Before the DMZ Beta went live in 2022 as a bonus mode for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it was widely considered one of gaming's worst-kept secrets. Pretty much everything about it had leaked in the months leading up to its launch.

When players did get their hands on it, the fledgling extraction mode was notably undercooked. The smarter AI for the time was impressive, but there was just not enough substance to keep a large player base active and excited.

Don't get me wrong, there were definitely DMZ die-hards in the Call of Duty community, but I was not among them. I liked the premise, and it certainly wanted to fill a void that had been left empty since I completed The Division's "Survival" DLC. But ultimately, I was convinced that I just wasn't meant to be an extraction shooter girly, and I made my way back to multiplayer and Warzone, where I belonged.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit Infinity Ward's studio and be among the first to see the reveal for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. This included the upcoming third mode — DMZ.

I'm not going to act like I wasn't surprised. Signs were pointing to DMZ's potential return, especially with the rise in the success of extraction shooters like Arc Raiders, for example, but I just wasn't sold on the idea that the previous DMZ Beta had warranted enough fanfare to justify spending 4 years of resources on this extraction mode over some other third mode like classic Spec Ops.

I grew even more nervous about the state of DMZ after the reveal, as launch inched closer and closer with absolutely zero marketing or reveals for the returning mode. No mention of DMZ during the MW4 Open Beta.

Finally, we had "DMZ Week", with a rush of information about the new mode flooding Call of Duty's marketing. When I returned to the studio to go hands-on with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 this month, it was DMZ that I was most looking forward to playing, surprisingly. I was starting to warm to the idea of the mode in general, at least.

For me, these hybrid PvEvP modes can be a hard sell. In the original DMZ Beta of yesteryear, I often felt like the AI combatants were more of an annoyance than an actual threat — just an obstacle in the way of finding the next squad to take down because I was thoroughly Warzone-brained. While there were tasks to complete on the inside, they felt menial and didn't really add much to the overall experience. Looting was an option, but it just didn't mean much at the end of the day.

We started our hands-on time in the Forward Operating Base, the opening hub world for all things DMZ. It's nicely designed, but I do find that overall the HUB itself is a bit disjointed. There's a laptop for every feature. Walk over to this side of the HUB to check your dog tag collection; go back to that side to buy intel on Lieutenants you can hunt. Certain features are locked until you reach the minimum level requirement. Once we were familiar with the layout, we were placed into teams and turned loose to explore Hajin.

Welcome to Hajin

Before I get too deep into overall gameplay, I want to talk about the design of Hajin. The map for DMZ is absolutely massive, especially when compared to the previous map used for the DMZ Beta, Al Mazrah. Al Mazrah felt spacious, but barren. Hajin, however, is a massive map that feels dense and alive. The large buildings tower against the DMZ's skybox, teeming with enemy AI that pose legitimate threats to your safety in the zone. Lush open outdoor areas offer plenty of trees with beautiful foliage and tall grass as cover, making it possible to take a stealthy approach when hunting targets.

The world of Hajin feels real. If you're looking for bandages, check a hospital. Need ammo? Head to a police station. This isn't a new concept, not even for Call of Duty. The original DMZ and the first attempt at Warzone 2.0 both relied on this mechanic of lootable items being found in areas that made sense instead of just stuffed in a box against the wall. For DMZ, it serves an added benefit of forcing players to explore areas outside of popular hot zones.

It's easy for communities to lock into certain areas of maps, especially ones this big, and only want to fight for control of a certain building or lootable box. But the most basic mechanics of Hajin are designed around that. If you're going to level up your operator, you're going to have to eventually go into dangerous areas to collect valuable gear and crafting materials.

Gameplay with meaning and depth

My biggest complaint with the original DMZ Beta was that completing tasks felt like they had little to no purpose. I'm happy to report that Modern Warfare 4's DMZ is overflowing with opportunity. From the story missions that continue the events of the campaign, to the dynamic ops that piece together new challenges with every deployment, to lieutenant hunts, and PvP encounters, this year's DMZ has plenty to offer players of all skill levels.

In my first attempt at DMZ during the hands-on period, I was paired up with a Sherpa from the development team and another player. We were pretty amenable to just exploring Hajin, taking in whatever came our way. Our Sherpa set us up with some dynamic ops that would let us get a little extra XP, and we dove in with the intent to free roam. We didn't start empty-handed; we had beginner-level vests and basic free loadouts to get us started.

Before long, we were collecting the necessary gear to take on bigger challenges, exploring areas with increased threat levels. Collecting gear and returning to the FOB gave us the opportunity to upgrade our operators' skill trees, making our progress feel even more meaningful than just "go in, grab things, get out." We became attached to our operators and their kits.

That is, until another team saw us heading for an exfil and opted to run us over with their trucks.

With my operator now MIA in the exclusion zone, I was left with a choice: Pay the ransom to get her back, or take the loss and go in as a fresh little newbie again.

I paid the ransom.

But then I decided to return to the DMZ for another run, this time solo. I'm too agreeable for my own good, and playing with a squad had left me following along with what they wanted to do. I wanted to see what happened if I went in and followed my own whims. I headed to a laptop in the base and ponied up $10,000 for intel on the location of a Lieutenant, a sniper with a ghillie suit and deer skull mask.

I didn't head straight for the marked lieutenant; I gave myself some time to look for important gear in case I ran into trouble. A med kit, some bandages, extra ammo. When I felt confident I could handle the fight, I headed that way. The lieutenant I had picked wasn't a particularly challenging one, but for a solo player with lower-tier weapons and armor, it certainly proved to be a challenge. I grabbed the dog tags when all was said and done and made my way to exfil, where I threw up a truce flag from the menu wheel and hoped for the best.

My next deployment into DMZ was once again with two additional players. This time our group took a more adventurous approach, diving into some of the more extreme areas of Hajin. We were grossly underleveled, but that didn't stop us from tackling the enemies that were coming at us. By playing it smart and working together, we were able to slowly fight our way through the mission and take down its in-world boss. We hadn't yet finished the mission in its entirety, and there was one other problem: the gas was coming.

We had a choice to hit the only exfil left, which was 900+m away, or we could attempt to finish the mission and hope that an in-place exfil would drop as a reward. Right as our helicopter took the air, the gas overtook the zone. We made it out, but only barely.

DMZ is an exhilarating addition to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Call of Duty's third modes have always been a bit of an enigma. Treyarch's Zombies mode is an actual gold mine, building up a completely separate world that still ties in with the mainline title it's attached to and creating an intense alternative to multiplayer and Warzone that you can easily get lost in for hours, both solo and as a squad. It's genuinely impressive, but Infinity Ward's third mode, namely Spec Ops, never quite hit the community the same way that Zombies did.

The DMZ Beta was a dice roll for Modern Warfare 2, and whether it genuinely paid off at the time is dependent entirely on who you ask. But if we scope out and look at how the DMZ Beta has evolved into the DMZ that is part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, I think it is safe to say that Infinity Ward has finally struck third-mode gold.

And I've finally found something to fill the void left behind by The Division.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the epic conclusion of the Task Force 141 story, launching globally on October 23, 2026. Prior to this, the campaign went live in early access on October 16, followed by the extraction shooter mode, DMZ, on October 20.

This year's Call of Duty is made by Infinity Ward, coming after back-to-back years of Treyarch's Black Ops series. It's fair to say Modern Warfare 4 has a lot riding on it, but early reception has been excellent thanks to a return to form for the campaign.

