On Thursday, December 9th, 2021, Call of Duty Warzone fans finally got a major change in the game after 21 months since the game’s release. This marks the first time since Warzone’s release that the new map has been fully changed. 

Warzone is a game out of the Call of Duty series and is solely a battle royale game. In Warzone you are able to play by yourself, or with a team of up to 4. The objective of the game is to be the final team left after eliminating other teams. Warzone is linked online to your multiplayer account and lets you keep your weapon progression and classes together in both game modes. Before the most recent update, the guns were cumulative over the past 2 games.

The major update changed the map entirely. Originally the map was originally based in southwest Eurasia in a fictional city called Verdansk. The first iteration of the game included all the weaponry from 2019s Call of Duty Modern Warfare. As 2020 ended and the newest Call of Duty (Cold War) was released, the map got a reskin back to the 1980s.

In early November, the newest Call of Duty (Vanguard) came out and take place during World War II and is based mainly on the Pacific campaign of the war. Following the theme of the newest release, Warzone had a major change to the map. Warzone players said goodbye to Verdansk Thursday morning as the new update came out and the new map of Caldera was released. 

Caldera is a Pacific Island map that is set during World War II. The entire map has foliage to take cover in which is a big difference from the very open Verdansk. The map also includes much more natural elevated points toward the center of the map, unlike the previous map. There are also new vehicles on the map that are from the World War II era. Players and their teams can drive around the map in their 1940s military jeep or fly around in a 2 person fighter plane.

There was also the addition of a truck that has an anti aerial gunner that can shoot down the new fighter planes. More common throughout the map are the cargo trucks which can protect the players better than the open-top jeeps. Players are also given a new set of characters they can unlock and play as and can unlock new characters as they progress through either warzone or multiplayer. The most obvious change to the game is the addition of the Vanguard weapons to Warzone. This is the most obvious because all other weapons from the previous Call of Dutys are restricted in the new Warzone.

All previous progress on guns and classes mean nothing with this new map and loadouts for the player. It sets all the players on an even playing field from the start and everyone has to learn the new weapons. It is still unknown if the developers will eventually add the old guns back in. The Weapons that are currently for use in the game require players to level up and many who have yet to buy Call of Duty Vanguard have to start at the default weapon classes that the game gives them. One common criticism about the current vanguard weapons in the game is that the spread of bullets is too large which makes the accuracy to shoot opponents much lower than it was with the past guns. 

The gameplay as a whole is very similar to the predecessor. The map slowly gets smaller over time and as the map gets smaller the players decrease. As time goes on players get the opportunity to receive a free loadout drop and can pick their premade classes. On the less visible side, Warzone has gone back to the old IW 8.0 engine which was developed for over 5 years for Modern Warfare and Warzone. Many Calls of duty fans say that the IW 8.0 is one of the best game engines that call of duty has to date. 

The new Warzone map has been out for weeks and is the refresh and restart the game needed. The update introduced a big change that was needed after 21 months of no complete map change. The game also introduced new weapons, vehicles, and gameplays aspects that will give a refreshing twist to the gameplay. Only time will tell how well this new map goes and what minor updates will do to keep the fans of Warzone playing.