Call of Duty Multiplayer Level Design: Case Study

Parameters, Game Modes & Mechanics

As previously suggested, mechanics play a large role in determining how levels are designed and so i had to consider the impact CoD's mechanics had on its levels if i were to analyse them.

Speed was found to be important in CoD with fast and incredibly immobile characters which formed the games flow. Respawn systems also worked to support this by often allowing players to spawn within seconds of dying although this differed in some game modes.

Certain Call of Duty titles which contained which contained futuritic/exo-suit movement were found left out of the anlalysis due to their vastly different mechanics.

I also looked into the Black Ops 6 team based game modes.

Finding that all modes included for competitive play were objective based. This data suggested that if i wanted to design for competitive players in a game like CoD, objective based modes should be considered.

Symmetry in gameplay between teams was also assessed due to the impact it was found to have on level design (this is explained further down this page). The data showcases that competitive modes may contain either symmetrical or asymmetrical gameplay evenly. However, 6/8 games modes were symmetrical suggesting that a symmetrical level design would fit more game modes.

Identifying Successful & Unsuccessful levels

As highlighted, suiting a wide audience has become a key factor for multi mode design and so to determine whether a CoD map was a good or bad example i had to consider a few factors.

The first being a levels inclusion in the games competitive esport circuit - this should give a good indication if a maps competitive viability as these maps are chosen by the developers and voted in/out by professional players. Additionally, maps are selected for each mode and so the best examples would be maps selected for each competitive mode.

I also conducted a content analysis looking primarily at player opinions of maps with numeous Youtube videos, player reviews and articles summarizing the communities favoutite and least favourite maps.

An example of a vastly successful map but not allignining with this projects context would be Nuketown as it has been repeatedly remastered but is not competitively viable.

Official Competitive settings as of May 2025 - Call of Duty League

Level Design Structure

Taking examples of successful levels in CoD, i began to compare their layouts with one another alongside the inclusion of layouts from other games.

The '3-lane system' where there are 3 main lanes controlling gameplay was the most consistent feature as it appeared across a range of games inlcuding different modes alluding to the idea that it can support different methods of play.

Overall, CoD contained high symmetry in its design. Similarly suggesting to the data above that symmetry is important when considering multiple modes.

Bomb Defusal (S&D)

Bomb Defusal was an important area of research within cod's multi mode level design as the game mode has featured throughout the games entire competitive history despite it being an asymmetrical mode. With other titles focussing on bomb defusal opting to create asymmetrical levels to reflect the gameplay.

By highlighting the bomb sites (objective locations) in both Counter Strike and CoD, the differences became quite clear. The objectives in CoD were placed quite centrally, opting to maintain symmetrical balance as this wouldnt affect the overall multi-mode layout.

Where as, in CS the bomb sites were placed much closer to the defenders side. This increases the time for attackers to reach the objectives, allowing defenders time to prepare which requires teamplay from attackers to breakdown. However this leads to large sections of dead space in the map such as the attackers spawn where there isnt any gameplay. These areas are therefore not designed for combat, which i believe CoD - with its high flow, would suffer from. This idea is supported by the negative feedback seen in deathmatch on CS which uses the games bomb defusal levels without alteration.

Hardpoint (King of the hill)

Hardpoint is another crucial CoD game mode as it has been popular for competitive and casual players alike. However, it differs from bomb defusal being symmetry based.

With both teams having the same objectives, it becomes easier to balance a levels design as using full symmtery means that teams would have an equal chance of winning which is of course a designers goal.

Through further analysis, i looked into how hardpoint objectives are placed throughout levels.

I found that succesful levels often positioned hardpoints within a radius to the centre of the map. Commonly these points would have multiple access areas to avoid teams easily holding objectives. This meant that spawn points werent often used as one side would be completely protected. However, in more rounded maps, such as Raid, a spawn point was used leading to fuller utilization of the map.

