What's New In Season Four

Since late last year, Cold War and Warzone have grown at a steady pace. Each new season shakes up both games with impactful changes and additions. Season Four, which commenced on June 17, is no exception. Intriguing new elements have appeared on the Battle Royale map, while the 2020 shooter’s roster of settings and gameplay modes continues to expand and evolve. More weapons and cosmetics have likewise been added to the game, along with other options and features implemented to enrich the experience. Some of this content is already active, while more will arrive in the near future, helping tide people over while they wait for the next major update.

Verdansk Enhanced

Warzone’s main map has undergone a dramatic change during the previous season, as the Eastern European town of Verdansk reverted to the Eighties. By and large, those changes have been retained. Many players were no doubt relieved to discover that the Nakatomi Tower, a skyscraper introduced during the ‘80s Action Heroes event and expected to disappear with it, was still around as the Downtown Tower. Its complex vertical layout has made it quite popular in Solo Battle Royale matches, and it should remain strategically relevant even after the removal of much of its loot.

At the same time, the map has gained some striking and downright bizarre new elements. For example, orbital satellites have crashed at several spots on the map. They were prominently featured in the launch week’s event, where capturing them helped players progress towards exclusive cosmetic rewards such as a secondary gun blueprint. While that is over now, the crash sites still provide great cover and unique looting opportunities, making them a likely setting for chaotic Plunder Trios firefights. On a more grounded note, players can now utilize a new vehicle: Dirt Bikes, which have improved maneuverability that can be critical when navigating cluttered environments or going around debris from the orbit.

The Red Doors are the most fascinating complication added to the busy battlefield. Those doors enable combatants to teleport to one of several otherwise-locked Stations placed in different corners of the map. The Stations include a healthy amount of loot, allowing those who visit them to restock and prepare before rejoining the fight. Although the tactical opportunities presented by fast travel are obvious, they are somewhat reined in by the system’s unpredictability. Which doors and Stations will be active seems unpredictable from one match to the next, and they may even activate or shut down during its course. Still, with experimentation or coaching, it should be possible to incorporate the Red Doors into your strategies.

The Gulag 1v1 mode/re-entry mechanism has moved on to a different locale: a portion of the big boat from Hijacked, a vintage map which made a fuller appearance elsewhere (see below). As for players who have grown tired of Battle Royale Trios and other conventional options, they will be able to enjoy a number of alternative modes. Resurgence Mini has reached Verdansk; in addition to the standard rules of the mode, it has a lower maximum player number of 44 or 45, depending on the team size options which range from Solos to Quads. All of those competitors spawn close together in a small random sector of the map, where they will find higher-quality loot, but also less room to run due to the first circle being skipped.

For those seeking a more innovative and strategic experience, there is also the Payload mode, which pits two teams of 40 against each other in a fight to take over a vehicle caravan and escort it past several checkpoints. It is possible to set up and demolish barricades on the caravan’s path, as well as to set up structures that would enable ambushes or better coverage. Unlike in the usual modes, scattering over a wide area is risky at best – while you may find useful loot, you will risk losing the payload to the enemy, encouraging careful planning.

More Operators

Three more Operators have joined the fight, beginning with the latest Warsaw Pact challenger: Jackal, an African mercenary who wears a fearsome metal mask. Battle Pass owners will receive him automatically. On reaching the final tier, they will obtain the game’s first Ultra-Rarity skin for this Operator, which would give him a scintillating and somewhat surreal many-hued shine. The latest NATO characters, who arrived some time after the launch, are the Egyptian counter-terrorism expert Salah and Weaver, a CIA agent and series veteran. Each agent can be unlocked through his own cosmetic bundle available for purchase in the store.

Weapon Variety

Combatants can now introduce four extra primary guns to their loadouts:

• The MG 82 light machine gun, which boasts the highest rate of fire in its category. You can unlock it simply by reaching Tier 15 on the Battle Pass;
• The C58 assault rifle, an unusual full auto weapon with a low rate of fire that is compensated by solid control and heavy damage potential, unlocked upon reaching Tier 31;
• The Nail Gun, a special weapon akin to a submachine gun that has solid handling and deals fast and heavy damage at close range – unlockable by scoring 25 kills in 12 different regions with Special Weapons in Zombies, or getting 5 kills in 15 matches with Special Weapons in any other mode;
• The OTs9 submachine gun, which combines a brisk rate of fire with high damage. It will be possible to acquire it later in the season through a challenge htat is yet to be revealed, or else by buying a blueprint from the store.

There will also be a never before seen secondary weapon: a medieval-style Mace. The complete details regarding this weapon and its unlock challenge have likewise not been revealed yet, but it is apparently capable of dealing heavy damage easily up close, perhaps at a cost to handling.

Cold War Maps and Modes

Four additional maps may be used for Multiplayer matches going forward, including two series classics: the full span of the yacht from Hijacked and the paintball arena of Rush. Both of those maps are 6v6 and support a variety of modes. The alleys and rooftops of Amsterdam provide an appealing setting for intense 2v2 or 3v3 games on the map of the same name. Meanwhile, Collateral – set in a Sahara village and its surroundings – comes in both 6v6 (Strike) and 12v12 versions, with the latter being especially suitable for vehicle-based combat. With such a variety of maps, it should be easy enough to progress towards Multiplayer camos. The freshly added and hard-hitting Hand Cannon Scorestreak reward should spice things as well.

There are also new modes:

• One in the Chamber, a solo battle in which all contenders start with just one highly effective bullet and three lives. Only kills will yield more bullets, but it is possible to kill people in melee as well;
• Capture the Flag, the latest iteration of the original goal-oriented mode;
• Sat-Link, a Fireteam-like multi-team mode in which up to ten four-player squads fight over multiple satellite uplink locations. Defending those sites for long enough will yield points, but there are also ways to earn more points with special equipment retrieved from elsewhere on the map.

Fans of mowing down undead hordes (or just of the Zombies camos) have received plenty of attention as usual. The beloved Outbreak mode has spread to another location: Zoo, likely inspired by a similarly named multiplayer map from an earlier installment in the series. On top of the standard missions, events, and intel drops, all Outbreak regions now contain a Dark Aether story quest that may be pursued by those who find it starting point. It apparently helps set up the latest Zombies map, Mauer der Toten, which will be set in East Berlin. Playstation users will get new maps such as Collateral and Rush for their platform-exclusive Onslaught mode.

Player Progression and Gifting

All Prestige Levels have been reset again at the launch. Climbing through the levels by amassing experience from kills and other sources will unlock cosmetic rewards and progression bumps:

While the reward types for each level are the same as in the preceding seasons, the Prestige Icons are unique to the season and display historical or animalistic themes.

Also, the system for transferring gifts to other accounts has been greatly expanded. Users may now buy each other Battle Passes and Store Bundles within the game’s online system. Countries and platforms are no obstacle so long as the title is supported there. The only things necessary for such gifts are COD points, your intended recipient among your Activision Friends, and two-factor authentication, which you can set up from the gifting explanation window.

Although not as dramatic in its additions as the previous content update period, Season Four has still added plenty of interesting elements. The fast travel system stands out the most as an experimental addition to Battle Royale or Plunder matches, but the somewhat unorthodox newly-added weapons and the terrain changes have likewise injected some variety for the veterans and those starting to level up their profiles alike. Not all of the promised content has arrived yet, but it should appear relatively soon, seeing as the current Battle Pass runs out on August 7. The Reloaded update is expected to come out in a matter of days, unlocking most of the remaining content. That should make it easier to tell whether the season has been a successful one for both titles.