Highlights
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's open-world Zombies mode is a huge success, meaning it will likely receive extensive support.
- Future updates should focus on improving enemy variety to prevent the mode from becoming repetitive.
- Introducing classic mini-bosses like the Panzer Soldat and Megatons would add excitement and fresh challenges to the gameplay experience. Additionally, a heavily buffed Orda could be a proper boss fight on par with the Aether Worm.
No matter how divisive the open-world approach may be with old school CoD Zombies fans, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s take on the mode is objectively a huge success. Described as the biggest third mode in Call of Duty history in terms of its player count, it is highly likely that Activision and Treyarch will do everything they can to keep the mode relevant until Call of Duty 2024. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 was a good start in terms of content output, as it brought a proper endgame experience via Dark Aether Rifts as well as new loot to chase. However, Treyarch should work on other areas with its future Zombies updates, with enemy variety being an obvious thing to improve upon.
To be fair to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies, the existing lineup of enemy types is hardly bad, especially for a game so early in its life. Players can battle the formidable Mega Abominations and tanky Aether Worms, tussle with Disciples, Manglers, and Mimics, and battle the typical Hellhounds and Zombies. With Nest Crawlers and MWZ’s Mercenaries found in specific spots on the map, there is a healthy variety of fights to be found. However, as the months pass and players fight these same foes over and over again, that variety could quickly fade away, and the game could start to feel repetitive. To stop this from happening, future seasons could add several classic mini-bosses to the mix.
Dead Island 2 Proves It's Time For Call of Duty Zombies to Rethink One Feature
Dead Island 2 features some exceptional combat mechanics, and there is one lesson in particular that CoD Zombies should learn from Dambuster's game.
Future Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Could Bring Back Several CoD Zombies Mini-Bosses
The Panzer Soldat and Megaton Would Make Great Mini-Bosses For MWZ
Arguably the most terrifying mini-boss in Call of Duty Zombies history is the Panzer Soldat, an armored mech piloted by a zombified human that can pull players toward it and burn them alive. Panzers regularly ended matches for players on the original version of Origins, and though they were much weaker in its remake as well as Der Eisendrache, Revelations, and Outbreak, they were still worth fearing. If kept strong, they could be a great addition to MWZ, keeping players on their toes as they hunt them through Urzikstan. Perhaps the iconic siren could even have a chance of going off 10 minutes into a match, with dozens of Panzers descending from the sky all at once and hunting players down.
Megatons, the mini-bosses from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Die Maschine map, could also be brought back. Given the prevalence of gas masks within the open-world mode, Megatons could have a new ability that allows them to sabotage the area around them with poisonous gas, with the gas spreading further the longer the Megaton stays alive. Players could need to reach the center of the area to kill the Megaton and make the gas dissipate, with the Megaton offering a chance at an exclusive schematic for an unbreakable (or auto-recharging) golden gas mask.
If Treyarch really wants to shake things up, it could pull some Apothicon foes out of the Dark Aether like the Furies, Parasites, and Cursed Keepers. The Valkyrie Drones from Gorod Krovi would be another enemy type that could diversify the gameplay.
Orda Could Be a “New” Big Boss Fight Within MWZ
With players already getting tired of Aether Worm boss fights, as both of the boss battles in MWZ have focused on them, having a new gigantic enemy to battle with a full squad would be beneficial. While crafting another entirely new enemy type may pull too many resources and Treyarch developers away from Call of Duty 2024, bringing back Orda from Firebase Z and Outbreak could be a perfect solution. Seeing him march through a city and knock down buildings would create an impressive sense of scale, with a full lobby of players rushing toward Orda’s location to help bring the creature down. Depending on where he spawns, he could have a high chance of dropping that zone’s exclusive schematics.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
Released in November of 2023, Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) continues Captain Price's story from the 2019 and 2022 games.
