Modern Warfare III — Get prepped to take on the undead in this Zombies intel report

One of the key pillars for many Call of Duty games has been Zombies, and this take is gonna be a little nuts. DMZ was an interesting mode last year, but now it’s been somewhat reworked into DMZ-ombies. In all fairness, the foundation was already laid in Outbreak from Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which in my opinion was a standout mode and innovated on a formula that had been a bit samey for some time. The culmination of it seems to be at hand in MWIII’s version of Zombies, so get ready to fight against the horde with the intel below from the COD Blog.

Modern Warfare Zombies: Launch Content Overview

Welcome to Operation Deadbolt. Your main tasks — aside from surviving hordes of Zombies and the machinations of the PMC group Terminus Outcomes — are threefold:

• Operation Deadbolt: Explore an open world and search for valuable Acquisitions and Schematics.
• A World of Opportunity: Complete Contracts to earn Essence, collect Acquisitions, and clear Missions to discover what is really happening in the Exclusion Zone.
• Secure and Extract: You also need to learn when the situation on the ground becomes advantageous as well as untenable. Immerse yourself and work with other players to complete the more difficult mission objectives, and extract before you’re overwhelmed.

MWZ: Zombies Lobby

The Modern Warfare Zombies Lobby features the same Global Panel access, but the Main Menu is significantly different.

• The Main Menu across the top (Lobby, Gear, Strike Team, Customize, Battle Pass, Store) is meant to prepare you for your next mission to survive the undead hordes.
• The Match and Progress information along the bottom of the screen allows you to launch into your next match, and quickly ascertain how much of the Zombies Story Missions you’ve completed.

MWZ: Readying Up for a Mission

Strike Team Operators

Recruit any unlocked Operator for your Strike Team. Each recruited Operator will have their own “On-Soldier” Gear. All Operators you’ve unlocked from both Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III are available, and two Operators — Ripper and Scorch — are unlocked after you complete specific challenges within Zombies.

Each Strike Team Operator can be chosen and comes with five different customizable Equipment Slots. The Gear you find during missions is saved here, and includes Killstreaks, Armor, Gas Masks, and Medical items.

Rucksacks

Fill your Rucksack with essential Acquisitions that you find on the battlefield or craft via valuable Schematics. Initially there are up to five open slots on the Small Rucksack. After your first mission, providing you’ve found either Acquisitions or Schematics, you can add such items to the Rucksack.

Loadouts

Choose two Primaries, or a Primary and Secondary Weapon, to take along with a Lethal, Tactical, and Field Upgrade. You have:

• Primary and Secondary Weapons: All MWII and MWIII weapons are available to use in Zombies. Any that are “XP Recommended” are denoted by the small fire icon, and grant you more XP if used.
• Insured Slots: These are weapons you’ve leveled up, added attachments to, and come from the weapon pool of over 100 MWII and MWIII weapons. If you fail to exfil with an Insured Weapon, it only becomes available again after a Cooldown period. You have up to three Insured Slots, and two of them are unlocked after completing Zombies missions.
• Contraband Stashes: These are weapons you’ve found and exfilled with and are permanently lost if left behind during a mission. Keeping a stash of up to 20 of these weapons, which may or may not have attachments added to them, is helpful when augmenting your Loadout.
• Tactical and Lethal Equipment: A selection of Multiplayer Tactical and Lethal Equipment can be equipped as part of your Loadout.
  • Tacticals: Stun Grenade, Smoke Grenade, Scatter Mine, Decoy Grenade, Shock Stick, Stim, or Experimental Gas Grenade.
  • Lethals: Frag Grenade, Claymore, Throwing Knife, Thermite, Proximity Mine, Drill Charge, Sticky Grenade, C4, Molotov Cocktail, Breacher Drone

Zombies Field Upgrades

Field Upgrades in MWZ are completely different from the equipment available to Multiplayer Operators. There are six Field Upgrades, five of which are unlocked as you progress through your Military Player Ranks:

Energy Mine

Medium Recharge

Spawn an explosive, dealing massive damage to enemies who set it off.

Frenzied Guard

Slow Recharge

Repair armor to full and force all enemies in the area to target you for 10 seconds. Enemy kills repair armor during this time.

Healing Aura

Slow Recharge

Heal all players immediately (and in last stand).

Frost Blast

Medium Recharge

Damage enemies with the initial blast and slow those that enter the area of effect.

Aether Shroud

Medium Recharge

Become invisible to zombies.

Tesla Storm

Slow Recharge

For 10 seconds, lightning connects to other players, stunning and damaging normal enemies.

Adding to Your Attacks: Acquisitions and Schematics

Once you return from your first few successful missions, you’re able to place Acquisitions into your Rucksack for use during subsequent outings. You can also start to craft your own Acquisitions at the Schematic Crafting location (in the Lobby), between drops.

Acquisitions: These are single-use items that can give you an advantage on the battlefield. Acquisitions you find and exfil with in your Rucksack can be added to your Acquisition Stash, within your Rucksack Menu.

