For better or worse, the map design in aCall of Dutygame significantly influences what players think about it. If you look back at all the Call of Duty “Greats,” they’re all very fondly remembered for theirincredibleandbrilliantmap design! The reverse, however, is also true.
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But what makes a Call of Duty map great? There are a few factors, like the map’s game flow, versatility, and overall aesthetic. Luckily for Call of Duty fans, this year’s Modern Warfare 2 features afantasticlineup! Without further ado, here are some of the base maps ofModern Warfare 2, ranked.
10Santa Sena Border Crossing
Border Crossing is undoubtedly the worst map of the bunch. While the idea of fighting in a narrow traffic jam may sound great on paper, it is a genuine nightmare. It isimmensely difficultto have any semblance of where the enemies may be coming from, making the cluttered, grimy map much more difficult to navigate.
Border Crossing can’t be discussed without mentioning its abysmal exploding cars. Practically every vehicle (and there are a lots!) can explode, and it will kill anyone nearby when it does. Expect atleast three deathsa game due to arandom car explodingnext to you. Fortunately, Border Crossing is theonly truly terriblemap in Modern Warfare 2.
Taraq is honestly a decent map with a veryunfortunate drawback. The sparse, tall buildings highly encourage camping in a singular spot for the entire round! This can cause immense frustration, especially for players who run close-quarters weapons.
Interestingly, Taraq is a spiritual successor to one of the first-ever Call of Duty maps, Neuville! However, where Neuville succeeded in creating a balanced map that isn’t simply a sniper’s paradise, Taraq failsspectacularly. On single-life game modes, though, Taraq does play quite well.
As far as map design goes, Embassy is actuallyquite stellar. The second floor of both main buildings creates somephenomenal sniper fights. Meanwhile, the three-lane design of the embassy itself makes for some chaotic but smooth close-quarters engagements.
The east side of the map should generally be avoided, as it is essentially a death trap. Theextreme lack of cover meansit will realistically never receive any playtime. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it tends to keep the snipers in their area and the close-quarters players on their own. Perhaps the only real downside of this map is aless-than-noticeablelack ofmid-rangeareas.
El Asilo is a fantastic map as long as you are playing around thecentral compound. As with many other Modern Warfare maps, the center is quite fun! But theouter areas of El Asilo tend to be rather barren and open.
For snipers, however, there are a couple of decent areas outside that allow for somegreat line-of-fire! Specifically, the large power-line hill offers some great spots to keep enemies at bay. This helps to balance out the map quite a bit and provides power positions for every weapon class in the game.
6Al Bagra Fortress
Al Bagra Fortress isgenerallyquite a fun map, especially onhardpoint-based game modes!While it is athree-lane map on paper, it feels much more maze-like and complex than it actually is. The maindownside of the map is the center, as it is practically unplayable withtwo power positionslooking down on it from either side.
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Due to Al Bagra Fortress’s relatively small size, it tends to behighly action-packed!Plus, there trulyaren’t many obnoxious camping spots, so players who attempt to do so will quickly bedisposedof.
5Mercado Las Almas
Mercado Las Almas is alot smaller than it feels. While visually, it is a bit boring, the overall design of the map is truly genius. It is a classicthree-lane Call of Duty map, but since there aren’t many of those in Modern Warfare 2 anyway, this makes it awelcome addition. While the Middle Lane provides for sometense sniper engagements, the two outer Lanes are where the real fun happens.
Mercado Las Almas is ablast for all playersregardless of theirplaystyleor which gun class they prefer. This is perhaps theeasiest map to drop a significant amount of kills. The reverse is also true, though, so don’t feel too discouraged when you find yourself suffering from ahigh death count.There truly aren’t many downsides to this great map!
4Crown Raceway
Crown Raceway succeeds at doing the impossible and making anighttime map where players can actually see the enemy. Crown Raceway excels as aphenomenal mapno matter the game mode.
The game flow for the map is wonderful, where you get a rough estimate as to where the enemy might be spawning. Where crown raceway stands out from the rest, though, has to be itsgorgeous aesthetic. Seeing and hearing the race cars speed by as you engage and fight, while the massive Ferris wheel looms above you, isenthralling.
3Breenbergh hotel
Breenbergh hotel willundoubtedlyremain one of themost popular mapsthroughout Modern Warfare 2’s life cycle. Everything from its visuals to its design is near perfect. And although the map is actually quite large, finding an enemy is never an issue.
Breenbergh hotel actually hasvery little verticalityaside from a couple of balconies and catwalks, but they play their place flawlessly! Even the outdoor areas that typically don’t see much playtime offer a balanced design. For both pros and casual gamers alike, this map is a hit.
2Zarqwa Hydroelectric
Zarqwa Hydroelectric is easily one of themost uniquemaps in the entire game, where its primary gameplay feature is a series of underwater tunnels that allow for somestellar flanking positions!While it is possible that these tunnels will eventually become frustrating to deal with, they are avery welcoming gameplay mechanicfor the time being!
Modern Warfare 2 has donewater-based engagements much better than previous entriesthat feature water as a game mechanic, (Looking at you, Black Ops 4.) Zarqwa Hydroelectric is a fantastic all-rounder map, with both intenseclose-quartersareas and very powerful line-of-site positions for snipers! This map will definitely remain a fan favorite in the foreseeable future.
Farm 18 is theShoot Houseof Modern Warfare 2. As one of the few genuinely small maps, its gameplay israpid and ever-evolving!There are quite honestly no unplayable areas of the map, and even the outer edges receive adecent amount of playtimewhen compared to other maps in the game.
Farm 18 features somefantastic power positionsto battle over, but each one is balanced out by offering a number of ways to flank it! Farm 18 is alsowildly enjoyableon all game modes, fromSearch-and-Destroy to Kill Confirmed!You would truly be hard-pressed to find a player that doesn’t love Farm 18.
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