Cry Havoc! Take a closer look at Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s first DLC

By Will Fulton January 14, 2015

cry havoc take closer look call duty advanced warfares first dlc of exo zombies — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Havoc, the first downloadable content release for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, arrives on January 27, 2015 for Xbox One, with other platforms to follow at a later date. Developer Sledgehammer Games has released a new, in-depth video that shows off Havoc’s features. The content pack adds four new multiplayer maps, a new weapon, and the hotly anticipated Exo Zombies mode.

Each of the new maps contains dynamic elements that alter the flow of battle in unique ways. Urban is a dense, city map that shifts the channels of its close-quarters combat midway through with a lockdown that opens and closes passages. Core is set in the ruined facilities of a Gobi desert nuclear reactor with flying drone robots that attack the nearest available target. Drift is set in an idyllic, Rocky Mountain ski village that’s disrupted halfway through matches by an avalanche that buries one side of the map. Finally, Sideshow is set in a creepy carnival that centers around a marquee clown sign that periodically spits out powerful explosives.

It wouldn’t be the future without lasers, so Havoc also adds a new directed energy assault rifle to your arsenal for frying your opponents in these new maps.

Exo Zombies expands upon the tradition of zombie survival modes that have appeared in Call of Duty games since World at War in 2008. This is the first iteration in a game not developed by Treyarch. The zombies all wear the same exoskeletons that power up the players in Advanced Warfare, making them faster, stronger, and deadlier. The new mode also features an all-star cast of John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan, and Jon Bernthal as the playable employees of Atlas, much in the same way that the Call of the Dead DLC zombie map for Black Ops featured Danny Trejo, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, and Michael Rooker (and Living Dead series creator George Romero).

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Havoc will be available to download from Xbox Live on January 27, with other platforms to follow shortly.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

Gaming

The best field upgrades for Modern Warfare 3 Zombies

A man holding a mysterious glowing vial.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Zombies mode puts a slight twist on the mechanics you are already familiar with. It now plays much more like a souped-up DMZ mode rather than its old round-based format. And Field Upgrades have been modified in terms of both their effects and how you get them just for this game type. There are six different Field Upgrades you can bring into the map and use on a cooldown timer to help improve your chances of survival, but you can only pick one at a time. You will begin the game with only one option, but steadily unlock the rest as you level up. Once you have them all, the question then becomes which is the best Field Upgrade? We've managed to exfiltrate with the answer.

Healing Aura
Regardless of whether or not you're playing with a team or running solo, Healing Aura is no doubt the best Field Upgrade to bring on any Zombie run. When activated, you and any teammates in the area will not only gain immediate healing, but it will also instantly revive any downed teammates. The downside to all this power is that this upgrade has the slowest recharge time and is unlocked at level 19.
Aether Shroud
This is another upgrade that you will be glad to have. Aether Shroud makes you you temporary invisibile to all Zombies. This won't make you invincible, mind you, and PMCs can still take shots, but if you're getting swarmed and have no way to escape, becoming instantly invisible to a bloodthirsty pack of zombies can save your skin more often than you think. This upgrade has a medium recharge rate and is unlocked when you hit level 39.
Frenzied Guard
Just past the halfway mark, Frenzied Guard has a massive upside, but not without some risk. When you pop this Field Upgrade, you instantly repair all your armor, but also draw all the aggression of any enemy nearby for 10 seconds. However, another perk is that anything you kill during this time also repairs your armor, so situationally, it can be great or detrimental. This one recharges slowly, unlocking at level 9.
Frost Blast
Frost Blast does exactly what you expect: it fires a freezing blast that will slow down any enemy you hit with it and deal a bit of damage. It's decent in a pinch, but not a game-changer. You can get it when you hit level 29.
Tesla Storm
An odd ability on paper, Tesla Storm is only good if you have a team working together. Activating it will create a lightning chain between you and your team that will damage and stun enemies that get close to any one of you. It lasts for 10 seconds and can be great in the final moments while holding out for an extraction, but not in other situations. It recharges slowly and is the last upgrade you unlock at level 50.
Energy Mine
This is your default Field Upgrade, so it makes sense that it's the "worst" on the list. Energy Mine isn't exactly bad; you simply lay down a mine that does what a mine does -- explodes. It's just that setting up traps like this in Zombies isn't all that applicable except when kiting a boss around or waiting for the helicopter. It has a medium recharge speed.

Gaming

How to fix packet burst in Modern Warfare 3

A soldier shields themself from an underwater explosion.

The last thing anyone wants to see when booting up a game like Modern Warfare 3 to head online with your friends is to be stopped by an error. Online games are susceptible to all types of problems beyond the player's control, leading to plenty of frustration and disappointment in a possibly ruined experience. While there are more substantial issues that can completely prevent you from playing, seeing the packet burst issue is almost worse because, while it does let you play, you will experience a ton of lag that makes the game essentially unplayable. If you've been struck by a packet burst error in Modern Warfare 3, here are some possible solutions so you can get back to fragging.
How to fix packet burst errors

If you spot a symbol of three squares on the left of your screen while playing Modern Warfare 3, it means you're suffering from a packet burst. This is essentially an error where something is messed up in the communication between your system and the game's servers, resulting in terrible performance. While it could be simply an issue on the server side and not related to you at all, which you can check by looking at the Modern Warfare 3 server status here, there are a few things you can do to potentially fix the issue on your end.

Gaming

Modern Warfare 3 Zombies: Mercenary Convoy guide

Soldiers in a car driving and shooting zombies.

The old format of Zombies has been left behind in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in favor of a more open-world, objective-based take on the undead survival game type. This time, you will squad up and drop into a map with specific objectives you can choose to complete to earn tons of XP, while also pushing the narrative forward and unlocking new, more difficult tasks to take on. The early-tier missions are generally very simple, but in Act 1, you will be given the objective to find and destroy a Mercenary Convoy somewhere on the map. This sounds easy enough on paper until you realize you have no idea where this convey is or how to find it. Every run in Zombies risks losing all your hard-earned progress, so we'll lead you to the Mercenary Convoy to take it out before the zombies even know you were there.
How to find the Mercenary Convoy

Your first challenge will be to find this Mercenary Convoy. The problem here is twofold: first is that it isn't marked on your map in any way, and second is that, being a convoy, it is mobile. Once you land, you and your team should find the nearest vehicle and head toward the center of the map. Depending on how the threat levels are on your particular map, you are looking for roads and highways that are around the medium-threat level zone. You will have to patrol these roads until you come across the convoy, which only consists of three vehicles. Once you are in range, it does appear on your map to let you know you've found it.