Digital
Trends racks up an impressive body count in Call of Duty: Black Ops'
Zombies mode with the newly released Rezurrection map pack.
This week sees the release of what will no doubt be the very last DLC expansion for Treyarch‘s 2010 hit, Call of Duty: Black Ops. The Rezurrection
map pack is unusual for a couple of reasons. For starters, it’s all
Zombie maps– five of them, to be precise. Four of the five have already
been released, they’re the four Zombie mode maps from Call of Duty: World at War and its DLC expansions, previously available in Black Ops
for those who got the Hardened or Prestige edition of the game: Shi No
Numa–”Swamp”, Nacht Der Untoten–”Factory”, Verruckt–”Asylum” and Der
Riese–”Factory.”
The fifth map, "Moon,” is completely new and pretty much the most
insane zombie-killing playground that Treyarch has yet unleashed. The
mode remains fundamentally unchanged, in that you’re still tasked with
killing large numbers of zombies while trying to survive for as many
rounds as you can. There are still windows to build, wall weapons to
buy, a Mystery Box, Perk-a-Cola machines, Pack-a-Punch upgrades… all of
the elements that have evolved over time to make Zombies mode awesome.
All that said, Moon is the most dramatically different map yet for
Zombies. For starters, you begin each match in a pre-round one zone on
Earth, at Area 51. The Pack-a-Punch upgrade machine sits right in front
of you, but the first order of business in this area — called No Man’s
Land — is to survive until an alarm starts buzzing and a gate blocking a
nearby teleporter opens. This starter area is enough of a minigame to
warrant a new leaderboard list, with No Man’s Land survivors being
ranked according to score, kills and time survived.
As soon as you teleport and land on the moon, your character starts
choking. There’s no air here! Fortunately, you appear directly in front
of a storage locker containing free P.E.S. suits (i.e. space suits),
which you’ll need to grab and equip (up on the D-pad) in order to
survive. You also quickly notice that the moon’s low-gravity environment
has a pronounced effect on your jumping abilities. You can’t go high
enough to leap clear over a zombie’s head, but there’s a noticeable
difference.
The
map also includes a wide range of interactive elements and what
is–without a doubt–the most elaborate Zombies easter egg yet
constructed. It’s also the most transparent one, though that’s not to
say it’s a cakewalk. You’ll just have an easier time following the clues
and finding each piece of the puzzle as you go.
It’s hard to call "Moon” the best map, but it is by far the
largest and most elaborate of the 10 released so far. It’s very
challenging to stay alive here, even with no real "boss” zombies to
worry about. There’s a slow-moving astronaut zombie that can
headbutt-teleport you to another part of the map, but with only one
appearing at a time, it’s really more of an inconvenience than a
constant threat.
There’s also a map-specific hacking device which sits in the same
equipment slot as your P.E.S., meaning you can only carry one or the
other. The hacking device is needed to complete the easter egg, but it
can also be used in a variety of other ways, anything from opening doors
at a discounted price to gifting points to another player.
The World at War maps are physically identical to their appearance in the previous Treyarch Call of Duty
game, though the weapons you can get from the Mystery Box are all from a
more modern era. They’re exactly the same as the Hardened/Prestige
edition versions of the maps, only everyone can play them now.
Zombies is a mode that is best enjoyed in a co-op play
environment–this proves doubly true for "Moon,” especially since a team
of four is required to complete the easter egg–so don’t bother spending
the money if you’re not going to have friends to play with and don’t
want to walk into online games with randoms.
The "Moon” map is free if you got the World at War maps (or still have an unredeemed code) from the Hardened and Prestige editions. Black Ops has had quite a successful run in the past year, and Rezurrection proves to be the delicious cherry on top of its overall stellar package. |