Playing Against Bots in Warzone
Warzone added a new “casual mode” to its Battle Royale at the start of Season 4. This reduced the number of real players in-game and substituted them with AI bots. The ratio is approximately one fifth real players, four fifths bots. This new mode for Battle Royale solos, duos and quads was well received, especially among the mainstream players who are more focused on fun than progression. Veteran players who still wanted the challenge of playing against real players were free to continue playing the traditional BR modes. Hence all parties were pleased as they were both being catered for. However, and there is always a “however” when it comes to Call of Duty, the developers saw fit to remove the standard solo Battle Royale mode, leaving just the Battle Royale Casual mode with AI bots. Subsequently, a lot of players were perplexed and annoyed, as taking away choice is seldom good customer service. As a result of subsequent backlash, the mode was added back to the game mid-season.
Warzone added a new “casual mode” to its Battle Royale at the start of Season 4. This reduced the number of real players in-game and substituted them with AI bots. The ratio is approximately one fifth real players, four fifths bots. This new mode for Battle Royale solos, duos and quads was well received, especially among the mainstream players who are more focused on fun than progression. Veteran players who still wanted the challenge of playing against real players were free to continue playing the traditional BR modes. Hence all parties were pleased as they were both being catered for. However, and there is always a “however” when it comes to Call of Duty, the developers saw fit to remove the standard solo Battle Royale mode, leaving just the Battle Royale Casual mode with AI bots. Subsequently, a lot of players were perplexed and annoyed, as taking away choice is seldom good customer service. As a result of subsequent backlash, the mode was added back to the game mid-season.
After several months of consistently playing the new casual mode, I wanted to share my thoughts on replacing players with bots. It is in many respects both a boon and a bane. The principle is sound enough, replacing veteran players with less skilled bots ensures that new or less skilled players (IE the majority of the playerbase) don’t get repeatedly stomped on and thus driven from the game. However, the way the bots behave in-game is inconsistent, resulting in some rather anomalous behaviour. As there is no data publicly available regarding how the bots “work”, all I can provide are my own observations. Overall the bots mimic player behavior. If a bot sees you, it will engage. It will also pursue you but it can be lost. They will use skills such as air strikes and mortar attacks to flush players out. However, they also use some unique abilities to keep the game play “engaging”.
I play Warzone cautiously. I often go to specific locations on the map which are easier to defend or can be used for cover. I will often wait in elevated positions observing and not directly engaging in firefights happening around me. Theoretically, such a strategy should leave me unassailed except by the occasional and genuinely random incursion by a bot. But this is not the case. After a while of what the game probably classifies as inactivity, bots often appear close by. I suspect that they simply spawn near me. Similarly, the moment I collect my loadout of choice from a drop, this will often trigger a bot attack, irrespective of whether I’m in an “active area” or not. It would also appear that as your kill count against the bots goes up, the bots themselves become harder to kill. That is not to say that they become more skillful but they seem to increase their ability to be “bullet sponges”.
Another matter worth considering is that of server tick rate. Warzone has a tick rate of 20Hz, meaning the game server updates player actions and the overall game state 20 times per second. This is lower than many other popular first-person shooters, which then contributes to issues such as hit registration and perceived lag. Simply put, I can start shooting at a bot (or a real player if need be) who then returns fire but I lose the exchange. The killcam then shows the opposite of what happened with the bot firing first. Even when you take into account the type of weapons being used and their respective quality, this seems to happen a little too often. You can engage a bot who has demonstrably inferior weapons and still get “short changed”. As a player, you instinctively know when you’ve encountered this problem and the fact that it’s a known issue that persists due to infrastructure costs, makes it more annoying.
Overall, playing in a casual manner against bots and a handful of players works quite well. From time to time you’ll find a skilled real player who plays this mode to effectively troll the other players. So far I have not found that to be a common experience. Personally, I would like it if we had the option of playing a private Warzone game, exclusively against bots that you could vary the skill settings. It would finally dispense with the risk of anyone abusing voice or text chat, which is still an issue. As it stands at the moment, the casual mode is acceptable and fun, as long as you’re aware of the concessions the developer’s have made to make the game feel like a regular Warzone game. Hence you will get bots behaving as described and don’t get to play exclusively on your own terms. If you embrace this trade off then you can enjoy casual mode.
Warzone: Verdansk Spoilt in Less Than a Month
When the Battle Royale Call of Duty: Warzone launched on March 10th 2020, the Verdansk map was one of the key elements of the game’s success. The subsequent lockdown due to the global pandemic was also a major shot in the arm for the game, with so many gamers being home. The Verdansk map along with the gameplay mechanics of the game at the time were a perfect combination and so Warzone was “just so”. It allowed both skilled and unskilled players to play together, without one group dominating the other. Gunfights could be intense but there were periods of downtime when traversing the map. Players also couldn’t continuously respawn if defeated, so there was a requirement to play with a degree of caution and strategy. I enjoyed the game immensely despite not being the biggest fan of PVP based gaming. It was a broadly equitable experience but sadly it didn’t remain that way.
