Vanguard Zombies: Everything you need to know about "War of the Dead"

Call of Duty Vanguard is almost upon us and Treyarch has just unveiled their new Zombies experience - which is being referred to unofficially as "War of the Dead". Treyarch's new Zombies mode isn't like anything we've experienced before and Der Anfang is going to be the beginning of something amazing - hopefully. Here's everything you need to know about "War of the Dead" and how it differs from what we've seen so far.

WAR OF THE DEAD - A mash-up Zombies experience

Der Anfang is the first map you'll be able to play in Vanguard Zombies - however, it's more than just one map. Der Anfang is actually four locations woven together in a Zombies experience that draws from traditional round-based gameplay, Cold War Zombies' Outbreak, and the two-person mode Onslaught.

Each game of Der Anfang is built around a central hub, set in Stalingrad. Here, players will get upgrades and sort themselves out - although, there's still going to be Zombies to fight.

When you're ready to progress in Der Anfang - and presumably any future maps that release for "War of the Dead" - players will head into a portal. This will transport you to one of three locations: World At War's Shi No Numa, Vanguard's Hotel Royal, or Merville (a location we've seen in Campaign footage). You can check out footage of all of this in the behind-the-scenes look at Der Anfang here:

These smaller locations will then contain an objective - like what you would see in Outbreak - that players will need to complete to progress. The "world grows harder" with each completed objective and it looks like Vanguard's "War of the Dead" is doing away with round-based Zombies altogether.

Once you've finished an objective, you'll be offered a Sacrificial Heart for the Altar of the Covenants and head back to the Stalingrad-based hub area. Treyarch has explained that this will open up as you progress in difficulty, too, so there's plenty to play for.

It seems like an unusual blend of all the Zombies modes we've seen from Treyarch over the last year that could work, in theory. However, Outbreak sounded promising but did little to replicate the excitement a round-based map brings. Perhaps this evolution, which will feature smaller locations, is the right step forwards.