First, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare followed Respawn up into the higher reaches of the skybox; now, it’s going to copy Titanfall’s approach to quickscoping – by making the practice impractical.
“Let me put it this way, sniper classes are not going to be overpowered relative to their peers,” said Sledgehammer’s Michael Condry. “The ability to master a sniper rifle and be great at it will be equal to the ability to master any other class.”
Quickscoping sees players dip in and out of a sniper rifle’s zoom mode to let off rounds in the direction they’re already facing. It’s controversial, if not universally condemned, and is particularly rife in the more recent Call of Duty games.
Sledgehammer have countered that fact by tying certain abilities to weapon classes.
“We’ve done some things to make sure snipers are not able to take advantage of their properties,” Condrey told 3 News. “The ability to quick-draw with an assault rifle is important, but you don’t want to have the ability to quick-draw with a sniper rifle because that lends itself to being a faster, quick-scope model.
“We spent a lot of time trying to focus on it so I think sniper class players will find that it’s a really rewarding experience, but they won’t be overpowered relative to their peers.”
Condrey noted that the exosuits in Advanced Warfare multiplayer are a sniper’s worst nightmare.
“The evasive manoeuvres in this game are incredible,” he said. “Catching a person in the air with a sniper rifle – I think that will be very challenging, but very satisfying.”
Do you snipe, of an evening?