Urzikstan is Call of Duty’s newest arena and there’s a lot to learn about the locale replacing Al Mazrah. Physically bordering Verdansk, Urzikstan shares a lot of DNA with its neighboring country. The two share a lot of visual DNA, and it certainly looks like that’ll also translate into the gameplay experience.
We’ve got 11 new POIs to get familiar with this year, each offering a blend of freshness and familiarity. City-based rooftop combat, taking over a power plant, all that stuff is old hat for CoD fans by now, but Raven Software is sweetening the deal with a handful of new features to go along with all the Modern Warfare 3 weapons. Here’s a quick breakdown of the Urzikstan map and the unique opportunities it’s bringing to the party.
Call of Duty Warzone: Urzikstan Release Date
Call of Duty likes to play coy with their official dates, but thanks to the developers’ blog, we know that Urzikstan will arrive in December during Season 01.
I’d expect this to arrive similarly to the way Caldera did, where there’s a grace period between the season’s start and the full arrival of the new map. This creates a nice buffer window where Raven Software can ensure everything is ready to go before saying goodbye to Al Mazrah.
All Urzikstan Warzone POIs
The full map gives the easiest opportunity to understand the main flow of traffic. While the gas ring will ultimately control which way the lobby moves, we can see a few easy connections. There are a few more named locations than what is displayed here, so we’ll add more to the list as they’re confirmed.
- Popov Power
- Levin Resort
- Orlove Military Base
- Sorokin Industrial
- Seaport District
- Urzikstan Cargo
- Old Town
- Low Town
- Hadiqa Farms
- Quadri Shopping Center
- Zaravan City
- Zaravan Suburbs
- Shahin Manor
Landing in an area like Zaravan Suburbs will give you a clear path to huge POIs like Zaravan City and Hadiqa Farms, while also not being too far removed from the center map action in Old Town and Low Town.
Urzikstan Cargo is the same on the other side. Players who land here can hit quick routes all over the northern side of the map, all while ensuring they’re never too far from a rotation if the Gas is pulling them elsewhere.
For isolationists, Hadiqa Farms and Orlov Military Base will be ideal choices. You’ll be able to dictate the pace of fights much easier here instead of having to fight through hordes of traffic. Expect those clustered POIs – like Zaravan City and Suburbs – to be absolutely crawling with enemies.
Warzone’s New Map: Urzikstan Special Features
There are a lot of new things with Urzikstan’s arrival. Horizontal ziplines will connect specific spots together and allow players to zip around the map much faster.
We don’t know exactly which POIs will be dressed up with these, but given the devs’ focus on speeding up the pace of play, you can expect to see them set in a way that makes rotating much faster, but also majorly exposes you to other teams.
There is also a drivable train that will make its way around the map. Squads can fight for control of the caboose and decide when and where to stop along the railway.
You could absolutely turn a game on its head by snatching train control away from everyone else and using it to protect your squad and get ahead of the circle. It’s high risk and high reward all the way down, but that’s what Battle Royale is all about.
New Gulag & Extraction System in Warzone
A new Gulag will also change the feel of the game, as it brings an extraction system to the party. You can either win the traditional way or take to the skies via a rope at the center of the map. There’s no wild experimentation here – in fact, I wouldn’t expect to have a 2v2 Gulag in Warzone for a very long time, if ever again.
This feels like a return to the first-ever Warzone Gulag format, and I think making the flag a riskier play will have a heavy influence on the skillcap. You’ll be forced to either hit your shot or put it all on the line in a far less protected way
Call of Duty: Warzone – Urzikstan Map Size
Urzikstan is most similar to Caldera in terms of playable space, but the developers promise that the action will be much more dense this time around. No more running for ten minutes just to make it across two POIs only to die at the hands of someone gatekeeping the circle. Actually, you might still die to gatekeepers, but it’ll happen faster anyway.
It’s likely that the map will feel smaller than it actually is thanks to the ziplines and the train, but we’ll still have plenty of ground to cover when those aren’t an option.
If you’re looking for more Warzone or Modern Warfare 3 info, check out our guide on the new Cutthroat multiplayer mode or our breakdown of all the Battle Royale changes set to arrive later this year.