Modern Warfare 4 is made up of three modes: Campaign, DMZ, and multiplayer, with shared progression across the latter two. Warzone will be integrated with Modern Warfare 4 on November 6, when Season 1 begins.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 doesn't even launch fully until October 23, but one of the hardest challenges in this year's game has already been beaten.

Exhibiting truly heroic levels of degeneracy, the first players have cleared the hardest difficulty setting in the campaign and unlocked their reward. Not realism, of course; this year we've got YOLO.

The reward is a Calling Card that you're definitely not going to see all that many players showing off because of how difficult it is to acquire. And also you can't show it off until at least DMZ early access begins on October 20. If you don't know why this is so hard, let me set out the path you have to take.

• Beat the campaign
• Beat the campaign again on Realism to unlock YOLO.
• Beat the campaign with one life to unlock the Calling Card.

So you have to beat the campaign twice before you can even begin, because Realism difficulty isn't available until you've done one completion. At least it doesn't seem to matter which difficulty you do first to get the Realism unlock.

I've done my traditional first run on Regular to get it done quickly and get cracking with the achievements, and I've got Realism waiting to destroy me.

YOLO is a permadeath mode on Realism difficulty. You get one life. If you go down, your run is over, and you go back to the very beginning of the campaign. It is brutal. And yet we're already seeing the first players having completed it. Presumably they haven't slept much since Friday.

There is an apparent 'cheese' some folks have suggested works, which involves quickly restarting the current mission from the menu if it looks like you're about to go down. But I've also seen people say that you can't save and quit and do it over multiple sessions, because it warns you that you'll lose your progress.

Others have said they've been able to quit just fine and come back. If you know for sure, do please put it in the comments below, because who knows what's real on the internet these days.

The apparent Calling Card reward can be seen here, though since the Calling Card collection doesn't go live until DMZ early access, it could also be a troll. We'll soon know.

If you see this Calling Card pop up in one of your lobbies, though, know what you're dealing with. A player who doesn't sleep. Or a hacker. Either way, probably run the opposite direction.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is almost ready to leave early access as its October 23, 2026 full release rapidly approaches.

However, as with most AAA Xbox titles these days, it's going to take up a huge chunk of your console's storage space, as its campaign mode alone requires 137GB to install.

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While this isn't as extreme as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)'s 219GB requirement (without Warzone), it's still a massive number that will only get larger once Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 adds its multiplayer modes after leaving early access.

So, we've scoured the web for the best Xbox Series X|S storage expansion devices to help you fit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 onto your Xbox Series X|S while leaving more for upcoming Xbox blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto 6.

Also note that when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches, you will be able to uninstall what you want to reclaim space. For example, you can uninstall the single-player campaign once you're done with it and still be able to play the game's multiplayer modes.

External hard drives

External hard drives allow you to store Xbox games and other forms of media like music and movies (depending on how you format) and transfer them to other platforms with ease via USB connections.

They can come in a variety of storage sizes (ranging from 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB), and they're more readily available compared to Xbox storage expansion cards.

Plus, they're cheaper than Xbox storage expansion cards. However, considering the constantly rising prices of tech thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, there's no telling how long those external hard drives will be affordable.

Do note that you can’t play Xbox games directly from an external hard drive. You need to manually transfer games from the external hard drive onto an Xbox’s internal hard drive to play them.

Plug & Play expansion cards

Plug & Play expansion cards fit into an Xbox’s dedicated expansion card slot, so they can not only store games and play them directly from the card without the need for shuffling files onto the console's internal SSD.

They're also extremely compact, so they don't take up too much desk space compared to regular external hard drives.

However, Plug & Play expansion cards are rarer and more expensive than external hard drives. Plus, you can't reformat them to store and run other forms of media, as these Plug & Play expansion cards were designed only for Xbox consoles.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Our die-hard Call of Duty expert, Cole Martin, reviewed the campaign mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and judging by her reaction, it's shaping up to be a massive return to form for the series.

She calls the campaign a cinematic masterpiece for its stunning, cinematic presentation, captivating story, and thrilling gameplay filled with intense action set pieces and dramatic moments.

As for the quality of its multiplayer game modes like the much-anticipated DMZ, you will have to wait until the game launches later this week to find out, as it was unavailable during Cole Martin's review.

Needless to say, though, Call of Duty fans are about to eat good this holiday season just from the campaign alone.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is scheduled to launch on Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Windows and Steam on October 23, 2026.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's campaign mode is currently available to play in early access for players who pre-order the game's Standard or Vault Editions.

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In news that absolutely nobody saw coming (ok well the skeptics among us), the new Call of Duty game has launched to overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 kicked off its campaign early access yesterday ahead of the full lunch on October 23, and the online reception has been nothing short of glowing. Considering the feedback for the franchise recently has been that story modes have felt rushed and an afterthought as Warzone and Zombies have seemingly took priority, critics are calling Modern Warfare 4 one of the best campaigns the series has seen in years.

Steam reviews are looking great

Over on Steam, early access user reviews are currently sitting at an unprecedented 82% "Very Positive" rating. Meanwhile, major review outlets like IGN are praising Infinity Ward for delivering a focused, brutal, and genuinely emotional conclusion to the rebooted Modern Warfare saga.

Our own Call of Duty virtuoso, Cole Martin has published her spoiler free first impressions, and while she's held fire on a final review score until the full game is available, she's full of praise for the campaign "I repeatedly found myself gasping at every turn, surprised by the hows and whys that led up to the events of this blockbuster finale."

RELATED: 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4' story campaign is truly a cinematic masterpiece — a BIG return to form (spoiler-free impressions)

Social media reaction has been equally surprised.

Long-time players who have been following the series since 2003 have commented that the game feels like a genuine technical and narrative evolution rather than the standard annual production line approach.

Infinity Ward seems to have pulled off the unthinkable: making Call of Duty fans happy.

Now time will only tell if the multiplayer and Warzone integration will maintain this goodwill and upward trajectory for the franchise when the full game drops on October 23. But for now, the Modern Warfare saga looks to be going out on a high note.

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It has been 23 years since Infinity Ward dropped the first Call of Duty title; more than 25 games later, CoD fans are all seated with bated breath and waiting for the conclusion of one of gaming's most popular franchises.

For those who pre-ordered Modern Warfare 4, early campaign access is available now.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is both a swan song and a rebirth for Infinity Ward, as the title is the first to release under new studio leadership, Jack O'Hara and Mark Grigsby, while also serving as the finale for the subseries' rebooted plotline that kicked off with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2020).

I had an opportunity to play the campaign for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 in advance, and while I plan to hold off on an official review score until the full game is available, I do have some early thoughts — spoiler-free, of course.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Impressions — Story, setting, and art

It only takes 5 days — and a few extra years, but we're not counting — to change the world. While the events leading up to the story for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 have culminated over a few years of time, the latest campaign takes place over the course of just 5 chaotic days.

Before diving too deep into Modern Warfare 4, it would be a good idea to refresh yourself on the lore of the MW trilogy up until this point.

The reboot of the subseries kicked off in 2019, centering Task Force 141 — Captain John Price, Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, and Sergeant Johnny "Soap" MacTavish — and their hush-hush global counter-terrorism efforts. Their efforts introduce us to a variety of interesting characters, including cartel leader "El Sin Nombre", Valeria Garza, and founder of the Urzikstan Liberation Force, Farah Karim.

