Modern Warfare 2: How To Play Hardcore Mode

Hardcore playlist has been a staple of the CoD franchise for ages. Even though the main game has pretty low...

Hardcore playlist has been a staple of the CoD franchise for ages. Even though the main game has pretty low time to kill, a lot of players still prefer Hardcore mode in CoD Modern Warfare 2 because of the extra challenge and exhilarating gunfights it offers.

What is Tier 1 hardcore mode?

Hardcore mode, now known as Tier 1 mode, in MW2 is basically like the standard 6v6 multiplayer mode but a lot more intense and challenging.

The players have 30HP in Modern Warfare 2 Tier 1 mode instead of 100HP. Players have limited HUD and no name tags. And even more interesting, friendly fire is open. This means you can kill your own teammates too if you aren’t careful!

A single pistol shot can easily take down most enemies so it is a great way to farm weapon xp.

All of these changes convert the arena into a kill zone. Players love to play in this mode since you can easily take more kills. But you need to stay active too as there are no name tags so you can accidentally kill your friend or get killed by a friend.

How to access Tier 1 (Hardcore) mode in Modern Warfare 2

Tier 1 in CoD MW2 is very similar to the Hardcore mode in Modern Warfare 2019. It can be accessed through the main menu under the Tier 1 playlist. Following are the modes that are available in the Tier 1 playlist as of now.

  • Team Deathmatch
  • Domination
  • Search and Destroy
  • Free for All
  • Hardpoint
  • Kill Confirmed
  • Headquarters
  • Control

You can queue into any of these modes through a menu. For leveling your weapons, the fastest, we recommend hopping into the Free-for-All game mode as you can easily rack up many kills. However, if you want to complete weapon challenges for example 50 long shots, try some other modes as FFA might prove too chaotic.

Ground War and Invasion are not available as tier 1 modes. They could be added later. As for now, there is no official confirmation on that.

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Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...