Parents' Guide to Call of Duty: Warzone

Players looking for a polished and distinctive alternative to current battle royale heavyweights like Fortnite and Player Unknown's Battlegrounds may find it in this gritty standalone expansion. Call of Duty: Warzone has the advantage of being based on a popular game with which many are already familiar -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) -- and which has some of the tightest and most refined first-person shooter mechanics around. In many ways, Warzone plays very similarly to the game it expands upon, allowing players to do things like mount weapons for increased stability and create easily accessible gear loadouts. Many players will find it both familiar and empowering. But it also welcomes new players -- not just because it's standalone and free, but also through features such as the ability to purchase killstreak bonuses such as drones and heavy weapon strikes normally earned through skilled play. This keeps Call of Duty rookies from getting unfairly clobbered by more experienced players.

Warzone also has some fun quirks that help keep players in the action, most notably contracts that provide secondary objectives that to keep players on the move and help discourage camping, and the Gulag into which defeated players are dropped. If you're itching for just one more chance to join the battle, you'll get a chance -- assuming you can defeat another player in the same boat as you while others watch. It's a clever way to keep more people involved in a battle royale event for a longer period of time. That said, newbies should be ready to face a steep challenge. Call of Duty has generated legions of extremely skilled players who have mastered strategies such as long-distance sniping and luring enemies into bottlenecks. Plus, playing with voice communication is bound to result in some unpleasant encounters with the franchise's famously intolerant and profane community. But there's no denying Call of Duty: Warzone is a strong contender in the battle royale arena. From its beautifully rendered and detailed map to its proven combat mechanics and practical innovations, it's definitely worth a look for genre fans.