Modern Warfare II’s competitive scene is being dominated by ARs. Let’s talk about why that is and if it’s a problem.
Familiar Problem
Assault rifles are usually the stronger feeling role no matter what. The simple fact that they have more range means that it’s much easier for standard Call of Duty maps to lean in their favor as opposed to SMG players. SMG players almost always feel weaker in comparison and CDL SMG players almost always complain about it. Here’s a video from almost two years ago that touches on professional SMG players complaining about ARs being too strong/SMGs too weak in Black Ops Cold War:
Personally, I remember the 74u in Black Ops Cold War being absurdly powerful and most insane plays coming from SMG players, not ARs, yet there they were complaining about ARs being too strong. I said it up top and I’ll say it again, unless they are outright terrible, the strengths of ARs will always feel amplified in any Call of Duty title for a few reasons. Number one is how SMGs in competitive Call of Duty play. As we dive in further and talk about why ARs in MWII feel so powerful, just remember this is a familiar problem.
Is It Just Gun Balancing?
No, it’s not. There is a lot more that goes into which weapon class (ARs or Subs) has the most impact in a competitive Call of Duty game than just simply weapon tuning. These other factors include map design, perk design, lethal/tactical equipment design, and field loadouts.
Weapon balancing can absolutely make the problem worse, however. Before the M4 was GA’d a few months ago, it accounted for over 70% of all kills in the CDL season up until that point. Over time, since then, with the Taq-56 being used instead, the kill percentages of ARs and SMGs have gotten a lot closer.
Most Call of Duty games feel 50/50 when watching them. Yes, I know, mathematically speaking, they obviously don’t actually end up being balanced, but they usually feel mostly even.
The bottom line is that all high-level Call of Duty players are good enough at the game that, no matter how unbalanced the weapon tuning might be, subs will always be able to make game-changing plays. It’s still interesting to think about which role is being more consistently set up by the game to make these plays.
Map Design, Equipment, and Field Upgrades
The map design in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is terrible. It’s just bad. Almost all the issues plaguing the design of these maps favor assault rifles as well. There are an absurd number of head glitches (even by Call of Duty standards), large open areas, small places with long sight lines. These maps cater to the needs of an AR player far more than an SMG player.
The equipment in this game is also better suited for AR players as well. Stun grenades are extremely powerful in MWII and getting hit by one usually just means you’re dead. Frag grenades and Semtex are also quite strong in this game and heavily benefit AR players more than SMG players. Why?
Equipment favors ARs more because of how field upgrades work. Dead silence is, of course, no longer a perk. It is an on-use active that takes time to recharge and only lasts for a certain amount of time and the sound in MWII is insanely loud. If an SMG player doesn’t have dead silence, they basically can’t get to an AR player without the AR player hearing them from a mile away.
If stun grenades are so powerful, why can’t SMG players use them against AR players? AR players don’t usually take dead silence and instead take trophy systems and will be posted up on their head glitch or long sightline immune to tacticals and lethals while SMG players stomp around like King Kong and let ARs know they’re coming well in advance.
Conclusion
I could very easily end up going off on a bit of a tangent, so I’m going to end this discussion here before it gets out of hand.
Assault rifles are usually the stronger feeling role and MWII was unlikely to be any different. However, ARs still feel more powerful than they normally do and with the M4 being GA’d, it has less to do with weapon tuning and more to do with design decisions made by Infinity Ward.
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