Modern Warfare 4 is addressing my biggest complaints at record speed, and I have to tip my hat to them for that

Dani—the new CoD is suddenly almost unrecognizable during the second beta weekend. That’s a good sign!

I have to admit, I didn’t expect such a 180-degree turnaround. After I came down hard on the CoD Modern Warfare 4 beta a few days ago, the developers responded. And boy, did they respond!

Almost every single one of my criticisms was addressed with a comprehensive balance update.

Here are the changes in detail:

• Time to Kill (TTK):The frustratingly fast TTK from the first beta weekend has been significantly toned down. All weapons have been adjusted and now take noticeably longer to land a kill, without making enemies feel like bullet sponges. A good middle ground!

• Spawns:The completely chaotic spawns have been greatly improved. With new spawn logic and better prioritization, the front lines are now clearer in most modes, and there are fewer nasty surprises from behind. However, the system still isn’t quite perfect.

• Tac Sprint:The super-fast tactical sprint (Tac Sprint) has simply been removed entirely from the basic movement set. Anyone who still wants to use it now needs the Blood Rush perk. Otherwise, it’s back to the basic sprint, which takes some of the pace out of the matches.

• Slides:The absolutely wild sliding around on the ground has been toned down. Slides are slower and don’t travel as far, and the delay between sliding and jumping has been increased, which reduces bunny hopping.

• Killstreaks:To prevent artillery, helicopters, and the like from seemingly striking somewhere every 15 seconds, the cost of all killstreaks has been increased by +1 across the board, and the effects of some have also been further weakened.

All in all, for such a short period of time, this is a remarkable number of significant changes to the match flow.

How does it play?

I have to be honest—it’s like night and day. Yes, the balance isn’t quite perfect yet, but during the second beta weekendI had way more fun with MW4 than I ever thought possible.

At its core, MW4 remains a CoD and not a tactical shooter, but the gameplay pace is much more manageable now, and I’m no longer constantly getting taken out by players moving at the speed of light as they slide-cancel-jump around corners.

There are frequent lulls in the action where I can reorient myself, instead of having to practice my reflexes every second. Bottom line: MW4 is now significantly closer to Modern Warfare 2019. And for me, that’s the ideal balance.

I Take (Almost) Everything Back

I never would have believed that Infinity Ward would respond to the criticism so quickly and so uncompromisingly. And I’ll now openly and honestly admit that many (though not all) of the points from my last article are now out the window.

So what does this all boil down to?For now, just that these changes are a good sign. Because the developers of MW4 are clearly willing to implement player feedback quickly and directly.

If this week turns out to be an indicator of how development will proceed, then I’m looking at the future of Call of Duty with much more optimism than I did a week ago.