Call of Duty: Warzone (2022 video game)

Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed by Infinity Ward and Raven Software for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It is a successor to 2020's Call of Duty: Warzone. The game is a part of 2022's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, 2023's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Warzone itself is free to download and does not require purchase of any of the parent titles. It was introduced during Season 1 of Modern Warfare II content. The game features cross-platform play and a new extraction mode titled DMZ.

Warzone (2022) was officially revealed by Activision at the "Call of Duty Next" event in September 2022, and was released on November 16, 2022 as part of a single cross-game launcher known as Call of Duty HQ.

Gameplay
Similar to its predecessor, in Warzone (2022)'s primary game mode, Battle Royale, players compete in a continuously shrinking map to be the last player(s) remaining. Players parachute onto a large game map, where they encounter and eliminate other players. Players start with 150 health with two armor plates attached for an additional 100 health. As the game progresses and players are eliminated, the playable area shrinks, forcing the remaining players into tighter spaces. A new feature in Warzone (2022), Circle Collapse, allows multiple circles to spawn within the map, which close independently of one another, before converging into one single safe zone. Like Warzone (2020), upon death, players are sent to the "Gulag", a small-sized arena where killed players battle one another for a chance at respawning into the map. In Warzone (2022), Gulag matches were initially introduced in 2v2 format, and included an artificial intelligence (AI) combatant called "the Jailer", whom players can hunt down to acquire a key and escape, in addition to the traditional method of winning Gulag matches. This change was reverted for Season 2 to the original 1v1 format, while the Jailer is also removed in favor of the overtime point capture system. In-game cash currencies also return, allowing players to buy various items at several buy stations scattered across the map, including custom loadouts with personalized weapons and perk setups. Warzone (2022) features many vehicles such as the ATV, cargo truck, Hatchback, SUV and many more.

During the match, events can happen throughout the game. There are three different types of events: Jailbreak (every player in the gulag is redeployed into the map and back into the game); Fire Sale (items in the buy station are discounted up to 100% for one minute); and Restock (supply boxes are refilled and can be opened again). Only one of these events can happen in a single game.

A new extraction game mode, named DMZ, is also featured at the release of Warzone (2022). In DMZ, players battle against both AI-controlled and player-controlled opponents while attempting to exfil with loot they found within the playable area (also known as the Exclusion Zone). Players start out with a limited inventory, which allows storage of extracted loot from matches; said inventory can be expanded by completing Faction missions, allowing for more guaranteed loadout weapon slots or the opportunity to unlock base weapons and cosmetic rewards, usable in both Warzone (2022) and Modern Warfare II.

At launch, AI combatants were a prominent feature in Warzone (2022), as they defended various strongholds and black sites throughout the main map, in both Battle Royale and DMZ. Players were able to engage in combat with the AI-controlled enemies in order to seize the strongholds and gain access to the loot items within. Following numerous balancing updates and changes, AI combatants were completely removed from Battle Royale modes in Modern Warfare II Season 4.

In Modern Warfare II Season 2, Warzone (2022) featured the return of Resurgence, a game mode in which player combatants can respawn and rejoin matches after being killed, provided that at least one member in their squad remains alive following a short cooldown period. Squad members can help reduce the cooldown period by completing contracts or killing other players.

Modern Warfare II Season 3 reintroduced the game mode Plunder, in which teams have to search for stacks of Cash scattered around the map to accumulate $2 million. Once found or if time is almost up, the game goes into overtime, multiplying all Cash sums twice. The team who has gathered the most money when the clock runs out is declared the winner. Players respawn automatically in this game mode. In addition, for the first time, a Ranked competitive mode was introduced in Warzone, developed in partnership with Treyarch using the official Call of Duty League ruleset.

At launch, Unhinged was introduced. Unhinged was a limited-time game mode in Warzone 2.0 where teams can request enemy players to join their squad. Once all the players have accepted, a new HUD will be shown on their screen, showing their new teammates and all the allies can be declared winner if they are the last team standing. Six players is the max that can be part of the squad. Unhinged was removed following the arrival of the Season 01 Reloaded patch.

Warzone Bootcamp is a training mode featured in the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which was introduced during the game's third season. this mode was created to help players familiarize themselves with the gameplay mechanics and controls of Warzone 2.0. It takes place on the Urzikstan map. There are a total of 44 players in this game mode, 24 of them being bots.

In addition to shared progression with Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III, Warzone (2022) also features shared cross-platform progression and social aspects with Warzone Mobile, a new Warzone title made exclusively for mobile devices.

Plot
Similar to its predecessor, Warzone (2022)'s story is told via cinematics included at the launch of each seasonal update. Al Mazrah is featured in the campaign mode for Modern Warfare II, while Amsterdam, which the map Vondel is heavily based on, also briefly appears in several missions. Urzikstan is a setting featured across the Modern Warfare reboot series, with several POIs featured in Modern Warfare III campaign and multiplayer levels.