When the Battle Royale Call of Duty: Warzone launched on March 10th 2020, the Verdansk map was one of the key elements of the game’s success. The subsequent lockdown due to the global pandemic was also a major shot in the arm for the game, with so many gamers being home. The Verdansk map along with the gameplay mechanics of the game at the time were a perfect combination and so Warzone was “just so”. It allowed both skilled and unskilled players to play together, without one group dominating the other. Gunfights could be intense but there were periods of downtime when traversing the map. Players also couldn’t continuously respawn if defeated, so there was a requirement to play with a degree of caution and strategy. I enjoyed the game immensely despite not being the biggest fan of PVP based gaming. It was a broadly equitable experience but sadly it didn’t remain that way.
I won’t cover old ground. Warzone has been a dog’s dinner in all its various iterations since the halcyon days of Verdansk. Its faults and flaws are well known and hence there has been a decline in players over time. Which is why the developers decided to bring back the Verdansk map in the hope of turning the tide of the game’s fortune. As you would expect there was a lot of excitement and scepticism regarding this announcement. Would this simply be the old map with the current game mechanics in place or would the developers strive to adjust all aspects of Warzone to make it more akin to the 2020 experience? Well to cut a long story short, Verdansk returned to Warzone on April 3, 2025, as part of Season 3 of Black Ops 6 and to everyone's amazement it was as near a return to the state of play that existed in 2020 that the developers could manage.
It is hard for me to impress upon casual readers the significance of this development. It genuinely felt that the powers that be had actually listened to the player base and considered their requests. Gone were the redeployment drones and the constant opportunities to quickly move around the maps. Weapons choice and vehicles suddenly mattered again and the insane pace of the game was slowed down. Even the omni-movement system was tweaked. Getting “downed” and sent to the Gulag suddenly had consequences once more. Overall the game changes meant that both experienced and casual players had sufficient factors working in their favour. After watching some videos I reinstalled Warzone and was pleasantly surprised at how it felt like “the good old days”. You could play, have fun but also time to think, as opposed to being in an unrelenting pressure cooker.
But (and there is always a but when it comes to Call of Duty), despite all the positive player feedback, Black Ops 6 Season 3 Reloaded was released on May 1st, 2025 and pretty much undid all the previous good work. Bugs, weapon imbalance and a massive influx of cheaters have effectively derailed the return of Verdansk. There is a major lag issue that some players are using to their advantage and armour plates are simply not registering. The game’s hit box system is also messed up, removing any degree of certainty when a player decides to fire their weapon. Server stability continues to be problematic with disconnects and data desynchronisation. Simply put, this update has diminished the game and effectively given a reason for returning players to leave once again. Perhaps the saddest aspect of this sorry tale is that no one is really that surprised and the return of Verdansk has failed in less than a month.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
I originally climbed aboard the Call of Duty bandwagon in 2009 when Modern Warfare 2 came out. I enjoyed the campaign and the multiplayer so much I promptly bought the first instalment. I then stuck with the franchise up until 2013. I didn’t especially like Ghosts, although I enjoyed the option to play as a dog which was different. Overall I was somewhat tired of the FPS genre from then on and so didn’t keep up with any further releases. For me the best iteration of the game was Black Ops in 2010. The campaign had a densely plotted story and the multiplayer was extremely polished. The multiplayer maps were well conceived allowing for fluid and engaging gameplay. Six years on and I recently got an itch to play Call of Duty again. The soft reboot of the franchise with Modern warfare in November 2019 promised a return to basics. The recent inclusion of a battle royale mode with the release of Warzone finally clinched the deal. So I bought a discounted version of the standard game recently and dived back in.
I originally climbed aboard the Call of Duty bandwagon in 2009 when Modern Warfare 2 came out. I enjoyed the campaign and the multiplayer so much I promptly bought the first instalment. I then stuck with the franchise up until 2013. I didn’t especially like Ghosts, although I enjoyed the option to play as a dog which was different. Overall I was somewhat tired of the FPS genre from then on and so didn’t keep up with any further releases. For me the best iteration of the game was Black Ops in 2010. The campaign had a densely plotted story and the multiplayer was extremely polished. The multiplayer maps were well conceived allowing for fluid and engaging gameplay. Six years on and I recently got an itch to play Call of Duty again. The soft reboot of the franchise with Modern warfare in November 2019 promised a return to basics. The recent inclusion of a battle royale mode with the release of Warzone finally clinched the deal. So I bought a discounted version of the standard game recently and dived back in.
