‘Fortnite’ Watch Out: Activision Unveils “Call of Duty: Warzone” A Massive Free-To-Play Experience

The world of just got bigger. The long-rumored Call of Duty: Warzone expansion has been revealed, and the best part is it won’t cost you a dime to play.

Hinted at for the past month, Activision/Infinity Ward finally unveiled the “massive new combat experience” that will allow up to 150 players and drops them into a “dense” and “Sprawling” world of Verdansk. Starting tomorrow (Mar.10), 8AM PDT owners will get the first crack at the new expansion before it goes live to the rest of the gaming world at 12PM PDT, and it will be FREE for everyone to play.

Another piece of exciting news is that you will not need to own the full version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to download Warzone. When it officially launches, it will feature two game modes for you to enjoy, Battle Royale and plunder, where players can team up in trios that will span across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Battle.net for PC thanks to cross-play. Here is a break down of each mode:

Plunder:

In Plunder, the race is on to collect the most in-match Cash by looting across the map, taking down enemies to steal their Cash, and completing in-match Contracts. 

Battle Royale:

In Battle Royale, fight to be the last squad standing while escaping the deadly gas in the swiftly closing circle with up to 150 players.

As for where the action in Warzone will take place, as mentioned above, players will take on each other in the expansive new city of Verdansk that will have multiple named zones and over 300 points of interest. Each zone will have its own distinct landmarks like the Gora Dam or Gorengard Lumber Yard, just to name a few.

As the map shrinks, players will have to escape the oncoming threat of gas and to do so, the map will be littered with vehicles for you to choose from. There will be five types for you to use to get somewhere on the large Warzone map they include:

• ·     ATV – a two-seater, provides minimal protection, good at off-roading, fast.
• ·     Tactical Rover – four-seater, provides minimal protection, solidly fast, solid at off-roading.
• ·     SUV – four-seater, provides good protection, medium speed, not ideal for off-roading.
• ·     Cargo Truck – holds the squad plus equipment, excellent protection, not for off-roading, slowest.
• ·     Helicopter – four-seater, decent coverage, flies.

Call of Duty: Warzone will also feature new game-changing mechanics unique to the expansion. Here s the breakdown per the press release:

The Gulag (only in Battle Royale):

“Upon your first elimination, you will be taken as a “Prisoner of Warzone” and thrown into the Gulag. There you will await your fate and watch other prisoners fight to the death. When your turn is up, you’ll enter the Gulag and face-off against a single opponent in a 1v1 to earn the ultimate reward – redeployment. Win in the Gulag and earn redeployment back into Verdansk. Lose and hope that your squad completes Contracts and earns enough in-match Cash to redeploy you.”

Contracts

“Contracts are objective oriented tasks players can find and activate across Verdansk. A squad can activate one Contract at a time, and completing it rewards you in-match Cash and other loot items. Multiple types of Contracts exist, including Scavenger Contracts, where you have to find and open a series of Supply Boxes and Recon Contacts where you must secure one location, similar to Call of Duty’s Domination mode. In addition to in-match Cash, Contracts can give you special rewards like the ability to see the next circle collapse location before it starts to close.” 

Buy Stations

“In Battle Royale where collecting in-match Cash isn’t the objective, Cash can be used to procure beneficial items at Buy Stations. Denoted on the Tac-Map with a shopping cart icon, head to a Buy Station to spend your in-match Cash. For varying prices, you can purchase Killstreaks, Redeploy Tokens to bring back fallen teammates, Self-Revive Kits, and more.”

“In Plunder, Buy Stations hold all of these items to help you gain an advantage over other teams, plus a unique game mode item – the Cash Deposit Balloon. Want to securely deposit your in-match Cash, away from the threat of enemy teams trying to kill and steal? Get a Cash Deposit Ballon, a portable Field Upgrade, that allows you to deposit Cash, from anywhere.”

Last but certainly not least, Call of Duty: Warzone will share Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s cross-play and unified progression. So all of the content you acquired you earned, including Battle Pass items, Operators, weapons, and customization items, will carry over to Warzone. All progression made in Warzone will also count toward your overall Modern Warfare progression. Even if you don’t own Modern Warfare, Activision promises that all progress and items will still be reward across both Multiplayer and Special Ops if you decided to purchase the full game.

Most importantly, there will be no level caps in Warzone.

When Warzone launches tomorrow, you will notice that it has replaced the previous name “Classified” panel in the Main Menu. For those who already own Modern Warfare, the download will take up 18-22GB. If you don’t have the game, Warzone is an 83-101GB download, so make room if necessary.

So get pumped and check out the action-packed trailer for Call of Duty: Warzone below.

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Photo: Activision / Infinity Ward