Modern Warfare 4 is bringing back DMZ, and it's got some serious upgrades

DMZ will return with the release of Modern Warfare 4, but this time, Infinity Ward has a plan. Taking another ambitious swing at the extraction shooter genre, the Call of Duty developer has outlined its plans for its game-within-a-game. As someone who dipped a toe into the 2022 version of DMZ and was left a little disappointed, I'm quietly optimistic for this reimagining.

For the uninitiated, DMZ is Call of Duty's take on an extraction shooter. Players infiltrate a large map, complete missions, take on AI enemies, and get out - all the while avoiding (or hunting) other human soldiers trying to accomplish the same task.

With the extraction genre exploding in the years since, this concept should now be second nature to many, but at the time, DMZ didn't have enough going for it to pull the regular CoD lot from multiplayer, and it wasn't hardcore enough for the Tarkov crowd. With Modern Warfare 4, Infinity Ward is taking the learnings from that and applying them to the new, fully-fledged, decidedly non-beta 2026 DMZ mode.

Missions are a real driving force for me in these types of games. I enjoy faffing about in Arc Raiders as much as the next guy, but having even the slightest hint of direction is good and often leads to a more compelling jaunt topside. There are a couple of types of missions in DMZ; you've got story missions, which are your bread and butter - choose these from the forward operating base before infiltrating the area. Fix an uplink, take out a particularly nasty AI enemy - it's standard stuff.

Where I think DMZ gets tasty, though, are the dynamic missions. These are events that unfold while you're out and about, and while they may steer me away from the main objective, they add a bit of spice to proceedings. Things very rarely go to plan in extraction shooters, and being offered risk/reward options whilst in the middle of a mission looks to be a great way of adding friction, and therefore drama, to what could be a run-of-the-mill experience.

All of this pairs with what looks to be a GTA-style wanted system, where enemy pressure and force scale based on how much of a pain I've been so far in the run. Firing indiscriminately from the off will draw more ground troops to my position, with stronger opposition appearing should the chaos continue. Soldiers apparently come in a few flavours, with higher ranks offering more of a challenge, and that, eventually, I can expect helicopters and tanks to be gunning for me.

In many ways, it'll be a race to the finish. A simple extraction mission goes sideways, forcing the squad out into the open, then into a shopping mall, all the time being accosted by AI and human enemies alike. The exfil point is atop a building - green smoke, green smoke - with the last remaining player having to contend with an attack chopper.

The very real threat of the AI enemies forces a state of constant movement, and the improvisational promise of each run is extremely appealing to me. It's what makes me love Arc Raiders so much: I don't remember normal runs at all, but those last-minute dashes to the extraction point while under fire; the odds-defying moments of destruction - those are what I remember, and why I keep going back.

On top of the actual bones of DMZ are the accoutrements, if you will. The meta layers that could tip it over the edge. The bounty system, for instance, puts an ever-increasing price on a player's head the more notorious they become. Killing other players awards me their loot, yes, but it also puts a target on my back. I can become the scourge of the exclusion zone, or I can be a bounty hunter, purchasing information on the whereabouts of these scoundrels and bringing a little frontier justice to my games.

With a most-wanted style leaderboard for those with the highest bounties, DMZ is highlighting those players who want to create the biggest splash - this isn't a bury-your-head style game mode; this is a go big and then hopefully go home style affair, and if I have to go out on my sword, then so be it. I'll do it with a smile on my face.

The entire thing pivots around risk and reward. Playing it safe may allow me to keep my head, but fortune favors the brave, as they say, and if I want to make a name for myself, I'll have to be very brave indeed. There are consequences to my exploits, and they usually come in the form of a bullet. The real question is, am I good enough to outrun my actions?