After Kar98k and MORS meta it’s time to admit Warzone doesn’t need snipers

Sniping has long been a point of contention among the Warzone player base, but it’s time for people to accept what to some has become painfully obvious – snipers are ruining the game and are not needed in their current state.

For some weeks, the MORS was the go-to weapon of choice for many in Urzikstan, and you couldn’t get around the map at all without someone sitting atop a building far away taking pop shots at you.

Worst of all, because the MORS could down in one shot, all it would take is one half-decent or lucky shot to send you straight to the Gulag, with little to no counterplay.

To nobody’s surprise, the Kar98k marksman rifle arrived in Modern Warfare 3 in Season 4 and is just as lethal, but with more mobility and handling, allowing players to be way more aggressive with it.

However, the meta the Kar98k has created just isn’t fun. Every building above head height is instantly a threat and forces excessive smoke grenade usage, which seems to become increasingly more vital in the Warzone meta with every passing day, no thanks to the abundance of one-shot sniper rifles being used.

Those who have been playing for a long time will remember the Kar98k being equally frustrating in Verdansk, but there needs to be a line drawn somewhere to bring snipers back down to earth.

The simple fact of the matter is that they don’t take much skill to use, so there is almost no drawback to running around with a Kar98k. This is made worse by the fact that you can partner the dominant marksman rifle with a meta Superi loadout or other close-quarters gun in your back pocket, effectively negating the Kar98k’s only weakness.

It’s a widely-held belief that shooting in current Call of Duty titles is easier than in the past, with all the different aim settings and aim assist options. The likes of Call of Duty world champion Seth ‘Scump’ Abner and his peers have been vocal on the subject.

“They took out so much of the skill in aiming,” claimed Scump, during a Modern Warfare 2 stream at the tail end of 2022.

“Nowadays, in CoD, they took out so much of the skill in aiming with a controller, with dynamic aim assist, it’s actually like you don’t have to aim anymore. It’s so easy to shoot nowadays, compared to back then.”

When you couple that with one-shot sniper rifles that have little to no bullet drop, suddenly trying to traverse the battle royale map becomes far less fun. No matter how smart you play or how much you get the better of your opponent, someone sitting atop a tower 300 meters away can just aim in and shoot you in the back.

Perhaps removing sniper rifles altogether is dramatic — but can anyone honestly say that their Warzone experience would be ruined if they were banned from using the MORS/Kar98k or any other sniper?

If we only used LMGs, assault rifles, and SMGs, would that ruin the Warzone experience? Or — whisper it quietly — could it actually improve the game state and flow of matches?

Even if you’re not in favor of removing the weapons, there are simple balancing changes that could be made across the board to bring snipers more in line with what is fair. After all, as with any gun, there should be both pros and cons.

Perhaps this means more bullet drop, slower ADS, and slower rechambering on the meta guns, requiring more time dedicated to perfecting your shot and adding some kind of meaningful drawback to using sniper rifles.

Activision

Alternatively, those who played through the jetpack years will remember the Black Ops 3 snipers having no aim assist on controller. Because of this, they required mechanical skill to use effectively and were far more satisfying than the sniper rifles of today.

This could perhaps be an option with Treyarch bringing out their next effort in October with Black Ops 6, so we could see some major changes to sniping once the new title is integrated with Warzone.

The idea that you can pitch up behind a head glitch and simply pick off players with ease is the antithesis of what a battle royale is supposed to be. Snipers in other BRs like Apex Legends and Fortnite at least require more practice to lead and hit your shots.

Warzone devs Raven Software can do this without compromising on the game’s Call of Duty DNA and what has made it so popular, but it’s clear that snipers in their current state make for a far less joyful experience than the game needs to be.