Leakers and streamers have been teasing an open-world zombie experience for a while now. While Outbreak was not a hyped as Warzone was back in March of 2020, this all-new zombie mode is unlike anything we've ever seen. Season two of Call of Duty Balck Ops: Cold War and Warzone have added a litany of new things. A zombie-filled cargo ship washed up on the Prison Shore; we have four new operators to unlock (or purchase) and two new guns to earn for free via the Season 2 Battle Pass.
Outbreak is undoubtedly the most significant, most anticipated part of this update. Players will be traversing all three Fireteam maps to complete objectives and fend off the undead. They'll have everything from Firebase Z and Die Machine at their disposal as well. All the perks, weapons benches, upgrade mannequins, and, of course, the Pack-a-Punch machines are available in multiple different ways. Loot, explore, and defeat the undead in the largest Zombie experiment ever conducted in the Call of Duty franchise. Here's how to survive Outbreak Zombies and everything you need to know about the new game mode.
Black Ops Cold War: Outbreak Zombies at a Glance
Players will load into Outbreak zombies as they would Firebase Z or Die Machine. What's odd, and we're not sure if this is just a one-time glitch, but the first time players open Outbreak Zombies, their classes will be reset. They also won't be able to see their skills like perk upgrades and field upgrades. However, once they complete that game and go back to the lobby, everything will be available. Although a tiny hiccup, it caused some players to raise an eyebrow.
The primary goal of Outbreak Zombies is to complete the marked objective on each map to locate the beacon and warp between areas. Each time players warp, the difficulty ramps up. It feels like the difficulty increases in multiples of 5 compared to a standard, rounded-based zombie mode. That's to say:
- Round 1 = Round 1 Zombies
- Round 2 = Round 5 Zombies
- Round 3 = Round 10 Zombies etc...
Whether this is true or not, it gives players a decent blueprint of where they should be as far as their weapon upgrades are concerned. They know how useful their base weapons will be in a game of Firebase.
Other than the main objectives on each map, players will also have side-objectives to complete. There will give them upgraded loot, salvage, equipment, and ammo. As the difficulty increases, the rewards for these side missions go up. Eventually, players will start finding Ray Guns and even the Rai-K 84, the powerful Wonder Weapon from Firebase Z.
As players explore the maps, they'll find loot chests scattered throughout. Warzone players know to listen for loot chests while hunting. These chests do NOT sound like they do in Warzone, but players will know they're near one by following the audio cue. Be careful! On higher waves, these loot chests can easily be a Mimic in disguise.
Outbreak Zombies - Survival Guide
After a few games of Outbreak, players should be familiar with the different main objectives. Keep in mind; these objectives will rotate and aren't tied to individual maps. For example, don't think Retrieve and Holdout are only linked to Alpine. While these main objectives are vital in progressing through the levels, they shouldn't be the main focus, not at the start.
Side objectives are the key to getting upgraded gear, salvage, and points. On the map, players will see three different side-mission icons they can interact with:
- Lighting Bolt - Golden Chest
- Skull Cluster - Kill the HVT (high-value target)
- Dragon Head - Feed the Dragon machine
Make sure to complete these side objectives before warping to the next area. The most important thing players will be getting from these side objectives are random perks. Whether it be in the form of a glowing green pick-up (like a Max Ammo) or just loot players can pick up off the ground, free perks are the best way to focus on upgrading weapons.
Players can find a secret side-objective from time to time. Look out for a floating Aether Orb emitting what sounds like screaming children. Unload on the orb, and it will drop Essence Canisters, about 1,000 points worth. Once players shoot the Aether Orb enough, it will move in a linear path to a new location. Follow the trail and repeat the process until it finally explodes.
Outbreak is a long game mode, especially if a team commits to reaching higher waves. Be ready for a 3+ hour game. On the same token, don't rush anything for the sake of time. Prepare for each objective and make sure everyone has adequate armor and weapon upgrades. Players can find all the same upgrade stations scattered around the map. They must get acquainted with the different icons. It would be a shame if the team traversed across the map searching for armor only to find a workbench.
Killing zombies rewards players with significantly fewer points in Outbreak, about 25/kill and 35/critical-kill. Objectives and side-missions will be the team's primary source of income. Ideally, players should burn right through the first two objective areas before they waste their time looting waves one and two for junk. Once they've completed the 2nd main objective (and all side objectives available), they'll have enough points to Pack-a-Punch once or twice. If they must, players should buy Juggernog before progressing to the next wave. Once on wave three, players should start looting everything in sight. They'll find better gear, more salvage, and more essence.
Outbreak Zombies - Elites
Other than Megatons, Manglers, and Mimics, Outbreak Zombies features two new elite zombies to deal with, Tempests and Krasny Soldats.
Tempests are relatively easy to kill. They do warp around the general area once they take enough damage, so players will have to keep track of where they warp to. Their ranged attack will also disable vehicles like an EMP and stun players if they land a direct hit. Players who can bunny hop should jump from side-to-side to avoid the blast while shooting the Tempest.
On the other hand, Krasny Soldats are difficult to deal with. They'll shoot a flamethrower at anybody nearby. Too far away? Krasny doesn't care. It'll launch a fire-bomb when players are out of range of its flamethrower. Like Manglers, the Krasny has a weak spot. Get behind Krasny while it's distracted with a teammate and shoot it in the back. This will deal massive amounts of damage and take Krasny down with ease.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Last-Gen