
Mutation Mode is a round-based mode that throws soldiers into quarantined territories in an attempt to survive armies of playable mutants characters. The mode is available in every version of the game under the following alias:
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Details[]
Both factions, now teaming up, must prepare for the incoming infection as they have only twenty seconds to find a decent spot to defend in their current quarantined zone. Once the countdown is done, up to two soldiers will turn into host mutants and attempt to spread the infection onto every soldier. It is possible to completely eradicate every mutant as they do not respawn once killed.
The mutant team is considered to be the winner of the round if all of the soldiers have been infected. On the other hand, the soldiers must either kill all mutants or survive the round unscathed in order to win.
- Main article: Mutants
Mutants have a lot of health points (starting at 2000), but they can only use melee range attacks (their own claws or the Mutation Spike). A single hit is all it needs to turn soldiers into a lesser mutant (except if they have Mutation Jacket, which requires an additional hit) and must also infect the remaining. The two "host" mutants automatically start at berserk level (level 2), all other infected mutants will start at level 1 and have to work their way up (by infect soldiers) to use their special skills. Mutants have a maximum of 3 level, and they'll change their appearance at level 2 and 3 respectively.
Mutants can also evolve, absorb or recover health if they want to survive as much as they can. When mutants evolve, they will transform into newer forms, gain more health points and will eventually be able to use special skills depending on their current mutant.
- Evolution: As mutants infect others they will evolve into other forms with more health and able to use skills.
- Absorption: Mutants can absorb other dead mutant bodies to evolve.
- Recovery: When standing still for several seconds, the mutant will then regenerate health.
Mutants | Names / Skills | Information |
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Dreads | Dreads have limited attack range, even though they have claws. However, their attack speed is extremely fast. |
Speed Boost | ||
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Mutants | While their attacks speed are slower, they have longer reach than the Dreads. |
Speed Boost | ||
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Maiden | Mutated woman nurse with partial invisibility abilities as well as being able to jump higher than others. |
High Jump / Invisibility | ||
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Smoke | Mutated general officer with a weird backpack that spews out smoke screens to blind soldiers. |
Smoke Screen | ||
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Assassins | Cunning mutant who managed to acquire repulse grenades that disrupts soldiers positions. |
Repulse Grenades | ||
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Enchantress | Reanimated corpse seeking for life essences. She acts like Maidens (without invisibility), but can jumps way higher. |
High Jump / Higher Jump | ||
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Maiden 2.0 | An upgraded variant of Maiden, with the added ability of Speed Boost in addition to her partial invisibility and high jump, so she can maneuver around firefights easier. |
Same as Maiden + Temp Speed Boost | ||
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Fake Nano | A mutant which can disguise as a human to blend in the soldier crowd. |
Human Disguise |
If soldiers ever need additional ammunition or weapons, they will be able to collect supply crates that drop every 50 seconds (2:10, 1:20 and 0:30). Additionally, there's a Christmas version of the supply crates, but it hasn't been brought back for a while. Whatever these boxes contain vary in every version; these are the common items:
- Ammo Refills: Refills whatever primary weapons the soldiers are currently using.
- M60-Adv: Variant of the M60 machine gun with a lot more ammunition to defend.
- RPK: Machine gun with strong firepower, but lacks in the ammunition department.
- Gatling Gun: An extremely heavy gun but quite deadly and effective in combat.
- Mutation Grenade: Special grenade that deals tons of damages to the mutants.
- Mutation Jacket: Help you survive one scratch from mutants.
- Others: Different types of Rifles, SMGs, secondaries, and grenades.
The mode offers a great variety of quarantined type maps with various spots available to hold off the forthcoming horde of mutants. These maps are all also available in both Hero Mode and Hero Mode X variants:
- Main Article: Counter-Strike Online
This mode is based on Counter-Strike Online's Zombie: The Original (formerly known as Zombie Mod 1), albeit with only half the number of players. The Zombie Mod 1-inspired mode, featured a slightly different Dread model and no additional features (Supply Boxes, Evolution, Absorption, Health Recovery, Mutants' skills and additional mutants), was released for a short period of time in CF China, Vietnam and Japan.
Later, CSO introduced new features in a new mode named Zombie: The Mutation (Zombie Mod 2), which included: Evolution, Absorbing, Supply Crates, Health Recovery and new type of playable Zombies characters.
