Can you play MW3 Zombies single-player (solo)?

The newest installment of the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 3, has officially launched worldwide. As the mode has changed to more battle royale, many wonder if it can be played solo.

The answer is yes, you can play the new Zombies mode solo in Modern Warfare 3. However, it’s a lot harder to do, as it is made for a multiplayer experience. If you want a true single-player experience, you can play other versions of Zombies if you own other Call of Duty titles.

A whole new Zombies

Zombies has been a feature of Call of Duty since its origins in 2009 in World at War. While the mode appears in a few Call of Duty titles (mainly the Black Ops series), it’s become a staple of the series. Generally, you, alongside your friends, will survive wave after wave of zombies while using several power-ups and a wide arsenal of guns. In the past, the mode can be played with others or by yourself. While it wasn’t impossible to beat solo, being with others made it a lot easier and fun. This time, it’s catered toward its multiplayer audience. You can play solo, but the gameplay will be much harder.

MWZ, the game’s Zombie mode, diverges from round-based gameplay for a more open-world extraction style. This PvE mode, similar to Modern Warfare 2‘s DMZ, takes place on Urzikstan and can be either played free-play or via Operation Deadbolt story missions. This is the first Modern Warfare title to include Zombies, not including Advanced Warfare and Infinite Warfare. The latest Zombies mode released was 2021’s Vanguard, so you can play their version of the mode there if this newest iteration isn’t for you.