Call of Duty vs Fortnite: A Free Battle Royale Online Video Game ‘Warzone’

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has been one of the biggest iterations of the series so far, and it just got a huge expansion. Call of Duty Warzone is the latest addition to the shooter, this is a Battle Royale in the style of Fortnite or PUBG, but with a few key Call of Duty features in there too.

While this isn’t the first time, Call of Duty has tried to jump on the Battle Royale bandwagon, this is a considerably stronger effort than previously. Warzone is an exciting new game mode that has lit up streaming platforms like Twitch upon release. Where the previous Call of Duty Battle Royales didn’t make much headway, this one looks like it might have an impact.

What Makes It Different from Past Versions?

Warzone is quite different from the previous Call of Duty Battle Royale attempt, for a few reasons. The first and foremost is really the game that it is built from. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a landmark iteration of the series.

The games have been arriving every single year since the second installment. While the series has had many iconic titles, there have been some suggestions of deteriorating quality, especially in the most recent generation of games. Call of Duty Modern Warfare is 2019-2020’s release and it has captured the attention of the competitive scene in a way no Call of Duty in quite a while has. While it shares its name with a few other titles in the series, this wasn’t a remake of 2007’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Or a re-remake of 2016’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare). It was a back to basics approach, building on what is liked about the formula and trimming away the excess to make a polished and mechanically rewarding game.

Using this game as the base for a Call of Duty Battle Royale just makes a lot more serious, the fundamentals are already pretty solid. This latest version uses the gunplay and heightened environmental factors from this title to its benefits. There is clearly more confidence in this latest Royale too since it is being made available for free as a standalone this time around. Anyone is free to play Call of Duty: Warzone, cementing this effort as its own entity.

What Makes Call of Duty: Warzone Different to Fortnite and Other BRs?

In Call of Duty Warzone, you travel around the map looking for loot. Just like in Fortnite a circle slowing closes on you too. However, the solid gunplay, team-based decision making, and adherence to the wider loadout including perks and killstreaks are all present. Warzone takes what works about Call of Duty and fits it into a Battle Royale. This is much better than haphazardly crashing the two ideas together with little thought.

Warzone also takes place on a really big island, so big that 150 players constitute a match. For any other series, there might be a concern about matchmaking with a 50% increase in player counts. Players drop in, loot up as much as they can, and compete to be the last ones standing. Between this, they try to get in-game currency to call in killstreaks and the opportunity to revive. If players can’t afford a revive token, they can fight their way back to life.

The included Gulag section is what awaits every Battle Royale player after death. Defeated players square off in 1V1s, with the winner getting a second chance at life. This is all a pretty solid base for building an interesting Battle Royale that is diverse from the crowd. However, with Call of Duty being a by the numbers release schedule game, does Warzone has any longevity?

How Long Will Warzone Last?

These days, players like to stick with a game for a while. It encourages a much more developed competitive scene to flourish. You only have to look at how Blizzard is handling a sequel to the huge Overwatch to see the perils of messing with a competitive player base. With Call of Duty releasing like clockwork, competitive players may not see the point in mastering this specific game’s mechanics.

Well, this game is looking like its set to be around a bit longer than normal. It has been confirmed that a new Call of Duty is coming winter 2020. However, this title is well known to be suffering considerably development problems and is essentially being pushed to release for the launch window of the PS5 and Xbox One. This is a game ‘in the series’, intended to get something out for the new consoles, but not a mainline replacement. Modern Warfare and Warzone have quite a while longer left as the main competitive Call of Duty title.

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