For Call of Duty: Ghosts, Infinity Ward will be rethinking the role of snipers. Though COD multiplayer is generally fast-paced and close-quarters, it sounds like Ghosts will be friendlier to all the sharpshooters out there.
In a post on TwitLonger, Rubin said that sniper rifles have gotten "a lot of love." He added that "sniping has never been better." These are big promises but he had hard information to back it up.
For starters, Infinity Ward is introducing a new marksman rifle weapon class. Marksman rifles have shorter range than sniper rifles but can fire more rapidly. They're meant to bridge the gap between assault rifles and sniper rifles. By introducing Marksman weapons, IW can design the Sniper class around long-range, high-caliber capabilities with serious stopping power.
Ghosts also introduces dual render scopes. This allows snipers to retain some peripheral vision while using their scope. The area around the scope in previous Call of Duty games was simply blacked out. This gave snipers tunnel vision and made it easier for enemies to flank them. You can see dual-render scopes in action in the video below.
IW has tried to make the multiplayer maps for Ghosts very sniper-friendly as well. There are plenty of long-range sight lines to allow players to take on the overwatch role. That being said, Ghosts multiplayer won't be a giant sniper party. The development team has added plenty of cover as well so short-range combat is still a big part of the online experience.
Beefing up the long-range capabilities of snipers has some downsides, though. Snipers won't be able to play the way they used to.
"However in re-envisioning sniper rifles some aspects, such as sway timing, have changed the way sniper rifles function and so traditional 'quick-scoping' has been affected," said Rubin. "Is it gone completely? Maybe. It certainly won’t be viable in the way it previously was. Can’t wait for you snipers out there to get your hands on these new sniper rifles and try them out for yourselves."
The sniper redesign is one of many big changes planned for Call of Duty: Ghosts' multiplayer. Infinity Ward will also be introducing a Squads multiplayer mode in which players lead a team of custom-built bots. Real players can also sub in for these bots at anytime. Multiplayer maps will evolve through matches thanks to new dynamic events. A new mobile app developed by Beachhead Studio will act as a second-screen for the game, enabling players to change their loadout or edit their squad among other things.
