Infinity Ward talks CoD4 multiplayer balancing

by Dustin Burg { Feb 6th 2008 at 2:45PM }

Our good friend Tyler over at Gearheads of War got a chance to corner (literally corner) Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling to discuss everything Call of Duty 4 (yes, Gearheads can like CoD4 too). Among the topics brought up in the interview were Infinity Ward's development concerns with weapon balancing, perk implementation, how to best balance the upgrade system and they talk about CoD4's upcoming Spring DLC as well. Lead Gearhead Tyler even "goes there" with Mr. Bowling, asking tough questions including why the three grenade perk can only be earned so late in the ranking cycle, why the M-16 seems so damn overpowered and if (looking back) Infinity Ward is satisfied with keeping all the achievements focused on the single player campaign. And, for the record, they are still happy with that decision. Make your way over to Gearheads of War to read the complete interview, get CoD4 learned and see if Infinity Ward backs down from a Gearheads issued CoD4 Friday FragFest challenge. Jump already!

Tags: call-of-duty-4, cod4, gearheads-of-war, infinity-ward, modern-warfare

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ZEBRA NINER @ Feb 6th 2008 3:26PM

I'm glad they kept all the achievements in single player. That way you don't have someone asking to boost every match.

Matt @ Feb 6th 2008 3:55PM

That's true, but it seems with the challenges and XP boosting we're no better off.

Ben @ Feb 6th 2008 3:40PM

I also like that they kept the achievements in the single player campaign. I'd rather spend my time fraggin' the crap out of the other team than trying to get achievements.

borocouncilman @ Feb 6th 2008 3:43PM

My Balance Request:
If a player with the Martyrdom Perk is taken out with a head shot, no grenade should be thrown.

New Challenge Request:
There should be greater encouragement for people to shoot down helicopters.

Anticrawl @ Feb 6th 2008 3:46PM

Or better yet, give the damn player experience for shooting it down. You spend all that effort taking it down (which also gives away your position) and you get nothing.

ZEBRA NINER @ Feb 6th 2008 3:50PM

Anticrawl, I've had the same thoughts. You should get some XP for that.

I will be the only one shooting the damned thing, waste all of my freakin' ammo, and end up with a pistol and 5 dudes closing on my position. I should get something!

jakfoood @ Feb 6th 2008 8:41PM

+1 for an incentive to shoot down the helio.
Too many people avoid it. Why am I the only one trying to get it down?

Who Flang Poo @ Feb 6th 2008 3:47PM

I hope that patch comes out soon. I am so fed up with that game, I got so pissed that I have not played it in almost 2 weeks now. It's so broken, I cannot connect to any friends, 80 percent of the time I knife someone they do not die, I have never played a game that has had so much lag, when I get a head shot the game says it wasn't, that thing that happens when someones shooting at you and you take cover then you just randomly die, then when you watch the killcam it says that you didnt move behind cover at all, when you throw a nade at an opponent and they are standing on top of it when it explodes and it doesnt kill them (which has happened to me when an opponent threw nades at me), when im in the middle of an enemy airstrike and it doesn't kill me, and other annoying glitches that happen here and there. I'm probably not going to play COD 4 until they get all that shit fixed. Until then ill be on Mass Effect and Halo 3.

Royale @ Feb 6th 2008 4:21PM

relax.

Yuccadude @ Feb 6th 2008 3:56PM

I agree with the need to balance the M16 that the interviewer noted, if a gun can shoot 3 bullets and kill you, why can't all of the guns shoot 3 bullets and kill? I liked the part where he says, "They're evil and you're good. Go you."

eugene @ Feb 6th 2008 4:08PM

my request: when balancing teams, one team should not have 5 players with scores in the 200+ range and the other 5 players with scores in the 0-50 range.

Anticrawl @ Feb 6th 2008 4:36PM

Trueskill balanced teams has been tried before but people get way too pissy if they don't play on a team with their own party members.

See: Shadowrun

Go play the gametype that doesn't allow parties if it buggs you so much, or party up with decent players... or maybe just become good on your own.

eugene @ Feb 6th 2008 6:54PM

anticrawl- what in my post warranted such a pissy response? I understand some of you people measure your worth as a human being based on your kill ratio or how many times you can tea bag somebody before the kill cam changes, but the rest of us play games for fun. Sorry if your dad didn't love you when you were a kid.

Anticrawl @ Feb 7th 2008 12:12AM

Hahaha, my response wasn't "pissy." Sounds like we know who the pessimist is.

Leobebes @ Feb 6th 2008 4:32PM

The M16 is balanced enough, it will lose almost to any gun in close combat. It is a perfect gun for mid combat. I agree that taking out a helicopter deserves more XP, the random nade fests need to stop too. I get killed every other round by some random nade thrown across the map at the beginning of each round, its insane! I don't even see the damn thing or hear it because it explodes in mid air above my head every single time, or if it hits the floor I have 1/2 a second to move out of the way.

Anticrawl @ Feb 6th 2008 4:35PM

Anticrawl @ Feb 6th 2008 4:38PM

Yeah they may need to do something about grenades, and I agree with you on the M16. The gun is perfect. Terrible at close rang but excels at mid-long range. You also can't spray and pray like the M4 or light machine guns with the M16.

The previous reply was intended for eugene.

George Arauz @ Feb 7th 2008 12:12AM

The M16 is overpowered? i get my ass handed to me with it

Pat @ Feb 6th 2008 9:13PM

What about martyrdom?!?! what do you guys think should be done? I like the headshot idea posted earlier, but I also think the radius of damage should be decreased or maybe the fuse increased.

Scotty @ Feb 6th 2008 10:38PM

I agree with headshot stopping martyrdom. To whoever complained about un-even teams: I agree it's frustrating, but if they are always on the same team, you should realize they're searching together. You wouldn't want to be split up from your buddies. In those situations where we get absolutely slaughtered twice in a row, I usually just leave the lobby and search again.