One-shot sniper rifles are returning to Warzone this week
Players broadly seem to be in favor of the Season 3 tweak, but are concerned about movement speed.
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Season 3 begins on Wednesday in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2, and asMorgan observed last week, it might be the first big update that pleases players of both games. One change to Warzone 2 might be mildly controversial, though: one-hit sniping is back.
“Expect the return of one-shot sniper rifles,” said the Warzone 2 team ina blog posttoday, “under certain attachment and platform conditions.”
The reaction I’m seeing is largely positive. Making Warzone 2 more like Warzone 1 has beena theme of Activision’s updates, and for better or worse, a popular one. A lot of fans of the original Warzone miss one-shot sniping, and on Reddit, one playerposted a funny complaintabout their sniping-obsessed squadmate who spends ages futilely trying to countersnipe other snipers, with neither able to score a killing shot.
“Snipers were borderline useless, and only very situational,” they said. “Needless to say I’m very excited for my buddy to let his kill get away even faster. This is a very welcome change. Thank god.”
Players are also expressing worry, however, that Warzone 2’s movement speed will make one-hit sniping frustrating to face. There’s a lot of uncertainty here, too: How hard will it be to acquire the attachments needed, and what will the range and bullet velocity be like?
(Update:On Tuesday, welearned more on that: “Bolt-action snipers equipped with Explosive Ammunition will be able to down enemies with one skill shot. The MCPR-300 has also had Explosive Ammunition added to its progression.")
Warzone 2 Season 3 will also see the return of ranked play, which’ll be added mid-season, five new guns, and a new Gulag map, among other additions—the plans are summarized inthis blog post, along with the Modern Warfare 2 additions for Season 3.
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I’m not a Warzone player, so I have no horse in this race. I can see both sides: I love sniping in games, and it’s frustrating when a beautiful long-distance shot just tags an enemy who can then easily get away. But I also do not like to be sniped. Life is full of contradictions.
I am still playing regular Modern Warfare 2 team deathmatch, though—very late-30s behavior—and I’m excited for Season 3’s night maps, which may finally gives us a better reason to use night vision. My only fear is that they’ll nerf the Tempus Torrent marksman rifle introduced in Season 2, because I’m crushing with that thing right now.
Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the ’80s and ’90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call “boomer shooters” now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that’s right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he’s focused on the site’s news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.
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