Sometimes you want to see straight away how your own move changed a fight. On another evening, you might prefer advancing with a team across a wider front. MW4 is making room for both approaches.
This article is part of our complete Modern Warfare 4 guide, which collects all of our coverage of the game.
Holding ground in the larger battle
The beta guide describes Combat Outpost as a 24v24 Ground War mode combining infantry and vehicles. Capturing outposts generates points and adds spawn locations for the team. Further fortifying positions provides team rewards, including local UAV coverage and armored support. The two battlefields shown for the beta are Imjin Farmlands and Wolves Stadium.
When choosing a playstyle, we see this as an invitation to consider the value of a position even after the immediate fight there has ended. The question “Should we stay?” could matter just as much as where to move next. Players who enjoy defending an area and helping teammates reach the front may find a satisfying role here.
Be careful about drawing a different conclusion: more players do not guarantee that everyone will always have a clear task. In a future test, we would want to see whether the game explains where help is needed and how a newcomer chooses a useful place to join the action. The distance between respawning and doing something meaningful will also shape the overall experience.
6v6 has different rhythms too
The six-a-side beta lineup included Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint and Search and Destroy, among others. Player count alone therefore does not define the pace: alongside respawn modes, there is also a single-life elimination mode. A useful comparison starts with the objective of the mode you choose.
If you want to learn a weapon or an approach route, we suggest returning to the same mode and map several times. A similar setting makes it easier to understand what changed in your own decisions. This is a way to learn, rather than a claim that 6v6 is necessarily easier or that Ground War is unsuitable for beginners.
A small group of friends should also ask what they want to do together. If you want to try a short plan and immediately see how it worked, a smaller format may fit. If you enjoy choosing a shared objective within a larger battle and sticking with it, the bigger fight sounds like the more interesting experiment. In either case, there is room to change your choice after a few matches.
Choose by the decisions you want to make
Before joining a playlist, decide whether you want to focus on individual encounters, working around a fixed objective or supporting the team’s advance. That question is more useful than assuming a bigger mode is always deeper, or a smaller one always more intense.
The information here comes from the beta description, not our own measurements of match lengths, server load or progression speed. Ahead of launch, the distinction that interests us is how quickly each format helps players understand where they can contribute. From there, you can choose the battle that suits your friends and the time you have that evening.