This post is not intended as a review. There have been plenty of those already. What I mainly want to do is share a few thoughts on the way Call of Duty Modern Warfare handles the various kinds of multiplayer modes. The campaign is acceptable and does what it’s supposed to do. Does it go out of its way to be controversial? Yes but the franchise has form for this. But let’s face it, these games are bought for their multiplayer component and that is where the franchise strength and innovation has always been. At present (Season 3) there are over forty multiplayer maps available in the game. Some of these are small and deliberately confined, offering rapid gameplay for small teams (2vs2). Then there are medium maps offering a more traditional multiplayer experience. Some of these are remakes of classic maps from CoD4, CoD MW2 and CoD MW3. And then there are the larger ground war maps, designed for 64 players in total. These offer a far more tactical approach to the game, rather than pure run and gun gameplay.
Out of all game modes, I enjoy Team Deathmatch the most. For me this is the most purest multiplayer experience to be found in CoD MW, unburdened with complexity or gimmicks. However in the latest instalment of the game, the degree of my enjoyment is very dependent upon which map is being played. Some such as Azhir Cave or Hackney Yard offer a sufficient variety of environments to afford the player a good choice in loadouts. These maps provide fluid gameplay but the players still have a choice of strategy. This is CoD MW at its best. However, the dial gets turned up to 11 on many of the smaller maps such as Gulag Showers. These are fine if they are played with the correct size team but if utilised with larger populations they become just a frenzied free-for-all. Spawn, spray gun fire, die, rinse and repeat. It’s manic gameplay that means that everyone will get a number of kills simply by random chance. And then there’s the Ground War maps which work best if each team plays in a collaborative and coordinated manner. Or else you spend half your time just trying to find where everyone else is at. Alternatively you can dig in and camp.
Then there’s the Plunder Mode, where the objective is to collect cash hidden around the map and then arrange for its collection. The principle is sound but the reality of the situation is not the same as the concept that is sold during the tutorial. The matches often take far too long. They’re limited to either 30 minutes maximum (which is forever in this fast paced genre) or until either squad has collectively banked $1 million. All too often the majority of players are concentrated in one area of the map, focusing on the same stash of money. These fights again just become a free for all, which makes them initially amusing but such an approach gets old quickly. Unlike the Warzone multiplayer experience there is no mechanic that forces the gameplay along or advances the situation. As a result Plunder Mode often descends into a “wee stooshie”, robbing players who crave a more measured approach of any measured fun.
Finally, Warzone is a surprisingly good attempt at the Battle Royale genre from the Call of Duty developers. It manages to add just enough innovation to the formula to make it sufficiently different from other games. The standout mechanic is the chance to re-enter the game, if you die early on. You respawn in the Gulag Showers map armed with just a sidearm and go one on one with another player. The victor is redeployed in the Warzone. Then there’s the looting in the actual combat zone itself, which is streamlined and equitable in the initial stages of the game. However, there is the ability to have prebuilt loadouts air dropped into the game and this can make a sizable difference to proceedings. Experienced players therefore tend to end the latter stages of the game better geared and with useful killstreaks and buffs. Warzone also works better with team based gameplay as this encourages a more proactive approach to exploring the map and seeking out the enemy.
As ever with multiplayer games, the wild card in the proceedings is the human element. If you play with a group of friends then you’ll more than likely find the engaging gameplay you seek. Play with strangers and it becomes far more of a lottery. Players will abandon pick up groups if they underachieve or differ in skill. Playing Warzone with 150 solo players is also a challenge. The sensible thing to do is the aim for where you think the centre of the ever decreasing circle will be, grab a weapon and find somewhere to dig in. You can frequently find yourself in the last remaining 20 players this way but it doesn’t make for the most compelling gameplay. Also joining a game populated by experienced players who know the maps well and have unlocked optimal loadouts can also make Team Deathmatch an uphill struggle. The flaw in most of the multiplayer permutations in CoD MW is that you have to play a lot to unlock resources and learn your way around before you get the most out of the game. Hence newer players may well become despondent at being cannon fodder and thus leave the game.
However, CoD MW has a saving grace that can throw a lifeline to new players who find themselves battling the learning curve. There is a multiplayer practise mode which allows you to play against bots of varying difficulty. It allows you to customise your loadout (and there is an insane amount of scope to customize your weaponry), pick a specific map and experiment with the various game modes. Furthermore, the AI of the bots is quite challenging. There is also a tutorial for Warzone, although it is confined to a specific part of the map (The Quarry) and doesn’t offer the scope of the other multiplayer practise modes. I would certainly recommend practise mode, especially for those players who dislike live PVP and its associated “culture”. Overall, Call of Duty Modern Warfare offers exactly what it claims to and if approached with the right mindset, will provide varying degrees of entertainment. If you have friends you can play with, then you’ll experience the best that the franchise can offer. As ever dedicated servers are sorely missed and every now and then you’ll have a poor game due to the players or the host quitting. The developers also need to come up with an incentive for players to stick around until the end of the match. However such issues have always been inherent with any sort of PvP. If you bear all of this in mind then the latest instalment of CoD can offer you hours of entertainment.
