Call of Duty: Modern Warfare gets cranked with new maps and game mode

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If you like the feeling of adrenaline pumping through your veins as you scream at strangers online and attempt to hasten the speed at which your brain reconciles what is happening onscreen with what your hands need to do to react, then you’ll love the latest patch for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Yesterday, Activision dropped a 14GB (at least on Xbox) patch (version 1.12) that included a new game mode, the return of Gunfight (and a winter-themed Docks map for it) and a change to the Mosh Pit game that is akin from switching from room temperature water to Death Wish Coffee. It’s pure chaos.

The Mosh Pit game mode has discarded Shoot House. Frankly, it was getting too easy. Shoot House has been replaced by two maps from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Shipment and Vacant.

Vacant is a moderately small map, taking place inside and around an empty manufacturing/office building, like the ones you’d see by the airport. Action is fast and congested, but not so much so that you can’t get your bearings after spawning.

Shipment is the smallest map in the Call of Duty franchise and it is B A N A N A S. I played a Kill Confirmed game last night that lasted two minutes. You spawn and you are under fire. It’s a tiny square of shipping containers and standing in the middle and just spinning and firing is nearly as effective as trying to find a place to crouch for a second to catch your breath.

This map is being used (as it appears in the limited time I played last night) for Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed and Team Deathmatch. Because it can’t be used for the other two games, Headquarters and Domination. Vacant is good for those two games. It’s larger than Shoot House, but still small enough to discourage campers.

After a few matches, I had to create a special class just for these maps

Nothing I had in the lineup was working and the perks I was using were pointless on maps where being a ghost might be helpful. I don’t think I’ve ever had to create a class just for a certain map layout, but there was no choice here.

Usually, I’m a proximity mine guy, but my lethal on this class is a throwing knife. Tactical is gas grenade. Perks are double time, restock and battle-hardened. Secondary weapon is knife and primary weapon is an M13 assault rifle with compensator, ranger foregrip, 60 round mags, operator reflex sight, and no stock. This gives me high accuracy, control, fire rate, and damage. Note the weapon level. Nice.

Additionally, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare patch added a completely new game mode, called Cranked. It’s kind of like the Jason Statham movie Crank, except with less daytime humping in the middle of a horse track. Rather, you have 30 seconds to get a kill or you explode. Keep getting kills, extend your time. It’s also very frantic.

There are also a ton of bug fixes in the version 1.12 patch, and some additions to Special Ops. But the important bits are the multiplayer changes that increase the pace of online multiplayer from hectic, but casual, to ridiculously insane.

This is a psychological change, as our brains are hardwired to become addicted to this kind of rush. Shipment is a dopamine pleasure town. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare continues to stay fresh and tingle our brains with action, excitement and most importantly, reasons to keep playing.

What do you think? Still enjoying the latest Modern Warfare or have you moved on to other games? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here for more.