The mini map works very differently in Modern Warfare 2, throwing the role of suppressors in the game into question as well.
In previous Call of Duty titles, suppressors prevented your position from showing up on the mini map as a red dot when you fired your weapon. But in the 2022 iteration, you do not show up on the mini map at all when firing.
In fact, the only time your location will be revealed on the mini map is when the enemy has a UAV active. This then begs the question: Do you actually need a suppressor?
What do suppressors do in Modern Warfare 2?
The good news is that suppressors are not completely useless in the game. The horizontal compass provides directional information, and firing an unsilenced weapon will show up as a red dot on the compass.
The suppressor stops that from happening, in addition to dampening audio cues.
However, the true benefit of a silencer is when there is an enemy UAV in the air. If you do not have a suppressed muzzle equipped, firing your weapon will now reveal your position on the mini map. This is the case whether or not you have the Ghost perk active.
The silencer conceals your location when firing. This particular interaction is only applicable when actively firing — if the UAV sweeps you when you’re holding a corner, you will still show up on the mini map, assuming you do not have Ghost equipped.
Given the prevalence of UAVs in the game — it requires only four consecutive kills, making it one of the easiest killstreaks to obtain — there is still some advantage to having a suppressor, particularly if you’re also running Ghost.
Stealth aside, silenced muzzles also offer additional bonuses, such as improved damage range, recoil, and bullet velocity.
And despite their situational benefits, they have still made their way into several meta builds in the game.
READ MORE: How to get longshot kills in Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0
