Maybe Verdansk isn’t changing quite as much as we had previously anticipated. Ahead of this week’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Warzone Season Five launch, Activision released an action-packed gameplay trailer finally confirming the two biggest updates for the fifth Season of the free-to-play battle royale: Stadium is opening up and loot trains are starting to roll. But so far it looks like Verdansk as a whole is still intact. There’s no nuclear explosion and the dam hasn’t burst yet.
Take a look at the Call of Duty Modern Warfare Warzone Season Five trailer below:
After some brief teasers letting you know what you’re in for, the trailer opens with one of the newest Operators, Roze, running to place charges on Stadium’s glass dome. The other members of the newly added Shadow Company come flying in as the dome explodes, finally opening up Stadium. This group is “starting the fire,” but what are they really up to in Verdansk? A quick overhead shot of the map shows that little else is structurally changing, despite rumors saying that a huge map rework would be coming soon, either from a nuke going off or the dam bursting. Everything still looks intact.
The next shot shows a train cruising along the railroad tracks. These trains offer the best loot, a danger to anyone in their way, and a whole new dynamic to the fight going on around Verdansk. These should be a great addition to ensure the fight doesn’t just revolve strictly around the newly opened Stadium.
Of course Modern Warfare multiplayer is getting a few added maps as well. The Suldal Harbor and Petrov Oil Rig maps are coming to 6v6. Ground War is getting the Verdansk Airport, essentially pulled right from the Warzone map. 2v2 Gunfight will get a map called Livestock, based on the Farmland area of Verdansk. Curiously the Oil Rig map’s location is “Classified” and is shown as the final addition to the multiplayer maps in the trailer.
The end of the trailer moves back to focus on Warzone, hinting at Train Station also opening up to some extent. It also shows a series of new Operator skins, a finisher featuring a crow or raven, and some gameplay inside Stadium, as well as new rope lifts to get on top of tall buildings. The banner advertisements inside Stadium feature ads for the Call of Duty League Championship weekend happening 8/29-8/30. Finally new Shadow Company Operator Marcus “Lerch” Ortega hops out of a helicopter in the Stadium wreckage and says “Verdansk will never be the same.” Is this just the beginning of even more changes to come?
While Stadium opening and loot trains have been confirmed, it still doesn’t quite tell us how Warzone might reveal Call of Duty 2020, if that is indeed the plan. It seems strange to be in August without knowing anything about this year’s Call of Duty (apart from leaks confirming its title), but it’s also unusual to have a free-to-play Call of Duty battle royale game, so we’re in a bit of uncharted territory here. Of course, if there is something secret like the bunker puzzle that the community had to solve, it’s unlikely Activision and Infinity Ward would just show it off in a trailer. While Stadium and trains are the headlining features of the new Season, expect there to be a number of smaller secrets peppered throughout the next couple of months.
Infinity Ward has yet to drop a roadmap and planned list of features for Season Five, including any balancing changes and new content being added, but with the season kicking off on Wednesday, August 5th, expect one within the next couple of days as well as a full list of patch notes once the update goes live.
