At DICE 2015, Treyarch hinted that their new zombies mode will likely be World at War 2 - a sequel to the highly popular FPS released in 2008. The new game would take players back to an authentic World War 2 setting with Richtofen taking the lead as the main character.
During the Twitch livestream, we heard directly from Mark Lamia, studio head at Treyarch, who spoke in depth about the history of Call of Duty zombies. Mark's a 20 year veteran and has been shaping the future of Treyarch's Call of Duty games for the last decade, including playing a major role in the introduction of zombies.
zombies dlc
Mark spoke about the origins of Call of Duty zombies and how it was nearly cancelled. It wasn't until Mark actually played the game that he realised that zombies was really fun, at which point he reversed his plans to cancel the unsanctioned development. Thank god he did otherwise we'd never have played zombies today.
Clues and Hints
Throughout the presentation Treyarch left several clues to the zombies mode coming in 2015. I've listed some of these below:
Richtofen missing from character photos
Richtofen missing
During the presentation several slideshow images were displayed. One in particular showed the four main characters from World at War - Dempsey, Nikolai, Richtofen and Takeo….but Richtofen was purposely crossed out with a red marker pen. Could this clue lead us to believe that the next zombies mode will focus solely on Richtofen's character? It would make sense following the final cutscene from Origins where Samantha tells Richtofen that it would be his turn to make the rules tomorrow.
Number 2 etched on the moon
Number 2 etched on the moon
Several of the presentation images were from the Moon map, part of the Black Ops series but the second moon image was the most interesting. If you rotate the image you'll see there's a number two etched into the Moon, hinting at a sequel i.e. World at War 2. Is this just coincidence? Seems photoshopped into that image for a reason.
World at War with number 2 over the top
World at War with number 2 over the top
Possibly the biggest hint that World at War 2 is coming next. Look at the timeline image and you'll see the red mark with a number 2 circles around the World at War game. A strong hint that a sequel will be coming next/
The original World at War
All Treyarch fans will know that World at War was the first game in the COD series to introduce the round-based zombie survival mode. Starting with Nacht de Untoten (Night of the Living Dead), a secret map that players had to unlock by playing the entire single player campaign, Treyarch later published three additional maps through DLC which expanded the zombie experience to include traps, perk machines and Wonder Weapons.
Many of you will know the 3 DLC maps from World at War:
Verrückt - set in a mental asylum, traps and perk machines made their first appearance.
Shi no Numa - set in Japan, the map introduced Hell Hounds, the first Wonder Weapon and mini Easter Eggs.
Der Riese - the start of the Easter Egg phenomena, pack-a-punch and teleportation. This map kick started the journey to Black Ops zombies.
Following on from WaW, Call of Duty zombies soon grew into a fully fledged side-mode with intricate Easter Eggs and secret Wonder Weapons to uncover. It became so popular that players would buy the game purely because of the zombies mode rather than the competitive multiplayer.
Many would agree that World at War was the most memorable of the zombies series. Maybe because the mode was new and everything felt fresh, but looking back, the maps were perfectly designed, balanced and replayable. They had that authentic wartime feel which was sadly lost in Black Ops 2.
Back to World War 2
During the final Treyarch zombies map, a DLC addition called "Origins" took players back to the First World War, in the trenches of France to discover the source of the 115 outbreak. This map packed in the most zombie features to date including several Wonder Weapons, a lengthy Easter Egg, several buildables and an ending cutscene. Those who completed the final Easter Egg for Origins (called Little Lost Girl) will have witnessed the cutscene between Maxis, his daughter Samantha and Richtofen. The scene ends with Maxis rushing the children downstairs to avoid a bombing raid - possibly hinting at the start of a whole new zombies story set during World War 2.
For the last 3 years, Treyarch fans have expressed their desire for a return to the World War 2 setting, where the origins of zombies took shape. The introduction of futuristic weapons in Ghosts and subsequently the recent introduction of Exo Suits in Advanced Warfare have taken COD down a futuristic path that's pushed long time fans away from the franchise.
This semi-official announcement from Treyarch now suggests that World at War 2 is coming in 2015. It's going to be an exciting 9 months to see what the kings of zombie mode come up with next!!