One-shot sniper rifles are returning to Warzone this week

Season 3 begins on Wednesday in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2, and as Morgan observed last week, it might be the first big update that pleases players of both games. One change to Warzone 2 might be mildly controversial, though: one-hit sniping is back.

"Expect the return of one-shot sniper rifles," said the Warzone 2 team in a blog post today, "under certain attachment and platform conditions."

The reaction I'm seeing is largely positive. Making Warzone 2 more like Warzone 1 has been a theme of Activision's updates, and for better or worse, a popular one. A lot of fans of the original Warzone miss one-shot sniping, and on Reddit, one player posted a funny complaint about their sniping-obsessed squadmate who spends ages futilely trying to countersnipe other snipers, with neither able to score a killing shot.

"Snipers were borderline useless, and only very situational," they said. "Needless to say I'm very excited for my buddy to let his kill get away even faster. This is a very welcome change. Thank god."

Players are also expressing worry, however, that Warzone 2's movement speed will make one-hit sniping frustrating to face. There's a lot of uncertainty here, too: How hard will it be to acquire the attachments needed, and what will the range and bullet velocity be like?

(Update: On Tuesday, we learned more on that: "Bolt-action snipers equipped with Explosive Ammunition will be able to down enemies with one skill shot. The MCPR-300 has also had Explosive Ammunition added to its progression.")

Comment from r/CODWarzone

Warzone 2 Season 3 will also see the return of ranked play, which'll be added mid-season, five new guns, and a new Gulag map, among other additions—the plans are summarized in this blog post, along with the Modern Warfare 2 additions for Season 3.

I'm not a Warzone player, so I have no horse in this race. I can see both sides: I love sniping in games, and it's frustrating when a beautiful long-distance shot just tags an enemy who can then easily get away. But I also do not like to be sniped. Life is full of contradictions.

I am still playing regular Modern Warfare 2 team deathmatch, though—very late-30s behavior—and I'm excited for Season 3's night maps, which may finally gives us a better reason to use night vision. My only fear is that they'll nerf the Tempus Torrent marksman rifle introduced in Season 2, because I'm crushing with that thing right now.