Everything You Need To Know About Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III

All the intel on the MWIII campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies.

Task Force 141, your work isn’t over yet. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III arrives this Fall, bringing with it a new campaign, classic multiplayer, and an all-new Zombies experience. The good news? We’ve got the intel you need to get ahead of the competition. Whether you’re eager to hunt down Makarov, rack up your first Killstreak combo, or race to secure the raygun in a fight against the undead, here’s everything we know about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

When Does Modern Warfare III Release?

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III release date is November 10, 2023.

But that’s not the first chance that many will have to try the game. An open beta is on the way soon, and anyone who pre-orders will be granted early access to both the campaign and the multiplayer beta.

How To Access The Modern Warfare III Beta

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Open Beta will offer a chance for all players to try out the game’s multiplayer on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox ahead of release. If you’re joining during the open period, all you’ll need to do is download the beta on your platform of choice. Those who’ve pre-ordered, meanwhile, will be able to ready their rifles early.

If you’ve pre-ordered through a participating retailer, you should receive a 13-character code from your supplier. Head to callofduty.com/betaredeem and enter the code there to link your account and gain access when the beta goes live. Pre-orders through the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Battle.net, and Steam will grant automatic early access to the beta without the need to redeem a code.

When Is The Modern Warfare III Beta?

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III beta will run in two phases, the first of which is exclusive to PlayStation 4 and 5.

The first, PlayStation-exclusive beta phase will run from October 6-10. Early access will start on October 6, while the open beta phase begins two days later, on October 8.

The second beta phase will run from October 12-16. Early access on PC and Xbox (and open beta on PlayStation) will begin on October 12. Finally, the open beta will be available to all from October 14-16.

Modern Warfare III Campaign

When the name Makarov arises, experienced Call of Duty fans know to take note. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III continues the rebooted storyline of the series, with a full campaign that brings new twists on classic levels and fresh systems offering players more freedom than ever before.

Makarov

Modern Warfare III’s campaign looks set to pick up exactly where the last game left off, with General Shepherd in hiding and Task Force 141 and their allies readying to face a new threat: Makarov. This new version of the classic Russian villain has past history with Captain Price and his crew. In Modern Warfare III, it seems he’s eager to settle some scores.

Teased in the credits of Modern Warfare II, it appears that Makarov will organize a false flag operation akin to the infamous No Russian level of the original Modern Warfare 2. Instead of an assault on an airport, Makarov’s crew will this time hijack a plane mid-flight, pinning the blame on Task Force 141 and their allies.

One level we’ve seen so far follows a team infiltrating a Russian gulag to locate an unknown prisoner. It’s likely the target is Makarov himself, with the mission providing an interesting spin on the original Modern Warfare 2’s prison rescue of Captain Price.

From Warzone’s Shadow Siege event, we know that Makarov’s Konni group have secured a batch of chemical weapons which could endanger the globe. With Shepherd and his Shadow Company still lurking in the background, Price, Soap, Gaz, and their crew will have their work cut out for them in the Modern Warfare III campaign.

Open Combat Missions

Modern Warfare III’s campaign will pair the series’ distinct cinematic sequences with new open combat missions. These promise to offer far more player choice, with larger, open environments in which it’s up to you to determine how to approach and achieve a given objective.

Players will start each open combat mission with a specific loadout, but within the area they can find supply boxes packing alternate weapons and equipment. One open combat mission sees Simon “Ghost” Riley on a mission to defuse multiple bomb sites around the Gora Dam, one of which is located on a moving truck.

These nonlinear missions will often feature vehicles, verticality, and even water, opening up multiple paths to success. Get in and out undetected equipped with night-vision and suppressors, or go loud with heavy armor and high explosives – the choice is yours.

Modern Warfare III Multiplayer

Modern Warfare III multiplayer will crack open a delicious can of COD-flavored nostalgia. The game will launch with all 16 iconic maps from the original Modern Warfare 2 – including the likes of Terminal, Quarry, Favela, Highrise, and more. Every map has been fully remade, remaining faithful to the original while introducing adjustments to suit the modern series’ pace of gameplay and game modes.

Maps

The full confirmed map list for Modern Warfare III’s launch is as follows:

• Afghan
• Derail
• Estate
• Favela
• Karachi
• Highrise
• Invasion
• Quarry
• Rundown
• Rust
• Scrapyard
• Skidrow
• Sub Base
• Terminal
• Underpass
• Wasteland

Twelve new 6v6 maps are also set to arrive over the course of the game’s post-launch seasons. Three will arrive in Season 1, with three more due in Season 2.

Modes

So far, one all-new mode has been confirmed for Modern Warfare III: Cutthroat. This 3v3v3 showdown plays out in rounds. Players only have one life per round and can win by eliminating both enemy teams or capturing the overtime flag.

Activision has confirmed that mode selection has been expanded to all maps, allowing for combinations like Hardpoint on Favela – a pairing that didn’t exist in the map’s original incarnation.

Ground War and Invasion also return in Modern Warfare III, bringing warfare with vehicles aplenty on three three new large-scale Battle Maps. Last and largest of all is a new War map. First featured in Call of Duty: WWII, War mode sees teams completing objectives like securing capture points and escorting tanks across a “gargantuan” map.

Mechanics

Modern Warfare III will feature the same tactical gunplay that fans have come to know from the series, but new systems and changes are on the way.

First up is Tac-Stance, a halfway point between hip-firing and aiming down sights. Activate it and your Operator will shift their weapon into a canted position, increasing accuracy over hip-firing, but still allowing for far more mobility than when aiming down sights. It’s intended for aggressive, close-quarters environments.

