GAMES
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Launch Details
Summary
- Jump into an epic launch featuring a globe-trotting, single-player Campaign, innovative world-class Multiplayer, and the highly replayable and cooperative Special Ops.
- Meet the newest operators under SpecGru and KorTac special forces in Multiplayer and Special Ops and add more to your arsenal with Weapon Platforms.
- Get ready for Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Season 01, dropping November 16 with Al Mazrah, a massive metropolitan area playing a pivotal role in the Modern Warfare II narrative.
Launch marks the start of content through the beginning of Season 01 and the release of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. Read on for a look at the highlights.
Campaign – Globe-Trotting, Single Player
Dive into the continuation of Modern Warfare’s (2019) storyline, which grows the in-game universe further with unprecedented global conflict. Check out the blog from last week for more details on the Campaign.
Multiplayer – Innovative, Immersive, and World Class
Modern Warfare II Multiplayer defines emergent gameplay with a focus on variety. On day one, there will be 12 unique modes: 10 traditional modes on Core Maps and two Ground War modes on Battle Maps.
These maps are grouped into one of three regional categories:
Al Mazrah
This metropolitan area and its outskirts within the Republic of Adal serve as the main region for Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0.
Several Core Maps and Battle Maps will be based in this region, making Multiplayer a phenomenal place to learn the various points of interest.
Las Almas
A major place of interest within the Modern Warfare II Campaign, Las Almas is a Central American region with a similar footprint to Al Mazrah.
In Multiplayer, the region will host a similar split of Core Maps and Battle Maps.
Other Locales
The last group of Multiplayer locales represents a mixture of Campaign environments and locations outside the main storyline, rounding out the universe with glimpses of what is happening in regions other than Al Mazrah and Las Almas.
Special Ops – Replayable Co-Op, Raids Coming in Season 01
An evolution of the Special Ops mode from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). It will feature three missions at launch, all taking place in Al Mazrah:
Bad Situation
Infiltrate a town in the dead of night to uncover intel and evidence left behind by Al Qatala before exfiltrating. Stealth is key to survival.
Vehicle Escape
Multiple SAM turrets are preventing reinforcements from entering Al Mazrah. Drive through the winding streets of a suburb to destroy them, and then speed over to the exfil plane to escape.
Observatory Defense
A bona fide survival mode. Defend the observatory from increasingly difficult waves of enemies attempting to detonate bombs. Between each wave, Operators can spend cash to get items such as Killstreaks, Self-Revive Kits, and armor plates.
In Special Ops, Operators will equip a Backpack to store equipment and choose from one of three available kits: Assault, Medic, and Engineer. Each offers a variety of items and abilities built for different strategies. Level up your Kits by earning Stars through missions and mission-related challenges.
We recommend completing all three Special Ops missions with three stars and leveling up at least one Kit to Rank 5 before Raids are introduced to Special Ops later in Season 01.
Prepare for Warzone 2.0 and Season 01, Dropping on November 16
Through Modern Warfare II Multiplayer and Special Ops, familiarize yourself with the core of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0:
Operators – 25 Available at Launch. Eighteen can be unlocked during the Modern Warfare II pre-season. Plus, get two Mil-Sim Operators with four unique outfits unlocked by default and four unlocked via the Vault Edition.
Weapons – Over 30 Weapon Platforms at Launch for Over 50 Unique Weapons. Get anywhere from one to six unique weapons per platform. Vault Edition owners gain access to the FJX Cinder Weapon Vault (Weapon Vault design limited to Weapon Vault contents at launch), which contains all Receivers and attachments for one of the Weapon Platforms available at launch. Beta participants will have access to both their Weapon Blueprints, if unlocked during the Beta period.
Operators – Meet SpecGru and KorTac
Following the events of the Campaign, two private military contractors – SpecGru and KorTac – are founded as special forces for hire.
These two factions are ready to deploy in Modern Warfare II Multiplayer and Special Ops at launch. All players will automatically have access to the default Mil-Sim Operators for each faction.
Eighteen more Operators can be unlocked through Campaign, Multiplayer, and Special Ops challenges. In addition, four more Operators are available via the Vault Edition’s Red Team 141 pack.
