Players have been calling out for a major nerf of the MP5 (AKA Submachine Gun Alpha) in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Treyarch have relented, dropping the damage range by a whopping 33% and fiddling with the initial recoil.
#BlackOpsColdWar update: We've reduced the base effective damage range by 33% and adjusted the initial recoil for Submachine Gun Alpha.
Now get out there and try the other four! ?
— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) November 18, 2020
The problem stemmed from the fact that it unlocked at just Level 4, meaning that pretty much anyone could equip the weapon in their loadout and dramatically outperform the other four SMGs in the game. It could then be improved further with attachments, such as a 10.8″ Paratrooper barrel to increase damage, Foregrip to tame the recoil, Fast Mag for rapid reloading and more.
With the nerf, other SMGs in the game should hopefully become more relevant. The Milano 821 (Bravo) is unlocked at level 13 and has higher damage and lower recoil, the AK-47u (Charlie) unlocks at level 19 with a high firing rate, KSP 45 (Delta) at level 37 with a more precise burst fire mode, and Bullfrong (Echo) rounds things out at level 43, with a huge 50 bullet magazine and longer effective range.
Treyarch had previously said that they would not be making any balance changes to the game until December, but the MP5 seems to have been a special enough situation to get them to act now, and then reconsider its balance in a wider update next month.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest game in the series led by developer Treyarch, with Raven Software alongside. It’s a tighter than usual turnaround for the company, coming just two years after Black Ops 4 was released, and in some ways it shows. In our Black Ops Cold War review, Nick said:
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a decent entry in the series, but it feels like it doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. The campaign is full of underused ideas, while the multiplayer misses some of the magical charm of Modern Warfare, opting for faster paced aggressive battles which just don’t feel as satisfying. While still enjoyable, Black Ops Cold War fails to recapture the magic of Black Ops 1 and 2.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is out now for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.
Source: Twitter
