Rust makes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare the game I wanted at launch

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare recently released its second season, and I’m having a blast with it mainly because of the addition of Rust.

Modern Warfare’s impactful gunplay and 60fps performance combine to create one of the best-feeling shooters in all of video games. But at launch I felt it was badly let down by its maps, and after a few weeks I stopped playing.

The arrival of Rust convinced me to jump back in. Such is the draw of this most wonderful of Call of Duty maps that I soldiered through season two’s huge 60GB update (seriously, the updates for this game are ridiculous). Modern Warfare’s Rust is a faithful recreation of the Modern Warfare 2 map of the same name, a ring-fenced oil rig in a small, square desert space that makes for fast-paced, close quarters action.

With Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward shot for larger maps that could house 20 players and, in some modes, up to 64. But in packing these maps with nooks and crannies and doors and windows and all sorts of rubble, the developer created a campers’ paradise that forced crushingly cautious gameplay. Modern Warfare took on Battlefield at its own game – but it simply was not up to the challenge. (For more, check out my Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review.)

Modern Warfare for me is best when it’s fast and in your face, and that’s why I love Rust. Camping isn’t really an option. What few sniper spots there are offer short-term protection at best. The tall tower at the centre of the map is surrounded by open space, and while there are some containers for cover, respite is fleeting. At the base of the tunnel are a couple of small tunnels that let you ambush your enemies, which is something I like to do very much indeed. But you must keep moving – a flash of your ADS, the pull of the trigger, a sprint away and a quick swap to your handgun for that last kill before you bite the dust. There’s no time to think, really. There’s no time to reload, either. Rust is a map fuelled by instinct. Rust is a map for laughs, for shenanigans, for killstreaks that make a mockery of the enemy team. I could play Rust on repeat for hours. In fact that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing – wolfing it down as if it were sickly sweet ice cream, with a soupçon of Shipment to taste. The addition of 1v1 Rust is the cherry on top.