Infinity Ward’s biggest update to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer suite is Warzone, a Battle Royale expansion featuring two distinct game modes. The massive map and one hundred and fifty players for each match is impressive, but it is not the first large-scale game mode to grace the 2019 first-person shooter.
That honor belongs to Ground War, which supports sixty-four players. Despite the high player count, the two are vastly different with their own pros and cons, which we detail below. Ultimately, which one is better comes down to personal preference or how one is feeling during a particular play session.
10 Ground War Is Better: Less Downtime
Ground War has set spawns and objectives, meaning most quickly find their spot to take hold and some enemies to destroy. The action doesn’t stop upon death, either, and expect to die plenty, unless one is a true expert.
Warzone, on the other hand, sometimes sees players walking around and collecting loot for several minutes before encountering hostiles. If they die and fail the Gulag, the process starts all over again. It helps ramp up the tension, but collecting loot for so long just to die makes it feel like the time was spent in vain.
9 Warzone Is Better: More Time To Breathe
In both modes, everyone has to be on their toes at all times. Ground War can become suffocatingly busy, which is a problem when one jumps into a game with friends and want to hang out.
While within Verdansk, players can explore the map and goof around. Death may be around the next corner, but the journey is just as fun and engaging as the battles. Besides, we’re sure Verdansk is still brimming with secrets players have yet to uncover.
8 Ground War Is Better: Objectives
Some want more purpose to their multiplayer game modes than simply running around the map and killing everyone they see. For those who want an extra layer to the gameplay, Ground War tasks players with capturing points on the map in an effort to dominate the level. The more points captured, the faster the score goes up.
If one team has all the zones and maintains them for a certain amount of time, then they win the match before the time ends. Killing is still a big part of the game, but the added objective adds an extra dynamic.
7 Warzone Is Better: Lives Are More Valuable
With its Gulag and ability for squad members to buy fallen comrades’ lives back, Warzone is slightly more forgiving than the average Battle Royale. Even with these cushions, every move counts and the slightest mistake can spell humiliating failure.
Sound strategies and team coordination critical to victory. Some prefer this tension over the haphazard action on Ground War’s maps. While it makes failure all the more devastating, kills are also doubly satisfying.
6 Ground War Is Better: Bigger Teams
When playing Warzone, two people are the most who are watching your back. When playing solo, the only person you have to rely on is yourself. Not everyone likes being the lone wolf, however, making Ground War more their speed.
With thirty-two teammates, players can travel in large packs and engage the enemy together. With fewer teams to worry about, it is generally easier to manage where the bullets are coming from. Massive squads battling over a control point creates moments of combat Warzone simply cannot recreate.
5 Warzone Is Better: Progression
One of the best feelings while traversing Verdansk is picking up great loot. Happening upon a good gun is only half the journey; one also has to amass a decent amount of cash by either scavenging it or doing contracts scattered throughout the land. This cycle of progression through each match is what makes the game mode so addictive.
Ground War uses the custom load-outs to which Call of Duty fans are already accustomed. Maybe some like the comfort of a guaranteed arsenal, but it robs the mode of discovery and progression.
4 Ground War Is Better: Tug Of War
Ground War is all about capturing several points on a map. After one team snags a zone, the other can always steal it back at any point during the match, creating an engaging tug of war.
In a match between evenly-matched opponents, zones constantly go back and forth between the two sides. Scores stay relatively even until the end when one team gains a slight edge. The zones changing hands so quickly forces teams to think on the fly and come up with new strategies.
3 Warzone Is Better: Victory Is In Your Hands
The idea of playing with big teams is awesome, but it comes with one big drawback. Sometimes, no matter how talented an individual player is, the team will lose because their comrades are simply not up to snuff.
This is why Warzone is more balanced and every victory feels wholly earned. With just two other teammates versus everyone else, every success and failure is almost solely the player’s responsibility. Maybe a certain teammate is lacking, but even a lackluster player is a valuable asset with good coordination.
2 Ground War Is Better: More Forgiving
Warzone is not for the faint of heart. If one is constantly felled a couple of minutes into a match, they are more than likely loathing their time in Verdansk.
Ground War is slightly more forgiving with its respawns and giant teams letting weaker players still enjoy the match and have a chance at victory. Dying thirty times in a match still isn’t fun, but at least it doesn’t end the match and even the weakest links still manage to net a few kills.
1 Warzone Is Better: Free-To-Play
Warzone is not just free for those who already own Modern Warfare, it is complimentary for anyone with an internet connection and an Xbox One, PS4, or powerful enough PC. This ensures a fairly massive player base, meaning finding a full game will never be a challenge.
It also encourages a larger diversity of skill sets. It’ll be interesting to see how the game mode changes in the months and years to come. Will they release a new mode next year, or will this version of Warzone maintain throughout the next several Call of Duty installments?