I'm going to be a little reductive for brevity here, but ultimately the squad finds themselves chasing down the series antagonist, Vladimir Makarov, but their hunt turns personal after Makarov kills Soap in the finale of Sledgehammer Games' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023).

In my review for Modern Warfare 3 (2023), I remarked that the final act of the campaign, which included MacTavish's abrupt demise, felt rushed. It was a seemingly unnecessary death at the end of the story that did nothing to push things forward.

3 years later, I realize that I wasn't entirely correct. The ending was rushed, yes, but Soap's death kicked off an avalanche of global events. The beginning of Modern Warfare 4 shows us a squad of more green soldiers than we've become accustomed to seeing in Modern Warfare.

We begin with a group of military conscripts, South Korean soldiers serving their mandatory enlistment alongside American Marines, Corporal Joseph Dunn and First Lieutenant Reggie West, in Seoul.

West has introduced the squad to Wu-Tang Clan's classic, "C.R.E.A.M.," and we start the game with some playful banter between music beats that sets up who our would-be heroes actually are.

The scene is decidedly cinematic, feeling more like the cold open to a movie than the opening sequence of the fourth installment to a subseries of a two-decade-old franchise. We spend some time with the younger squad as they plan a hazing of one of their newbies before they are faced with an explosive and unexpected attack.

We ultimately help the squad make their way through the rapidly deteriorating city, fighting through a night-shrouded urban battleground against threats from a mysteriously enhanced North Korean invasion.

From this opener, we're then transported back in time to just 5 days before North Korea's attacks on South Korea and reunited with Captain Price, who we learn has continued his hunt for Makarov to avenge Soap's death.

Price chases Makarov through a nightclub and eventually into a snowy alleyway where the two engage in hand-to-hand combat. Shortly after this, Price is captured and taken to Makarov's accomplice — El Sin Nombre, herself. She makes Price an offer he can't refuse: a means to go straight to the top of the food chain and take down the Archer, the "head of the snake" for the terrorist organization.

Price's trust in Valeria comes at a cost, however, and he is then considered AWOL by CIA Watcher, Kate Laswell, who has no choice but to send what remains of Task Force 141 to capture or kill their own Captain, friend, and mentor. This story beat sets up a recurring theme of loyalty and betrayal that threads together all of the various subplots over the 5-day timeline.

Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare reboot has long faced challenges of satisfying the needs of its nostalgic player base while also innovating on the subseries in such a way that it draws in a new crowd to create nostalgia for.

Modern Warfare 4's campaign captures that struggle in its own way, with the actions of Price and the rest of Task Force 141 rippling throughout the narrative to have unexpected effects on Park and his squadron.

It's easy to reduce Call of Duty down to just an arcade shooter full of cinematic set pieces and Michael Bay-worthy explosions, but Modern Warfare 4 has somehow managed to increase the heightened sense of emotion in its story. Soap's death, which once felt meaningless and egregious, has created a weighted cloud over the events of Modern Warfare 4, one that leads to big emotional moments that legitimately took my breath away.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Impressions — Gameplay

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's campaign consists of a mostly linear mission structure where the 16 story missions can take roughly 6 to 8 hours to complete, depending on skill level and willingness to look for secrets — of which there are plenty.

Most missions feature fairly on-rails gameplay that the Modern Warfare subseries is known for, big cinematic set pieces with the single player-controlled character assisted by AI squadmates working their way through a mission setting.

However, a couple of missions do deviate from the standard formula. In Mission 2, "Out in the Cold", we're faced with a chase sequence similar to what we have seen in past Call of Duty titles. Price, in his hunt for Makarov, tails the terrorist through a nightclub with some light parkour over rooftops and through crowded streets into an alleyway for a hand-to-hand brawl.

This is followed by Mission 3, "Following Orders", which certainly feels reminiscent of Modern Warfare 2 (2009)'s "No Russian" campaign mission. In this particular sequence, players are an unnamed North Korean operative assisting in the hunt for a defector.

The brutality of the North Korean regime is on full display, but the player does have the option to make choices in whether they participate in the cruelty or merely stand by as it happens. While the player can choose whether or not to confiscate contraband or intimidate civilians, there are some decisions that can have a lasting impact on the player, though the choice fails to have a lasting impact on the overall narrative of Modern Warfare 4.

The most notable departure from the linear campaign is Mission 10, "Stranded." The members of Sierra-1 are behind enemy lines and must keep a low profile while exploring a semi-open world environment.

Players can engage or avoid North Korean operators as they read notes, search for an eye-watering 58 collectibles, unlike a plethora of special equipment chests, and take down 3 specific mission objectives. It's a chance to see Sierra-1's Park Hyun-Jun really stretch his legs as a lead character and to develop a deeper bond with the grunt squad as they fight to survive in dangerous territory.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Impressions — Final thoughts

If you've been playing the Modern Warfare reboot's campaigns up until this point, you might agree with me that it has long felt like there was only one way for the story to come to an end. And yet, even as I reached the final missions of the campaign, I repeatedly found myself gasping at every turn, surprised by the hows and whys that led up to the events of this blockbuster finale.

Every aspect of Modern Warfare 4 is crafted with attention to detail that is unmatched in the AAA space. Infinity Ward leads the charge in high-detail graphics, creating sets where every ray of light adds to the ambience and emotion of the scene.

From the bright lights of a Seoul convenience store to the bloody snow of a New York alleyway to the cracked glass of a city high-rise bearing the weight of a contested brotherhood. Modern Warfare 4's campaign is nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece, beautifully shot and choreographed to enhance the story with purposeful action.

Even the narrative writing is carefully crafted, and every member of the cast brought their A-game to the voice acting and motion capture. Barry Sloane slips into Captain Price like he himself has seen the captain's battles firsthand, encapsulating Price's grief and moral quandaries with seriousness, while Valeria's voice actress, Maria Elisa Camargo, playfully ribs at him with niceties and nicknames.

Samuel Roukin's haunting stare as Ghost is every bit as damning as his insistence on holding the line. I want to care about these characters and have the story being told over a 4-installment subseries pay off.

When all was said and done, I sat back from my desk, controller in hand and mouth agape with tears welling up in my eyes. That sounds dramatic, I'm sure, but Infinity Ward has come up with a group of characters that I have invested in and cared about. Their efforts, their stories, and their camaraderie and brotherhood mattered.

Task Force 141's chapter may have come to a fitting — albeit gut-wrenching — end, but the cycle continues on. Somebody has to get their hands dirty so the world stays clean.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was always going to be a tough launch. After back-to-back releases on Xbox Game Pass, this year's Call of Duty isn't, and of course, it comes out less than a month before GTA 6.

In the latest race to secure your pre-order for Modern Warfare 4, Activision has announced today that two-thirds of the game will now be playable early. But only if you've pre-ordered it in time. And only if you've digitally pre-ordered it. Physical copies will still have to wait until the main launch date.

Campaign early access begins on October 16, and four days later we'll now be able to drop into DMZ on October 20. The game actually releases on October 23, but at this point, that only now means multiplayer.

We're at the end of a weeklong drop of intel on the DMZ mode, which it's fair to say is the one that people who are planning to play Modern Warfare 4 are most interested in.

During the beta we got a chance to try out the multiplayer and play through a campaign mission, but nobody has yet touched the extraction shooter mode, DMZ.