Schematics: These are highly sought-after plans that permanently allow you to craft Acquisitions that you can add to your Rucksack. Schematics have a cooldown period, after which they can be brought into the Exclusion Zone.

The following types of Acquisitions can be found and used, or crafted if the Schematics are located, and all have a Rarity value associated with them (denoting how difficult they are to find and the level of improvements they bring to the weapon or item they affect):

Aetherium

The Dark Aether element is used in conjunction with crafting Schematics to bolster your weaponry:

• Raw and Refined Aetherium Crystals: These are used to upgrade your Pack-a-Punch weapon to Levels I and II, respectively.
• Uncommon, Rare, Epic Aether Tools: These upgrade your currently held weapon to a rarer form. The rarer the form, the more impressive damage the weapon inflicts.

Perk-a-Colas

The Vest, Gloves, Boots and Gear Perk system is not available in Zombies. Instead, receive a permanent boost (throughout a Mission, unless you fully die) to various in-game attributes by finding (or crafting) a Perk-a-Cola:

Deadshot Daiquiri

ADS (aiming down sight) moves to enemy critical location. Removes scope sway.

Death Perception

Obscured enemies, chests, resources, and item drops are more easily spotted.

Elemental Pop

Every bullet you fire has a small chance to apply a random Ammo Mod effect.

Jugger-Nog

Increases maximum health.

PHD Flopper

Diving to prone triggers an explosion. The explosion increases the higher you fall. Immunity from fall damage while diving. Immunity from area-of-effect damage from weapons you are using.

Quick Revive

Reduce the health regeneration delay time by 50%. Reduce the time it takes to revive an ally by 50%.

Speed Cola

Drink to reload and replate armor faster.

Stamin-Up

Increases run and sprint speed.

Tombstone Soda

On death, you create a tombstone stash at that location, containing your backpack inventory in the next game.

Ammo Mods

The weapon you are currently holding can be further augmented with an Ammo modification. For the exact effect each Mod brings to a battle, why not test them out in the Exclusion Zone once you find or craft them?

Ammo Mods: Brain Rot, Cryo Freeze, Dead Wire,   Napalm Burst, Shatter Blast

Wonder Weapons

Locate the necessary (and devilishly difficult to find) Schematics, and you’re able to craft some of the most arcane and powerful weaponry ever seen. The Wonder Weapons available at game launch are currently [REDACTED].

Missions Overview: Acts, Tiers, and Rewards

Begin to acclimate to the horrors of the Urzikstan Exclusion Zone and commence a multilayered storyline that focuses on a variety of Tiered Missions in three Acts. Not all missions are immediately accessible, and the mission you wish to complete (which may have one or multiple tasks) is highlighted. Mission completion rewards (including Acquisitions, cosmetic items, durable items, Double XP tokens) are also visible prior to infil.

• Complete tasks within a mission and receive unlocked missions and rewards.
• Complete missions within a Tier and receive unlocked missions and rewards.
• Complete all Tiers to finish an Act and receive unlocked missions and rewards.
• Complete all three Acts to receive a [REDACTED] and continue to uncover the mysteries plaguing the Exclusion Zone, prior the storyline continuation at Season 1.

Mission Parameters: The Essence of Zombies

You have freedom and flexibility to explore the Exclusion Zone throughout Urzikstan, and infilling allows you to complete a wide variety of activities as well as the specific mission tasks you assigned to yourself prior to the session start.

Aside from the specific mission tasks you are undertaking, each Zombies infil enables you to:

• Explore: Investigate the Low, Medium, and High Threat Zones. This can be done with a purpose, or you can simply remain in the relative safety of a Low Threat Zone as you learn how to deal with the variety of enemy threats. Weapon levelling is an excellent plan within the outer edge of the map.
• Complete Contracts: This allows you to earn Essence (the in-game currency, mainly gathered after zombie culling) and Acquisitions by completing contracts in the field for Operation Deadbolt.
• Upgrade to Progress: Spend Essence at machines across the map and upgrade your weapons and gear.
• Extract Acquisitions: Successful exfils allow you to keep Acquisitions to get a head start in the next deployment.

Within a deployment, your Tac-Map displays a variety of interesting game features, and some of the most important ones are detailed below so you can understand how to interact with them.

Buy Stations: Allows you to purchase a variety of helpful items, such as Killstreaks, Gas Masks, and other essentials, as well as sell any unwanted items you’ve collected.

Perk-a-Cola Machines: This allows you to purchase a beverage that increases your prowess in a variety of ways (see above).

Pack-a-Punch Machines: This upgrades your currently carried weapon (usually in the ammunition and damage departments), for a price.

Wall Buys: Outlines of weaponry can be found on the walls of various buildings throughout the Exclusion Zone. Interact and purchase the weapon, as needed.

Mystery Boxes: These offer an exciting randomly generated prize — likely a weapon of varying rarity and occasionally a Wonder Weapon!

Wonder Weapons: [REDACTED].

Nothing gets in, nothing gets out.

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III news and info!

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