At the end of this month, Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar will lead his disciples to the crest of a high plateau in the desert, raise his hands to the sky, and announce the sudden release of Black Ops 2’s final DLC pack, Apocalypse, on PC. The Kool-Aid will be sold at $14.99 a pop, but he assures us that they’ll represent value for money.
The Jonestownsian vibe extends to at least one of the four competitive multiplayer maps collated here: Pod is played out in a ‘70s utopian residence which has since taken the not-very-long slide into dystopia. Shooters must navigate stacks of titular pods in a map that promises plenty of verticality.
Frost also does verticality. Also snow and gunpowder, in a bridge-dominated environment you’ve probably successfully identified up there as a facsimile of Amsterdam. The frozen canal asks players to employ “multi-level traversal strategies” and avoid ruining the night of a British bride-to-be and her hen party, though that last bit’s inference on my part.
Takeoff’s title bears a double meaning, as both a Pacific Ocean-set rocket launch site map and homage to Stadium, a popular product of the original Black Ops’ First Strike DLC. Close-quarter slashing will be the order of the day here, and most likely the next day too.
Dig, finally, is another remix of a fan-favourite: World at War’s Courtyard. It retains that map’s two key chokepoints and otherwise wide-open layout, but offers a “fresh take on the multitude of paths”.
“Two archeological dig sites in Afghanistan become the perfect playground for combatants eager for hectic, unceasing confrontations,” write its creators.
And then there’s Origins, the last chapter in Treyarch’s series of elaborate Zombies maps. Its Great War French countryside setting is dieselpunk, I’m told, and hosts four heroes sourced from that half-remembered very first Zombies map in World at War. Maybe Double Fine’s Iron Brigade would be dieselpunk? Dunno. In any case, Origins starts like this:
I’ve appreciated from afar the great effort and expense Treyarch have poured into their pulp Zombies maps throughout this run of DLC. Which has been your favourite?
Thanks, Black Ops Blog.