Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies Outbreak Adding First Main Quest

The May 20 update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will include the game's first-ever main quest for the Zombies Outbreak mode.

Developer Treyarch said in a blog post that the open-ended Outbreak mode is proving to be very popular, coming in at just around the same player levels as the round-based modes. As such, Treyarch is continuing to support Outbreak with new content, which includes a main quest that will set up the story for the next round-based map.

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The studio isn't saying much about what to expect, which makes sense and is keeping with the Zombies tradition of keeping things shrouded in mystery until players discover the goods for themselves.

That said, Treyarch did outline some of what's to come starting May 20 beyond the main quest, and it includes a new Orda Encounter world event and more intel documents to discover and collect. Also, fishing is coming to the game, which is certainly unexpected.

A new limited-time mode called Cranked 2: No Time to Crank is coming to Firebase Z and Die Maschine with the update, along with a new Silverback Slideways bonus map for Dead Ops Arcade 3. PlayStation users, meanwhile, are getting new Onslaught content as part of Sony's deal with Activision in the form of a new map and mode, along with another challenge that rewards players with a weapon blueprint. You can see a rundown of what's coming to Zombies starting on May 20, but be aware that not all content may release at the start.

New Zombies Content:

• Outbreak
  • New Main Quest
  • Orda Encounter World Event
  • Fishing (!!)
  • New Intel Documents, Audio Logs, Radio Transmissions, and Artifacts to discover
• Round-Based Maps
  • “Cranked 2: No Time to Crank” limited-time mode in “Firebase Z” and “Die Maschine”
• Dead Ops Arcade 3
  • New Silverback Slideways bonus map
• Onslaught (PlayStation®) [available on all platforms November 1, 2021)
  • Onslaught Standoff map + new Intel
  • “Lotto Loadouts” limited-time mode
  • New challenge with exclusive Weapon Blueprint reward

In addition to the new content, Black Ops Cold War Zombies is adding new weapons to the Mystery Box and trial rewards, including the R1 Shadowhunter crossbow, the E-Tool melee weapon, and the Streetsweeper shotgun. There will also be weapon tuning specific to the Zombies mode that increases the overall power of weapons, while the Self Revive costs are being changed to make the game more challenging. You can see the full list of changes below.

New Features & Gameplay Improvements:

• New weapons added to the Mystery Box and Trial rewards in round-based maps and Outbreak:
  • Groza assault rifle
  • MAC-10 SMG
  • Streetsweeper shotgun
  • FARA 83 assault rifle
  • LC10 SMG
  • R1 Shadowhunter crossbow
  • ZRG 20mm sniper rifle
  • Sledgehammer melee weapon
  • Wakizashi melee weapon
  • Machete melee weapon
  • E-Tool melee weapon
• Custom Mod support: Bring custom Blueprints into Zombies via the “Apply Blueprint” feature! Create multiple configurations for every weapon in the game and apply your Custom Mods to all weapons found in a game session.
• New Outbreak Map features: Free cursor support and the ability to Ping the overhead map
• Zombies-specific weapon tuning to increase the overall power of the Black Ops Cold War arsenal
• New Weapon Unlock Challenges: Baseball Bat and AMP63 machine pistol (in-season)
• Rebalancing zombie health at high rounds and scaling Self Revive costs to provide a greater challenge and higher stakes for skilled Zombies players
• Buffing the Pack-a-Punched ZRG 20mm bullet penetration to affect multiple zombies
• Reduced health for the Demented Echo in Outbreak
• New gameplay improvements and bug fixes in Dead Ops Arcade 3

Outside of these changes, Treyarch said it understands fans want to see a challenge tracker from the pause screen, and this is in the works. When it's ready, it will track Zombies challenges, daily challenges, and Operator missions. Treyarch is also working on a new UI feature that will show players' daily challenges at the start of a match to help people be aware of what they are trying to do.

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Looking ahead to Season Four, Treyarch said it is developing a new map that will take place after the events of the new main quests coming to Outbreak. This map has been in development since before the launch of Firebase Z, the studio said. "We want to make it the best experience it can possibly be before it's finally in your hands," Treyarch explained.

Beyond that, Treyarch said it is already working on more content for later seasons, including more perks, Wonder weapons, support weapons, limited-time modes, and Dark Aether story elements. "We appreciate everyone's patience while we continue development on our next map, and hope you have a blast with all the other Zombies content coming in the meantime," the studio said.

May 20 is also a big day for Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Mobile, as it's the day that the '80s Action Hero content arrives, including what appear to be Sylvester Stallone John Rambo and Die Hard character skins.