It's not the first time Call of Duty has dabbled with an extraction shooter. The first DMZ (which you can still play) was a free-to-play expansion of Modern Warfare 2. Then a year later came Modern Warfare 3 Zombies, which utilized the Ursikstan Warzone map for an entirely PvE extraction experience.

Black Ops 7 also had Endgame, another purely PvE extraction mode, but with the return of DMZ, it'll be back to PvPvE action.

It looks extremely promising, though. There will be missions to complete and narratives to unravel, rewards to be earned, and what looks like a fairly deep and substantial progression system.

DMZ will also have its own Mastery Camo grind, which will certainly require some forward planning based on the gameplay loop. If you lose a weapon in the DMZ, you'll need to get another, or acquire it through the FOB, which also requires extra steps.

Nevertheless, if you're looking forward to DMZ, get your digital pre-order in now at the Xbox Store (with Xbox Play Anywhere), Steam, PS5, or Battle.net.

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While a lot of the Microsoft Surface/NVIDIA co-event is talk of AI, and indeed RTX Spark isn't being marketed as a gaming platform so much, gaming still got a pretty big mention.

One of Microsoft's biggest franchises, Call of Duty, will be available on RTX Spark devices at some point in 2027. At first that might not sound like a big deal; after all, it's a Microsoft game on a Microsoft-powered platform.

But as with the Steam Deck and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X platform, the big sticking point has been anticheat support. Lots of games can be played on Windows on Arm already, and surprisingly well. But anticheat support is still in its infancy, and this news means that Activision's Ricochet is being developed to run on ARM64.

What can we take from this? Well, the view I'm taking as a Call of Duty player is that this is a pretty significant development for the future of the franchise. Sure, folks buying RTX Spark laptops and desktops in the foreseeable future are likely developers or AI enthusiasts first, but people still like to game.

Folks can talk about whether Ricochet is any good or not until they're blue in the face, but it's required to play modern Call of Duty titles on PC. Today, that means AMD and Intel-powered systems only because of the kernel-level anticheat.

Coming to RTX Spark means Ricochet is being developed to support ARM64, and in the longer term, that surely means not only systems using NVIDIA's chip. I still long to see a world where Snapdragon and RTX Spark chips are powering future handhelds, and I want those devices to be able to play my favorite game my hopeless addiction.

Failing that, at some point I know I'll be moving to Windows on Arm fully. Even if it's not for some years, given the price of everything, it's going to happen, and I want all my games on there.

Ricochet joins the likes of Epic's Easy Anti Cheat, Denuvo, and Battleye, all of which have plans to support Windows on Arm.

The other thing we can take is that it was very deliberately announced as "Call of Duty." Not Modern Warfare 4, which is the next game to launch on October 23 this year. 2027 is a big window of time, so it is possible it could take until next year's game to get everything up and running.

Then there are the legacy titles that also use Ricochet. Will these be included, or just the most current release at the time?

In any case, I'm glad to hear this news. Even if Windows on Arm isn't going to be a true gamer's platform for a while yet, we have to start somewhere. And this is a big step in the right direction.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is just over a couple of weeks away (less if you get the early access to the campaign), but there's still time to get your pre-order in before that.

If you're ordering on Xbox Series X or PS5, then there's a strong case to order a physical copy, because you can get some free stuff with your purchase.

If you grab Modern Warfare 4 at Amazon, you'll get five hours of 2XP tokens to use in the game. If you're a collector, head over to Best Buy where you can get an exclusive steelbook. Modern Warfare 4 costs the same at either, with the standard edition running for $69.99.

After a bit of a slow start, there's actually a lot to look forward to in Modern Warfare 4. DMZ has finally had a full reveal, and there's still more to come. But it looks extremely promising, turning Call of Duty into a serious extraction shooter.

The campaign is a return to normality after the unusual one we had in Black Ops 7, with the Korean setting looking absolutely glorious from what we've seen so far.

As ever, we'll be jumping into a new Mastery Camo grind, and there will be all manner of calling cards, blueprints, and other items to unlock, and no shortage of things to do.

It's also worth remembering that Modern Warfare 4 will not be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch. After back-to-back releases, the title has since been removed, and we don't expect to see it added to the library until October 2028 at the earliest.

So if you want to play, you need to buy like the old days. So you may as well get some added bonuses for yourself while you're at it.

If, like me, you've been playing Black Ops 7 all year, you probably have a good stash of 2XP tokens already, so I'd definitely go for the steelbook. That and I'm a sucker for a steelbook. But if you've had time away, those 2XP tokens will certainly help you burn through the early levelling process a bit quicker.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 doesn't have the range of game modes to play when compared to Black Ops 7, but we are getting a return of DMZ.

Previously tried in the Modern Warfare II era, DMZ is back without a beta tag, and we've had our first detail drop on what's going down.

Infinity Ward is using this entire week to drop intel on DMZ, and the first has arrived with an overview of the mechanics and the Hajin location. A second drop is planned later this week with a full tour of the Forward Operating Base (FOB). But here's a brief summary of what we know so far.

What is DMZ in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4?

DMZ returns as Call of Duty turns its hand to an extraction shooter once more. The original DMZ first touched on this, and then subsequent attempts were made with Modern Warfare 3 Zombies (MWZ) and later Endgame in Black Ops 7.

Unlike MWZ and Endgame, DMZ returns to the PvPvE gameplay loop of the original DMZ, much like other popular extraction shooters such as Marathon and Arc Raiders. Unlike those two, however, there is currently no planned PvE-only mode.

DMZ gets its own map, Hajin, where operators will drop into the Exclusion Zone. The basic loop is drop in, complete objectives, earn loot, and extract with your spoils. As it's PvEvP, though, you'll encounter both AI enemies and real-world players.

DMZ will also have its own progression track (though you'll still be able to earn overall player and weapon XP), leveling up to 70. Progression through the levels will unlock new FOB stations and crafting recipes among its rewards, so the higher you get, the better equipped you'll be. Pretty standard.

The Forward Operating Base (FOB) is your DMZ command center

More is to come later in the week regarding the full tour of the FOB, but we do at least already have a basic overview of what it is and how it'll work.

Essentially this is your base of operations for all DMZ runs. The FOB "evolves with you" as you progress, turning from nothing into your own personal stronghold.

From the off you'll have five stations available, which will help you manage your operators, your stash, your mission directives, a firing range, and survival kits, which are "themed packs of loot items" used for crafting or gearing up. I'm hoping that these kits are acquirable via means that don't revolve around paying money, but we'll have to wait for the full intel drop to know more.

There's also the Deploy station that is permanently available, as you'll use it for the pretty obvious task of deploying into Hajin.

As you progress through DMZ, there are a further seven stations to unlock, some of which will track progression and offer a little vanity, others for crafting and acquiring better gear using resources or the mode's dedicated currency, DMZ cash.

• Every FOB Station in Modern Warfare 4 DMZ and what you need them for.

DMZ deployment objectives and progression

Each run in DMZ will follow a fairly regular pattern, albeit always with the threat of other players derailing you.

Progression relies on exploration, combat, and completing objectives across the various POIs. And looting, of course. Part of this can be influenced by the 3D Printer at your FOB, which will give you a heads-up on which parts of the map will drop items that you're specifically looking for.

