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Warzone Season 3 might just be the battle royale’s most important update ever. Following in the footsteps of genre rivals Fortnite and Apex Legends, it’s aiming to create the ultimate nostalgia trip by bringing back its iconic first map, Verdansk. After a period of souring sentiment, it’s just the kind of thing that Warzone needs. However, it’s now been confirmed that the nostalgia will reach well beyond just the remake of Verdansk itself, as several fan-favorite weapons from the early days of Warzone are returning, so too are classic contracts and vehicles, and a tuned movement system is coming to make things feel more like the original experience.
In a new episode of the official Call of Duty podcast and a huge new blog post, loads of new details about Warzone Season 3 and the revamped Verdansk have been shared. Building upon the initial reveal of in-game footage of Verdansk earlier this week (which also confirmed that a few small and welcome layout tweaks have been made) we get an even closer look at some of the map’s iconic locations. As someone who’s drifted away from the battle royale in recent months, seeing these Warzone POIs recreated with such accuracy is enough to convince me to jump back in. Look, nostalgia works, alright?
But this throwback to the good ol’ days of Warzone isn’t just skin deep. To the best of its ability in the current iteration of the game, Raven Software is trying to replicate the original gameplay experience as closely as it can. You’ll be able to shoot players while dropping in with a pistol again. The ‘floating loot’ presentation of dropped items from crates and eliminated players returns. The original lineup of contracts will be restored with the likes of Recon and Supply Run returning. The same is true for vehicles, with the old helicopter variant returning alongside the ‘Big Bertha’ truck, the LTV, the buggy, and the quadbike.
Raven has even gone to the trouble of making some Warzone-specific changes to the omnimovement system it adopted from Black Ops 6 at the start of that game’s annual cycle. In a nutshell, things have been slowed down for Verdansk’s return, with omni-sprint speed and slide friction nerfed – but you’ll still have access to its advanced movement mechanics, such as the 360-degree prone aiming.
Several popular Warzone guns from the original Verdansk era are returning too. The Kilo and AMAX assault rifles, the HDR sniper rifle, and the Kali Sticks melee weapon will be added to the game. A new conversion kit for Black Ops 6’s Swat 5.56 will also transform it to feel like the Grau assault rifle – a dependable favorite of mine, back in the day.
To coincide with the start of this momentous new season, a new ‘Return To Verdansk’ event will kick off and run until Tuesday, April 15. The totally free reward track for this event will bestow weapons like the Kilo and the Kali Sticks to players, alongside various cosmetic items and operator skins too.
The new and improved Verdansk hits Call of Duty Warzone Season 3 on Thursday, April 3. Note that there will be almost a whole day of downtime in preparation for this update, but Season 3 will kick off a day earlier on April 2 over in Black Ops 6 to keep you entertained. Don’t own BO6? Don’t fret – there will be a 24-hour free trial during this Warzone downtime.
While this isn’t exactly surprising given how much energy has gone into recreating it, it does sound like Verdansk is sticking around for the long haul. Ranked Play support will come to the map (incredibly, this is the first ever ranked Verdansk experience due to its frustrating absence way back when) midway through Season 3, and Call of Duty’s senior director of communications Stephanie Snowden says at the end of the new COD POD episode that Activision is “committed to evolving the map with new content and updates in future seasons.”
To prepare for Verdansk’s long-awaited comeback, why not jump back in and start leveling up some of the best Warzone guns? Alternatively, here are some other amazing free PC games.
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