Pre-Order Modern Warfare 4 and You Can Play DMZ 3 Days Early, From October 20

If you already planned to buy Modern Warfare 4, a pre-order now gets you into DMZ three days before everyone else. Gaming Age reports that Activision announced the early access period to close a week of DMZ reveals, which included five videos and two long blog posts. DMZ early access opens on October 20. The full game releases on October 23.

Pre-orders get a three-day head start in DMZ

The perk is simple: pre-order and you can play DMZ from October 20, before launch day. That head start counts for more in DMZ than in regular multiplayer. DMZ is Call of Duty’s extraction shooter. You drop in with little gear, loot what you can, and only keep it if you make it out alive. Early players get three extra days to bank weapons, build up resources and learn the map before the launch-day crowd arrives.

Only the pre-order requirement and the dates have been announced. Check the Call of Duty store page for your platform and edition before you pay.

What you are playing: Hajin, the FOB and paid deployments

From Activision’s reveals, as summarised by Gaming Age:

• Map: Hajin, an exclusion zone on the Korean peninsula. It mixes rural and urban areas, industrial zones and hazardous facilities.
• FOB home base: your hub between runs. It has an operator roster, a stash for banking items, a firing range, survival kit packs and a DMZ Orders station for missions. As you progress you unlock a 3D printer for crafting gear, a gunsmith, a vendor with daily stock, and a boss board where you can buy intel on tougher enemies.
• Deploy options: pick Dynamic Ops (missions and objectives) or Free Roam. You can also spend DMZ Cash for a better start: 5,000 for a light armored vehicle, 25,000 for a heavy one, 50,000 for a helicopter, or 100,000 for a precise cargo-plane airdrop. You can also go in on foot from a random spot for free.
• Prestige: DMZ has its own operator levels. Each Prestige costs gear and cash, starting at 200,000 DMZ Cash for the first, and gives you a random permanent trait. You can hold up to three.

Other players can hit you at any time, and NPC enemies and world events make every run riskier. Expect to lose a kit or two while you learn the map.

What this means for you

Should you pre-order just for this? Only if you were buying Modern Warfare 4 anyway. The perk is three days, not exclusive content. But if your squad lives in extraction shooters, those three days are when you learn Hajin and fill up your stash. If you are on the fence, waiting until October 23 costs you nothing except that head start.