After 7 years of asking, Ubisoft finally introduced a Deathmatch mode to Siege. How unfortunate that it’s lacking. It’s as if someone in the playerbase used a cursed monkey paw for the mode; it exists, but twisted and not working properly. There are 3 key flaws with Deathmatch: Spawns, Rewards for Kills, and Map Design. One of those isn’t going to change so there’s really only 2 aspects to improve.
You can see how maps weren’t made for TDM in mind by positions like top trash stairs on Favela. It’s a powerful angle, one a team would use utility to get around. But utility isn’t available in Deathmatch. As a result Favela can turn into teams taking turns recreating the Battle of Normandy trying to gain control of top trash stairs. Run at the problem until you eventually overrun the enemy. Like zombies. But Deathmatch wasn’t (and shouldn’t be) considered when Ubisoft made Favela. I’d prefer maps that play poorly in Deathmatch but well in actual Siege than the other way around. So while the maps are certainly not made for a game mode like Deathmatch, we’re better off with it this way. That said, the game mode still has room for improvement that can actually be acted on.
The first problem with Deathmatch is the rewards for kills. Or rather the lack thereof. When you kill someone in Deathmatch you don’t get anything outside of a +1 for K/D and living to fight another day. You have to reload the gun and you have no opportunity to heal from the fight. For players that win multiple fights, it eventually gets to the point where a stray bullet will do you in because you’re just that low. It can almost feel like a punishment. This also incentivizes passive play after winning fights because of low HP. This runs counter to the intent of Deathmatch. The aim is to fight. A lot. However, the way it functions subliminally tells players that passive play is better. In its current format Deathmatch rewards you winning fights by putting you at a constant state of disadvantage (low hp, having to reload) until you die. Deathmatch in Valorant is more along the lines of what Siege should aim for.
In Valorant deathmatch the game mode is designed to reward players who kill enemies. Not only do you get +1 to your K/D, you also immediately get most of your magazine back so you can immediately peek another angle and a health pack spawns on top of where you killed the enemy. The game incentivizes taking fights. You don’t have to reload and you have opportunities to heal. Why slow down and camp when you’re actively rewarded for moving around the map from health pack to health pack?
Implementing a system like this to Siege would do wonders. Even giving players +5 bullets in the mag for a kill is enough. Just something to push players to take more fights without slowing down. Add in a way to heal and players are better rewarded for fighting more rather than less. Obviously you can’t remove camping entirely. But creating gameplay rewards that push players towards a more active play style will change the risk/reward (or fun/reward) of camping vs taking more fights.
The second issue with Deathmatch as a mode are the spawns. The spawns are terrible. Half the time you spawn in front of an enemy and the other half you’re alone on one side of the map. This leads to long droughts of no gunfights or gunfights you simply can’t win. (Unless you spinbot. But I have other concerns at that point) In a mode where the entire point is to take frequent gunfights across a map to work on aim and positioning, this is a problem. Normal Siege is a slow game. Included in that is a low rate of gunfights per minute. A TDM mode in Call of Duty can have you fighting 5 or 6 people in a minute, but in regular Siege you might only take a single gunfight in 3. Deathmatch has a better rate undeniably, but when half of those ‘gunfights’ are being shot in the head out of spawn how much should they really count?
Of course this problem isn’t exclusive to Siege. CoD has the same problem and it’s been getting objectively worse for years now. Modern Warfare 2019 was lampooned for its horrible spawn system only for Cold War and Vanguard to 1up it. From the sounds of it Modern Warfare 2 (2022) is just as bad if not worse. Figuring out a spawn system has been a problem every FPS title grapples with. There’s almost never a perfect answer. That said, there’s certainly room for improvement in Siege’s current spawn system. I’m not asking for a perfect solution. That won’t exist for a mode like this in Siege. The maps aren’t designed for TDM and thus will create limitations that force bad spawns sometimes. However some basic improvements so as to not spawn directly in front of an opponent would be nice.
While both of these changes won’t magically refill the Deathmatch queue, they put the game mode more in line with the original intent. They create a better gameplay flow at both ends of the spectrum, fragging and dying. One increases the reward you get for outgunning your opponents, incentivizing more fights, and the other lessens the sting of dying, making it easier to jump back in the fray without a second thought. Through this and a little bit of father time, Deathmatch has the potential to bounce back, to be a legitimate game mode in Siege.