Image: Activision
Activision has revealed gameplay for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which features Zombies, classic maps and a certain ‘No Russian’ sequence.
Activision has finally spilled all the details on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, its first back-to-back sequel in franchise history. An in-game event in the battle royale game Warzone debuted gameplay for the sequel, but a follow-up announcement also revealed that the iconic Zombies co-op mode will return along with a ton of Modern Warfare 2 (2009)’s maps.
Watch the gameplay trailer below:
The trailer above focuses on Modern Warfare 3’s campaign, which sees Task Force 141 go up against returning villain Vladimir Makarov. Fans of the original Modern Warfare trilogy will remember Makarov as the mastermind behind the infamous ‘No Russian’ sequence and he's up to his old tricks in this reboot. Captain Price, Soap, Ghost and more members of Task Force 141 will go up against Makarov after the villain holds an airplane hostage as part of his devious schemes.
Interestingly, Activision is also shaking things up with the introduction of ‘Open Combat Missions’. Much like Black Ops Cold War, these missions put a larger emphasis on player choice by allowing you to pursue objectives however you see fit. For example, you can try going stealthy by using night-vision goggles and suppressed weapons for entire missions, or go loud with guns blazing depending on the equipment you have on hand. Activision says players can use vehicles to move across the, “sizable landscape,” of these missions, so it sounds like these are semi-open-world levels.
On the multiplayer side of things, Modern Warfare 3 is celebrating Call of Duty’s 20th anniversary with the return of a whole lot of remastered maps. All 16 of Modern Warfare 2 (2009)’s launch maps are returning with visual overhauls and a few tweaks made to incorporate the new game’s mechanics. A new 3v3v3 mode called Cutthroat is also coming, along with other modes that the classic maps have never supported before.
In addition to those 6v6 maps, Modern Warfare 3 will also add four big new maps for the Ground War, Invasion and War modes - the last of which is a returning mode from Call of Duty: WWII. Post-launch, the game will add 12 all-new 6v6 maps as seasonal content. Yes - that means you’re not getting any new 6v6 maps at launch. In terms of gameplay, things are going to feel a little different with the return of slide cancelling, map voting and increased time-to-kill. As we reported earlier, a lot of your gear and cosmetics from Modern Warfare 2 (2022) will carry over to this game.
Finally, those pesky undead zombies are back. Modern Warfare 2’s Zombies mode will have the largest map this mode has ever seen, taking players through a Dark Aether Zombies story set in Modern Warfare’s universe. As usual, there will be multiple regions with escalating difficulty and a ton of secrets to unearth - but the PvE extraction mode is going open-world for this entry.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on November 10, 2023.