Individual Cases

Through the aforementioned content analysis, I identified 3 Black Ops 6 maps which had varying rates of success. I then played these maps in both casual and competitive modes (if available).

Scud - Unsuccessful

Scud didnt make it into the competiitve map pool nor was it a fan favoutite and so it will likely become a forgettable map over time.

When comparing Scud to successful maps it was found to be much larger. There were also glaring issues with the centre of the map with two advantage points onlooking the area, covering any centralised objectives from afar.

I found that this caused disadvataged gameplay for those attemping to play the objective which led myself and others to constantly use the wide lanes.

I found that these factors slowed gameplay which works negatively against CoD's flow.

It became apparent that the level was likely designed to suit a more specific playstyle in sniping/long range combat. However, if this was the case it leads the majority of players into an unitended UX. Sniping has even become banned in competitive play due to its experience differing heavily. Although, i'm not suggesting that sniping be removed entirely as the aim of project is to match numerous styles of play. However, it shouldnt dominate the flow of a map as seen in Scud.

Hacienda central objective area

Blue team postioned postions to hold points (spawn advantage)

Hacienda - Moderate Success

Hacienda was brought in to Black Ops 6 alongside the the release of competitive play (around 1 1/2 months after release). This meant that the level had not been tested by the player base in casual modes althought it was a remaster of Hacienda from Black Ops 4 (2018) which was received positively.

However, similarily to Scud the centre of the map is in a very disadvantaged position with many onlooking points. Leading the area to become very difficult to play which was reflected by the games audience.

I found that many fans had mixed opinions of the map. With some appreciating its 3-lane structure but with some pointing out the difficulty of playing cental objectives due to the onlooking points.

I found that this impacted the flow in competitive play as teams would set up around this in hardpoint. Despite the symmetrical layout of the map, one team would spawn closer to the 2nd point and as it was easy to prevent the other team from capturing the 1st point (due to numerous onlooking positions) they could both hold point 1 and setup for point 2. Leading to an unfair advantage.

Both Hacienda and Scud displayed that verticality can affect central objectives negatively if misused, and although Hacienda has the same issue as Scud it wasnt to the same level as it was restricted to a smaller area of just 1 lane.

Skyline - Successful

Skyline was one of the fan favourite maps from BO6 with many articles and fans listing it as the best to come from the game.

Additionally, it was also included in the competitive map pool although it is now only used competitively in hardpoint.

Uniquely, the level doesnt include a traditional 3-lane system. When inspecting the layout of the map, it is very narrow and therefore there are only 2 clear lanes. However, through playing Skyline, a 3rd lane was detected.

Theres a vertically inclined bridge which extends over sections of the right lane and connects the 2 elevated sides of map. Although this area doesnt contain objectives, it does function as a lane by carrying player traffic and works to impact the main objective point which is placed below it.

However, unlike the previous 2 maps i felt there wasnt as much imbalance caused by the verticality. Each team had it equally and due to the high traffic of this area, the 2 teams would fight adjacent to their positions and wouldnt often get the opportunity to look down at the point as it would cause them to be overly exposed. However, controlling this area by killing all of the opponents would result in the victor gaining the advantage over the main point. Which was likely the reason for the area containing such high traffic.

Conclusions (impact on project)

Through a widespread analysis of CoD's multi-mode maps it became evident that most of the successful levels contained a similar structure with the symmetrical 3-lane layout. This system was likely implemented to provide options for players as well as balance but most importantly to provide equality between teams for objectives.

This means that the designs are not optimal for bomb defusal, especially when compared to other games. However, this does not mean that the game mode is unplayable but that designing for it may cause some imbalance in areas of the map.

Additionally, there were other key design features which were uncovered. Primarily that verticality can lead to major imbalance if used incorrectly but that it can also be used to enhance levels restricted by narrow environments. Scale was another factor impacting levels as maps that were too big often became unfavourable due to a number of factors but mainly due to its slowing effect on flow

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