Despite the souring public sentiment on Call of Duty over the years, I still think it’s an accomplishment that a new game is pushed out the door annually.
Campaign, multiplayer, and a third mode always arrive every fall, and this year, the latter seems to be the biggest draw for many players: in Modern Warfare 4, there’s no Zombies mode. Instead, we’re getting DMZ, a full-fledged extraction shooter game mode within CoD.
Back in 2022, Modern Warfare II’s DMZ was a beta of what we’ll get when MW4 launches on Oct. 23, and Activision finally dropped a slew of details and information about what to expect. In short, this version is way beefier, with a lot more to do, and seasonal content drops are planned to continue the adventure.
The concept for DMZ should be familiar: create your loadout, enter a hostile area, complete missions while staying alive and contending with AI enemies and other players, loot gear and items, and then get out safely…or die, and risk losing everything.
MW4’s DMZ picks up after the events of the game’s campaign, and it’s set on a large-scale map called Hajin. This fictional location includes segments of South Korea, North Korea, and Russia, bringing all three together in a fight for materials, weapons, and more. The post-game narrative will expand over time, with seasonal content drops adding new things to do, giving players hope for their investment.
Taking inspiration from other games in the genre, DMZ now has a Forward Operating Base (FOB) that can be upgraded with things like a 3D printer so you an craft gear, a Gunsmith where you can purchase attachments, a Vendor to buy and sell items with, and most importantly, a dedicated progression track with 70 levels to grind through, including skills and operator traits.
MW4’s DMZ is a sandbox where you can run DMZ Orders (main story missions), Dynamic Operations (a clear objective in a deployment with some randomness), or Side Ops (“lower-intensity opportunities to explore Hajin while earning DMZ XP, finding useful resources, or uncovering valuable intel”), looking to suit a number of play styles.
While contending with other players, DMZ also has a wide array of AI enemy types in different tiers. These enemies range from North Korean grunts, to armored soldiers, to autonomous combat drones, and boss battles with Commander-tier enemies including an actual battle tank. You’ll want to be prepared for that one.
Like Escape From Tarkov, ARC Raiders, and Marathon before it, DMZ is all about infiltrating the area (solo or with friends) and the experiences you find within. Whether it’s attempting to group up with others to take down a boss, or simply hunting PvP wherever you can find it, it’s clear that CoD is banking on this mode to be a big selling point for MW4 this year, especially with the recent success found within the genre.
I have numerous questions and concerns about DMZ, of course. Are people willing to buy MW4 to play just DMZ, even if they’re not interested in campaign or multiplayer? Is the mode’s hardcore niche strong enough to make it popular, or will CoD devs have to consider PvE components similarly to how the other three aforementioned extraction games have done?
It’s all a big question mark at this point, but for now, Activision and Infinity Ward seem extremely persistent on supporting the mode. But will that support extend beyond this year? MW2’s DMZ famously stopped getting updates. Will that happen here, too?
CoD devs have been iterating on this style of gameplay for a few years now, even including Modern Warfare III’s MWZ mode, which featured zombies in an extraction-style flavor. That, combined with the learnings from the original DMZ and other extraction games that have launched since, has me excited to see how this game type now feels in practice when it launches on Oct. 23.
More DMZ details will be trickling in throughout the week, but you can check out the Call of Duty blog for a slew of more info, including Hajin’s vehicles, missions, enemies, and more.
