After reading the forum post about the health regeneration issue that is currently raging, I thought this would be a good time to put my thoughts across as well as trying to give both sides of the argument. This is the first in a series of articles designed to make Call of Duty 4 as competitive and skill based as we can and therefore most successful out of the box.

This debate in essence has turned into a battle of CoD1 versus CoD2 for the majority, those who long for the old days wish for regeneration to be removed increasing the skill factor, whereas the new breed of gamers enjoy the feel of CoD2 and want regeneration to stay in CoD4. 

So why should we keep regeneration?

Regeneration has made CoD2 the game it is today, the style of game play and the way we play it. Whether this is running away to regen before challenging again or taking that extra risk of running out because you know you will get your health back (if the opposition can’t aim!). This style of play has excelled CoD2 to new heights that its predecessor never hit which has made CoD2 one of the biggest games around and has made it a totally unique game.  

While making the game in some ways quicker as you nearly always have full health, it has also made the game have that clutch factor. A game doesn’t go by where there isn’t at least 3 clutches made. These clutches can change the flow of a game as well as create high drama and make matches more exciting to watch from a spectators point of view, which is vital to an appealing game. 

The main argument I saw on the forums was based around grenade splash damage. With grenades being so powerful in CoD2 it often means a straight out kill unless you get lucky and manage to jump out of the way of impending death. Regen countered the grenade power and radius but is this really needed in the upcoming sequel? 

I will now argue the points made above on why regeneration should be removed; these are my personal thoughts and feelings on the situation.  

CoD2 can be THE most frustrating game ever made. When it is one of those days where you just keep tagging your opponents then they prone and wait for you to come round the corner then no scope you. Regeneration has meant that people now get 3-4 extra lives a round if they are lucky, where is the skill in that? Risks have to be made to win the round whether or not your health with magically reappear, knowing when to take these risks is another skill entirely and will set apart good players from top players.

Clutching has again been dulled down in CoD2, people said to look at old CoD1 frag movies to see how easy it was to clutch. It was much harder to clutch and took a lot more brain to out think your opponents as you only had a small health portion to work with. In a big game situation a 1v3 will sway the flow of the game in a psychological way and it should be hard to do and create more emotion when it is done.

I would like to see anyone take a grenade to the face then walk away intact. Grenades are supposed to do a big amount of damage, which is why they are crucial to winning games and people spend so long working them into tactics. The blast radius of grenades has apparently been shortened, the distance grenades can be thrown shortened and cookable grenades have also been added (going on reviews of the demo). This will make the use of grenades completely different to that of CoD2 therefore ruling out the need to keep regeneration in the game.

In my own opinion there is no logical reason to keep regeneration in the game as it stands. It requires more skill to be good at a game with limited health and will add a whole new level that has been missing in CoD2.