The popular Call of Duty Zombies Mode has finally found its way into Halo thanks to a user-created Halo 3: Zombies mod. Now, Halo: MCC players on PC can fight waves of the undead together as they scrounge for points and perks.
Players have pleaded for a Zombies-like mode in Halo since the feature was introduced in Treyarch’s 2008 hit, Call of Duty: World at War, but the game mode has never been implemented in a Halo title. Despite former developer Bungie’s introduction of the Infection PvP gametype in Halo 3 and the Firefight PvE horde mode in 2009’s Halo 3: ODST, neither have the same depth, style, or popularity as Call of Duty‘s Zombies. Current developer 343 Industries has taken cues from other shooters before, most recently adding the popular Gun Game PvP mode to Halo: MCC in the form of Escalation Slayer, but an official Zombies Mode remains elusive. One modder for Halo: MCC on PC decided to tackle the problem themselves.
On April 17, modder Crisp uploaded their own Halo 3: Zombies mod to website NexusMods. After a horrifying opening cinematic reminiscent of the famous Nacht der Untoten opening scene from World At War, players are dropped into a nighttime rendition of the dam from the end of the Halo 3 campaign mission Sierra 117. Instead of fighting wave after wave of Nazi zombies, however, players fight increasingly numerous and difficult waves of the zombie-esque Flood forms. A release trailer on Crisp’s YouTube channel shows off the extensive features and disturbing environment that work together to make this mod a true-to-form Zombies experience.
Indeed, the Halo 3: Zombies mod takes all the traditional features that make Zombies so unique and meshes them into the Halo style. Players obtain points from kills that they can use to buy an assortment of guns scattered on walls across the map. Crisp notes that co-op players must share points due to “scripting limitations,” but co-op players will receive bonus points at the start and have more enemies to kill in order to compensate for this. There’s a Downed/Revive system, doors to buy, extra health and quick-revive perks, five different powerup drops from enemies, a Mystery Box with a special Wonder Weapon, and a ship that drops in Flood Stalker forms for an equivalent to Call of Duty‘s Dog Wave. With so much Zombies content wrapped in a single mod, Halo 3: Zombies is the crossover Call of Duty and Halo fans have been dreaming of for over a decade.
Halo: MCC‘s presence on PC has been bolstered by the modding community, which continues to keep the game fresh and interesting alongside 343’s regular season updates. Where 343 fails to deliver due to lack of time and resources or lack of will, modders step in to make ideas a reality. Players have been hoping for Zombies to make its way into Halo officially for a long time. Thanks to Crisp, players can now experience a mode that they thought may never come to Halo.