Remember the good old zombie mode in COD:MW2? New Call of Duty wants to give us the same experience, but in the other way. The Zombies Mode (MWZ) is an open-world, multiplayer extraction mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It’s called Operation Deadbolt. In this guide we’ll tell everything about the release date, gameplay, maps, perks and more. Let’s check it out – why the new game mode is worth your attention and who would love it. And to learn more about meta guns read our Modern Warfare 3 Best Weapons Tier List.
4.9Call of Duty MW3 Zombies Mode Release Date
This mode that takes us back to the old good days releases on November 10, 2023. And you will be able to try it as soon as Modern Warfare 3 will be fully released.
Call of Duty MW3 Zombies Gameplay
Does Operation Deadbolt have round-based gameplay? This is going to be an Extraction based game loop that incorporates DMZ with Outbreak.
So how does gameplay work in Operation Deadbolt? The way that the gameplay works is that you’ll be surviving hordes of zombies at your own pace where there will be escalating zones of difficulty based on the location you are in on the map rather than it is based on time or the number of kills. You can either just kill zombies for the rewards or focus on getting through the story missions. There are some sets of challenges you’ll need to complete to get through three story acts. Note that Operation Deadbolt game mode is PvE only.
Match Duration
The game’s time that you’re allowed for one session is one hour long, unlike Warzone DMZ mode with its 25 minutes duration. You have 45 minutes to freely explore the area and take all the items you’ve got. Once that timer hits zero, the Aether storm will start coming in where you have a further 15 minutes in order to extract safely.
How many people can play Modern Warfare 3 Zombies?
In this mode can play up to 24 people — 8 teams with 3 players. These teams can team-up during the gameplay by the way, so it will be much easier to defend. Since you will not only have to defend yourself from zombies. Players will also encounter hostile units called PMC. They are groups of human NPC preventing you to explore specific areas and locations on the map. But you can use these enemies to eliminate the zombies or divert their attention away from you.
MW 3 Zombies Strike Team Operators
You can recruit any unlocked Operator for your Strike Team. Each recruited Operator will have their own “On-Soldier” Gear. All Operators from both Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III are available, and two Operators — Ripper and Scorch — are unlocked after completing specific challenges within Zombies.
Strike Team Operators can be selected and have five Equipment Slots that can be customized. Killstreaks, Armor, Gas Masks, and Medical Items are stored in these slots.
Zombie Mode Difficulty Levels
Furthermore, the health of Zombies is determined by the Zone, which is categorized as Low threat, Medium threat, and High threat. These three different zones should provide players with varying levels of challenge, akin to rounds in a round-based zombies game. There also might be a boss battle that will require the participation of all teams.
Zombie Mode Main Objectives
Just like with any zombies mode, the main aim is that you’re going to be earning points by killing zombies, which you will need in order to upgrade your weapons to make them more powerful. And especially if you want to go into the more higher tiered zones, you need to have powerful weaponry.
Each team collaborates to accomplish missions, gather essence (main in-game currency), collect acquisitions, and extract. Completing exfils is an important part of progressing through the story. And if you want to get the main campaign completed we can help you with our CoD MW3 Campaign.
Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Essence
How to Get Essence in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies? Teams have the opportunity to earn essence through various in-game activities such as contracts, killing zombies, and looting.
This essence can then be used to access helpful resources, which improve over time in a match, like:
- Ammo Depots
- Buy Stations
- Pack-a-Punch machine
- Perk machines
- Wall Buys
- Mystery Boxes
The Pack a Punch has a lower starting cost but limited weapon upgrades based on the threat zone. Perk machines are randomized and there are nine perks, including the return of PHD.
Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Acquisitions & Schematics
Extract Acquisitions you can gain for successful exfils.
After completing your initial missions, you have the option to store Acquisitions in your Rucksack for future use. Additionally, you can create your own Acquisitions at the Schematic Crafting location in the Lobby.
- Acquisitions are items that can be used once and provide an advantage in battle. Acquisitions that are discovered and successfully carried in your Rucksack can be added to your Acquisition Stash, which is located within your Rucksack Menu.
- Schematics are plans that are in high demand and allow you to permanently create Acquisitions for your Rucksack. They have a cooldown period and can be brought into the Exclusion Zone.
The types of Acquisitions can be found and used, or crafted if the Schematics are located. Each type has a Rarity value associated with it, indicating its difficulty to find and the level of improvements it brings to the weapon or item it affects:
The Dark Aether element is utilized alongside crafting Schematics to enhance your weapons.
- Raw and Refined Aetherium Crystals are utilized for upgrading the Pack-a-Punch weapon to Levels I and II, respectively.
- Uncommon, Rare, and Epic Aether Tools are used to upgrade your weapon to a higher rarity, resulting in increased damage inflicted by the weapon.
Zombies also introduces six Field Upgrades and five ammo mods. Let’s take a closer look at these features.
Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Field Upgrades
| Field Upgrade | Recharge | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Mine | Medium | Spawn an explosive, dealing massive damage to enemies who set it off. |
| Frenzied Guard | Slow | 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 | Heal all players immediately (and in last stand). |
| Frost Blast | Medium | Damage enemies with the initial blast and slow those that enter the area of effect. |
| Aether Shroud | Medium | Become invisible to zombies. |
| Tesla Storm | Slow | For 10 seconds, lightning connects to other players, stunning and damaging normal enemies. |
4.9Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Perks
The perk system in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies is different from the gear-based perk system in the multiplayer mode. The typical gear-based benefits like Vests, Boots, Gloves, and Gears are not available in this mode. This new enhancement system replaces traditional benefits with consumable drinks, known as Perk-a-Colas, which can be discovered or created within the game. The enhancements you can receive during a mission to your in-game attributes are permanent until complete death.
Below is a list of all the available Perk-a-Colas in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies:
- Deadshot Daiquiri: Increases damage dealt to enemies when aiming down sight and reaching the critical point on the opponent. Removes scope sway.
- Death Perception: Hidden enemies, chests, resources, and item drops are more easily spotted.
- Elemental Pop: Each of your bullets has a small chance to apply a random Ammo Mod effect.
- Jugger-Nog: Increases maximum health.
- PHD Flopper: When you dive to prone, an explosion happens. The explosion gets stronger as you fall. While diving, you are not affected by fall damage. Also, your weapons cannot cause area-of-effect damage to you.
- Quick Revive: The health regeneration delay time is reduced by 50%. Decrease the revive time of an ally by 50%.
- Speed Cola: Helps to reload and use armor plates faster.
- Stamin-Up: Increases run and sprint speed.
- Tombstone Soda: Allows to create a tombstone stash at your location upon death, which contains your backpack inventory for the next game.
Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Rucksacks
You can fill the Rucksack with essential Acquisitions found on the battlefield or crafted through valuable Schematics. Initially, there are up to five open slots on the Small Rucksack. After completing the first mission and obtaining Acquisitions or Schematics, you have the option to add these items to the Rucksack. It’s pretty much the same as in DMZ when it comes to Insured Slots and Contraband Stashes. If you want to unlock all weapons and attachments in addition to specific rank and valuable rewards you can do with our Modern Warfare 3 Leveling.
You can choose two Primaries, or a Primary and Secondary Weapon, to take along with a Lethal, Tactical, and Field Upgrade:
- All Primary and Secondary Weapons from MWII and MWIII can be used in Zombies. Those that are “XP Recommended” are indicated by a small fire icon and provide increased XP when used.
- Insured Slots are weapons that you have leveled up and which have attachments. And they come from a selection of over 100 MWII and MWIII weapons. If you are unable to exfil with an Insured Weapon, it will only become available again after a Cooldown period. There are up to three Insured Slots, and two of them become unlocked after completing Zombies missions.
- Contraband Stashes consist of weapons that you have found and exfilled with during a mission. If you left these weapons behind, they will be permanently lost. It can be beneficial to keep a stash of up to 20 of these weapons, some of which may have attachments, to enhance your Loadout.
- There is 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.
If you’re not sure about the choice of loadout for your battle with zombies, our professional team is always ready to teach you with our MW3 Coaching Service.
Call of Duty MW3 Zombies Missions
Your main way of earning points is going to be by completing contract missions which are very similar in the sort of mechanics and the way that they work to DMZ. There’s even some missions which are exactly the same as they were in DMZ, but there’s also a lot of very unique ones that are created just for the zombie mode.
By completing them you will earn some points and you’ll also earn a reward rift which you will interact with and it will give you potential reward like a free perk or even an upgraded weapon or a tool that allows you to upgrade the rarity of your loadout weapon that you’re currently using now.
Call of Duty MW3 Zombies Map
All of the action will be placed on the brand new Call of Duty map – Urzikstan. Heat zones on the map indicate areas contaminated by an Aetherium vial. The hardest area on the map is the red zone, and the difficulty increases as you walk away from the center of the map. Because there isn’t any rounds system in this game mode, player advancement just entails moving deeper into the map to obtain stronger weapons and advance the story quests.
So how big is the map in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies? It seems to be larger than Caldera and Verdansk with a square over 6.5 km2.
Call of Duty MW3 Zombie Types
There are 6 types of zombies in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III:
- Standard zombies – just regular zombies that walk and try to bite you;
- Hell Hounds – aggressive and murderous wolfs with a high speed and small model where you can shoot;
- Mimics – because of their ability to pass for chests, mimics can surprise you, so you should shoot several times before open chests;
- Disciples – these zombies buff other zombies making a dangerous horde;
- Mangler – a new breed of armoured zombie that has one arm equipped with a massive cannon and the other with a machete;
- Abomination – enormous, difficult to defeat, and will attack you with a powerful laser.
4.9That’s everything you need to know about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Zombies mode. With the launch of the this exiting content we’ll provide more details, as well as about All MW3 Camos and Best Weapons for MW 3 in our next guides.
