This year’s Call of Duty: Vanguard isn’t even out yet, but the rumor mill for next year’s CoD is already ramping up. 2022’s game is widely rumored to a direct sequel to 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and reliable leaker Tom Henderson has unleashed a long list of potential details about all aspects of the game, from single-player, to multiplayer, to Warzone.

　　Apparently, CoD: Modern Warfare 2 will see the previous game’s protagonists from Task Force 141 return, with Colombian drug cartels now in their sights. Word is, this game takes a darker turn, with grim movies like Sicario and No Country for Old Men cited by some leakers as inspiration. This darker tone will come with a boost in violence, with revamped AI that will react in more realistic and potentially disturbing ways to attacks. There are also said to be some tough moral choices presented in some missions.

　　As for multiplayer, it seems Activision may largely fall back on remastering a number of maps from 2009’s original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, with favorites like Favela, Afghan, Quarry, Terminal, and Trailer Park possibly returning. Some of these would then be stitched together to create a new Warzone map, in manner similar to past CoD battle royale maps. Interestingly, it seems the Warzone map may also be used for another major mode, which will be bear some resemblance to Battlefield 2042’s Hazard Zone – that is to say, a co-op mode featuring a combination of PvP and PvE. Henderson hints this new mode may replace Zombies, but that isn’t set in stone yet.

　　Of course, take this all with a grain of salt for now, but Henderson has had the goods on Call of Duty in the past, and everything he says jives with the general direction the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare sub-series have been heading in.

　　What do you think? Are you ready for a darker, more violent tone and the possible scrapping of zombies? Or are you not liking what you’re hearing?