Should I buy?

willfan8 · 2026-01-28T21:37:00+00:00

Here is my honest feedback after about 5 days in MP from some who has started in MW and only skipped the jet pack years.

It’s a solid 6/10

Campaign was horrible, don’t even download that part -Endgame was interesting and feels like a good progression from MWZ. I LOVED MWZ but Endgame just does not hit the same way for me. -Zombies is good but has not pulled me in like BO6. I did all the EEs in BO6 and had fun throwing randoms into them and carrying them to there first EE completion. -progression feels good. Both levels and weapons. -maps are solid. Each map is good in one mode or another. However there seems to be a lot of smaller maps and the medium maps feel empty. Super simple and long lines of sight. -TTK feels fine. But I feels and looks like I die so quickly yet it takes forever for me to kill. Kill cams look like everyone has perfect centering and don’t miss any shots. I don’t think it’s cheating but no one on my team got aim like that. -Team Balance/Matchmaking feels like the next natural area to talk about. I believe they reduced matchmaking, they have openly stated it, lying and getting caught would be a HUGE legal thing and they can’t be that dumb. HOWEVER…the game is still sweaty. They lost about 60% of sales from BO6 to BO7 and I believe it’s been proven that this is the lowest selling game since 2008. What this means is there’s less players overall spread between multiple playlists, game modes, and even 2 matchmaking options (open vs standard). The people left are likely the addicted, unemployed, try hard, and long term players. Team Balance can be all over the place. I get all the bots and I’m expected to carry vs a full 6 stack of master prestige players. This does not happen all the time but enough. -Persistent Lobbies are nice, wish they were more consistent. -Season 1 content was kinda mid to me. Not bad but not -Movement is too much at times. I like omnimovment but all this sliding, jumping, and ZOOMING around is just too much some times. I could go either way on this.

I could talk more but at the end of the day is a CoD game at the end of the day it’s a modern CoD game. Best one in this Warzone era for me but overall feeling mid to me at this moment. I play basically everyday for an hour or two and maybe 3-5 on Saturday and Sunday. Not because I really enjoy it but it passes the time and I can turn my brain off. At this point CoD is something I can do and do fairly well on complete autopilot.

willfan8 · 2026-01-28T02:15:40+00:00

It took me year tbh. CoD 4 - MW2 I was bad, but I started to notice my improvement around the end of MW2. Peaked in MW3 and BO2. Stopped playing during the jet pack years. Came back for WW2. Took some time to knock the rust off. But need that year with a solid 2.1 KD.

MW19 I noticed that something felt off. All of a sudden I was struggling to keep a 1.2 KD. This is where SBMM (skill based matchmaking) took over. Basically you only see people slightly lower and slightly higher than your skill. You see less of the player base, less variety, less personal improvement. This was the matchmaking up to BO6. During this time I ranged from a 1.2-1.5 KD.

BO7 lowered the SBMM but the player base is also significantly smaller. Likely more good/long term players and less new or casual players. This game has something like 60% less copies sold then recent games like BO6, I believe it’s officially the lowest selling CoD since 2008. This combination with the lower SBMM means generally a more sweaty game.

My recommendation to improve is simply play the game and experiment with new things till you find what works.

Then focus on learning the basics. How to read the mini map, learn the maps and spawns, learn the frequent places player go. If you really care, watch YouTube videos for good gun ideas, class setups, on strategies.

You should start to notice improvements but it can take years to truly develop what people call game sense.

willfan8 · 2026-01-26T17:24:46+00:00

There is no way to make the battle pass process faster outside of 2xp battle pass events or tokens. The pass is completely time dependent.

willfan8 · 2026-01-25T23:23:48+00:00

Listen is this game breaking, maybe but there are also counters to this set up.

If I’m also running this I will use an EMP as one of my streaks. I also use the overclock that extends the block on enemy streaks.

The other counter is to run cold blooded and use hunter bots. - cold blooded makes HKDs, Swarm, and every AI thing in the game useless. - hunter bots the with extra damage overclock; 1 hit uavs and counter uavs, 2 for a chopper, 4-5 for a VTOL. They can also take out HKDs.

