With Modern Warfare 3 revealed by Activision and leaks about the upcoming installment stacking up, we’re taking a dive into three reasons to be excited for MW3… and three reasons to be worried it might not be a standout Call of Duty. With the positives first, let’s dive in.

MW3 is Exciting Because…

1. Classic Minimaps Return

Texting Activision has become part of the buildup to MW3, with players able to eke out details about the upcoming reveal and subsequent game by hitting up the devs via phone or WhatsApp.

Call of Duty 2023 has now been confirmed by Activision as Modern Warfare 3, a Sledgehammer-developed sequel to 2022’s MW2 and the third installment in the rebooted series.

As a result, the community (and us) are looking ahead to what will come. We already know some of the content because of MW3 leaks and some classic CoD maps – namely Scrapyard and Terminal – are already chalked for reincarnation.

Activision have officially unveiled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 as the annual instalment coming in fall of 2023. It had long been rumored as the upcoming title; a successor to 2022’s Modern Warfare 2 that originally began as a premium expansion.

However, it’s now confirmed as a full release, developed by Sledgehammer Games and set for release later this year. While the news won’t surprise fans who’ve not been living under the proverbial rock, they also confirmed a release date and revealed the official branding and logo for the next instalment in the rebooted MW series, which began with 2019’s Modern Warfare.

Season 5’s newest vehicles have changed the dynamics of Warzone and DMZ as we know it, cultivating fun and challenging elements for the two modes. While the MRAP has become an unstoppable force in DMZ, the Dirt Bike allows you to try out a few nifty tricks in the heat of the battle.

Due to the MRAP’s heavy armor, many players have expressed their concerns over the overpowered vehicle, in which they have countlessly succumbed to its deadly attacks. One user has noted an experience where the tank completely annihilated them, despite having a fully equipped 6-man team.

The Aug. 2 release of Warzone Season 5 brought countless changes to the battle royale, DMZ, and MW2 annual installment. It might have also fixed the dreaded ‘dev error’ issue facing players in the extraction mode.

Dev Error 7186 Should Be Fixed in Warzone DMZ Season 5

For a number of weeks now, Warzone’s DMZ mode has been plagued by a developer error affecting players when they travel to Building 21 and the Koschei Complex. There’s been a lot of silence from the devs too, but with Warzone Season 5 it’s finally been addressed.

With all the changes revealed for Warzone Season 5, it can be tough to know which are set to impact different modes’ metas in the long-run and those that will be less significant. In terms of DMZ’s adjustments though, there’s one that stands out as both huge and welcome.

DMZ Season 5 Change Will Make You Undetectable To AI

That’s right. No more dropping into a busy POI and being relentlessly gunned by bots you’re just trying to ignore. It’s all because of a new item coming with DMZ Season 5.

With more potential installments in the rebooted Modern Warfare series to come in the future, we’re taking a trip down memory lane and ranking every Modern Warfare Call of Duty title so far. 

The next game, assuming leaks, rumors and speculation all come true, is set to be developed by Sledgehammer Games and continue the story and setting established in Modern Warfare 2 (2022). It’ll be the sixth MW game Call of Duty has produced, but which are remembered as the pinnacle? Here’s all of them, ranked from worst to best. 

With all signs pointing to Sledgehammer Games developing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (III? A backwards E? Who know what crazy symbol variation of three they’ll use this time) for fall 2023, we thought it’d be enjoyable to take a trip down memory lane and revisit every CoD title they’ve made in the past. Here’s every SHG Call of Duty, ranked. 

It’s worth noting that Sledgehammer Games have contributed to a lot of Call of Duty titles over the years, including Modern Warfare 2019 and its sequel, Modern Warfare 2 (2022). For this list, though, we’re only taking into account the games in which they were the lead development studio (or one of them). Games in which they’ve been an assisting studio won’t feature. That means there’s four titles to deal with. They’re all ranked below, from our least favorite to the best they’ve made yet. 

Warzone’s DMZ extraction mode, for all the love it continues to receive from the player base, has come in for some criticism of late. Players have highlighted cheating and glitches as serious issues but, as we approach Season 5, a far more serious duplication exploit is causing havoc.

DMZ has encountered duplication glitches in the past, letting players spawn multiple versions of a desirable item or weapon. However, we’re not sure there’s ever been one like this.

With Call of Duty’s DMZ extraction mode well established within Warzone and incorporating aspects of The Boys in the form of the Temp V Field Upgrade, I wanted to don my developer hat and conceive of five truly ludicrous things Activision could do with the mode in the future.

The inclusion of the aforementioned Temp V has been controversial, with some loving it and treating it as an excellent anti-camper device and others adamant that superpowers do no belong in the mode at all.

