You can share squad points with other squad members, however points that are spent to unlock weapons, attachments or perks will only be unlocked for that squad member and cannot be traded. Appearance unlocks are entirely cosmetic and do not affect the gameplay, but allows you to personalize your squad member’s look for others to see.

A secondary weapon can come in handy if you run out of ammunition in the middle of gunfire which allows you to fight back. Both your primary and secondary weapons can be equipped with attachments such as scopes and additional magazine clips. These also cost squad points. You can also equip a tactical accessory and a lethal accessory which are handheld weapons or benefits such as grenades. If you do not equip a tactical or lethal accessory, you are granted additional perks. Perks allow you to utilize specific attributes that make specific actions quicker and more effective. Perks can cost between one to four points and you can use a total of eight points. [1] X Research source

The assault package rewards lethal killstreaks after three kills in a row without dying. The support package is less effective but is beneficial to the team and does not reset upon death. The specialist package simply rewards additional perks.

Some maps also feature environmental events that can interfere with combat, such as water and earthquakes.

An online subscription is required for Xbox 360, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game consoles to play online.

Standard mode contains all the regular multiplayer modes to play online. This is the best method to play multiplayer if this is your first time playing. Hardcore mode is designed to be more unforgiving by granting less health to players, limiting Heads Up Display (HUD) markers by not highlighting team members, disabling the mini-map and allowing friendly fire which makes for a more realistic scenarios of ground warfare. Playing on hardcore mode on certain match types allows for more squad points, but involves a higher risk. Clan VS. Clan requires you to join a clan before you can use this mode. Joining a clan will put you in a dedicated team of players which will allow you to play against other clans.

There are several returning game modes seen in previous Call of Duty titles such as Team Deathmatch, Free-for-All and Kill Confirmed. These traditional game modes allow for a better understanding of the rules for the game and are most popular among players. There are new game modes introduced to the Call of Duty series such as Cranked and Blitz. These game modes are variations on older game modes and make for a nice change of pace, however are generally tougher to learn the rules of the game.

Play the game with friends online or bring in a friend via split screen on consoles and work with each other. Free-for-All does not feature team-based play.

You can change your loadout during a game. While you are dead you can bring up your “Options” menu by pressing the Start, Option or Menu button on your controller or the Esc key on the PC version then choose “Change Loadout” and select from your preset loadouts.

In tactical game modes, it will also show the location of domination points, flags or other targets that are important to the game mode. By taking advantage of the Sat COMs perk, you can instantly reveal the location of opposing players within a certain range. However the enemy team can also make use of perks such as the Wiretap to hijack your Sat COMs to work in their favor.

You can earn killstreaks faster by obtaining and completing field orders. Field orders are given by obtaining a briefcase dropped by a downed player. You are then given a challenge to complete a specific task that involves defeating other players, without dying, to earn a killstreak quickly. You are limited to how much XP you earn when playing matches offline. You can rank your squad member up to level 60. This rank level is known as a “Prestige” rank. Unlike in previous Call of Duty games, you keep all of your unlocks and upgrades and you unlock an emblem that simply shows your dedication for playing the game.

You can change the difficulty of the campaign before you play. You won’t need to complete the campaign in order to prepare yourself, but it will at least provide the basics on how the game plays overall.

If you have played a Call of Duty game before, you can easily understand the basics of movement, how to run, aim down your sights and activating streak rewards. If there are actions you would feel more comfortable with a different button or if you want to adjust your turning speed, you can adjust these under the “Control Options” in the “Options” menu. There are a few changes to how the game plays, such as the dolphin-dive move from Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, now known as the run and slide. Initiate a sprint then press the crouch button to slide on your knees. If you press and hold the crouch button you will slide until you are lying down into the prone position. You can also lean around corners by standing toward a corner. Once you see an arrow appear near your aiming reticle, you can hold the aim button to lean in the direction the arrow was pointing.

Use private matches as an opportunity to see how unlocked weapons work. See how each weapon can be the most effective for you before trying to use them against live opponents.