In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ is set to take the next evolutionary step, and MeinMMO’s shooter expert Dariusz actually sees potential in the mode.
DMZ will be a full-fledged mode with Modern Warfare 4. After the Extraction Shooter was still in beta in Modern Warfare 2, the mode is expected to provide a mature gaming experience this year. The story takes place after a certain incident in the single-player campaign.
The map of the new DMZ is called “Hajin.” Players will take on the role of a non-filed CIA agent tasked with securing military technology that must not fall into enemy hands.
As typical for the genre, there will be various missions that you must complete to make progress and receive rewards. You will fight against NPC opponents and other players – while you are free to ally with unfamiliar agents via proximity chat.
DMZ learns from the mistakes and strengths of the competition
Activision has presented us with some really exciting concepts for DMZ, some of which are known from other games or have been discussed in the communities of the competition. Don’t worry if you missed the information; I will go through some of the biggest points with you below.
In the new DMZ, there will be a possibility, similar to Battlefield 6, to pull downed players into cover instead of reviving them on the open battlefield. A bounty system for PvP fans is also planned.
If you kill other players, you eventually receive a bounty that your opponents get when they take you out and extract your dog tag. If your bounty is high enough, you will be given a special status that allows bounty hunters to obtain your location on the map for a fee. Some players have been wishing for such a bounty system from ARC Raiders for months. DMZ combines this system with a PvP leaderboard that PvP players have also been hoping for from Embark’s extraction shooter for some time.
In DMZ, there are said to be leaderboards that present the top 50 most wanted players and the top 50 bounty hunters every week. These leaderboards are supposed to change constantly throughout the week, for example, because a bounty was killed and the reward was claimed. This provides an additional incentive to engage in fights with other players.
Extra excitement for PvE fans: Star levels like in GTA
DMZ aims to make PvP not only more exciting but also has something in store for PvE players:
Similar to GTA, there will be a kind of wanted level. If you kill many NPCs, your star level increases, making stronger NPCs hunt you down. However, you can avoid this by going stealth. It should be possible to see whether NPCs are about to spot you or not.
Completing missions will allow you to progress and improve your played operator. You can unlock perks in various skill trees to enable certain playstyles for your operators. If you die, you will lose your progress as usual – unless you rescue your played character. After death, you will have the opportunity to rescue a fallen operator. For this, you have to pay a rescue team to extract you from the exclusion zone. The more advanced your operator is, the more expensive the rescue will be.
The map may have been inspired by Gray Zone Warfare. Although, like the first iteration of DMZ, there is again only one large map instead of several maps with different settings, this map will feature a dynamic weather system. Sometimes you will be out on a summer day, then in a thunderstorm, and at another time in the snow.
Conclusion: DMZ evolves sensibly and has real chances of success
It has been a while since I was so curious about what Call of Duty was cooking. If I compare the announcements of the mode with features and wishes of existing games like ARC Raiders or Gray Zone Warfare, this is not a criticism.
The developers seem to have really kept a close eye on the market and found sensible additions for their own game.
Drag & Revive was one of the best innovations from Battlefield 6, I had a lot of fun with Gray Zone Warfare this year, and the idea of a bounty system with leaderboards is exactly what the PvP of ARC Raiders is missing. Nevertheless, it sounds like PvE could be challenging enough with the wanted level to not quickly become boring and repetitive.
I already found the beta of DMZ surprisingly good. For a long time, it was the only extraction shooter I enjoyed playing – even though the mode still lacked many elements for long-term success back then. The relaunch sounds much better and could appeal to a target audience alongside the established genre representatives.
A summary of the most important innovations can be found here: Call of Duty aims to conquer the extraction genre in Modern Warfare 4, setting bounties on rats
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