Once unlocked, all these Operators will also be available in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, alongside new Operators arriving in Season 01 and beyond.
Weapons – Weapon Platforms and Gunsmith
At launch, there are over 30 unique Weapon Platforms available to unlock through the Military Ranks. Each Weapon Platform contains up to six weapons, which can be obtained by leveling up specific weapons within a Weapon Platform.
By unlocking all these Weapon Platforms and completing all applicable Weapon Platform progression thresholds, you will have 52 Primary and Secondary Weapons in your arsenal.
RICOCHET Anti-Cheat on Day One
Modern Warfare II launches with a new unified security platform that features new and returning mitigations to promote fair play.
Read the update from the RIOCHET Anti-Cheat team here for more information.
Additional Launch Intel
Get exclusive Modern Warfare II content for free by watching your favorite streamers play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on Twitch! Simply link your Call of Duty/Activision account to your Twitch Prime account and earn up to seven item unlocks as you watch.
Also, visit the Call of Duty Shop for new Task Force 141 gear celebrating the release of Modern Warfare II, including an anime-inspired hoodie and dozens of other fits for the whole squad.
Squad Up Today
Modern Warfare II is available now on the Xbox Store. Purchase the Cross-Gen Bundle for $69.99 (MSRP) or the Vault Edition for $99.99 (MSRP). Players who buy the Vault Edition of Modern Warfare II will receive additional benefits including the Red Team 141 Operator Pack, FJX Cinder Weapon Vault, Season 01 Battle Pass, and 50 Tier Skips.
Stay frosty.
Note: Battle Pass and Tier skips, or equivalent versions, will be accessible in Modern Warfare II once the Season 01 Battle Pass, or equivalent system, is made available in game. Battle Pass redemption applies to one season of Modern Warfare II Battle Pass, or equivalent system only. For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Vault Edition
Activision Publishing Inc.
$99.99
The Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Vault Edition includes the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game.
Existing Modern Warfare® II Digital Cross-Gen Bundle owners can upgrade to the Vault Edition as part of a limited time offer.
Includes:
– Cross Gen Bundle of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II
— Includes Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game
– Red Team 141 Operator Pack:
— 4 Operators: Ghost, Soap, Farah and Price
– FJX Cinder – First-Ever Weapon Vault*
– Battle Pass (1 Season) + 50 Tier Skips**
Welcome to the new era of Call of Duty®.
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II drops players into an unprecedented global conflict that features the return of the iconic Operators of Task Force 141.
Infinity Ward brings fans state-of-the-art gameplay, with all-new gun handling, advanced AI system, a new Gunsmith and a suite of other gameplay and graphical innovations that elevate the franchise to new heights.
Modern Warfare® II launches with a globe-trotting single-player campaign, immersive Multiplayer combat and an evolved Special Ops game mode featuring tactical co-op gameplay.
*Weapon Vault design limited to Weapon Vault contents at launch.
**Battle Pass and Tier Skips, or equivalent versions, will be accessible in Modern Warfare® II once the Season 1 Battle Pass, or equivalent system, is made available in game. Battle Pass redemption applies to one season of Modern Warfare® II Battle Pass, or equivalent system, only.
For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.
© 2022 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY and MODERN WARFARE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software (‘Id Technology’). Id Technology © 1999-2022 Id Software, Inc.
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Cross-Gen Bundle
Activision Publishing Inc.
$69.99
Includes:
– Cross Gen Bundle of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II
— Includes Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game
Welcome to the new era of Call of Duty®.
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II drops players into an unprecedented global conflict that features the return of the iconic Operators of Task Force 141.
Infinity Ward brings fans state-of-the-art gameplay, with all-new gun handling, advanced AI system, a new Gunsmith and a suite of other gameplay and graphical innovations that elevate the franchise to new heights.
Modern Warfare® II launches with a globe-trotting single-player campaign, immersive Multiplayer combat and an evolved Special Ops game mode featuring tactical co-op gameplay.
For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.
© 2022 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY and MODERN WARFARE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software (‘Id Technology’). Id Technology © 1999-2022 Id Software, Inc.
