It’s been less than 24 hours since we first got our official look at Warzone 2’s DMZ and Call of Duty fans are disappointed with what they saw.
Now dubbed online as “Plunder 2.0“, the mode has initially failed to offer fans a reason to want to play over the traditional Battle Royale experience. Creators who attended the event have even tentatively expressed their confusion and disappointment online.
As summarised nicely by Call of Duty content creator JGOD, he believes DMZ failed to deliver because one of the most important features of an extraction-based shooter, its economy, wasn’t at the event.
In addition, all the players at the event weren’t given a briefing on the mode causing the majority of people to play it like a traditional Battle Royale.
In short, people at the event online knew about the DMZ from rumors and reports online, creating a potentially confusing scenario. Creators spent several minutes trying to access all of the doors and windows to Strongholds for example, without knowing a key was required to open them. The lack of economy though was probably the biggest issue with the event.
It’s not clear if there simply isn’t an in-depth economy, or if it wasn’t enabled at the event. It’s been heavily rumored for months that the DMZ will feature an in-depth economy, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t active. Items around the map all had dollar values though, suggesting that it could come at launch.
Whatever the case may be, it seems like huge mistakes were made. DMZ has already left a sour taste in people’s mouths and unless there’s a serious marketing ramp-up in the week before its reveal, it’s likely to become just another mode.
The DMZ felt like it was missing the grittiness and hardcore elements that an extraction-based shooter needs. An extraction-based shooter needs to feel high stakes – It needs to feel like there’s potential danger around every corner. DMZ currently fails to deliver on that.
It needs to be distinguishable from the Warzone 2 experience with a different tone. Making the map darker could be a small step in the right direction, but if Infinity Ward delivers on that is another story.
What are your thoughts on Warzone 2’s DMZ?
