Call of Duty is a behemoth; there’s no denying it. Every year it just gets bigger, draws in more players and offers more for those players to engage with. So much so that if you jump in today, having had some time off, you might be confused and lost. I sure was. I used to play Call of Duty multiplayer back in the Xbox 360 days when things were simple, and I had the reflexes of a younger man.
These days, when you boot up Call of Duty, there’s a sensory overload and a barrage of information, modes, options and more. Honestly, navigating the Call of Duty hub and making sure you have the right game and modes installed is a bit of a logistical nightmare, and then once you’re in-game, if you’re anything like me, odds are you’re going to spend a great deal of your time staring at kill cams.
Call of Duty is a game that favours those who can put the hours in to ‘git gud’ and stay that way. As an older gamer, with children and responsibilities, I can’t pump hundreds of hours into multiplayer like I once could. I can barely even get enough time to sit down for an hour a night, but that doesn’t mean Call of Duty doesn’t have something to offer me. In fact, it’s the opposite. Call of Duty is so stacked with content now that even the noobiest of noobs and the oldest of old men can find something to occupy their time that won’t see them flinging their controller across the room in a fit of middle-aged rage.
Call of Duty
Call of Duty’s basic multiplayer modes are fast-paced, frenetic, and so twitchy that you need to be a methed-up rabbit to have the speed and reflexes to have a good time. You can, of course, train on a custom game filled with bots, but that’s not going to give you real-world experience against 12-16-year-olds with lightning-fast hands and the filthiest mouths you’ve ever heard. They’ve got my mum doing all manner of things I was always sure she’d not be into.
Anyway, if you’re a masochist, you can jump into TDM or other multiplayer modes and just grind it out, but honestly, why do that when there are so many other options that don’t actively hurt your soul? For me, Warzone tends to be a far gentler and more enjoyable experience, particularly if you load in with a squad on voice chat. There are still hordes of teenagers ready to wipe you out, but with such an enormous map, a squad who’s got your back and a less frantic pace, Warzone gives you time to experiment, test out new gear and weapons and find what works best for you. It also allows you to get acquainted with Call of Duty’s movement mechanics without being trapped in a killbox with a bunch of maniacs.
Ok, to be fair, you’re still trapped in a killbox with a bunch of maniacs, but it’s a much, much larger killbox. If Warzone is too big, you can jump into Skirmish, which is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s smaller, 20v20 version of Ground War, itself an answer to Battlefield. In teams, players need to capture and hold the zones and can use vehicles and the Wingsuit to get around. It’s a hybrid mode that falls somewhere between Warzone and TDM, which gives you a little more breathing room, but still plenty of chances to get reemed. Whatever floats your boat.
All that being said, the perfect mode for useless players like myself is Prop Hunt and man, do I love Prop Hunt. Unfortunately, it can take a while to queue for a game as the player numbers are low, but even then, it’s well worth the wait, and once you’re in a match, you can continue to roll along with the same players and get a few matches in.
The premise of Prop Hunt is great and ridiculous and removes a lot of the twitchy, reflex-driven insanity of regular Call of Duty multiplayer. Rounds alternate between hunters and props. Hunters need to locate the props hiding in the level, and props, well, they need to hide. If you’re a prop, you’re randomly assigned an object at the beginning of the round; it might be a bucket, bin, pot plant, bench seat or anything else that exists in the level. You have 30 seconds to blend in before the hunters start looking for you. Essentially, Prop Hunt is hide and seek with a few extra steps, and it’s bloody glorious.
It’s also perfect to play with my eight-year-old as he’s not old enough for regular multiplayer, and Prop Hunt fills the gap really nicely. When we play together, his excitement and anxiety about being found are infectious, and we both end up laughing and screaming at the TV. It’s certainly not ‘real’ Call of Duty multiplayer, but if you suck at that, as I do, then Prop Hunt is a great way to have some fun.
I know Call of Duty can seem daunting to us older gamers. We work all day, slaving away and just want to jump online to unwind, but then some teenager is screaming about our mums and spawn killing us without a second thought. It’s not relaxing at all, but Call of Duty is so diversified in 2026 that there’s always another mode you can play to get your fix.
Whether it’s Warzone, Skirmish, Prop Hunt or even Zombies, Call of Duty has a mode for the 40-and-up crowd. Of course, if you don’t suck at Call of Duty, then you’ll be loving the frenetic multiplayer modes and more power to you. I don’t have the time to dedicate to getting ‘gud’ or even ‘not-terrible’, so modes that work right out of the box without needing the reflexes of a jungle cat are right up my alley.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is right around the corner too, so you know that when it’s first released, there’s a sweet window where multiplayer isn’t as punishing. You best believe I’ll be joining in and dragging down whatever team is unlucky enough to be saddled with me. Sorry in advance, everybody.
Call of Duty cosmetics were provided to PowerUp! in support of this article.