Twitchy, 6v6 Call of Duty was also my favourite game together with the weed-themed calling cards and platinum skins. As a living memoir that could possibly have gone pro, I stayed and loitered in DICE’s digital battlefields, clearly recalling evil killstreaks and majestic quickscopes just like Roy Batty towards the end of Blade Runner.

The amazing Ground War and Invasion in this modern warfare 2 have inspired me to come back to the battlefields.

I used to play Modern Warfare 2019 quite a lot mostly it was just Warzone, Team Deathmatch or Hardpoint and when I was really bored, it was just occasional Ground Wars. As a lifelong Battlefield fan, I could see right away the problems with Infinity Ward's initial attempt at 30v30 Conquest: Lines of communication failed, bad maps for directions, poorer spawning than usual and on a subconscious level, being reluctant to balance the arsenal, which makes it inferior in comparison to the huge fights executed by DICE.

That being said, Modern Warfare 2’s ground war overcomes some major issues from its predecessor and these improvements are even scary because playing another iteration of DICE’s flawed franchise.

Modern Warfare 2’s five Ground War maps are amazing, reflecting the chaotic intensity of Battlefield 3’s notorious Operation Metro, but with huge open expanses to support vehicles and killstreaks. If you thought Santa Sena was chaotic in 6v6, its 32v32 variation is a whole other ballgame. Ground War is, for me, the only aspect of the Modern Warfare 2 bundle that channels the out-and-out insanity of the 2009 original. The insanity on exhibit here is especially hilarious—seeing hundreds of B2 bombers flying low over the border wall to knock out a Mexican cartel armoured column feels like drawing back the veil on the truly demented writing room that gave us the original MW2’s white house level.

These maps are enjoyable for more reasons than simply the theming, though. Take Taraq, a cross-stitched amalgam of every Middle Eastern Call of Duty map, where the playing area seamlessly combines a destroyed city, an oil field, and a mosque into a massive sandbox to act out the most catastrophic imperial battle of the millennium (so far). Rust, a fan favourite map, is lovingly recreated amid the oil field's undulating dunes, with plenty of cover and sightlines that are too broad to be properly controlled. Unless your team is rolling tanks and strong air cover up to the point, the game bogs down in certain areas.

When using the new Modern Warfare 2 vehicle lineup, the Battlefield comparisons seem the most pertinent. New heavy tanks, cargo helicopters, and armoured personnel carriers—both of which serve as transport vehicles—are all present. One of these well-armored tactical insertions may be jumped into by any member of the squad, and it can be parked anywhere, allowing a continual flow of imitators of Seal Team Six to swarm any flag.

Actually, the helicopter doesn't even need a pilot; you can leave it in the air unattended, and it will hover. Unfortunately, vehicles still handle stiffly as they did in Warzone, which frequently makes vehicle combat feel like a race between two scaled-up RC cars. It doesn't even come close to the famous tank fights from Battlefield 1, but considering that DICE can't manage to make lightning strike twice, it's hardly a deal-breaker.

Instead, the simplicity and fluidity with which infantry fighting transitions to vehicle warfare (and vice versa) fosters some really fantastic interplay. The usage of the Double Time perk to run for longer successfully neutralises suppressive fire for brave C4 and thermite plants. None of the vehicle-mounted guns produce precise enough fire or close to enough splash damage to serve as an overpowering response to swaths of massed soldiers. It's genuinely Battlefield in micro, which is immensely welcomed considering DICE's propensity to smother its vehicles in a sea of mediocrely useful vehicle unlocks and upgrades.

Instead of sticking to my obstinately dropping SMG fire from the hip CoD approach, Ground War made me somewhat alter my mentality. These strategies may be effective in this situation, however a malfunctioning controller's aim assistance made me a prime target for quick-thinking youngsters.

My greatest matches were the outcome of a playstyle I've never before connected with Call of Duty: careful and attentive play. My gaming resembled one of those pre-recorded Ubisoft demos, and I was meticulously employing every survival option at my disposal. I was continuously keeping an eye on my extra ammunition and grenades, utilising the mounting system to spy over corners, and looking for opportunities to use my deployable cover package to give our lads an advantage in a sideways battle. My greatest weapon is the M16, which a gunsmith modified to boost the recoil just enough to ensure that, when fired at the chest, the third round will consistently strike the target in the head.

There are many reasons why Gunsmith is wonderful, but in Ground War and Invasion, I believe it really lives up to its potential by offering an open-ended sandbox that encourages sincere interaction with its mechanics. Finally, there is a reason for the dozen different styles of grip tape and stocks.

I've been playing crossplay with a friend, and we had simultaneous crashes on PC and PS5, which is a real first for crossplay in general. This was reportedly a party glitch that was known to Infinity Ward, who says it has now been rectified. Modern Warfare 2's server stability, netcode, and performance are better than most Battlefield games on launch, even though that specific issue isn't a Battlefield issue (yet, give it time). Additionally, CoD's level-based progression is just a much more accessible way to unlock weapons and tools than Battlefield's terrible challenge-based unlocks, the worst of which made you play the terrible dogfighting maps on janky European servers with >150 ping to unlock a drone that you use twice.

I also want to draw attention to Invasion, a Ground War version with 20 players instead of 30, which blankets the field with dozens of easily eliminated AI-controlled grunts in a Titanfall-inspired fashion. Mobs act as a buffer between aggressive teams of players, allowing those at the bottom of the leaderboard something to blast away and add to the team score. This is a significant benefit for casual players. It's ideal for days when my hand ache is unbearable and I'm determined to unlock a scope.

The Ground War and Invasion game modes in Modern Warfare 2 are severely stimulating my brain's Battlefield pleasure regions. We only have a certain amount of free time to spend, and because of my condition, I'll never be eager to spend hours upgrading firearms and looking for unlocks in any current military shooter. DICE has been warned by Infinity Ward's 64-player options that whatever comes next in the Battlefield franchise needs to be creative, reliable, and superior to its rival's side modes.