Call of Duty: WW2 was an interesting entry in the longrunning franchise, as it did everything decently but excelled in no area. Multiplayer was controversial at launch due to the use of Divisions and some balancing concerns, and while it was eventually improved thanks to fan feedback, those changes came months into the game’s life cycle. Zombies’ horror focus was interesting, with some standout enemy models, but a lack of personality beyond that held back the mode. Even the campaign was a bit forgettable apart from an explosive train sequence and a neat undercover mission, as it was the usual World War 2 fair. However, Headquarters may be something worth reviving.
The Headquarters mode in Call of Duty: WW2 was comparable to hub areas like Destiny’s Tower, as it saw players gathering in one area before they hopped into a game. In this hub, they could interact with players and show off their skins, or engage with a few Easter eggs littered around the map. A Shooting Range was also accessible, letting players test out weapons and compete to be the most accurate, while a particularly cool feature allowed gamers to engage in 1v1s while the rest of the lobby watches on. With challenges picked up in the Headquarters area as well, the hub offered a fair bit of things to do, and it would be great to see it return.
Call of Duty: WW2’s Headquarters Mode Was Ahead of Its Time
While adding a hub area to Call of Duty after the success of Destiny made sense, the series was clearly not ready for the feature. Headquarters was severely buggy upon release, killing the hype for it almost instantly. In fact, Headquarters was so broken that players wanted it disabled, completely ruining their views on the hub area even after it had been fixed. First impressions are everything, and sadly, Call of Duty: WW2’s big new addition had a very rocky start.
Headquarters was also a bit slow, and the area was a bit small, likely due to the technology limiting Sledgehammer Games and what it was able to do. However, a Headquarters mode in a fully next gen Call of Duty game could avoid these issues. While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is cross-gen and too close to completion to add a Headquarters mode, Call of Duty 2024 will likely be exclusive to the latest consoles and still has quite a bit of time in development. As such, a new Headquarters mode would likely be viable.
What a New Call of Duty Hub Should Include
If a faster, smoother Headquarters were to be added in Treyarch’s next Call of Duty game, the path to success would be relatively clear. A majority of the features from the original Headquarters should return, as the interactions that could be had within the shooting range and fight pit were hilarious. However, there are a few other additions that could be made.
An armory feature could make for a nice Headquarters mechanic, especially with Call of Duty’s Gunsmith system now in place. Through this system, players could look through the loadouts of everyone currently inside the Headquarters, with players getting to show off their various builds and blueprints. A Zombies version of Headquarters could be interesting, too, with players getting to see what certain characters are up to in the slow moments where they are not being swarmed by the undead. A Zombies Headquarters would not only be able to have a darker theme, but it could include Wonder Weapons to mess with, small Easter eggs to complete, and an area where all the mode’s classic music could be listened to.
With a big deal being made of the proximity chat in upcoming Call of Duty games, it is hard to imagine a better fit for it than Headquarters. Though steps should be taken to keep Headquarters from slowing down the multiplayer experience, the social feature deserves a second chance. Though the experiment did not pay off on the first attempt, it had potential, and a version of Headquarters that performs properly from the get-go could be a big hit.
Call of Duty: WW2 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
