Call of Duty: Warzone 2 offers, in addition to the usual Battle Royale, the DMZ mode, which plays like an extraction shooter. You can find out what it entails and whether it’s worth your time here.
DMZ stands for “Demilitarized Zone” and is a free mode in Call of Duty: Warzone 2. It is an extraction shooter with PvEvP elements, and the gameplay is comparable to the hardcore shooter Escape from Tarkov – but you can forget the “hardcore” part.
MeinMMO explains the DMZ mode and provides a checklist with statements about the mode that give hints on whether it’s worth trying out.
This is the launch trailer for Call of Duty: Warzone 2:
CoD Warzone 2: What is DMZ?
What do you have to do in Warzone DMZ? The DMZ mode is heavily oriented towards the genre of extraction shooters. It can be compared to a Battle Royale, but it is not directly about defeating other players. Rather, you have a mission – “Survive and Extract”.
You start at a random point on the Warzone map and set your own goal. These can be missions that you select in the menu beforehand. Alternatively, you can just explore or loot.
At the end of each round, there is either an “extraction” by helicopter or you go down. If you make it out by helicopter, you keep your weapons and equipment for the next round. If you go down, you lose everything you have.
The DMZ mode of Warzone 2 is designed for three players, but it can also be played with two or solo.
- Examples of extraction shooters:
What is the goal of DMZ? Unlike Battle Royale, where you lose the match, in the DMZ mode, it’s more about your items that are at stake. Before every “raid,” you select equipment that you might lose, including loadout weapons or blueprint weapons with attachments.
You engage in battles against NPCs or other players – sometimes both. This creates a unique dynamic, leading to surprising situations time and again.
- You decide how difficult your mission is
- If you visit a large world event with plenty of loot, you will surely encounter other players: high risk
- If you loot the area calmly and perhaps complete a mission: significantly lower risk
Outside of matches, you gather progress and complete missions for factions. Additionally, you earn experience points for your account, the weapons used, and the battle pass. There are also some smaller DMZ-exclusive rewards. If you are still unlocking weapons, the DMZ mode is perfect for that:
CoD Warzone 2: DMZ mode – Is it for me?
We have summarized the characteristics of the DMZ mode with 6 statements. If you relate to the following statements, you should definitely check out the mode:
- You enjoy Battle Royale, but sometimes the pace is too low for you
- You hang out in MW2 multiplayer or Warzone – but also enjoy PvE
- You like to collect progress from match to match, aside from experience points
- You want to set your own missions in a large open-world sandbox of Call of Duty
- You enjoy the “thrill” and excitement when everything depends on small actions/decisions
- The loss of powerful equipment doesn’t immediately lead you to uninstall the game
If you have questions, comments, or opinions, leave a comment on the topic.
The DMZ mode is in many cases a bit more relaxed than the standard Battle Royale, but it can still deliver a lot of action and gives you more freedom.
Colleague Dariusz Müller explains the fascination in a detailed preview: I could never get into Warzone, but thanks to DMZ, I now spend many hours in CoD