As part of the crossover with Amazon Prime’s The Boys TV show, the Temp V Field Upgrade has been parachuted into Warzone and its modes. While its inclusion has largely been questioned and canned by players, it turns out it can be used as a ruthlessly efficient counter to campers.

Season 4 Reloaded, dropping on July 12, brought a major pop culture crossover to Warzone in Activision’s collaboration with The Boys. Among Homelander, Black Noir and Starlight skins, it also introduced the Temp V Field Upgrade, a spin off of the show’s Compound V.

A major change with Warzone Season 4 Reloaded will see DMZ players punished for killing too many real-life opponents, in a serious shake up to the extraction mode.

When the Season 4 Reloaded overview dropped on July 11, Activision promised changes to DMZ’s ‘Plea for Help’ mechanic, as well as to ‘squads specifically hunting other players’. We now know the form those changes take thanks to the full patch notes.

Warzone’s DMZ playerbase have been responding to the reveal of Season 4 Reloaded (S4R) on July 10, with one new item in particular coming in for some criticism.

Activision’s reveal of S4R, two days before it is expected to launch on July 12, featured little on DMZ. Instead, it focused on The Boys crossover, a new automatic shotgun and a new Vondel Waterfront map.

DMZ has relatively catered to squad players with each passing update, making the experience almost unbearable for solo players. However, a new development could alleviate the stress for independent players, as the mid-season introduces helpful mechanics for Assimilation, Plea for Help, and the latest contract.

The Assimilation mechanic has been a massive problem for many DMZ fans, given that it allows Operators to establish a six-player team over time instead of the initial three-solider group. Thus, players have been overwhelmed by the large amounts of enemy squads, especially those who track down independent players.

Call of Duty Season 4 Reloaded will officially welcome the chaotic characters from The Boys as they take a break from their “heroic” roles and step in as Operators.

During a fictional press conference, Black Noir was the first to confirm this development in his own unique way, in which he answers questions through his expressions. One of the first major announcements is the characters featured in the crossover, including Starlight, Homelander, and Black Noir.

Over the years, annual Call of Duty installments have featured different weapons of different strengths. Some are perpetually weak but others are at the opposite end of the scale: so strong they can be considered overpowered. Here, we’re taking a trip down memory lane and picking the top 10 most overpowered weapons in Call of Duty history. 

For this list, we’re trying to ignore good weapons and focus on those that were so strong, at least for a period of time, they qualified as OP. Not all were dominant for months, with the respective devs generally quick to nerf standout guns. However, some were at the height of their powers for inexplicably long periods so, without further ado, here are our picks. 

Warzone’s DMZ extraction mode has been immensely popular with a portion of the player base since it launched in late 2022. While there’s huge variance in the missions players can complete and the items they need to extract with, the majority of tasks center around finding and extracting with a valuable item. That’s why the exfil helicopter is so important.

The helicopter is essentially players’ safe passage out of whichever exclusion zone they find themselves in. In Warzone Season 4, that’s one of Building 21, Al Mazrah, Ashika Island or Vondel. You just need to find your way to an exfil location, call in the chopper and survive through to its arrival. It’ll then airlift you and your contraband to safety. It might not be that simple anymore, though.

The first time I stepped into the DMZ universe, I was overwhelmed by its extensive mission-based system, differing from the main campaigns and multiplayer rounds I’ve played in past COD games. What made it even more complicated was the fact that Faction objectives were relatively vague in details, making it more challenging to advance in levels and unlock exclusive gear.

Fortunately, Call of Duty Season 4 has introduced a new central hub, the Forward Operating Base, to implement a more coordinated approach to the previous disorderly system. Now, I’m a sucker for organization, so once I saw the tidied-up menu screen, I felt less apprehensive than I did before. No longer are all the objectives jumbled into Faction missions, as Passive tasks are available to complete at any time. 

DMZ players are calling on Warzone’s developers to nerf AI — in terms of strength and number — as Season 4 changes make the popular extraction mode incredibly difficult. While some might welcome the challenge, others think it’s too hard and have even referred to matches as “miserable”.

Warzone Season 4, dropping back on June 14, changed an awful lot for every mode, including DMZ. While AI buffs and spawns did not appear in the patch notes, players have reported experiencing much more difficult lobbies in this regard.

A significant change to one Warzone DMZ Vest – the Stealth Vest – with June 14’s Season 4 update means there may just be a new best vest in town – one that players should look to get hold of whenever they’re infiltrating or extracting.

The Season 4 update dropped on June 14, changing many aspects of the battle royale. TTK has (finally) been slowed and AI presences reduced.