“Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” isn’t just doubling down on its popular zombie mode, it’s tripling down. During last week’s unveiling of “Black Ops 4,” Treyarch developers took to the stage one at a time to detail the three different experiences players will go on in their attack on zombies in the upcoming game. There will be Blood of the Dead, a classic zombies’ mode that drops players back into the storyline of previous “Black Ops” titles; Voyage of Despair, which features a new cast that finds themselves on the Titanic; and there’s a story that takes place in an arena in ancient Rome. The trailer for that Rome experience, simply called IX, shows the new cast of characters taking on an army of the undead, not with firearms, but the swords, axes, and shields. “Right now the way we’re talking about zombies is very teasery and high level,” Treyarch co-studio head Dan Bunting told Variety. He was willing to answer one pressing question though: Will the IX map consist entirely of melee weapons? “There are weapons in that map that aren’t just melee,” he said. “You don’t see that in the teaser. We don’t want to go too much into details. It’s precious.” He said that the Blood of the Dead map, which brings back the mode’s original characters, is something “fans have been clamoring for, for a long time.” Bunting said their teams are putting a lot of energy into these new zombie experiences. “We are going to put every bit of passion and love into every one of those experiences,” he said. “There is no shortage of energy for making zombie levels. There is definitely room for more.” And, as with the game’s still mostly mysterious Specialist solo levels, Bunting promise that the team will be talking more about the many ways to take on zombies “later.”<doc-sep>When the upcoming Call of Duty game was revealed earlier this month, many fans immediately thought about what the new title could bring to the Zombies game mode. But nobody expected that Treyarch would release Black Ops 4 with three Zombies map at launch—a first in franchise history. And one of the maps, Blood of the Dead, is a remastered version of a fan-favorite Zombies experience: Mob of the Dead. We don’t know much about Blood of the Dead yet—we only got a short trailer during the reveal event, and all it showed was the original Zombies cast of Dempsey, Richtofen, Takeo, and Nikolai in the Mob of the Dead setting. But for any Zombies fans who didn’t play Mob of the Dead when it was released for Black Ops II in April 2013, here’s what you can expect from the Blood of the Dead remake. The original Mob of the Dead map takes place on Dec. 31, 1933 on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. The traditional cast of playable characters is replaced by four inmates: Michael “Finn” O’Leary, Albert “Weasel” Arlington, Salvatore “Sal” DeLuca, and Billy Handsome. These mobsters are trying to escape Alcatraz when the zombie outbreak begins. Related: What we learned from the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies reveal Most of the gameplay on this map takes place in or within the vicinity of the Alcatraz prison, which sets up a lot of close-quarters engagements with hordes of the living dead. But in Mob of the Dead, you can build a plane that takes you to the Golden Gate Bridge—which is also where the Pack-a-Punch machine is located. It’s unclear what Treyarch will carry over from Mob of the Dead, but there are many cool weapons and features that could be seen in Blood of the Dead. The first gameplay mechanic that was introduced to Call of Duty Zombies in Mob of the Dead was Afterlife mode, which can be activated either by going down or by using one of the high voltage panels spread across the map. Image via Activision When Afterlife is activated, you’re essentially traveling as the spirit of your playable character. You even gain an electric shock attack that’s needed to turn on perk machines or open gates. Afterlife is crucial for completing in-game tasks, such as the Easter Egg—and you can even revive yourself when you’re down. A new boss zombie named Brutus was also introduced in Mob of the Dead. He’s basically the zombified version of a fully-armored prison guard. Brutus has more health and deals more damage than a typical zombie, and his only true weak spot is his head—shoot off his helmet to give yourself the best chance to kill him. He can also disable any powered-up perk machines or the Mystery Box when he passes by them, so you’ll want to take Brutus out as quickly as possible. Image via [Activision](http://callofduty-forums.com/community/threads/mob-of-the-dead-known-info.55173/) In addition, Mob of the Dead welcomed a slew of different weapons to the Zombies game mode. The Uzi, AK-47, M1927, and LSAT were all available in Mob of the Dead, and players could even get the Death Machine out of the Mystery Box instead of it being a power-up. A new wonder weapon called the Blundergat was introduced on this map, as well as a sweet tomahawk called Hell’s Retriever. The Blundergat can also be upgraded using the Acid Gat Kit, which is a buildable item in Mob of the Dead. But right now, it’s unclear which (if any) of these weapons or features will be reimagined in Blood of the Dead. Mob of the Dead also featured one of the most in-depth Easter Eggs, which ultimately involves Finn, Sal, and Billy trying to kill Weasel. Blood of the Dead will likely have some kind of Easter Egg, but it’s unknown how Treyarch will follow up on the previous iteration. Who knows—maybe Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai will have to try to kill Richtofen. Mob of the Dead was one of the most enjoyable Zombies maps in Call of Duty history, so fans will have high expectations for Blood of the Dead when Black Ops 4 is released on Oct. 12.<doc-sep>
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Zombies mode will uphold the series’ tradition: four-player co-op combat against waves of the undead, along with a weird sci-fi story underneath it all, developer Treyarch announced today during a live reveal event for the game. Black Ops 4’s Zombies component will unfurl across three different maps: IX, which is set in a gladiatorial arena; Voyage of Despair, which plays out on a certain doomed trans-Atlantic cruise ship; and Blood of the Dead, which takes place in a prison. (It’s inspired by Mob of the Dead, a fan-favorite Zombies map from Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 that was set on Alcatraz.) Players will be able to go solo with AI buddies if they can’t team up with human partners. The overarching storyline — which is separate from the past decade of Zombies experiences — focuses on “an ancient order hell-bent on transforming the world to fulfill their nefarious agenda,” said Zombies director Jason Blundell during the event. That makes sense in the context of the cryptic teaser that Treyarch tweeted earlier this month. The four playable characters are named Scarlet, Bruno, Diego and Shaw, and they’ll travel through time in an effort to secure an artifact so they can put a stop to the Illuminati-esque organization and its hordes of zombies. Treyarch is introducing a feature it refers to as Callings, a suite of post-launch updates that will include limited-time challenges, seasonal content and some surprises. Another new element is the custom mutation system, which offers about 100 different options allowing players to tweak their Zombies experience, like the ability to adjust zombie speed and player damage. In addition, the studio is bringing back the ability to choose difficulty settings. And the last big piece of Zombies is a new mode called Zombie Rush, which simplifies things for newcomers. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is set for release Oct. 12 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. You can see the trailer for Voyage of Despair below, along with 10 screenshots from Black Ops 4 and its Zombies mode.