GAMES
This Week’s Deals with Gold and Spotlight Sale
GAMES
The German Empire Marches to Italy in a Free Expansion Today
We have a new expansion for our WW1 Italian Front FPS game Isonzo releasing today! It’s the first part of our Caporetto season of free expansions, and features a whole new faction with the arrival of the German Empire on the Italian Front, and brings a new map for the Offensive game mode. There will be two more releases in the Caporetto season, each one with a new map to ultimately link together into a three map Caporetto Offensive.
The German faction comes with more than ten new weapons, as well as historically accurate uniforms and equipment. This first Caporetto map sees you taking part in the early stages of the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, with German troops assaulting Italian positions on the road to Caporetto. Historically it was a military disaster for Italy which brought down the government – but maybe things can go differently with you on the battlefield?
The update sees new uniforms and equipment from the German Empire for Isonzo’s six classes: Rifleman, Assault, Engineer, Officer, Marksman and Mountaineer. For those who aren’t familiar with the game, each class has different weapon, gear and perk options that allow you to specialize your play style within the overall focus of the class. For instance, Marksmen are always sharpshooters, but a lot depends on your loadout. You could be a long-range sniper and observer identifying and eliminating high value targets with a scoped rifle, or you could equip body armor to take and hold a front line position with deadly accurate mid-range fire. Every class has choices to make in this regard.
In Isonzo’s signature Offensive game mode, one side must attack and break through multiple defensive lines. Thick layers of barbed wire, trenches, and whatever extra defenses the enemy engineers put together will stand in the way of a successful attack. Objectives can be taking and holding key points, or planting dynamite to sabotage enemy supply stashes or heavy artillery guns.
The new Caporetto map – the first of three in the season – is a huge battlefield based on the strategically important Monte Kolovrat. There are five defensive lines, where each line has two objectives for the attackers before they can advance further. While in the historical Battle of Caporetto both German and Austro-Hungarian forces were involved, in Isonzo we’ve chosen to focus on the German contribution, so the map recreates the stunning German advance from the town of Tolmein all the way to Kolovrat Ridge. It’s a damp, overcast day when the attack begins, and the attackers must first cut their way through lines of wire to break into a devastated town – including capturing a church defended by multiple heavy machine gun positions. Fortunately, in Isonzo there are many tactical options available to deal with such strong points: artillery barrages, smokescreens, snipers, rifle grenades, even poison gas. From there, it becomes a literal uphill battle for the German attackers as they begin to climb towards the peak of Kolovrat Ridge. They’ll need to sabotage bunkers and capture command posts while navigating rocky trenches and steep forested slopes. At the penultimate fourth defensive line there is a huge siege mortar to sabotage and a cluster of houses providing cover to the Italian defenders – then it’s one last climb to reach the final objective: Hill 1114. If the Germans can take it, the Italians will finally be the ones fighting uphill as their reinforcements stream in to try and counterattack.
Of course, things are no walk in the park for the defenders either – although it’s easier to maneuver when going downhill, and it’s much simpler for officers to deploy flares to call in support, the extensive trench lines can become a liability once the Germans get a foothold, providing cover as they advance. Some of the Italian defensive positions can be exposed against the sky, making it easy for German marksmen to pick off targets. Italian engineers should make good use of their construction abilities to put down additional sandbags and lay out extra wire to prevent German assault troops sneaking through the trees to flank trenches with their grenades or light machine guns.
As we mentioned before, historically the Battle of Caporetto was a disaster for the Italians. Appalling leadership led to poorly motivated and unprepared troops falling apart in the face of the combined Austro-Hungarian and German armies using cutting edge infiltration tactics. The Italian soldiers were not allowed to retreat until too late, and in the end hundreds of thousands would surrender. After Caporetto the top Italian general was fired and replaced by someone far more competent, who managed to turn the war around for the Italians. In Isonzo, it’s a more fair fight where both sides have an equal chance of winning, if they can use all the tactical options available better than their opponents.
