On Call of Duty: Warzone, the third season starts on April 3rd, which will be released during the lifecycle of Black Ops 6. Activision has announced some exciting changes for the update that might be worth taking another look at the shooter.
On April 2nd, the servers for Warzone will go offline for 24 hours. When they return, the big update for Season 3 will be available. If you’re unsure whether you should return to Call of Duty now, we present you 5 reasons to do so – and the first, of course, is the return of the most popular map.
The Return of Verdansk
The first, obvious reason to return: Verdansk is coming back to Warzone. The most popular map of the battle royale that started it all in 2020 returns after years of absence and comes with a few changes that are said to be more “subtle”, without affecting the combat flow of the map.
For instance, the water under the “Grazna Bridge” is now ankle-deep instead of frozen as before, making footsteps more audible without making it difficult to cross the water. Another example is Building 3 in Storage Town, which now has an additional ladder, making it a slightly less strong position.
If you’re a fan of Verdansk or dissatisfied with the current map selection, it might be worth returning to Warzone for that reason alone.
Adjustments for Movement
With Black Ops 6, Call of Duty introduced the so-called Omni-Movement, which allows you to sprint, jump, and slide in any direction. Additionally, there are proper dive jumps now. If you haven’t played Warzone since the release of Black Ops 6, that’s worth a look alone.
If you are already familiar with the Omni-Movement and are not a fan, there is still good news for you: With Season 3, the Omni-Movement will be adjusted for Warzone to better fit the original gameplay experience of the battle royale.
Changes include:
- Movement speed while crouching will be reduced by 10%
- The speed to stand up from crouching will be increased by 15%
- The speed to stand up from crouching while aiming down sights will be increased by 39%
- Movement speed while lying down will be reduced by 5%
- Sprint movement speed will be reduced by 4.9%
- The jump cooldown will be reduced by 40% to improve responsiveness during repeated jumps.
- The Omni-sprint speed scaling for sideways and backward movement will be reduced by 8.5%
Thus, mainly sprint speeds are reduced, and the cooldown for jumping is increased, which may allow you to bunny hop better again.
The Return of 150 Players
When Warzone started in 2020, up to 150 players fought for victory on Verdansk. However, in 2023, this number was reduced to 100 players per match. With Season 3, the original gameplay experience returns, and you can finally compete in lobbies with 150 players again.
Shooting in Free Fall
A good piece of news for nostalgia lovers, a bad piece of news for those who hated the feature back in 2020: Shooting in free fall is also returning with Season 3, allowing you to shoot at enemies with your 9mm starting pistol before you even hit the ground.
Changes to Ranked Crossplay
Crossplay is actually a cool idea because it allows you to play with friends on a different platform. However, in Call of Duty and other shooters, this is often not so appealing for console players, as many cheaters are mainly active on PC – as a recent evaluation by Activision showed (via callofduty.com).
However, there is now good news for console players: You can disable crossplay for ranked play in Black Ops 6 and Warzone. Additionally, console players now have the option to allow crossplay only with other consoles – PlayStation players can thus play with their Xbox friends without being bothered by PC cheaters.
Expect the Usual Issues on Your Return
What speaks against a return? Since Warzone is free to play, there is actually nothing against taking a look at the new season. However, if you do so, you should expect the familiar criticisms.
The skill-based matchmaking is criticized just like in Black Ops 6. The same goes for the aim assist for controllers, which many “mouse and keyboard” players still find too strong, as well as server issues and the well-known packet loss.
If you’re playing on PC, you’ll also continue to encounter cheaters. They are still a significant problem. In relation, Activision has now commented on shadowbans for the first time and explained the “limited matchmaking” system: Call of Duty speaks for the first time about shadowbans – they really exist, and your friends could be to blame
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!