Modern Warfare 2 Season 5 update patch notes: Strike returns, new game modes, more

Modern Warfare 2 Season 5 introduces two new core and gunfight maps, three exciting new game modes, and a few other surprises. Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming seasonal update.

After teasing Gunfight before Modern Warfare 2 launched, Infinity Ward finally added the long-awaited game mode in Season 3. Some players blamed “horrible” maps and lasers for ruining their experience. The devs took action by removing lasers from weapons and added two new maps in Season 4.

Call of Duty YouTuber Jackfrags even praised Gunfight as the “best thing to come from MW 2019 and MW2,” but that fun came to an end when Infinity Ward mysteriously removed the game mode during Season 4 Reloaded.

Community members were understandably left frustrated by its puzzling removal, but Season 5 marks a return of the game mode. Let’s jump right into what multiplayer fans can expect from the latest season.

Strike finally returns in Modern Warfare 2

Strike is a fan-favorite multiplayer map that first appeared in COD 4. The large urban desert town also made appearances in Modern Warfare 2 (2009) and Modern Warfare Remastered. Infinity Ward gives the iconic environment a full facelift for MW2 with some slight adjustments to suit modern innovations.

And as much as MW2 fans love a blast to the past, community members have also pleaded with the devs to create new original maps. Punta Mar is a brand new map set in a recently evacuated tourist on the hills of Las Almas.

Gunfight fans have plenty to be excited about in Season 5, as the game mode finally returns with two new maps. Lastly, Havoc is a brand-new multiplayer mode inspired by classic arena shooters. The mode features crazy modifiers that put an emphasis on fast-paced gameplay. And Big Capture the Flag is a 20v20 version of the iconic game mode.

Modern Warfare 2 Season 5 new maps

Punta Mar (6v6 map)

Get ready to infiltrate a brand-new map from Infinity Ward. Punta Mar is a recently evacuated tourist attraction in Las Almas — once a bustling town on a hill overlooking a beautiful South American beach.

Prepare to fight up and down that hill, maneuvering through shops, across rooftops, and through abandoned residences to take control of an area centered around a cobblestone street.

There’s little time between engagements. Watch the shop windows for enemy Operators and use the side streets and alleys to your advantage in this small map geared toward all playstyles.

Activision

Strike (6v6)

Turn the clock back 15 years to one of the core maps of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Alongside its brethren in Shipment and Showdown, Strike will be restored to its full glory in Season 05, thanks to the latest Infinity Ward engine and technology.

This version of Strike is how veterans likely remember it, albeit with some slight adjustments to make it fit in Modern Warfare II. Does that include the back door near one of the spawn areas and B Bomb Site in Search & Destroy? You’ll find out at Season 05’s launch!

Lounge (Gunfight)

No time to kick back and relax here: This compact map for Gunfight and other small-squad modes takes place in a high-scale, high-octane club. Take the stairs or climb to a balcony for a view across the main chamber, and when the center gets too hot, try your luck in the game room or under the spotlights of the stage behind the grand piano. On this tiny map, there’s danger at every turn, so stay active, use cover, and be ready to put on a showstopping performance.

Canal (Gunfight)

Situated in the vicinity of Vondel, this new Gunfight map takes place in and around a brewery and a canal thoroughfare. Offering some verticality, Canal features cellars below the cobblestone streets above, with the action occurring between the canal bridges where the water or a moored boat are useful in your tactical planning. Be ready for close quarters combat while weaving through the brewery and restaurant. Canal is frenetic, with a bit more room to move than other Gunfight maps, so think tactically and keep pressing the fight.

Modern Warfare Season 5 new game modes

Havoc

In Season 05, one thing is for certain: It’s time to wreak some Havoc.

Havoc is a brand-new Core Multiplayer mode inspired by classic arena-shooter gameplay, then further enhanced with the injection of a random selection of frenzy-inducing modifiers. Infinity Ward specifically designed this as a “rogue-like” mode, where each time a game is played, you receive enhancement modifiers that changes the gameplay in new and interesting (and not to mention, chaotic) ways. Don’t expect two games of Havoc to play out identically. But do expect a whole lot of fast-paced combat with the emphasis on entertaining takedowns.