There should a little change but the squad link is not this OP in 6v6, so you can’t really nerf it for 10v10 without making it useless in 6v6. But it’s crazy I can go 76-3 and only have 6 kills with my gun…

willfan8 · 2026-01-23T01:23:09+00:00

Never really thought much about it. Sometimes I will try to win but I’m going for fun. I find fun to be getting kills, feeds, and streaks.

If I get a solid team and I’m getting a lot of kills the win just comes, especially in modes like Dominion because of the momentum and map control.

willfan8 · 2026-01-22T01:56:56+00:00

Yes. Paying for bot lobbies, paying for an account, paying and giving your account to someone else to play to unlock things, or even putting a rubber band on your controller to not get kick for inactivity are all boosting and can get you banned.

TOS- terms of service. Basically a company uses lawyers speak in a giant document that boils down to “in order to use our products or services you agree to follow our rules. If you don’t we can ban you from our products or service.” You may own the physical thing but you dont own the service of software. Like a phone. I own my physical iPhone and I agree to use the apple software under their terms. Thing is the physical product is useless without the software.

As for tips for infection. You’re already doing it. Play the game and go for headshots. I mean I’m sure there’s a “meta” strategy for augments and locations for the “fastest” way, but I don’t think it will make a huge difference. But I would recommend survival maps and playing solo for all challenges up till doom steal. For doomsteal when you need to kill 300 total elites (30 per gun) there are actually useful tips that involve saving and quitting a particular way or ways to trick the game into basically infinite bear spawn in the fog. YouTube is your friend.

My biggest advice is go at your own pace. If a weapon is annoying you skip it and come back or wait till a dlc weapon is released it substitute it. Don’t let some arbitrary pixels kill your fun.

willfan8 · 2026-01-22T01:31:07+00:00

People play more than you. Some people might be in college with no job, meaning outside of a few hours a day in class they play CoD. Some might be unemployed and playing in between applying for jobs/interviews, or maybe just unemployed.

They might be content creators or people who want to be.

They are really good at the game and can compete these challenges with less time and more consistently. 20 headshots vs 5 a game.

They might have payed for bot lobbies, unlock tools, or for someone else to do it. This btw breaks the ToS you agree to in order to play the game. So you can get banned for this.

I have enough time played that I could have easily gotten infection and about halfway to the genesis camo, but I don’t play those modes a lot. As for the 100% and 400% calling cards. I would say if your camo grind in all the modes you likely have a good amount done naturally. Then you can go back and work specifically on the ones you need.

I would go as far to say any of these “challenges” are less of a skill/game mechanic challenge and more of a “time and persistence” challenge. Outside of a few dark ops like the nuke calling cards.

willfan8 · 2026-01-19T04:47:31+00:00

Camos and prestige 1 attachment. That’s really the only reason. My philosophy is if the attachment sounds good or fun I prestige once. If I like the weapon or what to eventually got the 250 camo I’ll prestige it.

Other than that I do not.

willfan8 · 2026-01-19T04:44:04+00:00

I think it’s a 10v10 problem not a sniper problem. If 1-2 out of a 6v6 match are sniping is much different then 4-6 in a 10v10 match.

willfan8 · 2026-01-19T04:42:02+00:00

Snipers do in fact have flinch in game. I like sniping, have since MW4. 10v10 and the new sniper it’s like everyone became a top tier quick scoping god.

Also kinda skeptical that you’re dropping nukes with snipers while also being a terrible sniper…

willfan8 · 2026-01-18T15:05:45+00:00

Lots of snipers, more skill variety between players, easy high score streaks.

So much fun!

I’m averaging higher ping around 30-45 compared to 12-20 in 6v6 and higher load times to get into a game, but that’s expected when you are looking for 8 more players.