The DMZ mode also features story missions, which revolve around various factions all vying for control of Al Mazrah, Ashika Island and Vondel. At launch, three factions were introduced: White Lotus, Legion, and Black Mous. A fourth faction, Crown, was introduced in Season 2, with missions exclusive to Modern Warfare II owners, and a fifth faction, REDACTED, was later introduced in Season 3 for all players. In Season 4, Legion and REDACTED factions were removed, followed by the introduction of a new faction, Phalanx. In Season 5, Shadow Company - implied to be the REDACTED faction from Season 3 - was added as a new faction.

Modern Warfare II story arc
Following Task Force 141's successful operation in taking down Iranian Quds Force Major Hassan Zyani, CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell begins to oversee new covert missions taking place in the city of Al Mazrah, in order to undermine the activities of the terrorist organization Al-Qatala. At the same time, several private military companies begin to move into Al Mazrah, looking to wrestle control of the city from AQ forces as well as each other. At some point, the Shadow Company PMC was discovered to be running new operations in Al Mazrah, as well as the Asia-Pacific island Ashika and the elusive underground facility Building 21.

In April 2023, Valeria Garza, leader of the Mexican Las Almas Cartel, manages to escape captivity, having been imprisoned for several months by the Mexican Special Forces squad Los Vaqueros. She then gathers the cartel to Al Mazrah to conduct new activities. Valeria's former comrade and Los Vaqueros leader, Alejandro Vargas, is requested by Laswell to infiltrate Al Mazrah and apprehend Valeria. Several months later, a terrorist attack was reported in the city of Vondel, Netherlands, with a mysterious special forces group calling themselves the Peacekeepers seizing control of the city following its evacuation. Laswell establishes contact with the Black Mous organization and partners with them in order to investigate the Peacekeepers and learn their true intentions. They soon learn that the Peacekeepers are actually a Russian PMC known as the Konni Group, and the attack on Vondel was orchestrated by them.

In August 2023, the leaders of the Urzikstan Liberation Force, Farah Karim and Alex Keller, meet with Shadow Company Commander Phillip Graves, who had faked his death since his last encounter with Task Force 141 in Las Almas, Mexico. Graves proposes an alliance between the Shadows and ULF in order to prevent an invasion in Al Mazrah from the Konni Group. Later that month, Graves, under the command of General Shepherd, leads an assault on the Konni-occupied Zaya Observatory in Al Mazrah as part of Operation: Rogue Arsenal. After destroying the observatory with missile launchers, Shadow Company locates an underground weapons facility containing chemical weaponry and begin extracting gas canisters, but are forced to exfil when the tunnels begin collapsing. However, per the orders of the Ultranationalist terrorist Vladimir Makarov, Konni operatives masquerading as Shadow soldiers managed to infiltrate their ranks and hijack the planes carrying the gas shipment, rendering the operation a failure.

Modern Warfare III story arc
In December 2023, Konni's second-in-command, Andrei Nolan, manages to escape captivity, after his previous defeat at the hands of Task Force 141. He resumes his duties and rallies Konni troops to the city of Zaravan, Urzikstan for a new operation. In response, Graves employs Shadow Company operatives, as well as other independent contractors, to Zaravan to conduct missions against Konni. Several months later, Konni occupies a Mediterranean island, known as "Fortune's Keep", and sets up a research facility underneath its surface. However, an earthquake occurs, destroying parts of the island and forcing Konni to undertake repairs. Shadow Company and Konni's conflict continues as the latter's operations expand to Rebirth Island, a former Nova 6 production facility once helmed by the spy organization Perseus.

In a flashback to May 22, 2022, Task Force 141 operative John "Soap" MacTavish is deployed to Zaravan as part of a secret operation to secure a chemical bomb threat. He is unable to stop the bombs from detonating, but later learns that additional bombs are deployed globally, including in Tokyo and Paris.

Announcement and release
Call of Duty: Warzone (2022) was announced to the public by Activision in September 2022, initially under the name Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. A new map was announced, described by the developers themselves to be "immense, dynamic and rewarding, and built literally from the ground up with the emphasis on loading up your favorite custom weapon, dropping in, exploring the vast landscape, and having a hell of a good time doing it." Warzone 2.0 was officially released on November 16, 2022 to all platforms.

On November 21, 2022, the official Call of Duty Twitter account stated that over 25 million players played Warzone 2.0 during the first five days of release. In that same month, the peak users playing all at once was close to 500,000 players.

Reception
Call of Duty: Warzone (2022) received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. GameSpot gave the game a 8/10 rating. Critic S.E. Doster, argues that the game has made positive improvements to the franchise in some areas, but has compromised some of the more traditional elements of the game in other aspects. GamesRadar+ gave the game an equivalent score of 4 out of 5 stars. Reviewer Josh West, highlights how Warzone 2.0 boosts the Battle Royale genre by adding real time Proximity Chat to the gameplay, enhancing the overall experience. IGN also gave the game a 8/10 review score. According to IGN writer Stella Chung, a new addition to Warzone 2.0 that makes it more unique than other Battle Royale games is the ability to recruit enemy players to your team. This feature not only innovates within the genre but also encourages a mix of diplomatic and strategic gameplay that is rarely seen in Battle Royale.