The release will also bring other improvements to the game, including a prestige mode and higher level cap. Additionally, for those who want more options for visual customization of their character, the Royal Units DLC is releasing alongside the free expansion and contains uniforms from the German Kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg. Though part of the German Empire, these states had their own distinctive uniforms which we’ve carefully recreated with the same accuracy and attention to detail as with the other uniforms in the game.
The Battle for Caporetto Begins…
Isonzo is available right now on the Microsoft Store for Xbox, and the free Caporetto expansion is out today! Plenty of time to master the art of mountain warfare before the German Empire joins the action on the Italian Front. Follow us to get the latest development news as we add the finishing touches!
We’ll see you in the trenches!
Isonzo
BlackMill Games
$29.99
World War One expands to the mountains of the Italian Front – beautiful but deadly in equal measure. Inspired by the two year struggle for control of the Isonzo river valley and the Alps during World War One, Isonzo elevates the WW1 Games Series, figuratively and literally.
From the makers of Verdun and Tannenberg…
Take part in historical offensives from the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo to the Strafexpedition. Reflecting the course of the actual battles, as the attackers advance the fighting will shift through vastly different landscapes within a single offensive: from hillside fortresses to mountain trenches and fierce urban combat on city streets. Everything is recreated based on research and field trips, from sound effects and uniforms down to the houses, vineyards and trenches you’ll be fighting over.
The new Offensive game mode puts you right in the middle of key historical offensives on the Italian Front. Lead the charge across stunning Italian landscapes as you choose your path to victory – cut paths through barbed wire, flank your enemies by following mountain trails, or man a mortar to blast a way through. Shape a dynamic battlefield by laying sandbags and wire, placing ammo crates, deploying trench periscopes or sniper shields, and more.
Call in support with a unique historically accurate flare system: flare guns can mark targets for artillery or biplane flybys, or different colored flares can be used to guide your team. Once the big guns have softened up the enemy, finish the job at close quarters with an Arditi dagger or mountaineer’s pickaxe. Man heavy machine guns, mortars and even mountain guns for more direct fire support.
Choose from six classes based on historical combat roles and build your loadout from a selection of weapons, equipment and perks linked to that class, giving flexibility and variety while staying grounded in what real soldiers might have carried. You’ll be operating wire cutters, bandaging yourself and wounded teammates, and blowing the whistle to start an assault. One shot can kill and even lighter injuries can lead to quickly bleeding out.
Being an effective soldier in Isonzo is not just about being a good marksman. Mastering the terrain is also key – the mountain can be a friend or foe. Learn how to navigate well to maintain cover and surprise your enemies or support your allies.
Finally… watch out for the dreaded poison gas. You’ve never experienced WW1 action quite like this!
Isonzo key features include:
• MOUNTAIN WARFARE: Assaulting mountain fortifications, battling through ruined towns, and fording rivers are just a few of the challenges you’ll face as you fight your way through numerous enemy positions
• TACTICAL MULTIPLAYER FPS: Choose your role and loadout carefully to survive this high altitude combat – play a sniper to pick off the enemy engineers before they can cut your wire, use rifle grenades to clear enemy machine guns, and much more
• WORLD WAR ONE GAMEPLAY: Historical Offensive game mode based on real battles and focused on the unique challenges of Alpine warfare. Fight with 30+ WW1 weapons, poisonous gas attacks, and intense artillery barrages
• BUILD FOR VICTORY: Place your own wire, sandbags, trench periscopes, and more! Whether you’re digging in or on the attack, shaping the battlefield to your advantage will be key to victory
• FACES OF WAR: Make every class your own by picking from a variety of historically class-appropriate uniforms, accessories and headgear. As a finishing touch, you can even pick your mustache from several famous period-accurate styles!
• AUTHENTIC WW1 ATMOSPHERE: Accuracy in everything from maps and weaponry to music and the uniforms – fight for the Kingdom of Italy, the German Empire or the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy
MORE GAMES IN THE AUTHENTIC WW1 GAME SERIES
Immerse yourself in more WW1 action with our other standalone titles Tannenberg and Verdun. Experience trench warfare on the Western Front in Verdun, or maneuver for control of key sectors in Tannenberg on the Eastern Front. These authentic WW1 shooters let players choose from a range of squads from across the war, as they fight for control of the ever-changing frontlines.
