Call of Duty: Warzone's Halloween mode is fun except for this fake blue screen
Call of Duty: Warzone's Halloween event, The Haunting of Verdansk, returned this week for a second annual round of spooky royale. Activision has traded last year's zombie theme for ghosts, complete with the scratchy voice of Ghostface in your ears narrating the event. It's pretty fun so far! Though one unwelcome addition to Haunting, as far as I'm concerned, are the random jump scares that can trigger at any moment.
The scare moments are loud, obnoxious, and probably exactly what developer Raven Software was going for when it designed them. Before queuing for a match, you even have to click through a "Scare Warning" prompt.
But the worst jump scare by far, and one that I'm glad to have not gotten myself yet, is this fake computer blue screen effect that completely blocks your vision for several seconds:
its_not_scaryis_annoying from r/CODWarzone
Yeah, no thanks. I've gotten a few scares so far that are a little freaky, like eyeballs opening on my screen or my monitor shattering to reveal a creepy ghost woman, but at least I can still see what's ahead of me while they're happening. As you can watch above, Redditor Yoszerz experienced the worst-case scenario when a blue screen triggered as they were trying to win a firefight.
Whether or not you see the jump scares depends on how well you manage your "fear meter" seen in the lower left of the screen. Certain behaviors, like camping in one spot or getting shot at, increase your fear and your likelihood to trigger scare effects. Play aggressively by scoring kills or standing in contentious "sacred ground" locations and your fear stays low. When the mode first started, players and influencers alike complained that the fear effects were happening too often and were too disruptive.
Warning: This gif is loud, so consider turning down your headphones before flipping the sound on.
In response, Raven has already issued two hotfixes that lower fear generation and make it easier to stay alive. I didn't start playing the mode until after these patches deployed, so I've had little problem keeping my fear low. The meter only started to jump if I sat around doing nothing for a while, which is way more boring than staying alive is worth in Warzone.
I've seen some folks say that last year's zombie event was better, but so far I've enjoyed playing as a ghost after I die a lot more. The super jump is a lot floatier this time around and I dig the blink-like instant teleport ability. A good reminder that Warzone's limited-time modes can be pretty darn fun when it stops being so self-serious for like two seconds.
????️ We have pushed another small update with an adjustment to Ghosts of Verdansk:• The amount of Fear generated by taking damage has been reduced.Be careful out there...???????? https://t.co/1nXaUSQ6JxOctober 21, 2021