Over the past year or so, Call of Duty: Warzone has established itself as one of the leading battle royales in the world with its map, the fictional Verdansk, entering the vernacular of millions of gamers. Now, for the first time since its release in March 2020, Verdansk has received its first major overhaul.
As part of a recent live event, and after months of build-up, Verdansk was finally nuked. However, rather than explore the fallout, players were taken back in time to 1984 to kick off the new ‘Hunt For Adler’ storyline. Instead of nuclear winter, Verdansk has gone retro, bringing in some significant changes to the map. Besides the slight shift to a more vibrant color scheme, Verdansk '84 has introduced several new features that are ideal for snipers and long-range weapons, so it might be time to revamp some of your loadouts.
The northern region of Verdansk has had the biggest makeover, with the frozen lake and Dam at the top of the map being removed for the Gora Summit. One of the largest areas in Verdansk, this is a sprawling complex that features numerous buildings, including three fully functional gondola stations. This location, which also boasts two helipads, will be familiar to Call of Duty: Black Ops fans, and has already become a popular drop-spot for Warzone players. Just in front of Summit is the Gora Viaduct, which bridges the chasm in this area of the map, similar to how the Dam did in the original map. This opens up this area of Verdansk in several ways, allowing players to parachute across these sections. The Viaduct is also one of the key vantage points in the new map, giving eagle-eyed snipers a sightline across Verdansk.
The biggest new structure added to the map is the Grid Radar Array, located roughly northeast of the TV Station. Made up of 12 caged towers, the structure has gantry platforms and a smattering of buildings at its base. Given its height, the Array is another ideal spot to sit atop and pick off unsuspecting enemies but be warned, the location does not have cover, leaving you wide open once you're spotted.
The Verdansk Stadium, originally inaccessible before being opened up a few months ago, is now under construction for it to be renovated into the structure that appears in the original map. With incomplete walls and vintage scoreboards, this area is now a lot more open, allowing for more head-on firefights between players. There are also numerous vantage points on the stadium for those who prefer engaging at range.
Another brand new area is the Old Mine, which sits in the western portion of the map. Nestled among elevated areas of land, the mine features a lot of verticality along with several buildings. There are interior mines built into the rock but, as things stand, they’re closed off to players.
One of the hottest places to drop in Verdansk, Superstore, remains, albeit with a retro facelift. Next to it is a new area named Factory. Highly condensed with lots of small buildings, as well as four larger warehouses, this is another option for those players who want to jump straight into combat. Farmland has remained relatively untouched with the exception of a new, and quite large, building based off of Standoff, a popular Black Ops 2 map. With several stories and windows, this new addition will likely make Farmland a more popular spot.
Call of Duty: Warzone has now fully embraced the integration of Black Ops Cold War, revamping Verdansk to slot into the storylines rooted in that game. With new areas and a lot more vantage points throughout the map, Warzone matches will now be played at a much different pace with players needing to develop new strategies and tactics.