While Call of Duty: Warzone 2 introduces the new Al Mazrah map, it integrates new and iconic locations together to serve as the crucible for the battle royale’s major overhaul of many core features and the introduction of the mechanics and movement of Modern Warfare 2. The bottom line is mixed, with some of Warzone 2.0’s new additions making the moment-to-moment action feel fresh, while updates to other classic Warzone features feel like a step backwards for the title of Battle Royale.
Warzone 2’s 150-player skirmishes of solo, duo, trio, and quad combatants are played on the new Al Mazrah map. The fictional desert region of Western Asia does a great job of blending the new multiplayer maps from Modern Warfare 2 with several nostalgic locations that Call of Duty fans will recognize. Your adventures in Al Mazrah will take you through Rust, Terminal, Highrise, Afghan and Quarry from the original Modern Warfare 2, and all the locations, old and new, combine to create a vibrant and beautiful environment.
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Now playing: Call of Duty: Warzone 2 Review
Compared to Modern Warfare’s Verdansk map, Al Mazrah feels more diverse, with its mix of barren desert, large bodies of water, cramped cities, and exposed small towns. Water was very limited in the original Warzone because Modern Warfare had no swimming mechanics, but the sequel includes all the features and mechanics of Modern Warfare 2, meaning that now large bodies of water, ships and swimming into the mix, and that These are significant additions that give you new ways to engage in Warzone 2. Being able to walk away from a bad firefight or use it as stealth to flank a particular opponent adds a new type of dynamism in confrontations.
There is also a much better balance with how the map is designed. Although vast, Verdansk Stadium and Caldera Peak focused attention on those massive landmarks, drowning them out. Al Mazrah, however, does not have a similar focal point that is difficult to navigate like the places mentioned above. Instead, there’s a great mix of environments with buildings for close-quarters action, but also plenty of open lines of sight for snipers. Fortunately, the wide areas don’t leave you too vulnerable when going through them, as there are plenty of large rocks and other things to use as cover, so turning from one point to another doesn’t always feel like a struggle.
Vanguard’s Caldera wasn’t a very popular map as it launched with tons of visibility issues and bugs. I didn’t encounter any Cauldron-like texture bugs or demon weapon bugs on PS5 in Al Mazrah – the map is vibrant and doesn’t seem to suffer from any lighting or visibility issues. While I think it will be hard to overcome the nostalgia of the original Verdansk map, I think Al Mazrah is a strong and balanced map for the Warzone sequel.
One of the major gameplay changes that Warzone 2 introduces is a brand new circle mechanic. Instead of one big circle, several “microcircles” appear at once. There can be up to three of these smaller circles active in a given match, but eventually they all merge back together for the final circle.
While unconventional for the battle royale genre, this approach adds a bit more spice to the mid-game action of Warzone matches. In Verdansk or Caldera, matches could quickly turn into camped players, to wait for more circles to collapse. Al Mazrah’s micro-circles force players to gather in condensed locations earlier to give you more engagements until the final collapse of the circle. This simple change ensures that matches feel engaging and like something is always happening.
While the microcircles are a smart and welcome change, the same can’t be said for Warzone 2’s revamped Gulag. Unfortunately, Al Mazrah comes with an overly complex and much larger Gulag arena, which often puts your fate in someone else’s hands. The Gulag is no longer a simple 1v1 field and instead your first death will transport you to a multi-level field where you fight in 2v2 matches while temporarily paired with another random player. The original Gulag was an exciting way to give yourself a second chance, as long as you had the skills to win a 1v1 fight. But this new 2v2 twist leaves your fate partially in the hands of a random player. Although this Gulag uses the game’s proximity chat feature, someone like me who sits in group chats with friends or teammates will have a hard time communicating with a temporary partner. And if they, or you, die, the odds of survival become much more dire for the surviving player.
There’s also the addition of an AI opponent known as the Jailer, who lurks around the arena with a minigun. He’ll fall in the fight if the match goes on too long, but defeat him and he’ll drop a key that will let you and any other surviving players out of the Gulag. This means you can choose to avoid him and fight your opponents as planned, or you can choose to fight the jailer and wait for an alternate escape. However, the Jailer is a bullet sponge and will likely need at least one other person to help you defeat him, which in turn can make matches last longer. The risk versus reward proposition with this mechanic feels unbalanced right now.
Overall, Al Mazrah’s home for second chances seems to be taking a few steps back. Of all the changes this sequel brings, this Gulag is one of the few that I hope will see some revisions.
Al Mazrah also features the addition of the new Stronghold and Black Site loot locations. At the end of the first circle collapse, strongholds are activated on the map and there are 77 random locations where strongholds can appear. However, there will only be three on the map at a time. Strongholds are marked on the map as a large castle icon, and the first team to reach them must defuse a bomb there before the timer runs out. Otherwise, the goal of the remaining strongholds is to eliminate a specific number of enemies. Completing them will reward you with items like your loadout, killstreaks, gas masks, etc.
You can go for an even bigger challenge with black sites, which are basically an even more dangerous form of fortresses. A black site is marked on the map with a skull icon and contains considerably tougher armored enemies, including a Juggernaut boss.
It’s also an attractive place to conquer for the in-game loot you receive for use in the match itself. Tools like a minigun, durable gas mask, charge drop, advanced UAV, or permanent UAV to ping enemies in the area surrounding the black site can be critical to success. The UAV lasts until the area is lost to circle collapse, meaning it can turn that location into a major power point with all the loot and high-end intelligence it has to offer.
Strongholds and Black Sites are a positive addition to Warzone. These are completely optional, but given how contested control of them can be, they serve as great locations for those who prefer a little more action in their battle royale. These areas are difficult to clear with AI enemies alone, but you’ll almost always find other human players looking to secure the items they offer or ambush you to take advantage of your efforts. Since their locations are randomized in each match, they’re also a good way to keep players on their toes.
Looting feels more natural to the environment in Warzone 2. Cash can be looted from cash registers, while medical supplies are found in places like first aid kits in bathrooms and ambulances. It’s much easier to find the item you need because you can search in specific places that make sense, rather than relying on random supply boxes.
Warzone also adds a simplified backpack system that looks like a hybrid between Black Ops 4’s Blackout Battle Royale and the original Warzone. You keep your typical Warzone loadout with a primary weapon, secondary, and tactical and lethal gear, but you now have a backpack that allows you to carry additional items that you couldn’t carry before. You start with a small pack that has six inventory slots, but you can loot or buy a pack that has more.
At first, having a backpack to store and remove items seems like a hassle, because you can often find yourself hiding somewhere rummaging through your backpack to drop or add items, feeling vulnerable in the process. However, it is really convenient to be able to carry more supplies. It’s nice to know you can carry an extra stack of armor plates for yourself or that teammate who never loots well enough. However, this approach also paves the way for some potentially annoying situations, such as having a backpack full of nothing but auto-rev or a pack loaded with only UAVs or a specific kill streak. There are opportunities to spam certain articles, if you can…