Is Call of Duty Warzone Worth It? A Free to Play Battle Royale

Is Call of Duty Warzone worth it? That is the question about the battle royale of Call of Duty. Since PUBG we are seeing the rise in frequency and popularity of battle royales. Even though most battle royales are free to play, their earnings are more than most pay to play games. In the year 2019 Fortnite earned $1.8 billion and in the year 2018, it earned $2.4. Activision just wants a piece of that pie to expand their business. This is the second battle royale from the Call of Duty franchise and this time it’s free to play. You can play it even if you don’t own Modern Warfare reboot. Call of Duty Warzone is the same Modern Warfare with battle royale and plunder mode.

What is Call of Duty Warzone?

Readers of this content know the literal answer so I will explain the game. Warzone is a battle royale that combines the base game with general battle royale mechanics and a pinch of extra content. The mode has its fair share of problems but I will get to that later. First I will explain the type of battle royale that Warzone is presenting itself to be. After all, it is first free to play mode for a Call of Duty. Once I explain the game you will knowiIs Call of Duty Warzone worth it? or not.

The loot system of Warzone is similar to any other battle royale. You don’t have attachments for weapons instead you have weapon tiers with different colors. The weapon tier system is similar to Fortnite. However, weapon tier does not increase weapon damage but weapon tiers give you more and better attachments. The Tier system makes looting more convenient and quick. You don’t need to look for different attachments just to find the perfect one. All you need to do is look for the color and you are good to go. If you want quick loot then the answer to the question “Is Call of Duty Warzone worth it?” might be somewhat clear to you.

Before I played the game I didn’t think they will go free to play battle royale. I thought that they might go with the design of Black Out. The gear tier system sits well with the heath mechanics of the game. Armor and heath in Cod Warzone are lower than any other battle royale. A couple of shoots could take you down. Even when knocked you can still be a danger to enemies so they will take you down. Other mechanics compensate for the lower health system.

Gameplay Mechanics of Call of Duty Warzone.

Call of Duty Warzone is battle royale so there are zone mechanics. Instead of a traditional zone that kills you slowly if you get caught in it, the Gas zone will kill you very quickly. Think of it as the last ring in Fortnite or Apex. However, you can find or buy a gas mask which can give you ten seconds of immunity to the Zone. The zone will only lower your health and all you need to do is get into the safe Zone because your health can regenerate. There are no health kits in the game but there are armor plates. When you shoot an enemy you can hear their armor plate cracking. You will even get a visual indication for it. Each player can only carry 5 armor plates so you will have to replace your armor plates when they break.

Warzone is a cross-play game, so you will be able to play with players from both Xbox, Playstation, and PC. Cross-play was supposed to make matchmaking easier right? But in COD Warzone matchmaking is extremely difficult. If you already have a squad then matchmaking is easy but if you want the game to search for you then it will take lots of time. Sometime you won’t even get 3 people squad for a match. To make the matter worse disconnection issue is frequent. Some PC players with high-end PCs don’t even play with console players if they are random. Matchmaking is a big mess and they need to fix it.

There are 150 Players in the Battle Royale

Due to the Crossplay, each match has 150 players rather than 100. 150 player match makes the player encounters more frequent than other battle royals. Warzone is based on Modern Warfare so it shares problems with the base game. Slow gameplay, camping, and optimization are some of the problems. Camping is not that big of an issue in battle royale because players can’t stay in one place due to the Zone.

Mini Missions and Buy Stations In Battle Royale are Another Big Addition

As I said before that you need to earn cash. Picking up cash is not the only way of accumulating it. You can do mini-missions inside battle royale that will give you extra cash. Mini missions are pretty much the same. You will be given a task to kill a player for reward or you have to protect a location or you have to open boxes. Mini missions are there to provide you with an extra means to earn cash. They are challenging but they are also rewarding.

When players land on the map, they would need to pick money. This money can be used to buy different things from the Buy Station during battle royale. You can purchase kill streak, buy back your downed teammate, buy supply drop, armor, etc. The more money you have the more you can purchase. However, if you die you will lose everything including money. The player that kills you will get your money and gear. Additionally, if you kill another player then you can take their stuff and money too. So, it goes both ways. This might be the answer to your question “Is Call of Duty Warzone Worth It?”

Death is Not Final In Warzone Even if One Teammate is Alive

Warzone is a battle royale where you need to be the last man standing. In other battle royales when you die and your banner expires then you are gone. Regardless of how many of your teammates are alive, there is no chance for revival. In Warzone death is not permanent because there is always a chance for you to turn the tide. There are three ways to revive the game. Is Call of Duty Warzone Worth It? If you can learn from mistakes then it might be.

