Activision finally revealed the details of Call of Duty: Vanguard’s upcoming integration to Warzone later this year with Season 1 of post-launch content. Season 1 starts on December 2, bringing a new Warzone Pacific map called Caldera that will introduce new modes, including some dogfighting. Prior to the start of Warzone Pacific, players will also get limited-time modes in Verdansk to say goodbye to the map, as well as learn information about Caldera before the integration.
Leading up to Vanguard’s Season 1 and the new Caldera map, Warzone’s Verdansk map will get two final events. First, Operation: Flashback is described as an encore for Verdansk, which begins on November 18. This is a limited-time mode that is said to feature plenty of surprises that cover Verdansk’s history over the last 18 months.
Operation: Flashback will reward two unique items:
- An Emblem for participating in the event
- And an animated Calling Card for those who claim victory
This final goodbye for Verdansk is very vague, but Activision says more information on Operation: Flashback will be revealed prior to its launch on November 18.
Starting November 24, players will be able to collect intel to uncover more about the Caldera map through another limited-time event called Secrets of the Pacific. This limited-time event is developed by Beenox, and will give players intel on Caldera and its various points of interest prior to its launch in December, but only by completing challenges across Vanguard and Warzone. This sounds much like past seasonal events in Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, as each game will have its own set of tasks and rewards for completing them. More details on this event are coming in mid-November. However, it does tease that Verdansk might get blown up again.
Finally, Caldera will arrive on December 2 with the launch of Season 1. Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play game, but Vanguard players will get 24-hours of exclusive access to the new Caldera map at the start of Season 1. During this exclusive access, Warzone’s smaller Rebirth Island map will remain unlocked for everyone else to play.
Additionally, Activision says that Caldera’s only true comparison to Verdansk is its scale. The island is described as featuring lush forests and rocky crags, as well as white sand beaches and mysterious ruins. There is also a dormant volcano that towers over the map, which Activision boasts as having 200+ points of interest. Activision also says that Caldera design “is based on two years of research and listening to the community.”
Warzone Pacific will introduce a dogfighting mode. Vanguard Royale is a new mode that will allow players to take to the skies or maneuver AA guns to combat aerial attacks. Later in Season 1, players can expect a return of Verdansk’s Plunder mode, which has players fighting to earn the most cash for a win.
Arial fighting in Warzone
Rebirth Island is confirmed to remain as a smaller secondary map to Warzone Pacific’s main Caldera map. Players can also use all their Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War weapons for both Rebirth Island and standard modes on Caldera. Only certain playlists like the new dogfighting mode will limit the weapon pool.
Warzone Pacific will also bring the arrival of the recently revealed RICOCHET Anti-Cheat Driver to hopefully help cut back on Warzone’s ongoing cheating problem. And being built on the same tech and engine as Call of Duty: Vanguard, Warzone Pacific will support fully optimized cross-play, cross-progression, and cross-gen support.
Call of Duty: Vanguard launches on November 5 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. The new game will launch as Activision Blizzard faces a lawsuit from the state of California over alleged harassment and discrimination against women.
Source: Gamespot
