Modern Warfare 2 has an MGS5-style inflatable dummy

Modern Warfare 2
(Image credit: Activision)

Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer will have a ton of new equipment and field upgrades that run the gamut from sensible to flat-out ridiculous. During a hands-off preview last week, Infinity Ward showed off some of the gadgets you'll be able to bring onto the battlefield when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 drops on October 28, and it certainly seems like this is going to be the wildest Call of Duty game yet.

The biggest stand-out was an inflatable decoy that is a human-sized Kevlar dummy, not unlike the Active Decoy from Metal Gear Solid 5. We don't have images for it, but I can best describe it as a giant, feature-less humanoid attached in multiple places to a small circular base. Just like in MGS5, "it inflates rapidly, like you can imagine a car airbag," co-design director of multiplayer Joe Cecot says during the presentation. "It works in two ways: you can throw it down and then you trigger it - you can throw it on a rooftop, trigger it, it pops up and you can see people shoot at it, and then you can engage them. Or you can throw it down near a bomb site where you know players are gonna come by and as soon as they get close it auto-deploys."

This thing is going to scare the crap out of me in multiplayer matches, I just know it. And even though it looks sort of like a potato version of a soldier, Infinity Ward swears it fools players during testing all the time - even when it was just a deployable gray box that had yet to be rendered. The inflatable decoy can also deploy at different heights for added realism: if it pops up under a tableau, it'll be crouched. And if you throw it in the water, it pulls a swimming pose. 

The inflatable decoy joins other wild equipment like a drill charge, which bores holes in walls and drops a grenade in its wake. You can use these on vehicles as well, which should make driving even more chaotic. Modern Warfare 2 will also include equipment like a tactical camera that will beep to indicate enemy movement past it, and a DDOS, which alerts you to equipment in your area and sends out an electromagnetic pulse, temporarily shutting it down. 

Modern Warfare 2 is gearing up to be a wild experience in both campaign and multiplayer. It drops October 28 of this year for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Steam and Battle.net). 

Check out our Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer preview for tons of details about the upcoming game. 

Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante is an editor and features writer at GamesRadar based out of Brooklyn, NY. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.