Side Ops are the lower-stress objectives that will allow you to explore Hajin a little more, gather materials, and get intel on some boss locations. Dynamic Operations will reward DMZ Cash, XP, and Supply Drops that scale up in quality based on how many you've completed.

Looting will remain key, though, as besides stocking up on essential consumables such as armor plates and bandages, you'll also be on the lookout for special items, like keys to unlock better loot rooms. There are also apparently a bunch of underground entrances to locate from the more rural areas of Hajin.

You're also guided by DMZ Orders, which will help you both get to grips with DMZ and guide you on the right path to progression, as well as further the narrative.

After every DMZ deployment, you'll be presented with an After Action Report, whether you managed to exfil or not. Ratings go from F (I'm definitely getting plenty of those) all the way up to S++. It'll show you how you did on your run, as well as the XP progress you've made on your DMZ rank as well as your Dog Tag level. The latter will help you upgrade your operator's traits, so it's one to pay close attention to as you start to attempt the more difficult content.

The Hajin map for DMZ is a sizeable location packed with POIs of varying difficulty. If you've played MWZ or Endgame before, you'll have a basic idea of how it goes. The low-threat zone is where you'll start out, find your feet, and do some looting, and gradually you'll begin making your way into the higher-threat zones where the more difficult objectives (and better rewards) lie.

There is a lot more to digest as we head towards the launch of Modern Warfare 4 on October 23. I have plenty of my own questions that can't be answered until it's actually here, like how it's going to play out for solo players, how 'sweaty' the PvP will get, and such. But the initial impressions are pretty good.

In the "From the Ward" video (which you can see above) there's also a brief tease of what's to come via seasonal content, including new bosses, and, apparently, new maps, or at least, new parts of Hajin.

I want DMZ to be good, and I want it to be stacked with content throughout the lifespan of Modern Warfare 4. With only multiplayer or Warzone to play otherwise, I'm banking a lot on this mode. I'm probably not alone there, either. I can't do a full year on multiplayer alone.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is finally launching on October 23, and the mode that's probably most hyped is DMZ. It's been teased for some time, but as we get closer to launch we're finally getting more information on what it is, how it's going to play, and the mechanics we're going to be experiencing.

One of the key parts of DMZ will be the Forward Operating Base (FOB). This is essentially your command center before and after your runs, and crucially, it will evolve as you play the game and progress further.

The FOB will be made up of a number of different Stations, some more crucial to how well you're going to do than others. You'll start out with some, and as you level up, you'll unlock more, as well as be able to upgrade them.

At a glance

• The FOB is your pre- and post-match hub where you'll manage every aspect of your DMZ deployments.
• It's divided into FOB Stations, some of which are available immediately; others will unlock as you progress.
• The Stations will help you manage loadouts and your stash, craft better gear, track your objectives, and even show off a little.

All Modern Warfare 4 DMZ FOB Stations and what they do

When you begin, your FOB will be far from complete. Some Stations will be available straight away; others you'll need to unlock by leveling up through your DMZ progression.

Some will be essential to success in future runs. Others seem purely for your own vanity. Here are all the currently announced FOB Stations for Modern Warfare 4 DMZ, which are available immediately and which you can unlock as you progress, as well as what they can do for you.

Immediately available FOB Stations

• Operators (Active Duty): Manage available operators, their status, upgrade traits, and choose one for deployment.
• Stash/Loadout: The stash allows you to store gear you've looted from previous runs in DMZ, including weapons, gear, crafting materials, and more. When you extract from a run, you're able to offload items into your stash and then use the Loadout menu to equip weapons and gear for your next one.
• DMZ Orders: The place to see your Mission Directives that will help guide you through DMZ, tell the story, and help you master the Exclusion Zone.
• Firing Range: A Call of Duty staple for testing your weapons before dropping in for a run.
• Survival Kits: Themed packs of loot that can be used to craft items or as part of your next loadout.

Unlockable FOB Stations

• 3D Printer: This is used for crafting items and upgrading other FOB Stations once you have the right items. Printer Resources and Ingredients can be found during deployments in DMZ.
• Gunsmith: Spend DMZ Cash to buy attachments for weapons you've looted or craft new ones from scratch. Attachments are based on the level of the weapon and the shared attachments you've unlocked. Extracting Weapon Manuals increases the selection of weapons you can craft.
• Vendor: A daily rotation of items you can buy with DMZ Cash.
• Bounty Leaderboard: Tracking the most successful PvP players in the Exclusion Zone.
• Boss Board: Buy intel on Lieutenants, and additional information on Commanders.
• Dog Tag Case: Show off the dog tags you've collected from defeating other players during your deployments.
• DMZ Progression: Monitor your DMZ progression track and the rewards unlocked at their corresponding levels.

Always available FOB Station

• Deploy: Does what it says on the tin. You'll go here to drop into Hajin for a new DMZ run.

We're promised a further intel drop on the FOB soon, including a full tour. As we know more about the FOB Stations in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ, this post will be updated with all the details you need to know.

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As Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 approaches on October 23, the PR machine is really getting into full swing. Whether it's reactive or not is irrelevant, so long as players are being given worthwhile features.

It looks like Modern Warfare 4 is going to fix one of the biggest points of irritation I have with Call of Duty in general: burning through 2XP tokens while you're sat in the lobby, or tweaking your loadout, or hell, even checking on your Camo challenges.

Announced today is the news that this will not be the case in Modern Warfare 4. 2XP tokens will now only count down in-game time, not from the very second you apply them, as happens right now.

I don't know if there's panic setting in, if these ideas were always planned, or if players are actually being listened to. But this is twice in recent days that we're getting some positive news about features for Modern Warfare 4.

The 2XP token update comes after the news that from Season 1, when Warzone is integrated with Modern Warfare 4, players will have a toggle to turn off all the goofy legacy skins and see default MW4 operators instead.

I'm not sure this is enough to make me want to play Warzone outside of doing the Mastery Camo, but still, it's another big W from Call of Duty for its players. Even though I only tolerate Warzone for the barest minimum time, there are some truly heinous cosmetics going back as far as Modern Warfare 2.

In isolation each of these may seem small, but both are actually significant quality of life increases. I can now work on the Warzone Mastery Camo without seeing Beavis and Butthead or American Dad, and I can do so knowing I'm not losing my 2XP tokens while waiting on matchmaking.

There are still plenty of improvements that could be made, though. I don't really have a dog in the SBMM fight, but plenty of players do, even if it doesn't look like it's going away. The anticheat will also be a big focus, again, and Activision talks a big game, but players are only going to be happy when they see it working.

But I'm happy to take the wins wherever they come. I've got about 50 hours of 2XP and 52 hours of 2XP weapon tokens to burn through when Modern Warfare 4 comes out. I'm glad that will at least translate to in-game hours and not losing half of it outside of matches.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23 (though the campaign has an early access period for a week prior to this), and if you're jumping in at launch, then you're going to want to burn through leveling up as fast as possible, right?

Whether you're going down the Classic Prestige route (aka, the proper way) or the other Prestige that doesn't reset your progress and gives fewer rewards, there are a lot of levels to climb through. Then there are the weapons, which, based on the Modern Warfare 4 beta period, will take some time.

What you need to speed this process up is a big stash of 2XP tokens. You've likely already got some if you've been playing Black Ops 7, and they will carry forward to Modern Warfare 4. But you should be at least opening Black Ops 7 every day right now to maximize your gains going into the new game by getting all the free 2XP tokens you can.

