About this episodeThe host provides a generally positive review of the Call of Duty beta, rating it a 7/10, citing improved gunp…AI summary
The host provides a generally positive review of the Call of Duty beta, rating it a 7/10, citing improved gunplay, movement, and weapon leveling systems as major wins. However, the experience is significantly hampered by aggressive matchmaking that forces players into unbalanced lobbies and a convoluted score streak system that discourages objective play.
Key takeaways 6
Gunplay and Movement: The game successfully returns to a 'classic' Call of Duty feel with responsive movement and good visual shake. The host notes that while the initial beta had issues with ledge hangs and slide predictability, map design and tweaks have largely resolved these.
TTK (Time-to-Kill) Evolution: The TTK underwent extreme swings, starting at ~200ms (too volatile due to high headshot multipliers) and moving to ~300ms (too slow). This negatively impacted automatic weapons, driving players toward snipers and shotguns which one-shot kill.
Weapon Leveling System: A major improvement is the cross-progression of weapon levels across classes. This offsets the high level counts (68-76 levels), making DLC weapon acquisition feel like 15-20 levels rather than a chore, though attachment bloat remains a persistent issue.
Score Streak Complexity: The hybrid point system for score streaks is overly complex and unintuitive. Objective play yields negligible points (e.g., 4-6 tags for one point), failing to incentivize objective-focused gameplay compared to pure kill-based progression.
Matchmaking Issues: The host describes the current SPMM (Skill-Based Matchmaking) as the worst version experienced, characterized by 'lobby balancing' that actively works against the player by placing them against stacked enemy parties (e.g., 3v2 or 2v1) with randoms on their own team.
Visibility and Audio: PC players face visibility issues due to dark environments, excessive explosions, and blood splatter effects that clutter the screen. Footsteps are also criticized as being too loud, making 'Ninja' movement mandatory rather than optional.
Notable quotes 4AI-generated: wording and quote attribution may be wrong. Use the play link to verify.
“They ended up taking the TTK changes to an extreme... essentially nerfing it into the ground... making a lot of the TTKs feel bad and not necessarily solving the inconsistent TTK issue.”
▶ 3:56Critique of the second weekend beta changes where the host felt the developers overcorrected from high headshot multipliers by drastically reducing damage, hurting automatic weapons.
“The lobby difficulty was more cranked than it's ever been. My stats for a multiplayer game are the lowest I've ever had in a Call of Duty in 20 years.”
▶ 19:03Host's personal experience with the aggressive matchmaking, highlighting the frustration of facing stacked enemy parties consistently.
“If you needed creator to explain how this score streak... system works, then it's too complicated. It should just be straightforward and simple.”
▶ 8:40Argument for simplifying the score streak point system to better incentivize objective play without requiring external guides.
“I think without the matchmaking being the issue, it would jump up to like a nine for me... I'd probably give it a solid seven out of 10.”
▶ 23:01Final rating context, showing that core gameplay mechanics are strong but matchmaking ruins the overall experience.
Chapters & Sections (10)▼
0:00Call of Duty Beta Movement and Gunplay Analysischapter4
2:45Weapon Feel and TTK Balance Issues
4:32TTK Adjustments and Map Spawn Improvements
6:19Weapon Leveling and Gunsmith Critique
8:23Score Streak System Complexity Critique
10:57Multiplayer Visibility and Audio Issueschapter1
13:52Class Creation and Score Streaks
16:44Ground War Critique and Matchmaking Issueschapter2
18:24Matchmaking Frustrations and Lobby Balance
21:17Beta Review, Matchmaking Critique, and Rating
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