Dead Call of Duty: Warzone players are coming back as zombies

With Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 on the horizon (all signs point to some sort of nuclear event kicking off next week), Verdansk's zombie problem is reaching a boiling point. After an update this morning, toxic zones are now turning players into zombies when they die.

I know, because it happened to me. Zooming into the Shipwreck and Prison areas on the map will reveal red zones marked with a nuclear symbol. You can also see where these areas start in the world based on white flecks filling the air in the affected zones. Stepping foot in a zone will start to damage you as if you're outside the normal circle, and if you die while you're in the zone, you immediately respawn as a zombie with unique powers. As far as I can tell, you have the skillset from last year's zombie-themed Haunting of Verdansk Halloween event.

The only catch is that this won't work in Solos—you need living teammates to qualify for a zombie respawn. As a zombie you can attack with melee, super jump what feels like 100 meters at a time, deploy gas grenades, and trigger an EMP around you on a cooldown. It's pretty fun! Though, I'm not sure there's a great strategic reason to opt into zombification at the moment. For one, you're very squishy and relatively easy to kill for an opponent with actual guns. Becoming a zombie also skips your Gulag attempt, so once you die again you'll have to be bought back by a teammate.

I can see the argument for having a zombie on the squad for support purposes. A teammate that can scout ahead with super jumps, see enemies highlighted in purple, and initiate fights with EMPs and gas grenades sounds worthwhile if the squad is coordinated. Plus, seeing a zombie sprint toward you faster than a normal human can definitely throw off the rhythm of a firefight. I say go for it, but be careful with your squishy, unarmored existence.

I don't know about you, but this is the first time Warzone's zombie antics have gotten exciting to me. Watching the outbreak bounce around from location to location these past months has been an inconsequential distraction. It's cool to see the event potentially have a real effect on the outcome of a match.

It's a shame that this fun will likely only last another week or so as Activision is seemingly preparing to move Warzone over to a new, '80s-themed version of Verdansk for Season 3. "The end" is coming next week, apparently, so keep an eye on our news feed for details as they emerge. 
With Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 on the horizon (all signs point to some sort of nuclear event kicking off next week), Verdansk's zombie problem is reaching a boiling point. After an update this morning, toxic zones are now turning players into zombies when they die.

I know, because it happened to me. Zooming into the Shipwreck and Prison areas on the map will reveal red zones marked with a nuclear symbol. You can also see where these areas start in the world based on white flecks filling the air in the affected zones.