Hitscan

Hitscans are fired by bullet-firing weapons in most games of the Call of Duty series, apart from the PTRS-41 anti-materiel rifle in Call of Duty, the Barrett .50cal in "One Shot One Kill" in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the Barrett .50 Cal with a Thermal Scope in "Of Their Own Accord" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the RSASS in "Blood Brothers" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, certain pistols in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and some machine gun turrets. They travel in perfectly straight lines at infinite velocities and are infinitely thin. They disappear once all damage is lost due to wall penetration or when they hit a level's boundary. In the interest of balance, shotgun hitscans disappear after passing a certain distance, making it impossible to hit a target that is beyond a certain distance from the shooter. However, certain attachments and weapons (such as Slug Rounds and the KSG) fire infinite-ranged hitscan projectiles similar to a sniper rifle bullet, effectivley transforming the shotgun in use into a sniper-esque weapon with low damage range.
Because the hitscans travel at infinite velocity and in perfectly straight lines, bullet drop and the target's movement does not need to be compensated for. This means that aiming above/in front of a target does not need to be done to hit a moving target or a target at long range.
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, every few hitscans fired will be a tracer round, it will show up as a bright yellow flash zig-zagging towards whatever is being shot at. This effect is much more noticeable with a Silencer, which eliminates muzzle flash, and FMJ, which actually increases the frequency at which these tracer rounds are generated. Note that tracer rounds in this sense refers to a purely aesthetic effect, and not an actual in-game entity.
In Call of Duty: Black Ops, all hitscans are possible to see unlike the previous Call of Duty games (except for shotguns and certain weapons involved in previous games). This is easily seen comparing the sniper rifle shots from Black Ops to sniper rifles shots from the previous games.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II introduces bullet trails exclusively for the sniper rifles. When a sniper rifle round is shot, all other players will see a distinct smokey trail coming from where the hitscan was shot, all the way to its final destination. The trail will slowly rise up and disappear a while after it appears.
In Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, hitscans are used while a weapon is fired at close ranges. In longer range engagements, hitscans are replaced by actual projectile mechanics.
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), ballistic mechanics similar to Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, ect, are used instead of hitscans; all weapons now use modeled projectiles, with semi-realistic bullet drop and velocity mechanics, forcing players to lead shots at longer ranges, and even in close ranges, some weapons still require timing to hit shots on target, such as the Crossbow. 
Category:Gameplay mechanics