As far as I’m concerned, call of DutyThe new DMZ mode of is not only cod‘s best game type, it is one of the best shooter game modes I’ve played in years. It’s the familiar rush of a good marksman with great roving tactics that require intelligent and reactive planning. But recent adjustments to the AI in this hybrid PvPvE game mode are quickly spoiling the experience for those of us trying to play with friends or, God help you, solo.
DMZ, which premiered along with Warzone 2.0, is an open-world game mode that uses the Al Mazrah Battle Royale map as a large space to collect loot, complete objectives, and engage in skirmishes with AI and other players. It has a lot in common with games like Escape from Tarkov or The corporate division‘s Dark Zone section. At its best, the unpredictable combination of 66 players trying to complete their own objectives and a hostile AI scattered across the map results in unpredictable, pop-up moments of gameplay that give you a lot of freedom in terms of how you want to survive and fight , loot and exfiltrate. The whole point of the mode is to survive with better loot than you came for so you can use your fun new toys in future games. Die and you lose all the progress you had on you. The premise of the mode itself is difficult, but the enemy AI just makes the mode pretty damn miserable and humiliating.
“I had 3 armor agent bots standing over my body while reviving myself to just dump a clip on me.” reads an answer to a top tweet of a meme call out the high level of difficulty of the AI after a recent update. “I’ve been waiting for them to post me on the gram like they did to me.”
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Without a doubt, the aggressiveness of the bots in this mode is just off the charts, making them far more intimidating than other players. “Why is the AI better than the players in DMZ?” Streamer Jazzberry tweets. But it’s not just down to a keen aim and an ability to spot you from afar, which is more absurd than classic stealth games where the AI couldn’t see a meter ahead. The AI exhibits behavior that destroys any level of immersion and, quite frankly, fun. Check out this shit:
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Whether or not you’re on the train circling the map, the AI demonstrates an awareness of where you are and an ability to shoot through walls that makes it almost impossible to react. You can literally hide in a fully covered carriage with no lines of sight, and bullets will fly through the walls. Because of this, I stopped looting the train. Combined with their ability to respawn so quickly that clearing a base feels utterly worthless, and the constant replay of AI floating in the air, it feels like playing against someone who has aimbots and others hacks.
Considering that dying in this game mode means losing all your equipment, these kinds of devastating, inexplicable moments of near-instant death make it deeply frustrating.
Sometimes it’s like you have to be able to shoot, reload, and replat at the same time to even stand a chance, and that doesn’t just happen in the most dangerous areas of the map. Looting a seemingly irrelevant building sometimes unleashes waves of fully equipped AI, backed by unstoppable choppers that will absurdly overtake and outnumber you. Now it’s even worse armor piercing ammo no longer penetrates armor.
But the conversation deserves nuance, because for those who enjoy the mode, a direct nerf across the board risks throwing off the real challenge that many, myself included, come to the game for. Right now, that balance is tipped too heavily in favor of AI, which is difficult to a fractional degree.
When you’re losing two-thirds of your armor the second you’re spotted, and you’ve fired countless amounts of ammo that breaks any claim of difficulty due to “realism”, it’s a tough challenge to take on when you’re up against they play forces that can infinitely outperform and outmaneuver our soft analog human brains.
