While Call of Duty Zombies went through a rough patch with the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard and its first post-launch map, Terra Maledicta, there is a bit of a renewed interest in the classic co-op mode. Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Shi No Numa Reborn brought back the round-based style and felt like classic Zombies again, and with one more Survival map coming to Vanguard, there is something else to look forward to.
Beyond this turnaround for Vanguard’s version of the mode, Call of Duty Zombies fans can look forward to Treyarch’s next major game. Set to release in 2024, fans are hoping to see some truly exciting developments within the story and maps with a bit more personality than those offered in Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard. Beyond that, though, Treyarch should continue to experiment with some interesting side game modes.
Treyarch’s Experience With Alternate Modes Could Pay Off
While Outbreak turned out to be a massive hit for Treyarch in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, it was far from the only game mode the developer tested out. Cranked was offered as an experience that saw players needing to constantly kill the undead, while Jingle Hells was a fun, Christmas-themed variant of Die Maschine. However, Treyarch has tried out alternate modes before Black Ops Cold War, to varying degrees of success.
While Turned was far from a fan favorite mode in Black Ops 2, fans adored Grief, the PvPvE mode that saw gamers fighting to outlast the other team and trying their hardest to get their opponents killed. Zombie Rush was a largely forgotten mode from Black Ops 4 Zombies, as players did not feel any particularly way about the points-focused competitive offering. Even Vanguard’s first two Zombies maps could be considered a unique mode thanks to their objective focus. Clearly, Treyarch has tried to experiment with alternate play styles for Zombies, and both the successes and failures should impact future attempts at LTMs.
What LTMs Could Be Featured in Call of Duty 2024 Zombies
First and foremost, Treyarch should listen to community requests for game modes like Grief, bringing them back in a limited capacity and seeing the community response. If feedback is positive and engagement is high, the mode could be brought back permanently. This goes for the less popular modes as well, as Turned and Rush could be better received with the modern Zombies audience and some changes. In the case of Turned, it can be fleshed out to be a far more in-depth mode with a bit more to do, while Rush could have some proper rewards and Easter eggs associated with it.
Treyarch should also consider bringing back some scrapped Call of Duty Zombies game modes. Race from TranZit could be interesting to see again, with players need to run through maps to earn points while avoiding the undead. Meat would be fun to see fully realized, with the interesting competitive mode sounding like a fun variant on Grief where players needed to fight to hold a piece of meat that would attract hordes of Zombies.
Beyond reviving some scrapped content and bringing back old modes, Treyarch should introduce some fully new concepts as well. Firebase Z’s Assault Rounds lay the groundwork for a tower defense LTM, while a scarier version of Prop Hunt that allows players to control Mimics could be interesting. More variants of Outbreak like the Survival LTM could be fun to see, too, meaning there are plenty of options for innovation. While Treyarch has not yet delivered a game mode that can compete with the original round-based style in terms of popularity, it should continue innovating and experimenting with CoD Zombies LTMs through post-launch Seasons.