Night Vision in Call of Duty 4 Multiplayer

In Single Player Call of Duty Night Vision is used frequently because some levels are…well…at night. In Multiplayer however there no clear cut night maps. There dark maps like Wet Work and dreary maps like Bloc but all the maps are at least on the edge of twilight. So is it worth turning on Night Vision on when playing on dark maps?

One of the major disadvantages of Night Vision in Call of Duty is that it cuts down on your peripheral vision, cutting a smaller circular view out of your normal rectangular view. Multiplayer Night Vision turns on slightly faster than Single Player Night Vision, where you have to wait for the player to physically pull down the goggles. Now the obvious advantages of Night Vision are that in darker conditions it is easier to spot enemies. Even on the darkest Multiplayer maps though Night Vision provides no real contrast benefit, it just turns everything green. The other drawback of Night Vision is that the majority of maps are light so our eyes are used to spotting enemies and threats under those conditions. By turning on Night Vision you change those conditions and take away some of your natural sight instinct. Some of it comes down to personal preference, if you tested both methods and still find Night Vision better then you should go with that.

The bottom line: For most players using Night Vision in Multiplayer on dark maps is a bad idea.