GAMES
Transport Fever 2: Console Edition is Bringing the Full Transport Tycoon Experience to Xbox
Today, we proudly share a sneak peek into the development of Transport Fever 2: Console Edition, and how we managed to bring the full transport tycoon experience to Xbox.
Transport Fever is a very popular and highly rated transportation tycoon franchise on PC. Its latest entry, Transport Fever 2, delivers a level of size and detail never before seen in the genre. The goal of the game is to build a successful transportation company by constructing railroads, streets, water and air lines. Starting in the 19th century, the player connects towns and industries to transport both passengers and cargo. In addition to a customizable free game mode, there is also a fully-fledged campaign mode with challenging missions set in real-world transportation history.
After the huge success of Transport Fever 2 on PC, it was only logical to bring the experience to consoles as well. Not only that, but no efforts were spared to give the console community the full experience that made the game great on PC. In order to achieve this, the engineers at Urban Games had to pull some rabbits out of their engineers’ hats.
Always providing the freshest layer of paint
One of the most cherished features of Transport Fever 2 are its highly detailed vehicles. The game comes with more than 200 lovingly hand-modeled trains, ships, and airplanes, each sporting multiple 4k textures and normal maps.
On PC, it is easily affordable to have all the models and textures in memory whenever needed, as a typical rig has 16 GB of RAM and a GPU with a dedicated extra memory. Consoles, however, are built differently. They have a unified architecture with an overall smaller amount but ultra-fast memory. The key to make it work on consoles is texture streaming, which allows to clear textures of models that are not in view anymore. Moreover, this technology is used in Transport Fever 2 to constantly load textures at the highest affordable resolution to present the stars of the show, like the classic Class A 3/5 steam locomotive, in their best coat of paint at all times.
Keeping the ground like a console pro
A trademark of Transport Fever 2 are its huge maps. During development of the game, it was always paramount to provide a real sense of scale. The engine should allow for maps where a high-speed train, such as the famous Japanese Shinkansen, can really make use of its superior speed. So, a lot of effort was put into designing a highly effective terrain rendering pipeline that can handle maps of more than 120 sq miles of size with a detail resolution of almost 1 yard. Central to this is a dynamic terrain tessellation algorithm on the CPU that, while costing a bit of extra memory, makes sure the engine can render these maps on a wide variety of PCs.
Now, enter the world of consoles with their incredibly well-designed GPUs and graphic APIs. Here, the hardware can be leveraged very well for terrain rendering by making use of the GPU tessellation feature. This feature generates the render mesh for the terrain fully on the graphics card, saving valuable processing time for the complex economy and city growth simulations. While generating more triangles, the hardware approach still costs less memory overall due to its efficiency. So vast maps can be viewed from a bird’s view high up in the sky and seamlessly zoomed in down to individual rocks on a riverbank.
Inspiring the inner architect
Finally, let’s talk about constructions, a central and defining part of the Transport Fever 2 experience. Constructions are large assemblies that consist of dozens of assets, street segments, ground decals and terrain modifications. Think of structures like airports, train stations, docks, highway crossings, and many more. Anything that is needed to build a vast transportation empire.
For a smooth construction experience, it is key that the player really feels that he has precise control over the building placement. On PC, constructions are typically built using the mouse. As the average PC user is very well adjusted to this method of input, it is sufficiently performant to calculate the entire construction each frame and place it under the cursor. However, on consoles, the best way of building constructions is to have them always kept in the center of the screen and move the camera along the map for placement. And moving the camera needs to be as smooth as silk.
So, for the console release of Transport Fever 2, the construction preview pipeline was overhauled. All dynamic calculations are now performed in the background while a static preview of the structure and its underlying ground plan are shown. Not only are constructions now completely stable in terms of FPS, but they also give feedback to the player on what environment features the construction would tear down when built.
Let’s get tycooning on console
We are very excited to bring the Transport Fever franchise to consoles for the first time ever with the release of Transport Fever 2: Console Edition on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One in February 2023, and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we did developing it.
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