The Call of Duty Zombies fan base is as passionate as it gets, with many players following the mode from its humble beginning in Call of Duty: World at War, to the Outbreak mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. With a sizable portion of the Call of Duty community only caring about Zombies, and some only buying the Treyarch titles for access to their round-based survival modes, fans have pushed for a standalone Zombies game for years. Based on a recent post from the reputable leaker Tom Henderson, it seems like a full Call of Duty Zombies game may finally become a reality.
While the leaker indicates that the game is in early development and things could change, it is hard not to be excited about such a possibility. If this rumor does prove true, Call of Duty Zombies fans could finally access every piece of content in the mode’s 12-year history from one set of menus. Every map, mode, and gameplay mechanic can be found on the same disc, with all running on the same engine and making use of the same gameplay systems. New features and fresh content could also appear, as the project’s entire budget would be focused on Zombies.
While it is easy to be excited about the standalone game’s potential, though, there are a few things that Treyarch will need to do to ensure that such a game lives up to fan’s lofty expectations.
Acting will be vital to a Call of Duty Zombies game’s success, as it would see one of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s biggest flaws corrected. While the latest variation of Call of Duty Zombies has several game-changing features and has been well-received by fans, its playable characters are severely lacking. Being able to use Operators from multiplayer and Warzone can be seen as a big positive, as players can make use of their cosmetics in Zombies. However, losing out on meaningful character dialogue and storytelling is an equally large negative. If a Call of Duty Zombies game is going to succeed, this is something that has to change.
Players have no reason to care about the Requiem soldiers they control. Having no dialogue apart from lines similar to “I killed this Zombie” and “this gun is good/bad,” the in-game characters are palette swaps with little-to-no personality. As such, the story is told by outside forces like Samantha, Weaver and Dr. Peck, with players controlling a group of random soldiers like they did in the earliest Zombies maps.
While the Dark Aether story has been okay despite this issue, it could come back to bite Treyarch if they attempt to put Requiem in any real danger. With so much of the Aether storyline told through its playable characters, seeing the opposite happen in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been a bit of a disappointment thus far.
If this rumored Zombies games includes old maps as well, the Zombies Operator system would be even more of an issue. Maps like Origins and Blood of the Dead only working like they do because of the Primis cast and their dialogue with one another. Swapping them out with random Operators could heavily damage the atmosphere and story with those maps.
Fortunately, this would probably not happen, as Treyarch likely would not need to worry about appeasing multiplayer and Warzone fans with a standalone Zombies game. Fresh cosmetics could be made purely for original Zombies characters, and the Operator system could be reserved for the mainline series. In short, fans could keep the added customization of Black Ops Cold War without losing the personality and dialogue of an original cast.
While a standalone Zombies game would surely have a new batch of content that serves as a continuation of the Dark Aether narrative, the real reason fans have wanted a Zombies-only game is so that they could have all the content in one place. Every Wonder Weapon and easter egg could be completed without needing to switch between six different games, and quality of life upgrades could come for each map. Something like a deep progression system could be added, with leaderboards for high round players. Proper Zombies events could happen consistently, providing meaningful tweaks to gameplay and encouraging players to jump into certain maps for special rewards.
A standalone Call of Duty Zombies game could provide access to weapons from every era of Black Ops too, with futuristic guns and World War 2-era weaponry joining Cold War era items to make for the most varied Mystery Box lineup ever. Much like with what Treyarch did in Zombies Chronicles, every map could get a visual upgrade that puts them on even ground. Maps like TranZit could finally shine, as proper attention can be given to fixing the divisive location’s biggest issues. All the Zombies music could be playable from the menu as well, letting players cycle through the many hidden songs that have appeared over the years as they fight the undead.
With no proper Call of Duty multiplayer offering included in this co-op focused game, justifying a premium price tag will be essential. Including every Zombies map in history is a solid way to do this, and would surely be enough to please most players. However, including every additional mode will be equally important. The cult classic Grief game mode, TranZit’s Survival maps, and the ambitious new Outbreak mode should appear. Cranked, Zombie Rush, and Turned could also make a comeback, alongside new Zombies modes. Including every version of Dead Ops Arcade would also be essential. If a Zombies game is coming, it needs to be a full collection.
While including all the previous content of Call of Duty Zombies would be enough to justify a standalone game, Treyarch can make it truly special by adding new content. Not only would new maps be great to see in a Zombies-only game, Treyarch would have the budget to make fully original locations and content. Rather than reusing multiplayer and campaign assets, a proper Zombies story mode could be added with original content.
While Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 experimented with this via Nightmares mode, the half-baked attempt simply reused Black Ops 3’s cutscenes and missions. A standalone CoD Zombies game could feature a dedicated campaign, though, with the mode re-telling the Aether story in a clear way. While the original Zombies characters were beloved by many, few players actually know their whole story due to how the narrative had to be pieced together. Further, it became so convoluted due to the use of time travel and a multiverse that even experts had a hard time keeping up. A campaign could fix this, however.
Important events in the Zombies storyline can be shown through cutscenes and missions as opposed to radios and documents. Players can see the story told in a linear fashion from beginning to end, with the many characters being voiced by their original actors. For players who just want story, the fat can be trimmed from easter egg quests in exchange for fast-paced missions that are packed with boss fights, lore, and character development.
Such a mode could properly introduce new players to Call of Duty Zombies, teaching them about characters like Richtofen and Nikolai — while those who already love the story can experience it in a new light. Players could finally play out moments like the Great War, while proper cutscenes can add more emotion to things like Tag Der Toten’s ending.
There is so much potential for a Zombies only game, and while the leaks should be taken with a grain of salt, there is good reason to be excited. A dream come true for fans of the mode, there is nothing that could excite Call of Duty Zombies fans more than these rumors proving true.
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