Are Innovative Mechanics Good For Call Of Duty?

The overall pace of recent Call of Duty titles has been on the rise, with players frantically rushing around the map at breakneck speed in a bid to get the upper hand over the opposition. Days of sitting patiently at the back of a map with a sniper or holding down an angle with an assault rifle are long gone thanks to the introduction of small, yet innovative, game mechanics that can provide a split-second advantage. In a game like Call of Duty where every second counts, these mechanics have split the opinion of the often-vocal community.

On one hand, some players are in favour of these crafty mechanics being implemented into the game in order to increase the skill gap but on the other hand, others think that the mechanics are detracting from the classic Call of Duty gameplay experience that so many have been after for a number of years.

With the release of Vanguard just a few months away and with rumours circulating surrounding the return of movement features and in-game items from the 2019 reboot of Modern Warfare, are these innovations good for the franchise or should more simplistic mechanics be applied?

Slide Cancelling And Tac Sprint: Good Or Bad?

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Over the past two Call of Duty releases, a number of new techniques to navigate the map have been discovered thanks to the addition of Tactical Sprint. The new movement gives players a slight increase in sprint speed, enabling them to traverse the map even faster than regular sprinting. This combined with a fast sprint-to-fire time makes reacting to an opponent extremely fast and while it may be good for one player, the opponent has minimal time to react, and before they know it, they’re viewing the Killcam.

Alongside Tac Sprint, slide cancelling has become the norm for players, guaranteeing that they're in the best possible position to engage with an enemy. The movement mechanic featured heavily in Modern Warfare and still plays a prominent role in Black Ops Cold War despite a slower movement speed. By sliding around a corner and managing to cancel it once out of cover, players can earn a split-second advantage over anyone that is attempting to hold that particular angle, which can be annoying if you’ve been patrolling a specific area for a prolonged period of time.

There are many players that are calling for a slower pace of gameplay but if rumours are to go by, slide cancelling and Tac Sprint will be appearing in Vanguard which is apparently set to release in Q4 of 2021. While these mechanics do separate the very best players from the average, they’re often the cause of controversy within the community, as well as game-breaking bugs that take several weeks to address.

Should Field Upgrades Be Removed?

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Just like Tac Sprint and slide cancelling, it looks like Field Upgrades will also be remaining in Call of Duty when Vanguard arrives, despite numerous calls for the items to be included into equipment categories and as additional Perks to encourage more variety. In Black Ops Cold War, a Trophy System can be earned over a specific period of time rather than being placed as soon as one is required, as it isn’t a piece of utility. From a casual perspective, it’s understandable to see why a developer doesn’t want constant spam of equipment over the course of a match but from the perspective of a competitive player, having access to a piece of equipment that can be used to execute a strategy to perfection as soon as a match starts makes a lot more sense than a Field Upgrade. There is a case of the developers removing Field Upgrades entirely, but the likelihood of that happening is slim, much to the annoyance of the community.

A Traditional Approach?

Although these additions have bought in a new layer of tactics to the Call of Duty franchise, there was never anything wrong with the slower pace of gameplay that appeared in 2017’s World War 2 which was a welcome return to traditional boots-on-the-ground action. There was no slide cancelling, Tactical Sprint, or Field Upgrades impacting the skill gap or the overall pace of the game. Perhaps it was the best example of what a Call of Duty game should be and considering the lack of popularity for the features mentioned above, it might be worth Sledgehammer Games reconsidering their inclusions before players get their hands on Vanguard and let their opinions fly.

In my opinion, I think these additions have detracted massively from the Call of Duty franchise, even though they have somewhat increased the skill gap. Superior positioning and gunskill should always be the deciding factor when it comes to taking on an opponent and if players can manage to overcome these two key features thanks to a well-timed slide or hurtling around a corner at an uncontrollable speed then what’s the point of attempting a different style of play when you know an aggressive submachine slayer is always going to get the upper hand regardless of the situation? The release of Vanguard is still a way off and if these features do make the cut, it will be very interesting to see how the community reacts.