One of CoD’s scariest killstreaks makes return in MW3 season one

For many avid Call of Duty enthusiasts, the Swarm killstreak is a familiar fear that strikes dread into the hearts of every enemy on the map. And in Modern Warfare 3’s first season, this menace is making a return.

For those who are uninitiated with the Swarm, it’s a deadly killstreak that is only unlocked when a player racks up 15 kills in a row or a 1,875 scorestreak. When activated, a plane flies over the battlefield for a few moments before releasing a whole collection of Mosquito Drones above a massive area on the map.

Players will know when this killstreak is activated due to the high-pitched hum that fills the air, with the ominous and terrifying buzzing noise getting instantly louder as the drones lock onto foes before diving into them with a resounding explosion. It is extremely difficult to avoid these drones once they’ve found you, especially if you’re out in the open with no cover available.

This killstreak was only featured in two previous CoD titles: Black Ops 2 and CoD Mobile, where they had Hunter Killer Drones zip over the map as they locked onto any player who appeared within their vision, including newly spawned enemies.

The most frightening thing about the Swarm killstreak, however, is when you look up into the sky and see an actual swarm of these drones covering the clouds. Not all of them will attack you, but there are plenty of drones that will seek you out as soon as you peek your head out from your hidey-hole.

There are a few ways to counter this killstreak, including equipping the Hijacked IFF Strobe gear, which allows players to go undetected by AI targeting systems. This will make the killstreak a lot less scary to deal with but does not remove the constant buzz of the streak as the rest of your team is blasted from the map. If you find your team getting decimated by the drones, you could launch your own EMP killstreak to disable all killstreaks, thus saving your squad from further destruction.

You can try to get your own Swarm in MW3 now that season one is live.