Highlights
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will feature a new open-world Zombies mode, a change from previous installments of the game.
- The Zombies mode will continue the Dark Aether Saga and feature Task Force 141 battling against the undead.
- The game will also include a remastered multiplayer mode with 16 maps from Modern Warfare 2 and Open Combat Missions for campaign players.
The ever-popular Zombies mode is set to return with the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, dropping players into an open-world space to hold back the undead hordes. Its addition is a change of pace for this particular Call of Duty sub-franchise which, historically, has seen modes such as Spec Ops and more recently the Atomgrad raids in its place. With Sledgehammer leading the charge on this latest Modern Warfare title, though, Task Force 141 is set to face off with the undead for the first time in series history.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the third entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare series, taking place some time after the events of 2022's Modern Warfare 2 and its subsequent seasons. Front and center in the third entry will be Vladimir Makarov, who will make his debut in the reboot series after being hinted at in the previous game as the one responsible for setting Modern Warfare 2's campaign in motion. Captain Price returns to lead Task Force 141 on a mission to stop Makarov from igniting World War 3, though the ultranationalist terrorist has an elite force, dubbed Konni Group, to combat the special ops team.
Along with the campaign and multiplayer, Sledgehammer revealed the game's open-world Zombies mode with a cinematic trailer setting the stage for the outbreak Task Force 141 will work to contain. Modern Warfare 3's Zombies is set to continue the Dark Aether Saga, which began in Call of Duty: Vanguard and continued in Black Ops Cold War, with Victor Zakhaev serving as the main antagonist leading a group known as Terminus Outcomes. An incursion by the private military group involving Zakhaev is what leads to the outbreak, which appears to quickly spread and requires Task Force 141 to join a containment operation dubbed Operation Deadbolt.
The map players will be combating the undead on is described as "the largest Call of Duty Zombies map ever," providing more room to fight and escape the zombies populating the map. Sledgehammer did not say where the map is set, only that a mysterious military facility at the city's heart was the target of Zakhaev's efforts to escape with the mysterious substance Aetherium before setting off the outbreak. The trailer also confirmed Soap and Kate Laswell will be present representing Task Force 141, while Sergei Ravanov from Black Ops Cold War's Zombies mode returns.
It remains to be seen how this iteration of Zombies is received by players, especially when put up against what else will be available at Modern Warfare 3's launch. Multiplayer fans will get the chance to play on 16 remastered maps from 2009's Modern Warfare 2, while campaign-minded players will be able to experiment with their play-styles in Open Combat Missions.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is scheduled to release November 10, 2023, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Call of Duty, YouTube
