KitGuru Games: MWIII’s Tac-Stance is an FPS Revolution

2022’s Modern Warfare II brought with it the ‘canted laser sight’ which suspiciously would have your character aim their weapon in a left-leaning manner while using the laser to target enemies instead of your typical iron sights. Used mostly during night maps, the team at Sledgehammer Games clearly realised that the gameplay alterations brought about by the canted laser sight had significantly greater potential than it initially seemed. Using the canted laser sight as a base and combining it with the new 3rd-person mode’s ADS functionality has led to a vital additional ‘tactic’ which one could use whenever they deem fit or necessary.

Call of Duty has always been one of the faster-paced first person shooters, with the run-and-gun nature of the game going as far back as 2003’s Call of Duty 1. Not since that very first title do I believe that COD has introduced a mechanic as impactful as the tac stance. Yes, we have seen some pretty major gameplay additions over the years, from dolphin diving to sliding – and now both. The impact and potential of the tac stance is such that it now serves as a new umbrella mechanic which functions above the other additions. What I mean by this is that the tac stance doesn’t exist in its own little bubble, it works on top of and alongside other mechanics such as sliding – changing the gameplay and timings in a rather drastic manner.