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Call of Duty: Warzone is receiving a new Ghosts of Verdansk mode during the upcoming The Haunting event that will allow players to respawn as Ghosts after being eliminated. Despite all of Warzone's many bugs and glitches, the battle royale has remained one of the more popular aspects of the Call of Duty franchise since it released in 2019. Fans of the mode are getting a shake up starting October 19 with some Halloween-inspired content.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare started implementing The Haunting event into the series back in 2020. Special Operators centered around Billy the Puppet from the SAW films and Leatherface of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame were made available for purchase, as well as original Halloween bundles with Operator skins and weapon blueprints from Activision. New modes were added to Multiplayer centered around the holiday, and Warzone received the Zombie Royale mode that allowed eliminated players to come back as the undead to terrorize the living.
Activision has finally revealed the details for this year's The Haunting event for Call of Duty that will end up taking over both Black Ops Cold War and Warzone throughout the remainder of October. Along with Scream and Donnie Darko Operator skins and Multiplayer/Zombies Halloween updates, Warzone will be receiving the new Ghosts of Verdansk mode for those looking for some spooky Battle Royale fun. Here's all of the new details for the Ghosts of Verdansk mode.
Ghosts Of Verdansk Switches Out Zombies For Terrifying Ghosts
Ghosts of Verdansk will take place in a night-stricken Verdansk where death is not the definite end for players. Instead of turning into a zombie upon death like last year, the mode has changed things up by allowing players to return as Ghosts to roam the map. Ghosts won't be able to use weapons while they are floating around, but will be endowed with supernatural abilities to help them traverse Verdansk's map with ease. The three different abilities that Ghosts will be able to use are:
- Super Jump: Extremely similar to the jump ability from Zombie Royale, Ghosts will be able to charge their jump and bound through the air to travel far distances. One new feature is that, because of the lack of body that Ghosts have, players will be able to use their light weight to glide and float while falling from great heights or following a jump.
- Teleport: The Teleport ability will feature a longer cooldown than the Super Jump, and will allow Ghosts to teleport a limited distance to help them gain ground on any living Operators. Ghosts will also be able to teleport right through their target and appear right behind them, setting up a brutal Finishing Move.
- Spectral Blast: Not unlike the EMP Blast featured in Warzone's Zombie Royale, the Spectral Blast will allow Ghosts to utilize an AOE stun attack that can slow down living Operators to present an easier target. For those trying to escape the Ghosts in vehicles around Verdansk, Ghosts will be able to use the Spectral Blast to disable vehicles as well.
To deal damage to Operators, Ghosts will be able to swipe-attack players until they have died. No details about how many swipes will be needed before a player has been eliminated, but it's a fair assumption that it will be about the same amount of hits that it took Zombies to get rid of players in the Zombie Royale mode. Players that have been eliminated will drop a soul that can be collected by the Ghost that eliminated them (much like Zombie Royale's Humanity Vials), and collecting three souls will allow a Ghost to exchange them and drop back into Verdansk as the living Operator they began the match with. The only other way for Ghosts to respawn is by performing a Finishing Move on a living Operator that is described as "horrifying," and the move will allow the Operator's souls to remain perfectly intact to result in an immediate respawn for the attacking Ghost. Players using the Finishing Move will have to be careful when deploying the move, however, as other Operators will be able to disrupt them.
Ghost will be able to attack any living Operator outside of their own teammates, but Operators will be able to find solace from Ghost attacks in the newly added Sacred Ground. Sacred Grounds will be marked in the environment by a beam of light and glowing blue circle, and will also be marked on the mini-map with a distinct icon to help players chart a path to the nearest safe zone. These designated zones are under protection by an undescribed source of supernatural magic that keeps ghosts from being able to cross into the area for a certain amount of time. Ghosts will have the ability to damage the Sacred Ground's protections by "throwing their spectral bodies at it," meaning that Call of Duty's living Operators are only safe for a limited amount of time. Once the Ghosts ram the barrier enough, the Sacred Ground plot will be destroyed and Operators are exposed to the Ghosts' attacks once again.
Ghosts of Verdansk Mode Features A New Fear Meter
The Ghosts of Verdansk mode is introducing a new mechanic known as Fear, which will be tied to a meter located in the bottom-left part of Call of Duty: Warzone's HUD. The Fear meter will run on a point scale from 0 to 100, and all Operators in a match start out with zero points. Once the meter hits the 50% mark, Operators will begin to "experience hallucinations that can mess with your mind." Players will be able to overcome these hallucinations, which will be followed by a short music cue, heavy breathing and a drop in the Fear level. Nothing was revealed about what happens to players when the Fear meter reaches 100%, with the Call of Duty blog post saying "that's up to you to find out."
The Fear meter fills up naturally over time and also increases when certain events take place during a match, which include:
- Camping, which is described as "cowardice" in a not-so-subtle shot towards those who choose to sit in one building or place in Verdansk for an extended period of time.
- Witnessing dead bodies of Operators and Ghosts around the map.
- Taking incoming enemy fire, enemy Equipment damage, or experiencing enemy Killstreaks in the vicinity.
- Squadmates being downed or eliminated.
To decrease the Fear meter aside from seeing the hallucinations, players must accomplish certain small objectives like:
- Reviving a squadmate downed by a living Operator or Ghost.
- Completing one of the in-game Contracts scattered around Verdansk.
- Staying inside one of the Sacred Ground zones until it gets taken down by attacking Ghosts.
- Eliminating either Ghosts or other Operators.
Just like normal matches in Call of Duty: Warzone, the main goal of a Ghost of Verdansk match is to survive with at least one Operator alive to win the game. Winning in Ghosts of Verdansk is tied to challenges that are available during The Haunting event, helping players get one step closer to unlocking the new LAPA submachine gun. Overall, Call of Duty: Warzone's Ghosts of Verdansk mode maintains many of the core elements of Zombie Royale (like special abilities and collectable items for revival) while adding enough variety in gameplay with the new Sacred Grounds and Fear meter to hopefully keep players engaged throughout the event.
Source: Activision