On November 10th, not only will the multiplayer for Modern Warfare 3 be released, but also the Zombie mode that was missing in the last installment. Now it’s been revealed what quests, loadouts, items, and additional content you can expect at launch, and we’ve compactly summarized the details for you.
Here’s the news at a glance:
- Activision Blizzard announces what to expect at the launch of Modern Warfare 3 Zombies.
- The Zombie mode throws you into a zombie-overrun Urzikstan. In this open world, you can freely explore, complete missions, and successfully escape the zone with your loot.
- Loadouts and field updates work differently than you are used to.
- Many of the items you find in Zombies are unique and provide helpful bonuses.
- In Zombies, you can complete missions to unlock rewards.
This is the Zombie Mode in Modern Warfare 3
While players in Modern Warfare 2 were desperately waiting for a Zombie mode, Activision Blizzard is now bringing the mode to MW3. Starting November 10, 2023, you can run through a large open version of Urzikstan and take down zombies. The mode is reminiscent of a mix between Warzone and DMZ. Here’s what awaits you:
- Exploration: The exclusion area of Urzikstan, where Zombies takes place, is divided into several large zones that offer different tiers. While you fight against small groups of enemies in the easier zones and can safely level up your weapons, the higher zones await more dangerous enemies but also better rewards.
- Complete Contracts: By completing contracts for Operation Deadbolt, you receive Essence (the in-game currency, mainly earned by taking down zombies) and gear.
- Upgrade to Progress: Spend your Essence on machines across the map to improve your weapons and gear.
- Secure Your Gear: Successful extractions allow you to keep your gear to start the next deployment with an advantage. You’re already familiar with this from the DMZ mode.
Within the open game world, you’ll also find new features exclusive to the Zombie mode and marked on your map. These include vending machines where you can buy killstreaks, gas masks, or other important items. At soda machines, you can purchase refreshments that replace your perk system and enhance your abilities. Upgrade stations improve your equipment, and if you find glowing weapon symbols on the wall, you can acquire new weapons there. Last but not least, the Mystery Boxes dispense random items, such as the unique Wonder Weapons for zombies.
Before you Start: What to Expect in the Zombie Lobby
Before diving into Zombie mode, the lobby gives you plenty of room to select your Operator and prepare your gear and loadouts.
Strike Team Operator and Rucksack
In the lobby, you can recruit 3 Operators that you’ve unlocked in the rest of the game or in MW2. In addition, by completing missions, you can unlock two additional Operators; Ripper and Scorch. Each Operator comes with 5 equipment slots where you can place and secure found items, including killstreaks, armor, gas masks, and medical items.
In your backpack (Rucksack), you can place more items you find in the game or craft using blueprints.
Loadouts and Field Updates in MW III Zombies
Your loadouts in Zombies are different from your multiplayer loadouts. Here, you can choose between a primary and a secondary weapon, or two primary weapons. Additionally, you can bring a tactical grenade, a lethal grenade, and field upgrades. You don’t have perks here; you can get those in the game world at the soda machines.
As shown in the screenshot above, you can have 3 insured slots. However, you start with only one and can unlock the others by completing missions. If you have an insured weapon equipped and die in Zombie mode, you cannot lose it, but you must wait a specific time until you can reequip it. When selecting your weapons, you have access to the entire arsenal from MW2 and MW3.
The reddish-marked Contraband Stashes in your loadout are weapons you’ve also found in the game world. If you take them with you and die, or if you drop them and leave them lying around in the game world, you lose them. So choose wisely which weapons you place in the secured slots and which you do not. Your stash can store up to 20 weapons.
In Zombie mode, the 6 available field updates differ entirely from the known items. While you only have one available at the start, you unlock the rest by ranking up:
- Energy Mine: A powerful mine that deals a lot of damage to enemies with a medium cooldown.
- Frenzied Guard: Forces enemies to attack you for 10 seconds, and each defeated enemy repairs your armor. Long cooldown.
- Healing Aura: Instantly heals all players. Long cooldown.
- Frost Blast: Damages enemies upon detonation and leaves a frosty zone that slows enemies down. Medium cooldown.
- Aether Shroud: You become invisible to zombies. Medium cooldown.
- Tesla Storm: For 10 seconds, lightning jumps between you and other players. Affected enemies take damage. Long cooldown.
Items in MW3 Zombies – Aetherium, Cola, Mods & Wonder Weapons
Besides your loadout and field updates, you can find additional useful items within Zombie mode to carry in your backpack. These primarily include schematics that allow you to craft items in the lobby, which you can also take with you in your backpack. However, these craftable items have a cooldown before you can bring them into the zone. You can also purchase these items directly in the game world from machines:
- Aetherium: Used as a resource to enhance your weapons in crafting.
- Perk-a-Cola: These refreshments replace the perks in your loadout and give you a permanent boost to your abilities as long as you are on the mission and alive:
- Deadshot Daiquiri: Aiming goes straight to the enemy’s weak points. Critical hits deal more damage.
- Death Perception: Hidden enemies, chests, resources, and item drops are more easily spotted.
- Elemental Pop: Each bullet you fire has a slight chance to trigger a random ammo effect.
- Jugger-Nog: Increases maximum health.
- PHD Flopper: Diving forward triggers an explosion. The higher you fall, the more intense the explosion. You are immune to fall damage and area-of-effect damage from your own weapons while diving.
- Quick Revive: Reduces the delay of health regeneration by 50%. You revive comrades 50% faster.
- Speed Cola: Reload and repair armor faster.
- Stamin-Up: You run and sprint faster.
- Tombstone Soda: When you die, you leave behind a tombstone with the contents of your backpack for the next game.
- Ammo Mods: Ammo Mods alter the ammunition of your weapon, including:
- Brain Rot: Occasionally turns a hit enemy into an ally who will fight for you.
- Cryo Freeze: Sometimes freezes hit enemies, causing them to take additional damage.
- Dead Wire: An electroshock effect that stuns and damages some enemies upon hit.
- Napalm Burst: Sometimes ignites hit enemies, causing ongoing damage.
- Shrapnel Burst: Your hits can trigger explosions that more effectively damage armored enemies.
- Wonder Weapons: If you find the well-hidden blueprints, you can craft special weapons. Activision refers to them as “the most arcane and powerful weaponry ever seen.” You can also randomly find wonder weapons in Mystery Boxes.
Missions/Quests in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies
Within the zombie-infested zone in Urzikistan, you can follow an entire storyline told through missions/quests. The story is divided into three acts, each offering various missions at different tiers. You don’t have access to all the missions right from the start, but you can always focus on one and see exactly what rewards await you in detail.
- Complete tasks within a mission, and you unlock additional missions and rewards.
- Finish missions within a stage, and you unlock more missions and rewards.
- Complete all stages of an act, and you gain access to additional missions and rewards.
- Once you complete all three acts, you can continue to uncover the mysteries plaguing the exclusion zone before the storyline continues in Season 1. Activision has not yet disclosed the final reward for this.
On November 10th, the Zombie mode will finally be launched, and you can already download the necessary content through pre-load. Would you like to join our community and discuss Modern Warfare 3? Then join our new Discord server, we look forward to seeing you!
