If there’s one thing the World War Z game franchise is known for, it’s throwing loads of zombies at you. We keep that design philosophy in mind as we prepare to launch World War Z: Aftermath’s long-awaited Horde Mode XL update.
Launching tomorrow, Horde Mode XL is a new game mode that leverages the power of PlayStation 5 to bring more bloodthirsty zombies onto the screen at once, including the previous Horde Z Mode.
In the new mode, you and your friends will find themselves in a new map where you have to defend a civilian camp located inside a shopping mall.
There are three game zones connected to this mall and each is a separate front line under the attack of hordes of zombies trying to reach the civilians.
- Restaurant area: Swarms attack from temple and village
- Riverside area: The swarm attack from the city
- Construction Area: Swarms attack from the factory
The rules are simple: survive as long as possible and stop the zombies from reaching the civilians.
The core difference in the new mode is that several waves of zombies will be “XL waves” with a huge number of zombies on the screen at once and they will all come to you and your team.
To survive this onslaught, you must stock up on supplies to kick-start the enhanced defenses. These are the only events that trigger at the start of the XL batch if you stock up on enough supplies and they kill tons of zombies at once.
The more supplies you store, the more dangerous your enhanced defense will be. Advanced defenses are different in each area: there are missiles in the Restaurant area, jet fighters in the Waterfront area, and explosive gas in the Construction Site.
The Horde XL mode also has other new gameplay features and surprises that we can’t wait for you to discover while participating.
New weapon development system
Horde Mode XL isn’t the only feature coming out with this update. The rest of the update includes a new weapon development system and is available to both PS4 and PS5 players.
In the new system, skins are not bound to certain weapon stats. While you still need experience points and supplies to level up your guns, leveling is now done with linear stat progress (and unlocking various bonuses), and can apply any skin to the weapon.
One of the most important new features is the weapon perk slots available during development. Each gun has three slots where a unique set of perks can be inserted. Perks are divided into two categories based on their effectiveness: Unique and Generic. Players can only install one Unique perk and two Normal perks. Perks can affect stats or give unique gameplay benefits, overall giving flexibility in customizing your gun.
We’ve also created a bunch of new free skins for each gun that can be unlocked through its weapon evolution system!
It’s important to note for veteran WWZ: Aftermath players that your progress won’t be cleared with this update. For example, if you previously unlocked the 3rd version of a gun, this gun will now be upgraded to level 3 in the new weapon development system; in terms of specs they will be identical. All previously unlocked skins will also be available to you.
The Horde Mode XL update is just the beginning
We’re super excited for you to join the Horde Mode XL update on January 24th. New Horde Mode XL game mode, revamped weapon development system, new weapon (Saigon). Knives and Tri-Barrel Shotgun) and the new interface make up our biggest update yet.
This is just the beginning for World War Z: Consequences. As you continue to support this title, we will. Keep an eye out for more exciting updates coming in 2023.