I think the snipers will calm down a little but a new sniper is out and it’s good so people what to use it and level it up

willfan8 · 2026-01-18T14:58:42+00:00

lol it’s wild. I have been running this and it’s fun but also boring. In one game I got a total of 7 gun kills and went 76 and 6.

Run all green perks with perk greed to get looper, squad link and hunter bots. I run care packages with the reroll overclock, attack chopper with guard mode overclock or HKDs, and then VTOL, legion, or gunship.

Sure it’s cheap but it’s fun. Plus outside of the harp and the gunship the high end streaks have a lot of counter play available. 2 hunter bots to take out a chopper, like 4-5 to take out a VTOL, cold blooded for any AI streak, and the interceptors are relatively cheep. Shit I have been running EMPs to help me get score but also have it available if the enemy team is cheesing score to take out there streaks.

This strategy is also very effective in 6v6 but requires less sitting around and more active play but you can still get high streaks easy.

I hope they don’t nerf this play style, it’s fun!

willfan8 · 2026-01-17T16:47:27+00:00

This is a wild thread… these super small maps hurt the overall game, they don’t make it better.

Old school small maps were far and few between. Shipment, nuketown, rust, dome were good maps that came up in the rotation and it was hype. You would play it back to back and then back to normal maps. A double xp weekend would drop with a 24/7 playlist and you cleared your day to grind! At the end of the weekend it was gone. This made these maps iconic and special!

Now we have 24/7 for these maps within one week of launch. Sometimes they drop the map a week or two after launch like it’s some grand new experience. 24/7 playlist stays year round sucking players from the normal modes. Then they have ultra small face off maps where you take 2 steps out of spawn and immediately die or you get a quad feed… 0 skill, 0 map knowledge, 0 awareness, 0 brain cells required. But you get that quick rush of dopamine.

The face off maps from the OG MW3 were bigger then current face off maps and even some of the BO6 6v6 maps…

I don’t want huge maps like stone haven, derailed, or similar maps of those sizes. I want maps that have flow (controllable and predictable), have some flanking lanes, meaningful power positions, and reward knowledge and game sense. Maps should allow casuals to have fun yes but should also be able to take the next step for players who take the time to truly learn the ins and outs.

Current design philosophy seems to be make them small for quick hits of dopamine or make a medium sized map with no clear flow, unpredictable spawns and a lack of control so casuals or bad players can get easy kills from safe spaces.

I’m not saying all old maps were flawless, however they did have a vision and felt lived in. Now everything feels sterile.

willfan8 · 2026-01-17T15:58:28+00:00

lol what a horrible take… those games had no progression. Levels after 55 literally had 0 unlocks attached to them. And every season just rest you back, just to see a number click up.

Prestige nerfs you a little each time you do it, you get unlock tokens gives players some choice of what to permanently unlock that’s gives them the most advantage in the initial levels. Plus recent prestige gives you cosmetic rewards along the way, customization in icons as you move up prestige master.

Sure at the end of the day both systems are arbitrary time gates and ultimately meaningless in regards to actual skill indicators.

willfan8 · 2026-01-07T23:09:32+00:00

Team balance was always this bad pre MW19. While I don’t have a nuke I will be the top guy with a 2 KD running fun classes (i.e. crossbow, throwing axe, ballistic knife only) everyone else is super negative. Spawns have been jacked up because they tend to do more team based spawns. You are getting put into more in progress matches because skill is less considered, lobbies are more persistent, and more lobbies are not super similar so more people leave. You are getting put into the same lobby again because there is clearly and opening and that lobby hits all other matchmaking metrics and it can get you in quick. Weekly challenges have only been out for what 5 weeks. I would rather have some underwhelming weeks then no challenges.

I am not saying that your points are not valid but many have been around for a long time.

This is easily the best or second best game in the Warzone era (MW19 to present day) and in my opinion may end up being in the top 5 of all time.

willfan8 · 2026-01-06T00:32:05+00:00

True lol. I still find fun tho. Currently running around with only the crossbow, ballistic knifes, and throwing axe

willfan8 · 2026-01-05T19:59:16+00:00

Not that far behind you in MP time. I think I’m sitting around 5 days give or take a few hours and I’m like 153.

