Verdansk has been nailed, blown to pieces in Call of Duty: Warzone, although we don’t know what the aftermath will look like for a while yet. The Destruction of Verdansk Part 1 event in Warzone set the stage for Warzone season 3 in an appropriately zombified way.
At noon Pacific Time, players could take part in a new limited-time mode that builds on the past week or so of Warzone’s in-game story. Humans were suitable as a normal game of Warzone, but an eerily calm orchestral track and map positively swarming with radiant zones (that movement!) Quickly told us this was going to be a different kind of match.
In all respects, the Destruction of Verdansk Part 1 played out like a full-scale game in Infected mode. Players who bite the dust early were automatically transformed into the super-powered zombies we saw introduced last week, capable of covering incredible distances, throwing gas grenades and knocking out electronics with an EMP blast.
All over the map, various juggernaut gear kits began to fall, providing brief protection against the rapidly growing horde of zombies. All the while, tense radio audio played about the chaos, with unidentified soldiers begging their commanders for an extraction.
It all culminated in a cutscene featuring a nuclear missile emerging from an underground base, tore through the air and detonated near the stadium’s location.
Unfortunately, that’s all we get now. Judging by this in-universe document, players have until 2:00 p.m. PT to play Destruction of Verdansk Part 1. Part 2 seemingly begins sometime after the mandatory update starting at 9:00 p.m. PT. Activision’s document implies that the game will be back online at midnight, just as Pacific Timers starts April 22. Once Warzone is back up and running, you can expect the changes to the map and gameplay Call of Duty in store.
The expected size of the Season 3 update file is a relatively gracious 25 GB. Three new operators are scheduled for release throughout the season, and a special Cold War variation of Modern Warfare’s Captain Price will also be available. You can read the full details of Season 3 (which we know so far) here.
Joseph Knoop is a writer / producer / RV for IGN.