[News] Call Of Duty: Warzone 2 Review - Al Mazrah Shines

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Although Call of Duty: Warzone 2 introduces the new Al Mazrah map, it integrates both new and iconic locations together to serve as a crucible for the battle royale's big overhaul to a lot of core features and the introduction of Modern Warfare 2's mechanics and movement. The end result is mixed, with some of Warzone 2.0's new additions making the moment-to-moment action feel fresh, while updates to other classic Warzone features feel like a step back for the battle royale title.

Warzone 2's 150-player skirmishes of solo, duo, trio, and quad combatants are played out on the new Al Mazrah map. The fictional desert region in Western Asia does a great job of combining new Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer maps with several nostalgic locations that longtime Call of Duty fans will recognize. Your adventures in Al Mazrah will take you through Rust, Terminal, Highrise, Afghan, and Quarry from the original Modern Warfare 2, and every location--old or new--blends together to create a vibrant and beautiful environment.

In comparison to Modern Warfare's Verdansk map, Al Mazrah feels more diverse, with its mixture of arid desert, large bodies of water, tight cities, and exposed small towns. Water was very limited in the original Warzone because Modern Warfare lacked swimming mechanics, but the sequel brings over all the features and mechanics of Modern Warfare 2, which means that large bodies of water, boats and swimming are now added to the mix, and they're meaningful additions that give you fresh ways to take on fights in Warzone 2. Being able to dive away from a bad gunfight or use it for stealth to flank an opponent in particular adds a new kind of dynamism to engagements.

There's also a much better balance with how the map is designed. Although vast, Verdansk's Stadium and Caldera's Peak weighted the focus to those massive landmarks, making them choke points of sorts. Al Mazrah, however, doesn't have a similar focal point that's hard to traverse around like the aforementioned locations. Instead there's a great mix of environments with buildings for close-quarters action, but also a lot of open sight lines for sniping. Thankfully, the spacious areas don't leave you too vulnerable when passing through them, as there are plenty of large rocks and other things to use as cover, so rotating from point to point doesn't always feel like a struggle.

Vanguard's Caldera wasn't a very popular map, as it launched with tons of visibility issues and bugs. I haven't encountered any Caldera-like texture bugs or demon gun glitches on PS5 in Al Mazrah--the map is vibrant and doesn't seem to suffer from any glaring lighting or visibility issues. While I think it's going to be hard to top the nostalgia of the original Verdansk map, I do think Al Mazrah is a strong and well-balanced map for Warzone's sequel.

Link: https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/call-of-duty-warzone-2-review-al-mazrah-shines/1900-6418003/