Call of Duty: Warzone Battle Royale with 150 Players Goes Live Today!
After recent rumours, Activision has officially announced Call of Duty: Warzone, a new battle royale mode set in the rebooted universe of the 2019 Modern Warfare. However, unlike many other battle royale modes, Warzone will accommodate 150 players in one match, rather than 100. Also, just like the popular Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone will be played in teams of three, rather than the usual teams of two or solo. During the course of the battle royale mode, a deadly gas will surround the large map, closing in as time passes by.
However, there is also an additional battle royale mode called Plunder. In this spin on the battle royale formula, players will earn cash by taking down enemies, looting and completing in-game contracts. In Plunder you will also be required to claim Buy Stations with your earned loot and defend the Buy Stations against your enemies for as long as possible to win the match. However, you can also secure your earned in-game cash by acquiring a Cash Deposit Balloon from a Field Upgrade which allows you to deposit your cash from anywhere in the map.
Going back to Warzone, this map is huge and is said to have over 300 points of interest, from a lumber yard, a dam, rural areas, towns, cities, castles, factories and much more, each with their own strategic advantages and disadvantages. So as you get to learn the lay of the land, you will soon know the benefits of certain drop-off locations in the Verdansk map.
As with the battle royale mode in Black Ops 4, vehicles will also play a big part, though in my experience, they often just make you an easier target. Vehicles in Warzone include an ATV, a Tactical Rover, an SUV, a Cargo Truck and Helicopter.
For me, quite possible the most interesting aspect of Warzone is The Gulag mechanic. Upon death during your first elimination from your trio team, you will be thrown into the 1v1 Gulag area against another eliminated player. If you win this 1v1 encounter, you will be deployed back into your team. However, should you lose this 1v1 encounter, you can only be re-deployed if your remaining squad completes a contract and earns enough in-game cash to help you out, that’s if they choose to re-deploy you. The Warzone will also feature the Buy Stations and while you won’t need to hold them to win, they can still give you the distinct advantages of purchasing new Killstreaks, self-revive kits, tokens to bring back fallen teammates and more.
For those that own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, you can download Call of Duty: Warzone via the main menu, which will require an 18GB-22GB download, however, if you don’t own Modern Warfare, you can download via your platforms store which will require a full download size of 83GB-103GB. Additionally, those that earn Battle Pass items in Modern Warfare, all your rewards and progression will carry over into Warzone. Call of Duty: Warzone is also has cross-platform multiplayer, just like Modern Warfare.
Regardless of whether you own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or not, the Call of Duty: Warzone is free-to-play for everyone, though we can expect it to be heavily monetised, hopefully with just cosmetic items, similar to that of the Modern Warfare multiplayer offerings. Additionally, if you’re a PS+ subscriber, there will also be a bonus cosmetic pack to download via the PSN Store for free.
Will you be playing Call of Duty: Warzone? Let us know across our social media channels. You can also read our review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare here.