On November 16th, 2022, almost three years after Call of Duty Warzone debuted, Warzone 2.0 was released. It was a totally refreshed platform in many ways, bringing in a new engine, an all-new map, innovative features, and an entirely new game mode called DMZ. This mode was integrated into the Warzone 2.0 platform as something of an experiment, leaving many users wondering what it actually is. That’s why we’re bringing you a comprehensive guide, to explain exactly what DMZ is.
For the most part, Warzone 2.0 is a simple concept. It’s a tried-and-tested battle royale platform that has been dramatically popular since 2020. It’s a game that boasts hundreds of millions of users, and it’s massively valuable for content creators, professional players, and Activision, of course. But where does DMZ fit into that ecosystem, how does it work, and what actually inspired it to exist in the first place?
Let’s break into the answer and find out once and for all, what is Warzone 2.0’s DMZ mode.
Image Credit: Activision
DMZ is an all-new game mode built around a PvPvE ‘extraction shooter’ platform. It’s heavily inspired by the formula of why is Escape from Tarkov popular, a game that has pioneered the genre for years, and it offers a fundamentally more challenging experience than Warzone 2.0, despite being quite a similar game in general. For instance, DMZ is played on the same map, using the same engine, the same weapons, and, ultimately, the same tactics.
However, there’s a huge difference in the base nature of the mode. In Warzone 2.0, the chief objective is to be the last player left alive by the end of the game, by any means necessary. In DMZ, the objective is to enter the Al Mazrah map, complete objectives, fight human and AI opponents, loot high-value goods, and then extract from the map before the timer runs out. If a player successfully extracts from the map, they bring with them everything they’ve found, including weapons, equipment, gadgets, and items like keys.
Then, in the next ‘raid’, a player can re-deploy using the equipment they’ve just secured. There’s a huge caveat to the process though – if the player dies in-game, they’ll lose everything they’ve taken in and everything that they’ve found during the raid. They’ll receive XP as normal, but it’ll be a lesser amount, and any ongoing tasks will almost certainly fail. They’ll need to deploy again and give it another go, making use of any equipment that they’ve pulled out of previous raids.
In DMZ, the stakes are much higher, the AI is much more aggressive, and there’s so much more to play for. If you were to go on a tough enough losing streak, you’d ultimately wind up with no weapons, and you’d need to start the next raid with nothing more than your fists. It’s about building up a collection of weapons, completing tasks to unlock branches of the ‘story’, and fighting other players for dominance of Al Mazrah.
There are several different types of contracts littered around the map, such as Hostage Rescue, Cargo Run, Secure Intel, and many more. As the player explores Al Mazrah, they’ll run up against other players, and they’ll have to fight to survive, gaining the opportunity to loot their opponent and clear them out if they win the battle. Each match lasts twenty-five minutes, and it goes quickly – and in the worst-case scenario, a radioactive threat expands over the map, ultimately making it impossible to escape.
It’s an intense, exciting game mode that is perfect for two to three players. There’s a much more tactical edge to it, it’s slower-paced, and players have the ability to explore the map at will, owing to the lack of an ever-closing circle.
But is Warzone 2 free to play? The answer is yes, and it’s also available by default as a key part of the Warzone 2.0 platform.
That’s fundamentally everything you need to know about DMZ.
If you need to know more about the Warzone 2.0 platform, consider checking out our in-depth review.
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