Three new operators will also be brought into play throughout the season, including “alpine war specialist” Wraith, a Dublin-born MI6 agent named Knight and a former hitman named Antonov. Wraith is available at Level 0 in Battle Pass Season three, with Operators remaining unlocked through Store Three Season packages. A special version of Captain Price’s Cold War will also be offered to players who own or purchase the Black War from the Black Ops when the season begins.
The April 22 update will also introduce six new weapons into play, including the PPSh-41 SMG, the Swiss K31 Sniper Rifle, the CARV.2 Tactical Rifle, the fully self-propelled AMP63 pistol and two new melee weapons. Players will be able to use a ballistic knife that can “silence deadly recoverable blades” and a baseball bat that is good for those who do harm. The return of the ballistic knife coincides with the return of the Sticks and Stones game mode focused on the body / projectile popularized by previous games in the Black Ops series.
Black Ops Cold War multiplayer fans will also be thrilled to learn that the update is set to introduce new Prestige levels up to Prestige 15, as well as four new maps. Yamantau (6v6) and Diesel (6v6 / 2v2 / 3v3) will arrive during the launch week, while the Black Ops II (6v6) and Duga (Multi-Team) standoffs will arrive in season. The Multi-Team label also alludes to the new way of eliminating more teams that comes during the season, where “several teams of four will fight to survive the ever-expanding radiation zones” on some of the largest game maps. Season three will also feature a new Strafe Run Scorestreak, a Cargo Truck in large multi-team maps and a new Upgrade and Outbreak map for Zombies fans.Especially for Warzone, the blog post explains that the zombie map invasion has “reached a critical level.” The update notes show that the battlefield “has become too dangerous for even a level 1 operator to survive” and is wondering if a “conflagration” (a huge fire) could be imminent. Players have been asked to make themselves available for “Operation Rapid Sunder”, which is said to start on April 21, with the first instructions arriving at 12 PM PT.
Many believe this could be when the Warzone map is destroyed and, according to leaks, will revise the Verdansk map with a style closer to the 1980s theme of the Cold War Call of Duty Black Ops.
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.