Open Black Ops 7 daily, grab the free 2XP tokens and profit

Even if you've stopped actively playing Black Ops 7 now (I know I've been putting some time into Modern Warfare 3 Zombies instead), don't uninstall it.

Instead, open it up every day, and go straight to the Store tab. I don't know if it's actually every day, but it sure feels like it right now, but when you open the game after each daily reset, you'll likely see the message "free" at the top of the screen just under where it says Store.

There could be free Gobblegums, but those won't be any use to you in Modern Warfare 4. But what you do need to do is scroll down a little further and look for the "Free Gift" box.

Whatever this is, claim it. It could be a 2XP token, a 2XP Weapon token, or a 2XP Battle Pass token. All three will carry forward into Modern Warfare 4, but it's the first two in particular that you want to be stocking up on.

Just claim it, but be sure not to press the equip button when you do. This way it'll go into your pile, and you can close the game until the next day. Just rinse and repeat and stock up all the way through to October 22.

Finish the Black Ops 7 Season 06 Battle Pass if you can

None of the weapons or cosmetic items you can get in the Season 06 Battle Pass in Black Ops 7 will be usable in Modern Warfare 4 (though you will be able to use some of these in Warzone).

But the Battle Pass also gives you 2XP and 2XP Weapon tokens, alongside COD Points which also carry forward into Modern Warfare 4.

So, if you can finish the current Battle Pass, you'll get a few more tokens to add into your stash. But obviously for this, you'll have to play the game. I recommend not having auto-redeem turned on so you choose the rewards you claim as you progress.

It'll at least make the process shorter if you're mostly interested in the tokens and the currency since new pages can unlock before you've claimed everything on the current one.

This may all sound a little "duhhhh" to regular players, but it's worth highlighting. Especially as we're in that period where traditionally even those regular players have moved away from the current Call of Duty.

Better still, at least if you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, is that you can claim these tokens even if you haven't played a lick of Black Ops 7. Maybe you skipped this year, but you're coming back for Modern Warfare 4. In that case, why not give yourself a little leg up?

It only takes a couple of minutes to fire up the game, grab any free tokens, and close it again. But it'll certainly help your leveling in Modern Warfare 4.

As will doing it the proper way and going Classic Prestige. Using this track will grant improved XP gains, so you'll be getting higher, faster. Make things easy on yourself; it's the smart thing to do.

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The echo chamber on the internet would have you believe that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was a horrible game. After many hundreds of hours playing, I don't agree with that, at least not entirely. Like most games, it has its good points and its bad points.

But as we're approaching yet another yearly cycle with Modern Warfare 4 arriving next month, once again it's time for opinions to be voiced around how the franchise should become "good" again.

For many, it's a return to the glory days of multiplayer. There are those who believe that Warzone should be completely split off as its own thing, too, and not tied to the yearly release. And plenty more besides.

But on the Warzone front, I agree, and a video I watched by dkdynamite on YouTube takes this idea and applies it to Zombies. There are so many different experiences under Call of Duty these days, but I'm not so sure this approach of making one game to suit everyone is working.

I think it's time that parties from Microsoft/Xbox and Activision get their respective heads together and think long and hard about what the road ahead looks like. I think that road should be a break up of Call of Duty.

Break up Call of Duty? What do you mean?

The traditional core of Call of Duty is the campaign and the multiplayer. As the years have passed, though, Zombies has grown to be a huge part of the game's audience, and of course, there's Warzone. The free-to-play battle royale mode that I personally think has infected too much of the main game.

Using Black Ops 7 as an example, there has been a ridiculous amount of content to play. Beyond the core campaign and multiplayer, there's an extensive Zombies mode, there's Endgame, and there have been limited-time modes and special events across all three, and Warzone is there on the side with its own batch of content.

There are players who will dive into each mode, but it's impossible to do so fully in a year. For many of us, the camo grind and calling card challenges draw us in long enough to complete them, and then we'll go back to our preferred mode.

Zombies players are the best example right now, because after five consecutive Call of Duty releases with Zombies (of some form), Modern Warfare 4 is arriving without. So what's attracting those players to Modern Warfare 4 for the next year? Aside from the campaign, there's a grand total of zero content (at least confirmed for now) of a PvE nature in Modern Warfare 4. DMZ has PvP, with no sign so far of a dedicated PvE mode.

This is why I think it's time to stop the cycle and start breaking apart the various aspects of Call of Duty. Does that mean a standalone Zombies game that runs alongside but is separated from a yearly release or multiple yearly releases? Does that mean Warzone is just Warzone and does its own thing? DMZ getting more than a year of live support and continuing into 2028 or beyond?

Yes to all. I sure wish Black Ops 7 Endgame was getting a second year.

Trying to please everyone pleases no one

Sure, it would require a significant shift and some reorganization, but Call of Duty is owned by Microsoft, one of the biggest companies on the planet.

But the current yearly cycle isn't pleasing anyone. Warzone players are peeved that every year their game gets changed based on whatever that year's main release is. Zombies players now have nothing new until at least next year, or 2028, when Treyarch returns. Multiplayer fans are constantly aggravated by something.

There are so many plates spinning.

There's no way that the yearly release cycle will end, no matter how many of us think it should. The money has to keep rolling in. But I argue that happy players are players who spend money on a game, whatever form that takes.

Call of Duty is big enough that it could be a collection of games, not just one. Give us a new multiplayer every year and a new campaign. But how about a standalone PvE game based on Zombies that lives for multiple years alongside it?

The problem is I feel, and I'm sure I'm not alone, that the cycle and every game is built with the top priority being monetization, not getting people to play and enjoy playing. We saw it with the price increase to Game Pass post-Black Ops 6 and when that didn't work out, the subsequent removal of Call of Duty from being a day-one Game Pass release.

The revenue took a dive because people were jumping in on Game Pass, not paying $80 whether they played it for a week or a year, on top of any additional microtransactions. So it's off Game Pass.

Would it not be better to have more dedicated experiences for players to enjoy for longer? Give teams a focus, time to breathe, and time to work their magic and focus on making and supporting games that players want to play, rather than keep tolerating.

Older Call of Duty games prove this could work

People will stick around. They will keep playing older Call of Duty games. I recently tried Modern Warfare 3 Zombies for the first time in my life, and it's still stacked with players.

Black Ops Cold War is now on Game Pass, which has brought a lot of us back in, but there are plenty who never stopped.

Lest we forget the recent Black Ops and Black Ops 2 ports on PS5. How popular they have been despite their issues.

The point is that a good experience lasts, and players will stick around playing it. So instead of getting to a point where everyone's tired of the current game and goes back to the older ones, how about we just build longer-lasting experiences to begin with? I think part of why the older games still hold up is because we don't really appreciate them until they're in the rearview mirror and we have more time to take it all in.

Don't expect Warzone players to play multiplayer or Zombies. Don't expect either of those two types of players to want to play Warzone. Hell, if casual mode didn't exist, I wouldn't have done the mastery camo. Even then it was 65 hours of misery because I just don't like Warzone. But give each type of player their own bespoke experience.

Give each mode the space, and importantly, the time, to breathe. From the creation to post-launch support.

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Alongside the new, and honestly quite epic-looking, campaign trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 that was released during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show presentation, we have some comments on the future of one of Microsoft's crown jewels.

