There are two constant sticking points for the Call of Duty community – particularly the more competitive portion. One, there’s a concern that players are still able to ‘snake’ and nobody is doing anything about it. Two, there’s a constant debate that aim assist is too ‘powerful’ for controller-based players, and that’s a huge issue. Well, in a recent interview, developers from Sledgehammer Games revealed that they’re actively targeting these two areas for improvement actions.

In a recent chat with a content creator, key developers from SHG revealed that the team is ‘investigating’ snaking and ‘tweaking’ aim assist. This is all based on community feedback, which is how Sledgehammer Games seems to be approaching the ongoing development of Modern Warfare 3. In almost every update so far, it has referenced making a change to the game based on the sentiments of those actually playing the game – but it still isn’t perfect.

What’s Wrong With Aim Assist?

Image Credit: Activision Blizzard

In a cross-platform world, an argument between keyboard and mouse and controller-based players was always going to be inevitable. Many PC players claim that ‘aim assist’ is a hugely overpowered mechanic that gives players a staggering advantage in the game, much to the chagrin of those using controllers. With that in mind, Sledgehammer Games is taking active steps to satiate the community, taking a close look at the feature.

They stressed in the interview that it’s ‘in an okay place right now’ but they need to look at it closer. One potential solution is to remove the various aim assist options, such as switching the mode to ‘Precision’, ‘Focusing’, ‘Black Ops’, and ‘Default’. By doing this, they restrict the need to tweak multiple options and can just focus on one that everyone uses.

And What About Snaking?

This is something more confined to the competitive, hardcore community. In short, snaking is a mechanic that players can abuse by laying prone and standing up quickly behind cover, bopping their head up and down so fast that they’re almost impossible to hit. It’s a complicated thing to perfect, but some of the best Call of Duty players in the CDL right now are notorious for making use of the exploit.

Sledgehammer’s developers spoke quite clearly against the exploit:

‘If you are snaking, you intentionally try to mess with the game and get that advantage. So when people see this from the other side and are actually trying to shoot that person, it’s not a great experience and looks kind of weird and funky.’

Nobody likes snaking, especially the Call of Duty esports fans who watch teams battle it out for million-dollar prize pools. It ultimately becomes a battle to prove who can snake more effectively, and that’s not good viewing. In some games, there’s a ‘slowdown’ that applies when you try to change your stance too quickly. It prevents things like ‘teabagging’, but it also slows players down that are moving in a ‘weird and funky’ way, as Sledgehammer puts it.

Would you be happy to see the back of snaking?