Just this week, a huge amount of information about the Zombie Mode of Black Ops Cold War was leaked. We will go through what we know so far.
Two days ago the well-known data miner Nanikos posted the biggest Zombie leak yet on Twitter. His tweets are already unavailable today, as they were apparently claimed by Activision, but of course the info is already out there. The official announcement of the Zombie Mode in Black Ops Cold War can be found here:
In the following we will go through all the information from the extensive leak with you. Please don't forget that none of this information has been officially confirmed yet and that there might be some changes before the release.
Attention! If you don't want spoilers, you should rather skip this article!
Zombie Leak
The leak gives us a lot of information about character names, ammo mods, field upgrades, perks, runes, wonder weapons, dark aether, crafting materials and armor – yes, that's right, there will be armor in the new Zombie Mode.
So, let's start from the beginning:
Character Names
As of right now no information is known about the characters in Black Ops Cold War Zombies other than their names. With the exception of Samantha Maxis and Grigori Weaver, who have already been officially introduced in a post by Treyarch.
Just in time for #Halloween, add the finishing touches to your #ZombiesCosplay with our official #BlackOpsColdWar Zombies Cosplay Guide! Download: https://t.co/sELaSbMrIZ Show us your best Weaver and Samantha cosplay for a chance to be featured! pic.twitter.com/NYKL5lkQvA
— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) October 27, 2020
The other protagonists’ names are:
- Dmitriyev Kalashnik
- Orlov Medved
- Vogel Kurtz
- Calen Peck
- Dr. William Peck
Nothing is known about their background stories yet, so there are still some things to look forward to.
Ammo Mods
Ammo Mods are just another name for different ammo types, which were already available in the Zombie Mode of Black Ops 3 and Black Ops 4. This time around we will have a choice between four different types:
- Cryofreeze – Slows Zombies and deals Frost Damage
- Dead Wire – Stuns Zombies and deals Electric Damage
- Napalm Blast – Burns Zombies and deals Fire Damage
- Brain Rot – Turns a Zombie into an ally
Since three elements are covered here, it seems very likely that we will encounter special Zombies over the course of the game that are particularly weak or possibly immune to certain types of damage. A bit like Pokémon.
Field Upgrades
The Field Upgrades replace the specialist system of previous games. So far, we know of five different upgrades and how they work:
- Aether Shroud – Zombies will ignore you for 5 seconds.
- Ring of Fire – A ring that burns Zombies entering it and boosts damage of all players inside of it.
- Healing Aura – Heals yourself and teammates to full health within the radius of the aura.
- Frost Blast – Slows Zombies and does a blast of frost damage to enemies.
- Energy Mine – Just a simple Proximity Mine.
According to Nanikos, there are three more field upgrades mentioned in the code:
- Lightning Links
- Toxic Growth
- Frenzy Guard
Nothing is currently known about these last three upgrades except the name. So, we will have to be patient until we find out what they do.
Perks
At the time of writing, we know of a total of seven Perks:
- Quick Revive
- Juggernog
- Speed-Cola
- Stamin-Up
- Deadshot Daquiri
- Elemental Pop
- Der Wunderfixx
These can be bought as cans at slot machines. Most of the perks are already known from previous Zombie Modes and we also know how the new Elemental Pop works – the perk activates random ammo mods.
Runes
The runes are probably one of the biggest innovations in Black Ops Cold War. They represent a completely new upgrade system. With runes the following things can be upgraded:
- Ammo Mods
- Perks
- Field Upgrades
- Weapon Classes
- Assaults Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Tactical Rifles, LMGs, SMGs, Shotguns, Pistols and Melee Weapons
Each Ammo Mod, Perk etc. has three available upgrades that can be unlocked. Nanikos provides the following example of how the system works:
- Stamin-Up
- Level 1: Movement Impairing Effects reduced by 50%.
- Level 2: No Fall Damage.
- Level 3: You can run while Aiming Down Sights.
Aethereum
Aethereum is the currency in Black Ops Cold War that is used to unlock the upgrades mentioned above. It is earned simply by playing the Zombie Mode. There will be two types of Aethereum, but we don´t know the difference just yet:
- Raw Aetherium
- Flawless Aetherium
Wonder Weapons
According to Nanikos, D.I.E. is one of the new wonder weapons. We could already see it in the official trailer of the Zombie Mode.
Apparently, it is very similar to the Kraken-weapon from Black Ops 4. It can switch between four ammo types:
- Nitro Stream
- Particle Beam
- Plasma Ball
- Gas Cloud
That is everything we know about the new wonder weapons as of yet.
Dark Aether
The Dark Aether was also already shown in the trailer and seems to be a kind of another dimension that can be entered via a purple Dark Aether Orb that moves around the map. Players can only stay in the Dark Aether for a certain amount of time and have to find parts of a pack-a-punch machine to build one in the "normal" world. There will also be Dark Aether crystals that contain unknown drops.
Salvage
Salvage is another currency or crafting material. On workbenches placed in the level, Salvage can be used to create different items. Among them for example grenades, C4, Molotovs and more. Salvage also seems to be necessary to upgrade weapons to the next tier level.
Armor
Armor is a completely new system for Call of Duty's Zombie Mode. It works basically the same as in Warzone.
- Players can equip 3 armor plates at once.
- Armor can be upgraded 3 times at armor stations around the map.
Armor in Black Ops Zombies? Why not? We can´t wait to try out the new systems and will be open to any innovations.
What do you think of the new Leaks? Do you welcome the innovations or are you rather skeptical about the whole thing? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!
For more news about Call of Duty like 100 Thieves buying a CDL-Spot, check out EarlyGame.