The thermometer is peaking, the birds are chirping, and the air outside is hot and thick. You all know what that means. （The new season (of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2") is upon us, bringing a variety of changes to the maps and gameplay of the blockbuster FPS published by Activision. But there's bad news, too: if you're harboring dreams of completing Modern Warfare 2's Season 4 Battle Pass, you have two weeks less time to do so than in the previous season. Chop chop.

MW2's Season 4 patch went live yesterday. The full contents are linked below, but what jumps out at me are the new maps, new operators, and changes to the game's escape shooter DMZ mode. Oh, and this season is much shorter than the 63 days of Season 3, with only 48 days. That means you can get to the new content in the mid-season update (and the next season) a little faster, but you'll have to hurry if you want to unlock it all with the Battle Pass.

So, new map; MW2 Season 4 adds Vondel, a mishmash of Dutch bridges and waterways, to the battlefield lineup. It is a "medium-sized map" that can upset the Red Cross throughout COD's Warzone 2 modes such as DMZ and Resurgence. Meanwhile, the more traditional MW2 multiplayer mode offers "six new multiplayer maps, including new core, gunfight and battle maps."

In addition, a new operator skin will replace the operator skin that was removed after the Modern Warfare 2 streamer made incredibly dense remarks that drew much criticism as anti-LGBTQ+. In Season 4, Nikto (which means "nobody" in Russian!), a former FSB agent who fears nothing and loves violence ), Ana Vega, a Special Forces woman with a tragic past and a big gun, and Black Cell, who looks like one of the villains from the beginning of Deus Ex Mankind Divided, will be added.

The DMZ has been reset to start Season 4, so say goodbye to smuggled weapons and completed missions. Nevertheless, the new features added to the DMZ in this patch can be justified (in a way). Forward operating bases can now be cared for and upgraded by completing missions.

Aside from that, there is actually a lot going on. New weapons, various tweaks, and lots of fun pictures of grumpy people doing military things. More details can be found on Call of Duty's official patch notes page.