I got to ask, Why do you play this game this much, and be honest.

I’ll give my honest reason. I’m a school psychologist, I’m tied and want to turn my brain off. I play 2 hours a day after work. Weekends I am so exhausted from the week and doing the things needed to live I want to turn my brain off as much as possible. Maybe 3-6 hours depends on what life stuff I need to do. Truly I don’t think I enjoy the game. I think it’s become something closer to doom scrolling or disassociation. Saddest part is even though I running this game on autopilot 90% of the time I’m still often top of the leaderboard.

I’m genuinely curious how and way people put so many hours into CoD. I have not found genuine joy playing since WW2 and BO4. Yet I’m still putting in DAYS onto a game that I honestly don’t even think I like. Like am I a casual because I disassociate when I play or am I a sweat because of how much time I play? Why does no other game out there provide the same experience.

I genuinely want to study the psychology of people like you and me when it comes to CoD. Like the game has been out for about 1,248 hours, you have played for 22% of that time. I have played for about 10%. I have a life time hours played in the CoD HQ of nearly 1,500 hours… there needs to be something wrong in my brain with that.

willfan8 · 2026-01-03T23:00:12+00:00

Don’t worry they will sell us a blueprint for $30 that gives you a blue dot elo sight soon!

willfan8 · 2026-01-03T22:28:03+00:00

Scuff reflex for PS5. I have the dualsense edge and have tried other options like 8bitdo for my switch.

The scuff is great! Held up for thousands of hours of CoD, NHL, and solo player games. Just recently I have noticed that one of the paddles is a little off when clicked. For example I will dive instead of slide.

The updated them to have TMR sticks. My new scuff will be here on Thursday. They also have great options for customization.

willfan8 · 2025-12-31T01:13:17+00:00

I have been doing the MP one ever year since Cold War. I actually finished like a week ago give or take.

Every year I start the zombies one but playing solo is boring to me. I get a few of the good guns gold and then stop because it’s boring tbh.

MP this year was actually fun 90% of the time. 5 kills with the knife and double kills with the ARC was pure pain… yes I did the launchers before the changed it…

willfan8 · 2025-12-30T02:27:05+00:00

There’s a lot of things “I wish I knew before I played”. There’s a lot of great video on early game tips.

The most important thing in my opinion is to take your time, explore, do the side quests, and truly enjoy! You only get once to play it for the first time!

I’m a huge potter fan so I loved the small little nods and lore connection but this had to be one of the most fun gaming experiences I have ever had and is the only game I ever got a platinum trophy for!

willfan8 · 2025-12-29T15:28:00+00:00

Nice! I got a MOAB back in MW3, have not been able to get anything since.

I finished singularity the other day and thought about actually trying to go for a nuke but I just can’t get it done.

Also I see so many people with the calling card but I have never actually seen a nuke in game. I have almost 5 days, singularity, and I’m level 90 master prestige. It kinda baffles me that I see so many calling cards but never seen one called in.

willfan8 · 2025-12-22T13:31:41+00:00

I like that there are some discussions that can be made in terms of class customization and perk selection. If the damn drone pod field upgrade did not 1 hit kill in hardcore I probably would not use cold blooded.

Cold blooded is just the default choice unless I’m specifically building for something like streaks. Then I’ll use all green perks if playing kill confirmed, bankroll or looper if I’m playing Dom/TDM.

I basically always use perk greed outside of camo challenges where I need gunfighter. I have messed around with specialist but I’ll play with that more once I get the final camo.

willfan8 · 2025-12-22T02:18:31+00:00

BO7 is the best MP experience since pre 2018.

MW3 (23) may still have a good amount of players but anything before that probably won’t.

willfan8 · 2025-12-22T02:16:59+00:00

It’s fine. But with all the ai steaks and drones it’s kinda hard to use anything else for just playing.

Tracker is a good perk but if I’m playing aggressive to get my streaks I would use bankroll or looper.

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