Game 24 - Call of Duty: Warzone - Week 14 - April 20

all of Duty: Warzone is a breath of toxic and fresh air. On the one hand it's probably the best Call of Duty I've ever played. On the other the playerbase is just as toxic it was on MW2. Whoever made the decision to allow you to hear the last thing someone says on mic after they die is a fucking GENIUS. This should be in more games, it's HILARIOUS. While it couldn't surpass Apex Legends as king of Battle Royals it certainly gave it a run for it's money. It showed me how tight the gunplay was in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare remake and convinced me to buy and play through the campaign at some point where I'd otherwise decided I would not. I don't think I've had this much fun with a Modern Warfare game since the first Black Ops (where my interest really stopped afterwards). Not only does each gun feel different and satisfying to kill, but the sheer amount of gadgets on display here is fantastic. Heartbeat sensors as a standout. The extent of weapon customization is insane, to the point of stripping an AK47 down to no scope or barrel until it's functionally an SMG. Most weapons have over 7-8 attachment slots! With half a dozen plus in each. The actual gameplay is fresh. Find money in chests or dead people (a long with weapons of course) and buy killstreaks, equipment, protection or even your team mates back. This keeps the flow going (cough PubG) and the matches intense. The parachute is your best friend. Taking an elevator shaft cable line to the top of a skyscraper, duking it out and then launching yourself off it to skydive in pursuit of an enemy is phenomenal. In one example I was in that exact situation but on the receiving end. I jumped off the building but came back around, parachuting into the side stairs, returning up and gunning down two enemies. Special shout out to plunder/blood money which was chaotic fun. Collecting and exhilarating bags of money you liberate from chests and corpses (with unlimited deaths) was great fun, particularly around the hotspot collection points. The best moment had to be jumping in a chopper with my cousin, as we did drop by collections and he launched himself from roofs back into the chopper as we flew off. When it's good it's good, and while it doesn't push the envelope to the nth degree and is marred by selective technical issues (my cousin had constant desync and stuttering), the tight shooting and intense moments make for a very fun distraction.