Perks are now active throughout the entire match and are split into four categories – Vests, Gloves, Boots, and Gear – which represent the items your Operator is wearing. Vests perks grant special abilities and also determine which kinds of items you can equip in your loadout. Gloves perks adjust your weapon and equipment handling. Boots perks enhance your mobility or silence your footstep sounds, and Gear perks fill a variety of roles including reducing explosives damage or dampening combat noise. Perks will not affect how your Operator looks in-game.

Gunsmith will introduce new customization options called After-Market Parts. These include Conversion Kits which completely revamp a weapon’s function, helping players home in on specific playstyles. Examples include a pistol reworked into an SMG or an LMG given a Bullpup conversion. After-Market Parts will be available through new progression paths and challenges which unlock for weapons once players reach max level with them.

Finally, Activision has confirmed the following multiplayer features and adjustments to the game’s movement systems from Modern Warfare II:

Features

• Map Voting returns, allowing players greater autonomy over their Multiplayer matches.
• Classic Minimap Behavior, with red dots indicating when an enemy is firing an unsuppressed weapon.
• All chosen Perks are available at the start of each match.
• The Covert Sneakers Perk allows for silent movement (assuming you’ve chosen the correct footwear).
• Core Multiplayer Health is increased to 150, lengthening the Time-to-Kill (TTK). Hardcore mode is not affected.

Movements Adjustments

• You can cancel Slide animations (i.e., “slide cancel”), but Slide Canceling does not reset Tactical Sprint.
• You can cancel partial Reloads during an animation (i.e., “reload cancel”) to immediately return fire.
• Mantling is faster, and you can Mantle while Sprinting.
• You can fire during and immediately after Sliding.
• Tactical Sprint durations are increased (the exact duration depends on the weapon being used).
• Tactical Sprint recharges while Sprinting.

New Weapons, Equipment, And Killstreaks

Modern Warfare III will introduce over 30 new weapons for players to unlock and wield. A few that’ve been revealed so far include the Rival 9 SMG, Longbow Sniper Rifle, and Warden Kortac Operator.

New equipment and Field Upgrades are also on the way. These include the lethal Breacher Drone, a slow-moving explosive that detonates on proximity to an enemy. It can be shot out of the air, so careful maneuvering is key to securing a kill with it. The A.C.S. Field Upgrade can be used to hack enemy gear or thrown onto an objective to progress it without your direct presence. Finally, the Comm Scrambler denies enemies from using Killstreaks or Field Upgrades and also hides allies from UAVs within its range.

We’ve seen one new Killstreak so far: the Mosquito Drone. This explosive drone circles the area in which it was launched, dive-bombing towards any approaching enemies. It can be tough to see but listening for audio clues can save you from its strikes in advance.

Carry Forward

It’s been confirmed that all weapons, attachments, and unlocks that players have access to in Modern Warfare II will carry over to Modern Warfare III. Where applicable, attachments unlocked in Modern Warfare II will also work with new weapons in Modern Warfare III and vice versa.

Zombies

The ground trembles, and a decaying hand once against bursts from the soil! Modern Warfare III has called Zombies mode from the grave. But this time, the undead masses have arrived with a lethal new look.

A New Structure

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Zombies has been developed by Treyarch, and it brings the biggest shakeup to the game mode’s core systems yet. Instead of the traditional, contained structure of wave survival, Modern Warfare III Zombies will offer an open-world extraction-based Zombies experience on the largest map the mode has ever seen. A place fittingly home to the most massive Zombies monsters encountered yet.

Up to 24 players can take part in each Zombies game, buddying up into teams of up to six. The goal? To complete contracts, secure Essence – the currency through which you’ll upgrade your character – and extract with high-value loot. Weapons you successfully exfil with can then be taken into future matches. In addition, players can discover blueprints which can then be used between matches to craft upgrades like starting a deployment with Juggernog.

Teams have just one hour to explore the map and lock in their haul. After that, a deadly storm will expand, eventually engulfing the entire level. Crucially, Zombies will be an entirely PvE experience. That means squads won’t directly fight one another. In fact, they’ll actually have the chance to team up against some of the tougher threats lurking within.

The Map

We’ve yet to get an official look at the full Zombies map beyond a brief teaser in the announcement trailer. Thankfully, we know a lot more about how the map functions.

In Modern Warfare III Zombies, squads will spawn on the edges of the map in low-threat zones. Over the course of that hour-long time limit, they’ll have the chance to power up and push deeper, towards the higher-threat environments in the map’s center.

In the outskirts, players will only need to contend with weaker zombies and NPC mercenaries working for the Terminus Outcomes PMC. Securing more valuable loot and progressing the Zombies storyline, however, will demand pressing inwards and facing far more powerful foes. The map will also feature heavily guarded locations that must be breached to gather valuable assets or to complete objectives.

The Story

The Modern Warfare III Zombies story takes place forty years after the events of Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode. As the reveal trailer shows, Warzone villain Victor Zakhaev has managed to get his hands on a sample of Aetherium. Zakhaev locates it in a room with what appears to be the body of recurring Zombies character Gregori Weaver, among several others. In the midst of his escape, Zakhaev unleashes one vial, transforming those in the surrounding area into ravenous undead.

The story setup also sees the return of Black Ops Cold War’s Sergei Ravenov, 40 years down the line. It appears players will be working alongside him, Soap MacTavish, and Kate Laswell as part of Operation Deadbolt to contain the outbreak.

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