Activision's upcoming open beta for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, starting Friday, August 28, offers little to distinguish the latest entry from its predecessors, according to an early hands-on preview. The beta, which includes a campaign mission for the first time in series history and access to Warzone's new Zodiac map, presents an unconvincing case for investment, despite touted changes to gunplay and a new Korean setting.
Campaign Mission Falls Flat
The included campaign mission, titled Entrenched, is set in South Korea and tasks players with controlling Park Hyun Jun, who, alongside South Korean squadmates and US Marines, must prevent a nuclear power station from falling into North Korean hands. The mission features claustrophobic trench warfare, a clumsy vehicle section, and a final push to destroy a tank using thermite grenades, culminating in an escape from a burning station to showcase the new traversal system.
Critics note that the mission is tired and by-the-numbers, paling in comparison to standout missions from Black Ops 6 like the casino breakout High Rollers. Despite the Korean setting, the location feels interchangeable with any other battlefield, with squadmates speaking English, presumably to accommodate US soldiers, further diminishing the sense of place.
Traversal Overhaul and Mobility Course
The reworked traversal mechanics are better showcased in the Mobility Course, an expanded training area across three difficulties. While omnimovement has been removed to distinguish Modern Warfare from Black Ops titles, developer Infinity Ward has made transitions between ladders, ledges, and combat slides more fluid. However, some new abilities, such as shooting while hanging off ledges, feel situational and rarely useful in practice.
Based on the five 6v6 maps available in the beta, Modern Warfare 4 leans toward tighter, more condensed design. Standout maps like Rooftops offer multiple routes through doorways, windows, and elevated walkways, while others like Transit 213, set in an Indian bus depot, are chaotic and lack tactical depth. The Korean shopping district Silkworm also suffers from limited flexibility, and the map Cachette is described as suffocating, especially when killstreak gunships and drones are active.
Kill Block: A Promising Addition
The most innovative map is Kill Block, a modular arena that changes its layout across three interchangeable slabs every two rounds, playable in 3v3 or 10v10 Gunfight modes. Gunfight remains tense with no respawns, and the shifting map adds spontaneity to matches, though hardcore players may quickly figure out the intricacies of each slab. While this is an interesting shake-up, it is not enough to offset the beta's overall underwhelming impression.
As Activision seeks to recover from Black Ops 7's weak sales and poor reception, the Modern Warfare 4 beta appears to be an attention-grabbing plea rather than a confident showcase. If this beta represents the best of what the next entry has to offer, Call of Duty's wobbly era may not end anytime soon, leaving fans to weigh the potential of the full game against these early signs.
