First beta of MW3: Visibility, TTK and wheezing gas

The first meeting of the Modern Warfare 3 The beta is still live (until tomorrow, October 10th), but most interested players probably already jumped in over the weekend.

Although the beta only just opened to players without a pre-order/early access code on Sunday, the tone for the mood surrounding the beta was largely set on Friday.

One of the most common complaints among gamers is the game’s muted color palette. While aesthetics are subjective, the problem that arises affects gameplay. Enemies in Modern Warfare 3 don’t stand out as much as they did in Modern Warfare 2 or even Modern Warfare 2019.

In particular, enemies do not have preferred lighting or any kind of highlighting of their 3D model. At least in the beta, no points are displayed above opposing players or red name tags. This is one of the biggest visual issues I’ve encountered, and many players on Reddit agree.

The term “visibility” was one of the most frequently used terms in the Modern Warfare 3 subreddit. Most players agree that nameplates need to return, but some are simply happy with the adjustment made to make enemies stand out more from the environment/teammates.

The Modern Warfare 2 beta actually experienced a similar issue, and Infinity Ward ended up adjusting enemy lighting and adding dots above opposing players to fix the problem. Sledgehammer Games will probably change that too, if not during the beta then certainly at launch.

The time-to-kill (TTK) discussion is one of those inevitable topics that pops up with every Call of Duty beta and persists even until launch. In Modern Warfare 3, however, things look a little more interesting, as the game – despite being so closely based on the basics of Modern Warfare 2 – offers players 150 HP instead of 100.

This automatically makes most encounters last longer, but it’s common to find yourself in situations where you feel melted, even if it takes you a lot longer to kill players. Ping, packet loss, and the way the game handles damage stacking are all things that contribute to this issue, but it’s particularly relevant here due to the longer base TTK.

Many Reddit users agree that the TTK can feel inconsistent, while others are happy with the current situation. Players being bullet sponges is nothing new in Modern Warfare 3, and is always influenced by more factors than players typically consider.

Also keep in mind that the damage multipliers for different body parts are not immediately clear. As this Reddit user explains, this would make encounters feel inconsistent depending on where your shots/enemy shots land.

But no other problem received more criticism than Battle Rage. What was once a field upgrade in Modern Warfare 2 has been transformed into more powerful (and more commonly available) tactical gear. Battle Rage is intended to speed up health regeneration and protect something from damage. But the way it worked on day one of the beta meant that players who used it were nearly immortal.

This was actually an issue that the content creators with Call of Duty: Next pointed out when they started the beta before anyone else. Beta players later found out how powerful Battle Rage is when the beta went live, and it was by far the most common complaint on the subreddit, to the point that many suggested banning it while Sledgehammer nerfed it.

The good news came quickly, however, as the developer essentially stripped Battle Rage down to its core in an update. As revealed on twitterBattle Rage’s maximum duration has been reduced and health regeneration speed is no longer increased.

The health regeneration effect itself now only begins after an enemy is killed, and killing enemies no longer extends the duration of this effect. The biggest change, however, is that incoming damage now interrupts life regeneration – which was probably the main reason for all those clips we saw where enemies who used it simply refused to die.

There’s still time to play the Modern Warfare 3 beta on PlayStation. The beta will return for another round on all platforms on Friday, with support for crossplay.

If you don’t own a PlayStation, you can still win some in-game rewards by watching Modern Warfare 3 on Twitch. However, the rewards will only be available in the full version of the game.