CrossFire added the same, by adding a new Mutant (and more later on) and the aforementioned features, but decided to add it to the original mode instead of making a totally new one as CSO did. Surprisingly, they even used most of their Zombies ideas for the different Mutants available in Mutation Modes here.
Their next installment for this mode also made its way onto CrossFire; CSO's Zombie: The Hero (Zombie Mod 3) brought Hero Mode to CrossFire. Although they did more variants, CrossFire started to make their own, starting with a mode based on previous ones but with a new set of rules and characters, thus, Hero Mode X was born.
VTC (publishers of the CF Vietnam) decided to use CSO's original mode names for every variation in their version, starting with Zombie Mod 2. However, it obviously left a gap at the beginning (the original Mutation Mode and Hero Mode), as CrossFire did not make a separate variation only for the sole purpose of adding new features as they simply ported it to Mutation Mode.
After Mutation Knight Mode, the next variant of Mutation Mode is Mutant Escape Mode. It is obviously inspired by CSO's Zombie Escape. Its playing style is similar to CSO's, but with increased damage for soldiers' weapons; furthermore, there are many warp portal that soldiers must open to continue the run, along with the appearance of Heroes and Xenos.Variants[]
Trivia[]
- During development in CF China, much like CSO counterpart, a soldier's health is originally 1000 HP, allows them to withstand higher against grenade slash damage and jump freely without worrying about fall damage. However, it was changed back to 100 HP upon release, presumably since the grenade slash damage and fall damage in CF are much less lethal compared to CSO. Earlier screenshots still show these features.
- In CF Vietnam, there are lacks of Maiden, Smoke, Assassin, and Enchantress's appearance sounds. The publisher doesn't notice this, even though this mode is one of the most popular modes and is played every day; however, this can be fixed by using the sound files from other CF versions to add/overwrite CF Vietnam's.
- After the Nano Kitchen map update, the Maiden and Enchantress's appearance sounds have been added into the game.
- After the Mass Mutation Mode update, the Smoke and Assassin's appearance sounds have been added into the game as well.
- Almost all players often camp in this mode. Some others run away around the map with moving skills that the mutants can't get them, which is called parkour.
- During the gameplay, mutants have a unique breath sound. However, in expanded Mutation Mode variants, the mentioned sound won't play, likely it was forgotten to add it.
- This was finally addressed after Mass Mutation Mode update.
- When this mode was first released, there was a glitch in which if a soldier throws a grenade to other soldiers, and that soldier is infected or transforms into the host mutant, he/she will kill soldiers by that grenade because that player is now on the mutant side. This bug was later fixed.
- Again, when this mode was first released, there was a glitch that if a soldier is at 1 HP and get clawed by a mutant, not only they will turn into mutant as usual, but at the same time they also get killed, and the death animation will loop endlessly. This is likely because since the Nano Knife is a melee weapon, it will still deal damage to soldiers. This was later fixed as well.
- In CF Philippines, all mutant mode types/maps except Hero Mode, and Kitchen map suffers a major glitch, in which if a soldier dies by performing glitch in any objects (ie: box) before the countdown to avoid of becoming a mutant, the said player will respawned. Moreover, that soldier can easily shoots mutant, while they are immune to any infection attacks until the next round.
- Other soldiers can hover their mouse to the glitched soldier to see that the said player's name is in red, which means they are on the mutant team, so soldiers can still shoot the them, but the first fire for that glitched soldier will take 400 damage, furthermore, second fire will not take any damage anymore, and they also cannot be killed.
- As a mutant, players that does not perform the glitch can't infect the glitched soldier, and if a players hover their mouse to the said soldier, their name is in blue, meaning that they are on the mutant team. Players can still infect the non-glitched soldiers, however. This makes most mutant mode types/maps unplayable when there is a player exploits the glitch. This issue hasn't been fixed yet.
- Based on the GDD showed in the official live stream of CFQQ, Mutants were called “Corrupted Ghosts” during the design stage, and NANOKNIFE was called “BOSSKNIFE”. And instead of being dual-wielded, it’s originally one-handed like a normal melee weapon. Also, the character image of Mutants was identical to the Ghost.