Gulag

When you die for the first time you will be sent to a prison called gulag. Once there you will get into a one on one battle with another player. The player that survives the one on one battle gets to go back to match. Your opponent will be another player and both of you will have the same gear. If you get killed then you are dead and the responsibility of your revival will fall on your teammate’s shoulders. You can only play in Gulag when you die for the first time in the game

Redeployment Token

There is no banner system like Apex Legends or Fortnite so your friends need to buy you a new chance. When you die for the first time you will be sent to Gulag. If you win you can return to the game but if you die for the second time or did not survive Gulag then your friends will need to buy a redeployment token. You can be revived again and again as long as one of your teammate is alive. Keep in mind that the cost of revival is $4500. Every time you die you lose everything so there is a grind for each revival.

Self-Revive Kit

The third option is the self-revive kit. You can find this kit on the map or you can purchase it from one of a buy station. The self-revive kit won’t save you from total death but you can revive yourself if you get knocked. It is a rare item on the map and it is the third most expensive item on Buy Stations. The cost of it is equal to the cost of reviving a dead friend. It is useful if you want to take enemies by surprise when they are fighting your teammates. Keep in mind that you will be extremely vulnerable when using the self-revive kit.

Plunder Mode is Battle Royale with Limitless Respawning

There is another free to play mode called Plunder Mode. This mode is a battle royale with a goal rather than being the last man standing. In plunder mode, you need to accumulate as much cash as possible. The team with the most cash gets to be the winner of the match. If another player kills you then you will die in lose all the cash that you were carrying. You will keep on respawning with zero cash if you die.

Players can’t keep holding on to the cash because if they die they will lose it. There are two ways to extract money. You can call for a helicopter to extract cash or you can tie it to the balloon that can be found lying around. If you can’t find a balloon then you can buy it from the Buy Stations. Once the timer runs out the team with more cash gets to be the winner. Each time you die you will come back with a loadout of your choice.

Like other free to play battle royales, there is a battle pass that players can purchase with in-game currency. The in-game currency can only be bought with real money. That is the whole business structure of a live service game. There is some unfair advantage to the players that have progressed in the Base Game. Every player can determine the load out of their drop before starting a match. The weapons used in these loads out are part of the progression. The weapon in these load-outs has extra perks that provide you with advantages that you can’t get from random weapons. These load outs can only be purchased so the start is similar for all players. You might get annoyed with battle pass keep popping up on the screen.

As of now, there is No Duo

There is no duo mode in Call of Duty Warzone. With the current mechanics of the game, solo mode is not a fun part of the game. First of all the game depends on Gulag and Redeployment token. Gulag system is working but it only gives you one chance. Gulag is your only chance of survival and it takes away the distinctive redeployment mechanics from the game. How will you even respawn if you don’t have teammates? Health and armor in the game are too low which will make the solo mode a boring experience. I just don’t think that solo battle royale with current mechanics is a good idea. Duo mode would have been better but it’s not there yet. Infinity Ward might add it later but now it’s not there.

How Does Call of Duty Warzone Compete Against Other Battle Royals?

Well, it’s not a direct competitor of Fortnite because Fortnite is the third person and it’s a different type of battle royale. It does compete with Fortnite but not as much as it competes with other battle royales such as Apex legends. Warzone is a slow pace FPS battle royal that similar to PUBG. Apex Legends is a fast pace hero shooter/battle royale. So Warzone won’t have much impact on Apex too. I prefer Apex over Warzone.

The game that going to feel a major blow is PUBG. Call of Duty Warzone is a direct competitor of PUBG. First of all, there are vehicles that share similarities with PUBG. Secondly, it’s a PUBG like free to play battle royale which makes it a big threat to PUBG because PUBG is pay to play. Thirdly it has cross-play support between three platforms while PUBG only supports cross-play between Xbox and PlayStation. Lastly, the graphics of Warzone are better and it has the name of Call of Duty. Free to play might be the mightiest blow to PUBG.

Is it Your Type of Game?

Call of Duty Warzone is another entry into the free to play battle royals. You don’t need to own Call of Duty Modern Warfare to play Warzone. The general gameplay is just like any other battle royale. However, there are some additions to battle royale making it different than other battle royales. It is a good addition to the free to play games. The game is not an excellent one but it’s a good game for a free to play Call of Duty.

Now it’s time to answer the question “Is Call of Duty Warzone Worth It?” If you are like battle royales then Call of Duty is defiantly the game for you. In case you have been playing the Modern Warfare game then it is still the game you will like. If you like competitive games and want to try a new battle royale then it’s still the game for you. However, if you don’t like competitive games or battle royales then it might not be the game for you. In short, it’s a game for players who like competitive and battle royale games.