“Bigger. Crazier. Free-er.” After depicting a onslaught of squad assaults, weaponized vehicle attacks, brutal point-blank assassinations and hand-to-hand combat, those are the three single-word selling points promised in the new trailer for Call of Duty:Warzone.
But for fans of the original franchise who haven’t purchased a new installment since the now-archaic Xbox 360 was considered current-gen (this writer included), it’s the “Free-er” part that’s particularly exciting. Call of Duty: Warzone is the realistic first-person shooter’s take on the last-man standing battle royale format made famous by other free-to-play games like Fortnite and PUBG. That means you don’t have to have own 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to play Warzone. All you need is an Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or a PC.
Those who already own Modern Warefare can download Warzone on their console of choice right now, while those without the full game can download Warzone for free beginning at 12 p.m. PDT, so long as they have the requisite 80-101 GB of free hard drive space.
The process is also segmented. After downloading the first 20GB, users will be able to get a feel for play in solo Gunfight matches with bots offline while the remainder of the download finishes. The Warzone experience will be fully available upon the download’s completion.
Battles takes place across a sprawling map dubbed Verdansk capable of hosting up to 150-player lobbies.
Here’s a detailed rundown of the gameplay from Call of Duty publisher Activsion:
Warzone takes place in Verdansk, an expansive city with multiple named zones and well over 300 points of interest. Each zone features distinct landmarks like the Gorengard Lumber Yard or the Gora Dam; the zones take place across different environment types like cities and rural areas for unique engagements. Change up your drop location in each match to get a better lay of the land and take advantage of what Verdansk has to offer.
Need to escape the gas in the closing circle or get to another zone? Take a vehicle”
•ATV – two seater, provides minimal protection, good at offroading, 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.
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 redploy you.
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.
Call of Duty: Warzone is now available to download and play.