Underneath the X post publishing the trailer on the official Call of Duty account, Modern Warfare 4 players are invited to "witness the epic conclusion".

The latest game does indeed follow Modern Warfare 3 and the storyline first introduced when the franchise was rebooted back in 2019, and all signs point to this being the final entry in a now quadrilogy.

You could read into this however you wish. It's obviously bringing the current series to a close, but does Modern Warfare still have a future as a franchise?

What we do at least know is that Call of Duty 2027 is being made by Sledgehammer Games, and we're anticipating a new sub-series, the first in six years by that point from Sledgehammer last introducing the newness that was Vanguard.

I think now is the time to draw the curtain on both Modern Warfare and Black Ops, in all honesty. Since 2019 we've had four Modern Warfare games, three Black Ops games, and Vanguard.

The complaints will never go away, though, whatever Call of Duty does. But I genuinely think that Modern Warfare and Black Ops fatigue, even if subconscious, is partly at fault. By October 23, these two series will have resulted in 14 of the 23 total Call of Duty games we've had.

Business-wise, it's easy to see why. The likes of Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, and Infinite Warfare weren't as well received, nor were WW2 or Vanguard. But I'm convinced now that we've played more than enough Modern Warfare and Black Ops for a while. Unless the original Black Ops games are to get remakes, I don't think we need to see it again for some time after back-to-back years.

And that's the other thing. The last five years have seen back-to-back Modern Warfare titles, then back-to-back Black Ops titles, before going back to Modern Warfare again. They're clearly the most successful by a number of metrics, but it isn't going to last forever.

I do think there's an element of rose-tinted glasses, too. Modern Warfare (2019) is looked upon very highly, but we also need to remember that it, and Warzone that came in the same year, was around at a time we were all locked indoors with nothing to do. Personally, I didn't take to the all-new Modern Warfare coming after Black Ops 4 and ended up having some time away from playing Call of Duty entirely.

Treyarch has already teased that the studio is ready to make "something new and something that nobody's ever experienced before" when it comes back around to its turn for Call of Duty in a couple of years.

I will close, though, by saying that I have (mostly) enjoyed Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, and the latter I don't think is deserving of a lot of the negativity thrown its way. But it is time for something new, something that isn't Black Ops or Modern Warfare, and frankly, something that doesn't feel like it's built entirely to provide a platform for Warzone.

What that looks like only time will tell, but if Microsoft wants to keep its golden goose going strong, it needs to take some risks. I'm already of the mind that not putting Modern Warfare 4 on Game Pass is going to affect its player count, especially given GTA 6 launches less than a month later. I guess we'll see what happens.

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It's that time of year again where a new Call of Duty is on the horizon and the existing game has been played so much that older titles in the franchise get wheeled out for a dose of nostalgia and a change of pace.

With an Xbox Game Pass subscription, that's even easier. In my case, I've been checking out a couple of previous Call of Duty games I originally skipped for various reasons. The first being Black Ops Cold War, the latest to join Game Pass, and now, Modern Warfare 3.

Except, in a change of pace, I haven't touched multiplayer, nor the campaign, not yet, anyway. My YouTube feed was filling up with folks playing Modern Warfare 3 Zombies (also referred to as MWZ), and it looked very much like my jam. So I installed it and jumped right in.

How have I not played this before? Zombies purists may look upon this take on the franchise very differently, but I'm the furthest thing from that. Traditionally I love open-world games, looter shooters, and experiences with a big sandbox to explore and find things to do with rewards to chase. It's why I love The Division 2 so much.

I'm hooked. Instantly hooked. A good chunk of my time in Black Ops 7 has been spent in the Endgame mode, with its lighter take on an extraction shooter proving to be a lot of fun. MWZ is also a PvE-exclusive extraction shooter; it came a couple of years before Black Ops 7, and I think it's actually better.

MWZ feels less daunting as a newcomer over more classic Call of Duty Zombies experiences

Don't get me wrong, I totally get why people love Zombies. All told, I should be one of them. PvE gameplay is always my preference, and the whole idea of the easter egg quests, the continued storyline that's crossed multiple games, and the replay value ticks the right kind of boxes.

But I've never really played the mode for whatever reason, and the round-based gameplay does feel a little daunting to me. The way the difficulty keeps ramping up is a good challenge to have, but I can also see how it could be off-putting to newcomers and more casual players.

Like Black Ops 7 Endgame, MWZ lets you play entirely at your own pace. Eventually you'll need to go into the higher-tier threat level zones, but you decide when. While you're getting to grips with the mode, as I have been doing, you can just run around in tier 1.

Getting used to the map, the gameplay, doing the Act 1 missions, and raising your Containment Level to make life simpler when you do decide to take on the more difficult parts.

What I also really like as a new player is that thanks to the scale of the Urzikstan map over a more traditional round-based Zombies map, it's easier to get out of trouble. The trap I always fall into any time I try Zombies is getting boxed in, and it's game over. MWZ has the added bonus that even without a Self Revive equipped, other players in your match can pick you back up, even if they're not in your squad.

It's not easy, but it does feel more approachable. And if you ever played Warzone on Urzikstan, you'll already feel at home on the map.

MWZ also has a series of story missions to progress through that you don't have to figure out for yourself like a traditional easter egg. There still are easter eggs to complete if you wish, but there's a more linear story you can also follow in the different Acts, with smaller side missions to progress through before hitting the final story mission.

I don't think it's "hand-holding," but I do appreciate being pointed in the right direction without needing to follow a YouTube video.

I love the loot system in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies

As a looter-shooter kind of guy at heart, I really like the way that your gear is handled in MWZ. In traditional round-based Zombies, you can build a loadout, but you're starting from scratch every game.

In MWZ, if you've managed to extract with the right gear, you can use it right away to juice yourself up for more difficult content right out of the chopper.

I've barely scratched the surface so far, but already I've built up a stash of Aetherium Crystals to avoid needing to use the Pack-a-Punch machine (and save my points for something else) as well as getting my hands on the schematics for some of the perks.

The cooldown on using the Schematics adds an element of planning to the equation, but already as a total noob I can drop in with a couple of useful perks, as well as any I managed to extract from a previous run.

As a not-very-good Zombies player, one of the things I always seem to struggle with the most is managing my points with how many different things you have to use them for. MWZ doesn't rely as heavily on them when you get rolling and build up a good stash.

But also as a looter-shooter fan, I love that in MWZ you actually have a loot chase. There's a ton of stuff to acquire, and thanks to RNG, plenty of reasons to keep replaying, chasing the items. It's a different experience from the traditional Call of Duty grind, where the focus is on Camos and Calling Card challenges.

It's also pretty fantastic that you can literally start at level 1 and get your hands on weapons that, in multiplayer, you wouldn't get access to until you unlock them at their relevant levels. I'm running around with a WSP Swarm right now (and have already done some of its Camo challenges) that I still haven't reached the right level for.

Living proof PvE content in Call of Duty is worth having

While I have enjoyed Black Ops 7 in Endgame, dipping into MWZ immediately made me think of the upcoming DMZ mode in Modern Warfare 4.

There is no Zombies this year, be it round-based or an MWZ-type experience. There's nothing. The continual focus of Call of Duty is on its bread and butter: multiplayer and Warzone.

Zombies has always proved that PvE has a place in Call of Duty, and Endgame was a decent experiment with Black Ops 7, too. But DMZ in Modern Warfare 4 is planned as a PvPvE experience, always throwing in the chance that other real-world players will spoil your fun.

