Call of Duty: Warzone | How to become a zombie

Guide by Rebecca Jones Guides Writer

Published on April 22, 2021

Call of Duty: Warzone players will already be well familiar with zombies, as they've cropped up multiple times as enemies.

However, in the latest update to support today's Season 3 launch, a new element has been added into the mix. It seems that, under certain circumstances, dying in Warzone now allows you to become a playable zombie.

How to become a zombie in Call of Duty: Warzone

To become a zombie, you need to head to one of the Radiation Zones. Currently, that means the shipwreck or the prison, but expect more to appear over the course of Season 3.

Once you enter one of these areas, you'll start taking damage from the radiation. This works much like gas damage, and in fact you can equip a gas mask to slow down its effects. However, stick around long enough and you'll die.

Dying in the Radiation Zone while playing solo will just kill you. But if you're part of a squad, dying in the Radiation Zone causes you to revive as a zombie.

🚨NEW: DYING TO THE NUCLEAR RADIATION CAN ALLOW YOU TO BECOME A ZOMBIE!

Playing solo and dying in the radiation zone kills you and doesn’t give you a gulag, playing with a squad and dying in a nuclear radiation zone WILL turn you into a zombie...

🧟‍♂️☢️ #Warzone pic.twitter.com/F1KIfH8QDR

— Black Ops Cold War Newz ☢️ (@WarzoneNewz) April 15, 2021

There is one more caveat, however: at least one member of your squad must remain a living human. If everyone becomes a zombie (or the last remaining human teammate dies in a more standard way outside of the Radiation Zone), it seems that the whole squad dies.

Playable zombie abilities in Call of Duty: Warzone

Playing as a zombie is a fun diversion, but does it offer any real gameplay benefits?

The most significant benefit of zombification is that it effectively gives you a permanent UAV overlay on your screen. All enemies are highlighted in purple from a zombie's perspective, so having at least one zombie on a squad has obvious reconnaissance benefits.

Furthermore, unlike living humans, zombies are unaffected by toxic gas clouds, allowing them to freely move through those areas of the map.

Finally, zombies have three unique active abilities:

Charged Jump: Hold down the command button to charge up and perform a supernaturally powerful single jump. The longer you hold, the greater the charge, and the further you'll go. Imagine a zombie taking a single leap from the ground to land on a nearby roof. Chilling stuff — especially if you happen to be a sniper on that very rooftop.
EMP Blast: Destroys basically any and all enemy electronics, including weapons, equipment, and vehicles. Operators in range have their HUD disabled.
Gas Grenade: Creates a cloud of poisoned gas that causes damage to those caught within it, who are also disoriented and staggered. This allows zombies (who are immune to gas, remember?) to enter the cloud and pick off the enemies with ease.

There are also several downsides, however. Zombies can't revive teammates; pick up new weapons; or go to the gulag and attempt a respawn if they're killed while in their undead state.