Call of Duty: Warzone has had its fair share of ups and downs since its launch in 2020. Despite all its problems, Activision and its many Call of Duty developers have made an effort to listen to player feedback to ensure Warzone is the best game it can be. There’s still a long way to go, but the recent Season 3 Reloaded update was one of the — if not the — most notable examples of Activision’s efforts, as it bringsa hefty number of quality of life improvements and features. It’s easily the best update the game has received in a long time. But it’s not just us, even top Warzone streamers such as MuTeX have praised developer Raven Software and other support teams for the tremendous job on the latest update.
With that in mind, we’ve got a list of the best features implemented alongside Warzone Season 3 Reloaded, from simple gameplay adjustments to new additions and other highly requested features that make the overall experience much better.
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Easier regain (less time spent spectating)
One of the most frustrating aspects of Warzone — especially for newcomers — is the downtime that inevitably occurs after being eliminated. On Rebirth Island, this isn’t much of an issue since you can respawn after being eliminated, but on Caldera, it’s common to sit idly, waiting to be revived. This can cause players to back out of the match, or, at the very least, can ruin the pacing of the experience. Thankfully, the Warzone Season 3 Reloaded update has implemented numerous means to alleviate this frustration.
Now, it only costs $3,000 to revive an eliminated teammate instead of $4,000. In addition, players have a chance to encounter a Gulag Entry Token, which grants you an additional entry to the Gulag, even after you’ve been there once. A Redeploy Extraction Token, which immediately allows you to respawn, grants more access to lootable Self-Revive Kits, and brings less of a financial penalty after dying — specifically, allowing you to keep half your cash instead of only a fifth of it. All of these things allow you to get back into the action much faster, while still encouraging you to make strategic decisions on the battlefield.
Lootable perks on Rebirth Island
Part of the reason to prioritize getting a custom Loadout as soon as possible is to get your hands on your own perks, which give you an advantage on Caldera or Rebirth Island. Those who don’t have their Loadouts often can’t compete against players who do, due in part to the lack of perks. Now, all players have a chance to find perks in chests on Rebirth Island, giving players who have just respawned a chance to survive.
These are perks such as Serpentine, Tune-Up, Tracker, Hardline, Kill Chain, and E.O.D., all of which are nice to have. This also encourages players to loot more, in turn, helping out the team at large. Overall, it’s a balanced inclusion that might not seem like a substantial change, but still contributes to the overall fun factor.
Total health increased to 300 on Rebirth Island
Another major hurdle for newcomers to get past in Warzone is the fact that its time to kill (TTK) is so fast. In a battle royale game, it can be highly frustrating to spend 15 to 20 minutes surviving, only to be taken out in literally half a second, with little to no time to react. While Warzone’s TTK is still much faster than the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends, Activision has given all players an additional 50 health on Rebirth Island, permanently, allowing everyone slightly more time to react.
This still isn’t a major change, but yet another step in the right direction. It rewards consistency and accuracy, forcing players to hit as many shots as possible in order to win a particular gunfight. Previously, if you started firing at an opponent from behind, you’d likely win the gunfight, but now, the additional 50 HP allows players to bob and weave to cover, forcing an attacker to be much more precise now since their opponent has more wiggle room.
Underground transit system
Many matches end prematurely due to getting caught in the gas, which can ruin the fun. That’s why the new underground transit system is such a welcome addition, giving players a chance to fast travel to safety on Caldera. This isn’t a foolproof method of escaping the gas, but if you play your cards right, you can use the underground system to get to safety.
This particular system is much more intuitive than the subways and Red Doors from Verdansk, giving you multiple destinations to choose from, and even featuring a mechanic that notifies you if an enemy player is near your next stop. All of this makes it much easier to get around the map, once again keeping the fast pace intact.
HUD improvement
Finally, we wanted to give praise to the new and improved HUD, which features a boatload of changes. For starters, it now depicts the total cash of your entire squad, eliminating the need to have to do quick math while bullets fly past (or into) your head. In addition, each squad member’s plate counter appears on the HUD, along with icons for gas masks, killstreaks, Self-Revives, keycards, Gulag Entry tokens, and Redeploy Entry tokens.
All of these little inclusions remove the need to verbally communicate, which will hopefully allow squads to survive longer. This is especially useful since many players don’t have mics or aren’t skilled at communication.
