Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has significant visual recoil that can hurt your ability to aim and track targets effectively. Luckily, there are some settings we can adjust to minimize camera shake and improve visibility. This guide will detail the best settings to reduce visual recoil in Modern Warfare 2.
Quick take
Visual recoil is the camera shake players experience when firing a weapon or performing an action, and it does not affect the actual weapon recoil. To reduce visual recoil in Modern Warfare 2, lower 1st Person Camera Movement, increase Field of View, set ADS Field of View to Affected, set Weapon Field of View to Wide, and disable Depth of Field and Motion Blur.
Table of Contents
Best settings to reduce recoil
Visual recoil is a significant factor contributing to the accuracy of weapons in Modern Warfare 2. Call of Duty players encounter visual recoil anytime they shoot or perform an action that causes their camera to shake or results in distortion.
Even though visual recoil does not affect weapons’ actual recoil pattern, too much visual recoil can harm precision and the ability to track targets. Every weapon in Modern Warfare 2 has varying amounts of visual recoil, but there are settings we can adjust to reduce the overall visual recoil in-game.
Let’s look at the best Modern Warfare 2 graphics settings you can change to minimize visual recoil and improve accuracy. The following settings can all be found in the Graphics section of the Settings menu.
1st Person Camera Movement: Least (50%)
The 1st Person Camera Movement setting is the most substantial contributor to camera shake and visual recoil in Modern Warfare 2. Set 1st Person Camera Movement to its lowest amount, Least (50%), for reduced camera shake when firing, sprinting, or taking damage.
Field of View (FOV): 90+
The Field of View setting allows players to adjust their camera angle and how much of the game is shown on screen. Increasing the Field of View will not affect the accuracy of weapons, but it will reduce visual recoil since weapon movements, and recoil patterns will look smaller.
The ideal Field of View for Modern Warfare 2 will depend on your gaming setup and preferences; check out our comprehensive guide on the best FOV for Modern Warfare 2 to learn more.
ADS Field of View: Affected
The ADS Field of View setting determines the player’s FOV when aiming down the sights of a weapon. There are two options for ADS Field of View, Independent and Affected.
The Independent setting zooms weapons to their standard value when aiming down sights, and the Affected setting zooms weapons according to the player’s Field of View setting.
The best ADS Field of View setting to reduce visual recoil is Affected. The Affected setting keeps zoom consistent when aiming down sights and reduces the blur effect when FOV transitions from narrow to wide.
Weapon Field of View: Wide
The Weapon Field of View setting has a negligible impact on gameplay, but it’s worth mentioning since we are going for the least amount of visual recoil possible. Setting the Weapon Field of View to Wide decreases the amount of the weapon seen on screen, which minimizes visual recoil.
Depth of Field: Off
The Depth of Field setting creates a blur effect when focusing or aiming down sights, significantly decreasing your situational awareness and increasing visual recoil. Disabling the Depth of Field setting is an excellent way to gain an edge over the competition.
Motion Blur: Off
The Motion Blur setting causes visual distortion when sprinting or sliding. Disabling Motion Blur is one of the best settings used by Call of Duty pros to minimize visual noise and improve peripheral target acquisition.
Other ways to reduce visual recoil
Use low-zoom optics
Modern Warfare 2 optics have increased visual recoil as they increase in magnification. A 1x magnification level optic will have significantly less visual recoil than a 3.5x optic. Using low-zoom optics on high-recoil weapons can help make the recoil feel more manageable.
Tune optics towards Far in the Gunsmith
Gunsmith tuning allows players to adjust how far optics sit from their face in Modern Warfare 2. Tuning optics towards ‘Far’ will reduce the size of the sight picture and decrease visual recoil.
