With the Florida Mutineers Home Series having taken place two weekends ago (check the full event recap here), competitive CoD is on hold until this Friday, when the next event (Seattle Surge Home Series) will start, and it seems like the best time to keep understanding competitive Call of Duty.
This fortnightly guide will help newcomers to the scene get a better hold on how competitive CoD works, help those who have been away for some time catch up and give the veterans something to remember from the good ol’ days. Every post will cover how each game mode works and its evolution through competitive CoD history.
Today we will review the first of three game modes, Hardpoint, its evolution through time and some memorable moments we’ve seen along the way.
What is Hardpoint (HP)?
Hardpoint is a game mode in which the two teams have to secure a hardpoint which changes over time in order to gain points. The number of members in the point does not affect the capture speed, which is always 1 point/second. The first team to 250 points wins. If the two teams are in the hardpoint at the same time, no one gets points. Currently, the timer only runs on if no team or both of them are in the hardpoint, but it wasn’t like this in Black Ops II and Advanced Warfare. This mechanic made some games impossible to win at a certain point, as there was less time available than points a team needed.
Hardpoint has traditionally been the first mode to be played and, if necessary, the fourth as well.
Hardpoint as a competitive mode
The game mode first appeared in Black Ops II, and it was immediately added to the competitive modes pool. However, as we’ve already seen, the time was limited, so some games could be dull towards the ending (as there was only one possible winner). This mechanic stayed for Advanced Warfare, but was removed for Black Ops III. This was great news for the community, and it allowed for amazing comebacks, which have been a constant throughout the years.
Hardpoint’s best moments
Apart from memorable comebacks, Hardpoint has provided the community with some of the greatest and better-known moments in competitive CoD history
You can have Scump showing who’s the best in the game (headphone users beware)…
or getting cross-map kills with the Skorpion…
or Karma getting a 28 killstreak and making his rivals look like amateurs…
or Epsilon 100-point-clubbing reigning champions Impact…
and many more…
Next part…
That’s it for this week: how Hardpoint works and the best moments we’ve seen of it. This Friday we have a meeting at what would have been the Seattle Surge Home Series, but this guide will be back in two weeks to delve into the mechanics (and a bit of the history as well) of the second game mode of every match: Search and Destroy.
