Black Ops III is eight years old. Time does fly. While there’s certainly a lot of revisionist history surrounding it – omissions of major frustrations at launch, rough DLC launches with game-breaking bugs, and the Revelations ending and “super EE” debacle, to name a few – the game was undoubtedly the golden age of Call of Duty Zombies. It combined a standard of cinematic flair previously unseen in Zombies with gameplay improvements and new systems like Gobblegum that increased replayability and rewarded players. There was a great mix of maps in both setting and gameplay, with some unforgettable Easter Egg steps and iconic story moments.
Everyone has waxed lyrical about the game a million times over, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. Black Ops 3’s success is why Zombies continues to live. No matter what you think about the mode’s current direction, I’m sure that’s something we can all appreciate. I have some reservations about the future, mainly Activision’s directive to funnel everyone towards Warzone and the relentless conveyor belt of Call of Duty development. Still, overall, I’m pretty optimistic about where Zombies is headed — and the next step is the extraction mode in Modern Warfare.
Modern Warfare Zombies launches at the end of the week, and I’m already poised to block out the inevitable noise and give the mode my full attention. MWZ isn’t traditional Zombies — it’s a bold new take on the mode. It won’t be for everyone, but it also won’t replace round-based zombies permanently. It’s likely coming in hot; there will be bugs, and it may lack quality in some areas, but I trust Treyarch to listen to feedback and deliver frequent post-launch updates. Outbreak was barren at launch but blossomed into an entertaining Zombies experience with multiple Easter Egg quests. And if Vanguard Zombies taught me anything, it’s that if all else fails – there’ll still be lore to fall back on.
If I don’t enjoy MWZ (which seems unlikely, considering I liked the PvE elements of DMZ), I’ll keep up to date with the story and play something else. It’s not a big deal! You don’t need to play Zombies if you’re not feeling it. There’s many answers I’m hoping we find in MWZ, and no doubt countless new questions to discover. The Dark Aether catches my attention like the original Aether saga but also feels fresh. There are echoes of the past, but it’s treading new ground. That’s a rare feeling, and long may it continue.