A Call of Duty player accidentally found a third-person mode that's too cool to not come true

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Infinity Ward, you've found your next Warzone mode.

cod: mw season 5 release start date
(Image credit: Activision)

In a weird twist of FPS fate, one Call of Duty: Modern Warfare player accidentally discovered a third-person mode during a match of Spec Ops. Reddit user lIllIlIIlIIl posted their discovery to the Call of Duty: Warzone subreddit on Friday in a short clip demonstrating the strangely functional third-person camera.

I say strange because, as you'll see in the video below, the bug doesn't just freeze lIllIlIIlIIl's view at an overhead perspective as a traditional spectator camera would. When they aim, the camera responds like a third-person shooter by zooming in over-the-shoulder. All that's missing is the aiming reticle.

Source: lIllIlIIlIIl on Reddit

Honestly, I didn't expect to like the third-person view so much in Call of Duty. For a game that's mainly meant to be seen from the first-person perspective, character animations and models hold up remarkably well up close. It kinda looks like PUBG or, as many folks have pointed out in the comments, some alternate universe current-gen SOCOM game.

Regardless of its origins—if it's a relic of how spectating works in Spec Ops mode, or possibly some scrapped third-person option—I'm curious to know if this could be adapted to a mode that a lot more people actually enjoy, like Warzone. I'd love to know how a Warzone match would feel with third-person considerations like corner-peeking. Infinity Ward is always trying weird new variants to mix up its battle royale mode, so why not third-person? The powers that be should make it happen.

It certainly wouldn't be the first time. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had an official third-person playlist in 2009 that supported multiple game modes. It was janky and unnatural, but a fun distraction after your fifteenth team deathmatch of the day. An official third-person Warzone mode could work for the same reasons.

lIllIlIIlIIl said in the comments that triggering the bug was an accident. They also explained how it happened, and it doesn't sound too hard to replicate. Apparently, all it took was a teammate leaving the match while lIllIlIIlIIl was reviving them. Sounds like the game got confused and just left the camera panned out.

Morgan Park
Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.