Tarkov where you drop into the map and collect weapons, money, and valuables. But if you die you lose everything you haven’t stored so it makes it tense to be carrying a bunch of stuff hoping you don’t die. I think it’s pretty fun and the challenges are pretty fun to try to tackle with friends. The challenges are actually challenging and feel rewarding when you complete them. I’ve noticed that the weapons are really easy to find so I just drop in with nothing but a throwing knife and find something from there. DMZ is a great new addition but I feel like it won’t last long. I just don’t see it being a mainstay in the Call of Duty franchise unless it starts to receive lots of updates. 

Overall Warzone 2.0 is a much needed update to a game that’s been feeling stale for a long time. It feels nice for something to be started all over from scratch to give a new name and reputation. Hopefully, Activision can use this new start to make a better game that can appeal to more people.