Modern Warfare 3 promises "the largest Zombies offering to date" and a new type of campaign mission

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"Open combat missions" are coming to the Modern Warfare 3 campaign

Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies
(Image credit: Activision)

Ahead of the big Modern Warfare 3 reveal, Activision's confirmed that Zombies will return and it's apparently joined by a new type of campaign mission.

In a new blog post, Activision and the general Call of Duty team says "our vision to deliver back-to-back Modern Warfare games has been years in the making" starting with the development of Modern Warfare 2. The game's being talked up as Call of Duty's first "direct sequel in back-to-back years," which might explain why Modern Warfare 3 sounds very familiar so far, and no we're not going to think about the fact that this is the second third Modern Warfare game.  

The biggest changes in Modern Warfare 3 include an expanded Zombies mode described as Call of Duty's "largest Zombies offering to date." This officially confirms the already all-but-confirmed teasers hidden in a series of cryptic texts sent to a bunch of content creators. 

Even more nebulously, there's talk of a new type of campaign mission. All we have to go on now is the name: "open combat missions." This could honestly be anything, but to me the name suggests a less linear experience than the usual levels, perhaps leaning on the PvE bits of Warzone to some extent. Additionally, there's mention of new combat vests and perks for multiplayer, "Tac-Stance movement," and after-market Gunsmith options. 

The post also reiterates that the whole Call of Duty franchise is moving into one big home, or rather, one big launcher. The Call of Duty client, which Activision is calling Call of Duty HQ, will hopefully solve the confusion caused by anomalies like this being the second third Modern Warfare game. 

Good news: the last-gen Modern Warfare 3 confusion has seemingly been resolved. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.