Modern Warfare 4 has one of the best multiplayer experiences Call of Duty has seen for years. Compared to Black Ops, Modern Warfare's weapons have more oomph, the aesthetic is much more appealing, and movement feels much more fluid. That said, Modern Warfare 4 continues a longstanding problem with the Call of Duty series as a whole: players have access to too much intel.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) was the series at its absolute peak, even though it was considerably stripped back compared to what we have today. Everyone had the same three killstreaks available, the selection of game modes was much more limited, and every weapon could have just one attachment: a red dot sight, an ACOG scope, or a silencer — but it paved the way for every game that followed. Most importantly, players who put in the time to learn map layouts, sight lines, grenade spots, and practice recoil control saw their hard work pay off, because the skill ceiling was incredibly high.
That carried forward into World at War and Modern Warfare 2, but as the series slowly introduced more customization and ways to play, the skill floor was raised, and the ceiling lowered. The most egregious and frustrating example is how much intel is available to players through various attachments, equipment, and killstreaks. In Modern Warfare 4, the following can be equipped on any loadout: UAV, Advanced UAV, Snapshot Grenade, Heartbeat Sensor, Portable Radar, Seeker Drone, Recon Drone, High Alert, Birdseye, and Tracker.
That makes ten things players can use to either find out the location of enemy players, or assist in finding them in some way. Some are more powerful than others, of course. The Heartbeat Sensor is too slow to warrant using in most respawn-based modes, and Tracker is very situational.
But a few of them, especially the UAV, Snapshot Grenade, and Seeker Drone, are incredibly popular. That means the only way to avoid being penalized by the game giving other players free intel is to have a loadout that directly counters them. Ghost is a perk that makes you undetectable by UAVs, Portable Radars, and Heartbeat Sensors, while Cold-Blooded does the same for AI targeting systems, thermal optics, Recon Drones, Spotter Scopes, Snapshot Grenades, and High Alert.
The SAM Airburst Turret field upgrade can automatically shoot down UAVs (as long as it has line-of-sight, which is tricky in urban maps), while the Trophy System can destroy incoming throwables. The DDOS temporarily disables nearby enemy electronics and sensors. The Counter UAV killstreak scrambles enemies' minimaps.
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