And let's face it, this is Call of Duty; it will absolutely fill up with sweats that have no mission beyond wiping out as many players as possible.

We're seeing the thirst for purely PvE play elsewhere, too. Bungie is adding a PvE-only mode to its own extraction shooter, Marathon. There's plenty of us out there that want to enjoy these types of experiences without wanting to be on edge constantly waiting for a PvP demon who exists just to ruin your day.

It's why in my 1,000 or so hours in The Division 2, probably 6 of those have been spent in the Dark Zone. If I want PvP, I play multiplayer.

So I hope that it's at least a consideration down the line to add a PvE mode to DMZ in Modern Warfare 4. It's the mode I'm pinning most of my hopes on, but if it ends up turning into Warzone lite, it'll get dropped.

It's a typically 'me' thing to do discovering games years later that I actually really enjoy, and that's the same here. I haven't touched Modern Warfare 3's campaign or multiplayer modes at all. Only Zombies.

Being on Xbox Game Pass makes it easy enough to try. Even if you're not into Zombies, it's worth giving a go if you skipped it in the past and you like open-world looter-type games.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War recently joined Xbox Game Pass, and as such, there's an influx of folks who haven't played before. That goes for me, too, having played only a small amount back in 2020 on the PS4.

If you're on console, it's mostly OK. But on PC there are some issues, one of which is a problem with textures not rendering properly. Sometimes it'll look blocky, others the sky won't render in at all, and when it happens, it looks like you're playing a PS1 game. Horrible.

It turns out this has been an issue pretty much always on PC, and given it's a six-year-old game, it's unlikely to get a patch to fix it. General consensus is that it suffers from a memory leak, and while I would expect Microsoft to make sure new arrivals on Game Pass aren't broken, let's face it, it's not happening.

It affects all game modes, so even if you only jump into the Campaign and Zombies, you're going to see it eventually.

Many attribute the issue to AMD graphics, but I've seen it on NVIDIA, too, and no amount of trying different drivers makes a difference. There is no fix, but there are some workarounds you can employ that can help it happen less often. You may not need all of them, but some of these have worked for me.

1. Reduce your settings to medium and don't use the high resolution textures

It's an older game, and it doesn't look as crisp as Black Ops 7 or the upcoming Modern Warfare 4. It's best to just accept this, and even though you may well be able to run it maxed out (I certainly can on an RTX 5090), dropping the settings is one way to help reduce the texture issue. Create less strain on the system.

The other thing to do is to make sure you're not trying to use the HD texture pack. In my experience it doesn't make that much difference, anyway. But having this enabled prompted texture issues in every single game for me; turning it off and going down to medium, it rarely happens now.

The HD texture pack can't be removed if you're playing on Game Pass (and is part of the reason the game is so ridiculously large in size), so just make sure you're not using it.

2. Tweak your targeted VRAM usage

In the graphics settings you have an option to tell the game what target to aim for regarding VRAM usage.

One step you can take to try and help with texture issues is dropping this down, especially if you don't have mountains of it to spare. I appreciate that while I'm using 32GB VRAM, most aren't, and it's a more precious commodity.

For most, 80% should be good. It's not a magic fix, but it's worth trying anyway.

3. Turn off upscaling

For me, it was the combination of turning off DLSS along with dropping the settings to medium that had the most impact. I didn't realise DLSS was even enabled at first, but I've had the least texture issues since turning it off.

It also means you have to turn off any ray tracing effects, which is fine; you don't need that anyway.

Black Ops Cold War isn't the most demanding game out there; after all, it is from 2020. If you have a GPU from the last decade, you should be fine without relying on upscaling.

If it does start to chug a little, you can play with the render resolution to try and overcome it. But turning off the upscaler seems to have been an important step for me, at least on NVIDIA.

I spent a good amount of time trying to see if anyone had a fix for the texture issues in Black Ops Cold War, and there's also talk out there regarding page files and other configuration changes that I didn't feel comfortable messing with unless it was a last resort.

Fortunately, the combination of dropping the graphics settings and turning off the upscaling has mitigated it to the point that where it once happened multiple times an hour, I can now play for multiple hours at a time and not see it happen once.

It's also worth making sure you're not using your GPU for anything else while playing. If you're watching video content on the side, make sure you turn off hardware acceleration (in Chrome and Edge this can be done in the flags), or just don't have anything else open to be safe.

It'd be nice for Microsoft/Activision to get a patch out since the game just got added to Game Pass and a bunch of people are experiencing it for the first time. The ancient version of Modern Warfare 2 on PC just got patched to fix exploits, so you never know. I think they have a duty of care to make sure games being offered are in a good place.

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Additionally, we know that Warzone will be shutting down on Xbox One and PS4 when the final Black Ops 7 season ends, as those platforms won't be getting Modern Warfare 4 or its Warzone integration.

So it stands to reason that the Warzone Modern Warfare 4 update will come as that season ends. Season 06 began on September 17, and based on the timer on the Battle Pass it looks to expire on November 4.

Note, this is all speculation right now. But we can see when the final Black Ops 7 season is going to end, but we won't know for sure until Activision confirms a date for the start of Season 1 in Modern Warfare 4.

We did get an early look at the Modern Warfare 4 update to Warzone in the recent open beta, which showcased the new Zodiac Resurgence map.

Beyond this we don't really know a whole lot about how Warzone will look in a Modern Warfare 4 world, but there's still some time left yet to fill in the blanks.

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Given that everyone will be starting Modern Warfare 4 from zero, now is a good time to stop using up any 2XP tokens you currently have on your account. They'll be far more beneficial giving you a boost in the new game if you're going to play it.

We don't yet know exactly what the Prestige system looks like in Modern Warfare 4, but there's going to be plenty of leveling to do, and those 2XP tokens will make life a lot speedier in the new game.

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Do I get to keep my old weapons, operators, and blueprints in Warzone when Modern Warfare 4 launches?

The exception to carry forward is Warzone, where traditionally older weapons, their attached blueprints, and unlocked camos are still usable in the battle royale modes. Likewise, previously unlocked operators and their skins can also be used.

It's highly unlikely that Black Ops 7 items would be removed given that it's the most current game at this point, so you can still go ahead and unlock battle pass rewards or spend COD Points and use those items in Warzone when it migrates to Modern Warfare 4.

There's no confirmed date for this yet, but the current best guess is mid-November, when we expect the final Black Ops 7 season to end.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on all platforms on Friday, October 23, 2026. Players who pre-order the game digitally on any platform will have early access to play the campaign a week prior on Friday, October 16.

Modern Warfare 4 will not be on Xbox Game Pass at launch. Based on Microsoft's previous statements, it's not expected to join Game Pass until October 2027 at the earliest.

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We've already had the Modern Warfare 4 beta weekends at the time of writing this post, so the next chance for anyone to play will be the early access period.

During this window, only the campaign will be playable. Anyone hoping to get a head start on the multiplayer camo grind will have to wait until the general release date.

The early access period does at least give players a chance to clear the campaign before full release. though, leaving the floor clear to jump right into multiplayer and DMZ.

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It's also worth a reminder that unlike Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, Modern Warfare 4 will not be on Xbox Game Pass at launch. The only way to play early is to pre-order. Modern Warfare 4 isn't currently expected in Game Pass until October 2027 at the earliest.

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