One of Call of Duty’s best seasonal events returns with The Haunting, now Scream-themed. The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone The Haunting event runs for two weeks, beginning October 19th and ending on November 2nd. Featuring a host of in-game challenges for cosmetic rewards, spooky new limited-time modes, and some scary-good Operator skins and bundles, welcome back The Haunting with this horror-film inspired trailer, in which the call is coming from inside the drop zone:
Check out the full event roadmap:
Call of Duty The Haunting Roadmap
The Haunting – Warzone
In Warzone, players get to experience Ghost of Verdansk, which once again pitches the Warzone map into night, this time facing off against spirits of dead Operators, rather than zombies. If eliminated in Ghosts of Verdansk, you’ll return as a ghastly spectre with unique abilities. Without weapons, you’ll be able to super jump, effortlessly gliding back down to the ground below. Ghosts can also teleport, reappearing to surprise the living. And finally, a blast of spectral energy can stun the living and disable vehicles.
Swipe at the living to get them to drop souls. Collect three and you can return to the battlefield in the flesh—or do finishing move to instantly respawn. Ghosts must be wary of sacred ground, however. Ghosts can’t cross into it, but by tossing themselves at it enough, they can damage this protective filed to get at the living Operators within.
One significant new mechanic over last year’s Zombie Royale is the Fear meter. Going from 0 to 100, the Fear meter will impact your experience in Verdansk. Reach 50% and you might start experiencing hallucinations that will make your fight for survival difficult.
Fear increases in the following ways:
- Being shot at, being hit by enemy Equipment, or having their Killstreaks in the area
- Camping (AKA cowardice)
- Seeing dead bodies or Ghosts
- Having squadmates downed or eliminated
- Naturally over time
You can reduce fear by:
- Eliminating a player or Ghost
- Reviving a squadmate
- Completing a Contract
- Remaining within Sacred Ground… so long as it stays intact
- Experiencing a hallucination
Raven isn’t saying what happens when the fear meter reaches 100… but if last year’s horrifying chills and thrills were anything to go by, expect to be spooked.
The Haunting – Black Ops Cold War
The Haunting isn’t exclusive to Verdansk. This year, Black Ops Cold War’s Nuketown gets a Halloween-themed makeover. Now nighttime, the iconic map is ready for the spooky season no matter which modes you play on it. It will also change Care Packages to Scare Packages, which may have tricks in addition to treats.
Three limited-time game modes come to Black Ops Cold War for The Haunting. Infected returns, with player-controlled Zombies trying to turn all survivors. Survivors are granted bonuses for each zombie they kill. Prop Hunt Halloween is the classic Prop Hunt mode, now with Halloween decorations on the new version of Nuketown. And finally, Scream Deathmatch is an epic game of deadly hidde-and-seek, which pits two players as Ghostface against the rest of the survivors, who don’t have weapons. Screams of survivors help the Ghostface players target where they are hiding.
Zombies is appropriately getting a few updates, including Hallows’ Eve Outbreak, which ratchets up the difficulty of a single region over 10 minutes, pumpkin heads on zombies that grant bonus points for being shot off, and Scare Packages.
The Haunting – Spooky Operators, Bundles, and Challenges
A suite of scary Operators and bundles are headed to both games as well. Players can suit up in the iconic Ghostface Killer robes from Scream, as well as the haunting Frank the Rabbit from Donnie Darko. Ghostface is an all-new Operator (not a skin for other Operators), limited-time specifically for this event. Frank the Rabbit is a skin for Baker. Ghostface is available at the start of the event, while Frank the Rabbit will be made available later, on October 24th. Each includes a unique finishing move, and a number of blueprints and other appropriately-themed cosmetics.
Three other Operator skin bundles will bring spooky new looks to some of your favorite Operators, including Portnova’s Necro Queen, Weaver’s Disciple of Mayhem, and Maxis’ Lumens skins. Each of these also include blueprints and a number of cosmetics.
Across both games, players will also have a series of challenges to complete for cosmetic rewards, ending with a special new SMG, the LAPA. Players can also unlock the weapon immediately by purchasing the special blueprint bundle for it.
The Call of Duty The Haunting event begins on October 19th in both Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, and will run until November 2nd, just a few days before the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard.
[Source: Call of Duty]
