Warzone Season 3 Map is a Disappointment on Multiple Fronts

Activision launched Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone Season 3 on April 22 including a load of new content on both fronts.

The Black Ops Cold War side of things has been relatively a success each seasonal drop. Battle Passes have been filled with content for players to grind toward, new weapons have changed the meta and the maps have been well received. The latter is probably the high point considering Treyarch brought back three retro, fan-favorite maps: Raid, Express and Standoff. The weapons should be balanced better on launch, but such is life as a Call of Duty fan. Weapons are released overpowered, they're tuned to a respectable place and we move on.

Fans were more concerned with what was coming in Warzone. The Season 3 roadmap confirmed that a map update was coming, but in what aspect? Would it be a brand new map, or a reskinned version of Verdansk?

It's the latter, and quite frankly it's a disappointment.

Warzone Season 3 Map is a Disappointment on Multiple Fronts

Activision and Infinity Ward launched Call of Duty: Warzone on March 10, 2020 and the game quickly took over the battle royale scene. It's the second battle royale mode in the franchise's history following Black Ops 4's Blackout mode. Opting for a free-to-play model that titles like Apex Legends and Fortnite already capitalized on, Warzone was the new popular title on the scene.

Like all games, but in particular battle royale titles, fresh updates are needed to maintain interest. Activision made changes to the map throughout the year, most notably the opening of the Stadium area as a point of interest. Rumors began to arise though that a game changing event was coming to Verdansk. Everything pointed to an in-game event in which a nuclear missile would destroy the map. As zombies began to invade the map, the storyline was set in motion.

April 21, a day before Black Ops Cold War and Warzone Season 3 was set to launch, the Destruction of Verdansk Part 1 went live. The playlist featured players trying to withstand a zombie horde ahead of a nuke going off on the map. The next part, Aftermath: Rebirth Island, was just the same map played at nighttime. Part 2 featured the nighttime Rebirth Island as players had to gain control of a nuclear device. Once the bar filled, the nuke at Verdansk went off in the distance, time was rewound and players dropped into the "new" Verdansk in 1984.

So, is this a disappointment?

The event was marred by server issues for Part 1 and doing it over the course of two days was a letdown for fans. Part 2 was improved with the device aspect on Rebirth Island, but the real disdain from fans comes from the reskinned Verdansk.

There are a handful of new points of interest in the map, but at its core it is still Verdansk. Fans were hoping it would be a new map considering all the rumors around Ural Mountains, but instead we've traveled back in time. Considering how much has been tied into Warzone from Black Ops Cold War, it's a real commitment to go back to 1984 considering rumors point toward a World War II title coming out this year. Will we travel back in time halfway through the next title?

It all comes down to how frequently Raven Software will update this new Verdansk moving forward. If updates are far and few between, fans will look back on this event as a missed opportunity where Warzone could've built even more momentum.