Who knew that all Sledgehammer Games needed to do to make Call of Duty fun for me again was just add zombies to multiplayer?
Modern Warfare 3’s Hordepoint mode is the most fun I’ve had with CoD in years, period. It’s brought a level of joy to me that I have not felt while playing the series in a very long time, and I cannot get enough of playing it.
Hordepoint is a limited-time mode in MW3’s season two, which is decidedly zombie-themed. The new season started on Feb. 7 and added Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead (later to be joined by Michonne), and an event called Horde Hunt.
Horde Hunt tasks players with killing zombies and collecting their bones to earn rewards, but it’s not limited to just MW3’s Zombies mode. Hordepoint is a spin on the Hardpoint game mode, a classic CoD “King of the Hill” mode, but zombies spawn on the map whenever the Hardpoint is held—and they do nothing but cause pure chaos within the competition of the objective-based gameplay. There’s even the classic zombies power-ups like Insta-Kill and Nukes to make things interesting, too.
I didn’t play the mode when it debuted in Call of Duty: World War II several years ago, but I am enjoying the hell out of it now.
The chaos itself is the fun for me. There’s never a break in the action, whether I push the Hardpoint to capture and hold it or secure it from the enemy, or if I see a portal spawn a group of zombies and I feel obligated to mow them down and collect their bones while also adding score toward my Scorestreaks to help my team win the game.
Part of the fun also has to do with the fact that it seems like everyone else is also just slaying zombies and having fun, too, as opposed to sweating out the round like it’s a Call of Duty League match. I don’t know if skill-based matchmaking is tuned down for the mode or if everyone else is just trying to have fun for a change, but I’m loving it.
I’m not even that big of a zombies fan and, admittedly, my fun with CoD has dwindled over the years as I’ve literally made playing it my job. Games just don’t hit the same when it’s all work-related and not an active choice for enjoyment anymore. Also, I am old now and by nature, just way more cynical about everything. But, despite all of this, I am finding myself going out of my way to play Hordepoint.
I’m not alone in my assessment, either. While some are indifferent about the mode or even dislike it, the sentiment on Twitter/X is vastly positive, with one player asking for Sledgehammer to “make Hordepoint a permanent game mode” and another saying it’s “actually very fun.” Several other mentions have the same vibe.
In short, kudos to Sledgehammer. This mode made CoD fun again for me. I’m sure it will disappear once the Horde Hunt event is over, and that makes me sad, but I hope the developer and Activision will consider keeping it around in some capacity.
