After years of annualized releases, you might think the basic elements of Call of Duty—like the user interface and heads-up display—would be pretty standardized by now. But this weekend's PS4 beta test for the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has been generating controversy thanks to its off-again, on-again, changed-again relationship with the mini-map.
Activision announced back in August that Modern Warfare would be the first game in the franchise since 2007's original Modern Warfare to get rid of the mini-map in multiplayer. It was a bid to add more "realism" to the game, and the game's beta test this weekend was most players' first chance to see how that change affected the multiplayer showdowns. Without a mini-map to give players quick situational awareness, many pros found the new Modern Warfare felt too slow and cautious.
"No Minimap in Call Of Duty = Everyone on the map playing turtle," FaZe Clan CoD pro Austin "Pamaj" Pamajewon tweeted about the move. "We need Minimap. Ain't the same." Matthew Skrapz Marshall echoed the same sentiment in a short video rant (NSFW audio): "What is this? 98% of my gameplay is the fucking minimap! I cant even play pubs! CoD needs it bro. Bad idea."
Those thoughts just scratch the surface of the immediate pushback. An informal poll of Trevor "TmarTn" Martin's Twitter followers found 76 percent wanted the mini-map back after over 25,000 votes.
The reaction didn't go unnoticed. "Let's talk about minimap. We hear you loud and clear," Infinity Ward Senior Communications Manager Ashton Williams wrote on Reddit Thursday, after the start of the Early Access beta. "Along with your feedback and the data we're continuously collecting, we'll be experimenting internally with a few different options and will keep you updated if we make any changes that you might see during the Beta."
That wasn't just idle chatter, either. By Saturday, the mini-map had been turned back on, but with a slight twist in that it did "not display enemy fire." That's not a small change, either: the telltale red dots that show on a mini-map whenever an opponent shoots a non-silenced gun have been key to planning tactics and positioning in a fast-paced firefight. For Monday, the last day of the open beta, the developers went a step further in the UI tweaking anRead More – Source
