On November 18, the new event “Operation: Flashback” went live in Call of Duty: Warzone. A special game mode recalls past events, forgotten OP weapons and is roughly the unfairest thing one can imagine. So it’s a lot of fun.
What’s going on in Warzone? Just a few weeks left until the big transition to Vanguard graphics with the Pacific update. A new map, fresh graphics, and a better anti-cheat system are intended to give the battle royale a significant boost and new appeal.
But as a farewell to the “old” Warzone, there are still a total of 3 live events for all players and the first of them has now started: “Operation: Flashback” or in German “Operation: Rückblende”. This brought an insane nostalgia mode into the game which we will introduce to you in detail on MeinMMO.
Warzone: Event “Rückblende” is not for the faint of heart
What kind of event is this? Imagine a mode that packs almost all events and available items since the launch of Warzone 1.5 years ago into a match – Welcome to Operation: Flashback. The event game mode will remain in the playlist until November 30.
Basically, it’s a 4-player battle royale packed with all OP tactics since release and adjusted rules for match proceedings. Thus, there can be constant small and larger in-match events, with all their related consequences:
Smaller in-match events
- Shot sale
- The buy station has reduced prices
- Outbreak
- Eliminated operators and teams return to the game
- Cash drop
- Packages with a lot of cash fall from the sky
- Loadout drops
- Only after this event can you buy loadout drops yourself
Larger in-match events
- Satellite crash
- Satellites with strong loot fall from the sky
- Downtown tower
- Allows collecting keycards for the vault in the Nakatomi tower
- Refill
- Refills all loot boxes
- Revive
- Rules like on Rebirth Island – players are revived and with a kill you see the remaining opponents
- Juggernaut Royale
- A few crates with Juggernaut suits fall from the sky
- Weapon deliveries
- You can collect weapon crates and receive weapons with more attachments than usual
Every time a new gas circle starts, one of the events begins bringing an unplanned dynamics into the game. Additionally, a few familiar and new items are in the game that you can get through the events, but also as loot and through the “Red Doors”:
- Self-revive – Token for self-revive
- Precision airstrike – Short airstrike on positions
- Cluster strike – Continuous grenade fire on a position
- Overdrive – Gives you better movement for a short time
- Gas mask – Protects from the gas outside the circle (12 seconds)
- Durable gas mask – Protects longer from the gas (24 seconds)
- Enhanced drone – Shows all opponents with direction on the mini-map
- 2X perk – Double points, XP and cash
- Keycards for the vault – Needed for the vault in the downtown tower
- Hunter vision – Shows heat signatures of nearby opponents through walls
- Specialist token – Gives you ALL perks in the game
But that’s not all. Contracts also offer better killstreak rewards and the buy station has an unusual offer:
- Armor plates package – $1,500
- Self-revive – $4,000
- Armor plates box – $4,500
- Ammunition box – $4,500
- Turret – $8,000
- Bombardment – $50,000
- Truck redeployment marker – $75,000
- Equipment delivery marker – $10,000
As if the mode wasn’t already packed with OP items, there are special versions of old weapon meta classics.
As ground loot, you will find the old versions of the nastiest weapons that ever rampaged in Warzone. Included is the unfair DMR-14, the laser-like Grau 5.56 from the first summer of Warzone, and the hot R9-0 shotgun with the nasty Dragon’s Breath rounds.
Oh yes: At least the fundamental structure of the battle royale is normal. You have to use all these unnecessarily overpowered options to be the last team standing.
OP meets OP – And you are somewhere in between
Why is this unfair? The mode takes the balance of Warzone and puts it in a headlock, hits it 2, 3 times and finishes the move with an acrobatic suplex. Almost everything in Operation: Flashback has a high factor of randomness and little can actually be planned.
If you have gained a strong position just before the endgame, a Juggernaut event starts, and the team you were about to kick out of the match comes around the corner with an armored combat vehicle.
Conversely, you can also take advantage of the lack of balance at any time, get the 3 keycards for the downtown tower together and then have more cash on hand than you usually collect in 10 matches.
Why is this awesome? Warzone plays in this mode like a surprise egg; you just need to be lucky enough to hit the seventh egg.
The big factor of randomness with the many items and events allows more tactics than ever before – but you have to be flexible. If you always plan from event to event and try to leverage every advantage for yourself, you’ll get a feeling of superiority that’s rarely achievable in a battle royale.
Overpowered OP strategy: Play relatively passively at first and collect as much cash as your pockets can carry. Your goal is the armored truck that you can acquire via the buy stations. The most money comes from the vault in the downtown tower, but the cash delivery event also helps you get rich.
Once you’ve collected $75,000, buy the nasty truck at a buy station. The armored behemoths can be upgraded even further, giving you, for example, a constant UAV and if you’re at it, why not get 2 armored trucks for your team:
The trucks are the nail in the coffin for the last bit of balance in this mode. But if you put yourself in this OP situation, then congratulations on the victory! Or maybe not, randomness and all that… Welcome to Operation: Flashback.
Players upset about little content in year 1, but celebrate event
What do players say about it? In the thread “Can we talk about Operation: Flashback” on reddit, users discuss the mode and the thread creator hits the nail on the head for many of the commentators:
This mode is complete randomness and I haven’t had this much fun in Warzone for a long time. I don’t always participate in the new events with every circle, but still, I find the mode very entertaining.
I just wonder why we didn’t do something like this earlier.
UltraContrarian on reddit
A big discussion arises about Warzone’s content strategy and the low content density since the release. The tone in this context is rather negative. The fact that the popular Plunder mode and the 4-player BR have disappeared with the introduction of the Flashback event is also criticized by some users.
However, as soon as the mode itself comes up for discussion, there is a lot of praise for the crazy Warzone Flashback party:
- LUV69N420: “This is an amazing game mode because it transforms the boring part of the game, the loot/contract phase, into a big war […] Downtown almost feels like a match from the Ground War mode.”
- DeltaXray: “This is the best mode they’ve ever had. Absolute chaos. Something is always happening. To be honest – if they keep this mode, it could restore my interest [in Warzone]. So much fun.”
- u4ea126: “It’s been a long time since I had this much fun in Warzone. I love the MW ground loot and the crazy things that happen. Too bad it’s 4-man matches since we usually aren’t ever 4 people.”
While not everyone is convinced, the mode is generally very well-received and provides a lot of variety in the dusty Warzone.
Unfortunately, we also read again about cheaters who exploit even this crazy OP mode for their cheating. The expectations for the new anti-cheat system “RICOCHET” are high. The system goes online with the new map “Caldera” on December 8 in Warzone.
So far, everything points to a dignified farewell to the old map Verdansk. After 1.5 years, Warzone switches to the graphics engine of the new Call of Duty: Vanguard and fundamentally changes. But first, there’s the full load of nostalgia in Warzone Flashback.
Feel free to tell us in the comments what you think of the event or what your first experiences with the Flashback event were like.
If you’d like to read more about the transition to Vanguard graphics, then check this out: CoD Warzone goes to Vanguard: All information about the new map and graphics transition
