The popular Zombies mode that has become a pillar of theCall of Dutyseries came from nowhere. The mode silently launched after the credits at the end of the campaign inCall of Duty: World At War, catching players off guard as they suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives from waves of Nazi zombies in the ruins of an old bunker. Now, it is a featured mode in nearly every game of the series, includingCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
However, everyCall of Dutyto include Zombies has changed it slightly, with the current take on the mode hardly resembling what players first experienced inWorld At War. Many of the changes have been positive, but someBlack Ops Cold Warplayers have become concerned over the direction of the mode, feeling that it has not received the care or attention that multiplayer andCall of Duty: Warzonehave over the past months. Unfortunately, the upcomingrelease of Season 5 forCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warseems to confirm many of the fanbase’s fears about what is in store for Zombies.
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The History of Zombies in Call of Duty
From its inception as a fun easter egg at the end of a campaign, Zombies has exploded drastically in popularity, scale, and complexity. Where before players had a handful of rooms with a mysterious box that randomly gave players a gun,Call of DutyZombies now features more than a dozen perks, Pack-A-Punch, Wonder Weapons, and multiple easter eggs in every map that can take multiple hours to solve. For many players within the Zombies community, the changes have been largely positive.World At War’s DLC packs moved the mode forward steadily, eventually introducing perks and Pack-A-Punch to help players make it to higher rounds than ever before.
Zombies has only continued to get more complicated and dense and even spun an impressivelyconvoluted story together forCall of Dutyplayersto piece it together from short cutscenes and voice lines during matches. The Zombies mode also expanded out to games in the series that were not developed by the mode’s original creators at Treyarch, but non-Treyarch modes have never found the foothold that the original mode has, despite often attempting to add a unique spin of their own. This has left the Zombies community often waiting around three years between each Treyarch-developedCall of Dutygame. However, Treyarch’sCall of Duty: Black Ops 4was considered very disappointing by many players in the Zombies community, which put an incredible amount of pressure onCall of Duty: Black Cold Warto get the mode right.
Zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Thankfully, the game was considered a success by many in the community.Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waronly launched with a single Zombies map, and it included a remake of the very first map to boot. However, many players in the community thought that the game’s new approach to the mode was a huge success, andBlack Ops Cold War’s promise of free content drops in the future left many fans optimistic. However, the road for Zombies over the lifetime ofBlack Ops Cold Warthus far has been tumultuous. The game eventually introduced a new Zombies mode, splitting the experience into what are known as survival maps andCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Outbreak mode.
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Traditionally, Zombies matches saw players starting in an area of a map and doing their best to survive for as long as possible. The process was eventually complicated with the introductions of complicated quests and buildable weapons, but the experience stayed largely the same at its core until the release of Outbreak. Outbreak instead sees players jumping from large map to large map to hunt down and complete open-world sidequests while also upgrading the rarity of their weapons. Outbreak did eventually introduce its own sprawling easter egg quests, but the resources devoted to the mode have left many members of the Zombies community yearning for more of the traditional experience.Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warhas introduced new survival mapsin its seasons, but so far there are only three survival maps in the game.
What Season 5 Seems to Confirm for Zombies Players
Now,Season 5 is coming forCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and it has confirmed the fears of many Zombies players. With Season 5 not including any more survival maps, the mode’s fanbase has started accepting that the game may only release one more survival map before the confirmedCall of Duty 2021releases this Fall. This has many fans hoping for the new map to come withCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Season 6 or Season 6 Reloaded, but some are even worried that there won’t be another survival map at all.
However, the Zombies community is not without hope.Call of Duty: Black Ops 3received a massive DLC namedZombies Chronicles that remastered numerous older Zombies maps in theBlack Ops 3engine so that players could continue to enjoy them. After Season 5 only had content for Outbreak, manyBlack Ops Cold WarZombies players expressed their interest in a Zombies Chronicles 2 so that they could continue enjoying the game’s new gameplay and engine on some more classic-style maps. Shortly after these demands,rumors of a Zombies Chronicles 2began to circulate once again, so there remains some hope for the Zombies community yet.
It will be very interesting to see what else is in the future forCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The game has been rumored to receive a second year of support and new content, which stands in stark contrast toCall of Duty: Modern Warfare’s support that ceased almost immediately uponBlack Ops Cold War’s release. If the second year of support ends up being true, it could be huge forZombies players inBlack Ops Cold War, but it will be interesting to see how that support would work ifCall of Duty 2021does hit its intended release date. Hopefully, players will get some news on what they can expect from the future ofCall of DutyZombies sometime soon.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Waris available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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