So you've loaded up Modern Warfare 2, and you've just seen the overwhelming settings menu? Allow us to help. Here are the best settings you want for MW2.
Modern Warfare 2 has been revealed to the players, and more than any CoD since WW2, they're slowing down the pace of the game and moving in a tactical/mil-sim direction. You can read our full thoughts on whether that's a good thing or not in our review of MW2. But not matter how it plays, the first thing most fans want to know is how they can get an advantage. And one of the easiest and quickest ways to get small advantages in CoD is by optimizing your settings.
In this article, we'll go through the best settings for Modern Warfare 2, from the graphics to the sound, and even the specific settings for controller players. Enjoy!
Note: We'll be going category by category and discussing the settings options that need to be changed. Anything we don't mention should be left as the default setting. A great many of these options simply aren't relevant to the average player, they're in the game for players with specific disabilities and such.
Graphics
We've got lots of settings which make the game look and feel beautiful...but they're going to put as at a competitive disadvantage. So, perhaps sadly, we'll need to turn them off.
| Option | Setting |
| World Motion Blur | Off |
| Weapon Motion Blur | Off |
| Film Grain | 0/100 |
| Depth of Field | Off |
| Field of View | Between 95-105 (but you'll need to experiment for yourself and choose your personal favorite) |
As much as making the game look less cinematic might be a shame, it's worth it. Plus, the game looks awesome anyway, especially all the weapons.
Sound
There's no way to increase enemy footstep sounds via the settings, but we can still optimize audio slightly. All we need to do in Audio Settings is reduce the music volume to 0/100. We want it fully muted because as much as we might love the MW2 soundtrack, it's a distraction that does nothing to help you.
MW2 is going to be changing a hell of a lot in Call of Duty, check it out:
Controller
One key thing I want to mention up-front before we get into controller settings. MW2 is a slow game that rewards pre-aiming, and so to deliberately slow down, I found I had better results by turning auto-tac sprint off, but higher skilled players will still have an optimized setup by using this option. Anyway, let's get into the other controller settings you need to change:
| Option | Setting |
| Button Layout Preset | Default (if you have paddles), otherwise Tactical (which is worth learning for the ability to crouch while keeping your thumb on the right stick) |
| Controller Vibration | Off |
| Trigger Effect | Off |
| Horizontal Sensitivity | 4-6* |
| Vertical Sensitivity | 4-6* |
| ADS Sensitivity | 80-90 (for easier micro-adjustments) |
Automatic Sprint | Automatic Tac-Sprint (for higher-skilled players, otherwise off) |
| Automatic Airborne Mantle | Partial |
| Interact/Reload Behaviour | Prioritize Reload (interactions are very rare in MP compared to Warzone) |
| Aim Assist Type | Default (it's the only one with rotational aim-assist, which is the most powerful) |
| Aim Response Curve Type | Dynamic |
| Input Deadzone: Left Stick Min | 4/100 (or as low as you can go without getting stick drift) |
| Input Deadzone: Right Stick Min | 4/100 (or as low as you can go without getting stick drift) |
*Many players assume high-sens is better but as you'll see with pros in the CDL who all use around 5-5 or 6-6, you don't need to go crazy to get the best results. Because, sure, you can turn around quickly with high-sens, but that's useless if you're missing your shots.
So, now that you've got all your settings in order, it's time to start sorting your classes out. Here's our favorite flex class, using the FSS Hurricane. Good luck out there!