The match starts in a similar manner to a Team Deathmatch. However, you should forget about Perk Packages, Killstreaks, or Field Upgrades: They don’t exist in Havoc. Instead, prepare to embrace the match-changing modifiers!

Players start with one modifier at the beginning of a match. Once a squad is the first to reach a multiple of 12 kills – 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 – the game adds a new modifier to the match for both teams, from a pool of 14 available modifiers. Here are examples of just five of them:

• Ammo Feeder: Auto reloads a weapon (from stock ammo) upon elimination.
• Boots Off the Ground: Moon gravity. Affects only player jump heights, not thrown equipment or ballistics.
• Flameshot: Flame-tipped Crossbows and Molotovs only. All Loadouts change immediately to this upon modifier activation.
• Hero Landing: Landing from a big drop causes a frag-grenade-like explosion around you.
• Perspective Shift: Everyone swaps to a third-person camera view.

The modifiers stack as the match progresses, so by the end of a match you could have, for example, a third-person, moon gravity, hero-landing-enabled, auto-reloading flame-tipped Crossbow and Molotovs-only Deathmatch, once one team reaches 60 kills.

Bring the squad to Havoc, and prepare for some frenetic fun.

Big Capture the Flag

Want to go bigger? Then the Battle Maps are ready for some classic Capture the Flag matches in Season 05.

Whether it is on the streets of Guijarro or in the waterlogged Mawizeh Marshlands, Big Capture the Flag on a 20v20 scale is a recipe for some epic matches.

Will a lone hero go behind enemy lines, beating the odds across hundreds of meters, all to ultimately make a decisive capture? Or will several squads armed with tanks, helicopters, and launchers fight to secure or reset a dropped flag out in the open?

That all depends on how you and your squad tackle this new mode coming within the launch window.

We will provide an update when the full season 5 patch notes go live on August 2.

Gunfight Variants

Step into the 2v2 Gunfight arena with three different variants available throughout Season 05. Look for the following:

• Gunfight Custom (Launch): Featuring standard Gunfight rules, but the weaponry you bring is taken from your favorite Loadouts.
• Gunfight Snipers (In-Season): Tool up with your favorite sniper or marksman rifle, and leave the Secondary, Tacticals, and Lethals at home.
• Armored Gunfight (In-Season): Need more protection during your 2v2 skirmishes? Then welcome to Armored Gunfight, a variation on the fan-favorite mode, featuring standard Gunfight rules with one distinct difference; armor is enabled! Each squadmate comes to the fight with 150 HP of Armor, 100 Health, and no replacement plates or health regeneration. All other Gunfight rules apply (win conditions, overtime, capturing the overtime flag), but your takedown tactics should be adjusted accordingly.

New weapons

FR Avancer (Assault Rifle)

• With a blinding fire rate and exceptional maneuverability, in the right hands, this aggressive bullpup rifle can dominate the battlefield. 

Carrack .300 (Sniper Rifle)

• This semi-auto bullpup sniper rifle features an exceptionally high fire rate and a unique design for best-in-class handling and stability when on the move.

Customizable Throwing Knives

• Players can now select Lethal Equipment Skins (in-match only)

Weapon balancing

RAPP H

• Increased semi auto Damage
• Reduced semi auto rate of fire

Equipment adjustments

• Drill Charge
  • Reduced damage from drilling when a Player is stuck with a Drill Charge, providing a larger opportunity for death from explosion

• Recon Drone
  • Recon Drone’s health bar now updates every time the drone is accessed

• Tactical Camera 
  • Removed audio distortion when failing to use a Tactical Camera

Perk adjustments

• Bomb Squad
  • Bomb Squad will protect against death from explosive Equipment stuck directly to the Player when fully armored | Warzone only

• Quick Fix
  • Added visual cues for attacking someone with active Quick Fix
  • Entering an objective with Quick Fix equipped will now visually show when the health regeneration effect is active.