Season Two, which launches on 25th February, adds four new operators, six new weapons, the new (and leaked) Zombies experience dubbed Outbreak, four multiplayer maps, new multiplayer modes, new prestige levels and new Warzone points of interest. The Season Two trailer is below: The four new operators are Naga (Warsaw Pact), who is available launch week, Samantha Maxis (NATO), who arrives in season, Terrell Wolf (NATO), also in season, and Karla Rivas (NATO). Maxis, Wolf and Rivas are premium DLC. Here are the six new weapons: the FARA 83 assault Rifle (Tier 15 of the Season Two Battle Pass); the LC10 SMG (Tier 31); the Machete (in season), the E-Tool, a military style tri-fold Shovel (in season), the R1 Shadowhunter crossbow (in season); and finally the ZRG 20mm sniper (in season). The Machete, E-Tool, R1 Shadowhunter, and ZRG 20mm are available via related challenges, or you can buy a relevant blueprint when it’s in the store. Now onto Zombies. Outbreak is described as the next chapter of the Dark Aether story, and takes Requiem into the Ural Mountains. It’s a co-op experience for up to four players on a large-scale map, with vehicles included. Here’s the official blurb: “Continuing the Dark Aether story, Outbreak takes place across massive play spaces throughout the Ural Mountains, packed with new enemies, team objectives, player rewards, and intel to discover on foot, in vehicles, or by jump pads. Whether its hunting down elite enemies using a satellite tracker, escorting a Rover that detects dimensional portals, or holding out against zombies in a confined Dark Aether zone, agents of Requiem will need to complete these investigations before they can Exfil… or risk entering a Dark Aether portal to a new region for even more rewards.” The four new Multiplayer maps are Apocalypse (6v6), which is set in the Lao jungle, Golova (Fireteam), which is set in the Ural Plains, Mansion (2v2, 3v3), set in Havana, Cuba at the Hefe Mansion from the campaign’s End of the Line mission, and finally Miami Strike (6v6). Miami Strike is interesting because it’s a smaller, daytime version of the original Miami map, which is considered one of the game’s worst maps. Hopefully the reduced size and better visibility will improve matters. New Multiplayer modes include Call of Duty favourite Gun Game, Stockpile (6v6), which is a mix of Kill Confirmed and Hardpoint, and Hardpoint multi-team, a new 10 squads-of-four mode that takes place across the biggest maps in Black Ops Cold War. Multiplayer also gets the new Death Machine scorestreak. This is the handheld minigun from the original Black Ops. Now on to Warzone. Activision said Verdansk will get a number of points of interest to either discover or explore. These advance Warzone’s story. There’s mention of the cargo tanker Vodianoy, which players had spotted off the coast of Rebirth Island recently. This ship had gone missing at sea, but is now heading toward the Port of Verdansk. “Operators within the vicinity are recommended to exercise extreme caution,” reads the official blurb, “as the ship is carrying unknown cargo, and its crew are not able to be contacted.” And there’s something “beginning to rumble” deep underground within Verdansk, although these new locales are yet to be detailed. I imagine players will sniff them out soon after Season Two launches. Black Ops Cold War gets a rolling update on 23rd February and Warzone gets a rolling update on 24th February to get Season Two going. Season Two launches between 9pm and 11pm Pacific Time on 24th February. That’s 5am and 7am UK time on 25th February.
