Call of Duty will beckon players back to the virtual warzone later on Wednesday with a mid-season update stuffed with new features.
For Londoners, the highlight of the next content drop will be a new map set in the UK capital. Players can also look forward to a pair of explosive new Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer modes, the next chapter of the Zombies saga and bullet-sponges galore in Warzone.
Get ready for battle with our roundup of the major new additions in the Season 3 Reloaded update.
Call of Duty mid-season update release time
Wondering when you’ll be able to drop into the action? Activision has confirmed that the mid-season update will launch on Wednesday May 1 at 5pm in the UK. So, it will be fresh out of the oven when you return from work.
It’s already available to preload on PC, while PlayStation players will be able to preload the patch a few hours before its release.
Season 3 Reloaded features
As usual, the new content is split across the game’s three main online modes: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer, Warzone and Zombies. Here’s what each one is getting in the mid-season update.
Weapon Prestige Camos
Activision saved a surprise for the newly released patch notes. The update will introduce Weapon Prestige Camos, a new levelling up system for weapons that rewards you with new cosmetics for your guns. In the past, these have been static licks of paint but Activision said its first Weapon Prestige Camo (called One Trick) is animated.
Unlocked after earning 150,000 weapon XP, it coats the entire surface of your weapon in molten gold.
Weapon Prestige Camos can be applied to any weapon of your choice as long as you earn enough points, so grab your favourite rifle and start shooting.
Multiplayer
In Minefield, the first of two new game modes, downed players drop a proximity mine that’s hazardous for their teammates. With the death traps growing with each kill, players will have to keep their eyes glued on the map for more than just enemies. Meanwhile, in Escort, teams take turns protecting or attacking an automated vehicle with the goal of hacking points.
Activision is also introducing two 6v6 maps for more close-quarters action. Grime takes players to an abandoned part of London that sits close to a murky dockside filled with putrid green water. Feel free to take a dip if you’ve got the stomach for it. Or, you can duke it out in the shadows of the train arches next to a derelict pub called the Captain’s Dog.
The second map is based on the eastern part of fan-favourite Rebirth Island, complete with a military comms outpost and garage.
Two new playlists are also inbound: Arcade and Vortex. In the former, you can pick up special abilities from felled players, including unlimited ammo or infinite grenades, and grab powerful weapons from around the map, such as the MORS Sniper Rifle and a minigun that can help restore your health. The Vortex playlist is also back with infected maps including Airborne, Satan’s Quarry, Skidrow, Sporeyard and Tetanus.
In addition, this update brings a new field upgrade in the Enhanced Vision Goggles and a new tactical EMD mine, both of which can help you pinpoint enemies.
Warzone
There’s armour in abundance in the latest update to Warzone, which is just as well considering how deadly the game can be.
A new Heavy Armor event will give players an extra steel plate to tuck under their fatigues, notching your health up to 200 hp. That way, it will be that tad bit harder to shoot down your foes and vice versa. A new utility box also comes with armour and ammo for all-important resupplies on the battlefield, saving you from desperately scavenging for your next plate.
Plus, weapon stations are back, with the option to swap your weapon for extra loot; a new specialist perk package equips you with every perk available from battle-hardened to cold-blooded and more; and a new Foresight killstreak shows you the location of every future gas circle so you know where the match will be decided.
Elsewhere, Warzone Mobile will get the mid-season update following Golden Week, a separate celebration featuring free items inspired by Japanese folklore.
Zombies
The latest chapter in the Zombies storyline involves players joining Ravenov in a rescue mission to retrieve Dr Ava Jansen, who was zapped into the Dark Aether Rift. Following her tracks, you’ll venture into a trippy new dimension lurking with zombies and other cosmic terrors. Make sure to grab the three new schematics along the way, including the electrifying Dead Wire Detonators ammo mod, a regenerating Golden Mask Filter and a Sergeant's Beret that fools enemy mercs into thinking you’re one of them.
