I’ve been burnt on DLC maps before- I still find the usual $10 price to be way too pricey- but the sheer quality and different styles of gameplay afforded by the Call of Duty map packs have always made them worth it.
Case in point, the cunningly titled Map Pack 1 for World at War which was just released for Xbox 360 and PS3. 10 bucks will get you three new multiplayer maps as well as a new Nazi Zombies map.
Nightfire is inarguably the best of the multiplayer bunch. It’s set in the streets of Berlin and is possibly the most varied map of them all.
In my experience the map is best for games like Headquarters and War. It’s nerve-racking trying to hold a position because there’s literally dozens of places you can fire on people- from inside one of the many houses you can enter, even from basement windows! You really have to look out everywhere to make sure enemies aren’t hiding out somewhere… there really are no safe spots.
Knee Deep is in another map set in a Japanese village, It’s a really large map and has a river running through it, and has plenty of grass and buildings to hide in. A fort on one side provides some of the fiercest battles.
Station is the smallest, another level set in Berlin. This is in a bombed-out subway station and is more of a long level, good for capture the flag-type matches. Expect some fierce and brutal fighting here- you easily die since it’s so close quarters. Each end of the map is a starting point for each team, which provides some high ground and cover so you can plant in and take out any oncoming enemies easily.
Besides these three great maps, all of which are available in each game mode, there’s also a new Nazi Zombie map. Nacht Der Untoten was easily one of the favorite modes of the entire game. Holding off a house with three other people while zombies with glowing eyes tried to break their way in was incredibly thrilling, and the many different weapons and routes through the house you could try added to a whole lot of replayability.
The new map, Zombie Verrückt, absolutely destroys it.
Set in a modified version of the Asylum multiplayer map, the biggest change from the original is that it now splits you and your teammates up into pairs. Each pair will be seperated from the other by a locked door, and fored to fight on your own until one team can open it.You can open the door by turning on the electricity, but it takes some money (earned by killing zombies, fixing up barricades and reviving your teammates) and time to get there since it’s all the way on the top of the building. This adds a whole new element to the game, since if you don’t all get together and work as a team you’re going to die pretty damn fast. Unfortunately, it also means that if you don’t have four people on your team, or if you end up stuck with someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing, you’re pretty much doomed.
There are some new tricks as well- such as an electrical fence that can be turned on to fry any zombie dumb enough to wander in its path, and root beer machines that allow you to purchase bottles that will give you specific perks (like Double Tap, Juggernaut, etc.) that will last till you’re downed by a zombie.
It’s still no Left 4 Dead (what is?) but it’s nice to see all these new tricks being included- it makes the experience feel that much fuller. It’s easily the biggest asset here. The other maps will undoubtedly help change up the multiplayer when they’re added into the final rotation but the addition of a different style makes Zombie Verrückt the one you’ll play the most.
All in all, a great deal for people who can’t stop playing COD: World at War, and it will be great to see what else they have in store for future Nazi Zombie maps.