Summary
At the very least,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Zombies is going to be interesting. Thus far, the community is split between those willing to give the open-world extraction format a chance, and those who desperately want round-based gameplay to make a comeback. With giant bosses, a 24-player count, and story-heavy missions in place of a main quest Easter egg,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Zombies is going to feel like quite the change. Still, there are some things that remain the same, such as the existence of Wonder Weapons.
LongtimeCoDZombies fans can rest assured that a few classic Wonder Weapons will be available from the very start ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In particular, players will be able to distract the undead with a Monkey Bomb and gun them down with the enduringly popularRay Gun. Beyond that, they will be able to wield a new Wonder Weapon called the Scorcher, though it certainly resembles two pieces of weaponry from Zombies’ past: the DIE Shockwave and the Paralyzer.
How The Scorcher Resembles Past CoD Zombies’ Wonder Weapons
In terms of visual design, players should instantly be reminded of theDIE Shockwave, as the Scorcher looks like a thinner and sleeker version of the gun. Considering that the Dark Aether timeline introduced the DIE as well as the new Scorcher Wonder Weapon, the design similarities make sense. The Scorcher could be an evolution of the DIE, using modern day technology that has been developed in the time that governments had to master Aetherium. Even if there is no lore connection between the two guns, the fact that they exist in the same universe explains their visual similarities.
Beyond the familiar look, there is also some shared DNA when it comes to the functionality of the weapons. Though the sucking feature of the DIE Shockwave does not seem to be part of the gameplay loop forMW3’s Scorcher, the primary fire of the weapon looks a lot like what the base Shockwave is capable of. If players do not upgrade to one of the DIE’s elemental variants, then they will fire off a powerful shot that blows through a train of Zombies, eliminating large groups with ease in the low-mid rounds. This is what the Scorcher seems to be doing, as it looks like a horde killer based on the footage released thus far. The projectile and the way it is fired are very reminiscent of the DIE, but the comparisons to previous Wonder Weapons do not need to stop there.
Another Wonder Weapon that has seemingly influenced the design of the Scorcher is theParalyzer from Buried. While there was a lot that stood out about the classicBlack Ops 2map, the Paralyzer was one of the best aspects of Buried, as it thrived in a number of scenarios. Whether players were training around the underground western town or camping in the Juggernog corner, the Paralyzer was a terrific choice due to its infinite ammo. However, players will not be slowing Zombies to death with the Scorcher, and it does not seem like the new Wonder Weapon has infinite ammo. Instead, it is the Paralyzer’s unique movement capabilities that players will think of when seeing the Scorcher in action.
Usually,Wonder Weaponsare simply used for killing Zombies, though in rare cases they serve other purposes. The V-R11 from Call of the Dead is an example of this since it turned Zombies into humans and gave allies Zombies Blood, and the Paralyzer is another gun that was used for more than killing. This is because players could shoot the floor with the Paralyzer to lift themselves up in the air, which allowed them to float to new vantage points and lift themselves over the undead. With the Scorcher, players will not be shooting the floor, but they will get a unique movement ability if they fire the gun into the air. Instead of slowly floating up like they did with the Paralyzer, they will quickly launch into the sky and fly across the open-world map.
Based on the footage that has appeared online thus far, it seems like the Scorcher could be the best of both worlds. While it is unclear if it will become as iconic as Wonder Weapons like the Thundergun andWunderwaffe DG-2, the fact that players can use it as a powerful movement tool as well as a way to instantly kill groups of Zombies is exciting. It already offers stronger movement than the Paralyzer, and if it ends up being a more powerful killer than the DIE Shockwave, it would be the ideal Wonder Weapon. Either way, the visual design and firing capabilities of the Scorcher make it feel like a fun marriage of the Paralyzer and DIE Shockwave.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3launches on November 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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