Best Shooters of 2020
First Runner-Up: Call of Duty: Warzone
Deputy Guides Editor Tom Hopkins: 2019’s Modern Warfare was one of the best Call of Duty titles for year. Although not without the familiar flaws, including poor map design, it did a lot of recapture the original Modern Warfare’s glory days. With Warzone, it’s standalone battle royale mode released in 2020, it took that success and popularity to another level.
The likes of Fortnite and PUBG have proven that battle royale is a genre that grabs you and doesn’t let go, but Warzone combined that tried and tested formula with Call of Duty’s exemplary gameplay and some neat variations.
The second chance Gulag feature ensured rounds were rarely early write-offs and the ability to get your own loadouts added a core meta to the experience.
Verdansk is also a great setting, providing terrain of all kinds to traverse and some now iconic Call of Duty locations to explore. It’s in dire need of some variation or a new map entirely after a year of the same, and weapon balance changes take far too long to be put into action, but Warzone is the perfect combining of genre leading shooting mechanics and great battle royale design.
In a year that’s forced me to stay at home, having a game that allows me to catch up with friends every night or two has been a blessing. After more than 500 hours and nearly 200 wins, I’m still playing a few times a week, and I don’t see that stopping any time soon.
