The latest set of MP palaces starts in the Gobi desert region of China. Core is one of Havoc’s medium sized maps, but is a tick on the large side. It’s mainly characterized by a relatively flat layout. The sand does have varying degrees of small hills and shallow valleys, but don’t expect huge structures with multiple floors. There are a few run down industrial constructions that do allow for a few lookout spots in which you can see a decent percentage of the map. In the middle is a round-ish choke point with high walls, which guard against the aforementioned scope spots. And although the dilapidated industrial park feel does give it some cool visual quality, it seems to crowd the longer sight lines quite a bit, which gives most matches a disjointed, “choppy” feel. I don’t think this is a bad map, especially in the scope of other CoD DLC offerings, but it’s also not overly enjoyable, either. To this point, Core is definitely the least popular by consensus lobby voting in both the Team Deathmatch and Mosh Pit playlists.
Hit up those frequent flyer miles, and boogie on down to Texas for the next round. Dallas plays host to Urban. In the scope of AW maps, this may be the smallest to date. North and south symmetry (according to the initial team spawn points) is met with different features east and west. Each “base” has a ground floor with an open area in behind as well as a high rise with an accessible second story. In the center mid is a box-y courtyard that should only be used to navigate as a last resort because of the outlook positions on either side. Going east/west, along one wall is a series of stairs that will get you from one end of the map to the other with decent cover against tangos in the middle. The opposite end houses a bottom level, four sided CQC arena that is used as point B in Domination matches. This third of the map also has smaller buildings to the right and left that are great to dive in for cover if things in the “kill box” get too hot. Make no mistake, while Urban is entertaining, it is very “noob” centric. This is one of the few choices in AW where Scorestreaks can be overbearing to the point of making the match unplayable. The one-two punch of repeated Bombing Runs and Missile Strikes create un-navigable chaos. Couple that with coordinated spawn camping, which is disappointingly easy in lieu of the map’s diminutive nature, and you have a scenario lopsided enough to make any tryhard’s blood boil. To be fair, this only happened about 20% – 25% of the time during my playtest. But the more the map gets played, good MPers will undoubtedly find ways to gain higher kill chains, which will probably raise this percentage. Kill Confirmed is the ideal match type because of the chaotic nature of that particular rules set. Domination, on the other hand, can be torture if my proposed worst case scenario comes to fruition.
Head north to Wyoming for a grand ol’ time at the Sideshow. Like Core, its size is best described as medium. Unlike Core, it’s not as sprawling. In terms of size judgement, this is about the perfect definition of medium by square footage. The location is asymmetrical, but has a much more balanced soul. This is due to a pair of adjacent two story motels towards the center that would form an “L” shape from an overhead view. Across from the relatively open parking lot in the middle with a huge semi truck and trailer (acting as cover from said buildings) is another decent sized structure that is meant to act as a counterweight to the sniper perches on the other side. Of all the Havoc maps, this is the one that was tailor made for using Exo Jump. In previous CoDs, getting on top of the roofs would have required a ladder or stairs of some sort that would have been difficult to use because of opposing players camping those areas. In AW, these areas are accessible from anywhere with a double tap of the jump button. This puts an added emphasis of needing to be mindful of your surroundings and ratchets up the intensity of the obligatory snipers vs. close quarter combatants’ “match within the match” dynamic. And the outer “ring” has more open areas with smaller buildings for a nice even complexion. Of the four, Sideshow plays the most consistent from match to match and is usually a blast. Hardpoint and Domination are great choices, and depending on the play styles of the participants, KC can be really good as well.
The first batch of AW DLC rounds out its travel itinerary with a trip to the Rocky Mountains. Christmas comes a little late on Drift. Along with the initial set of included maps, this may be the biggest. For a CoD selection, it’s huge. Multiple buildings that would serve as the main piece of another map are dotted everywhere. For instance, the train station is shielded quite well from outside bullet fire, but has surprisingly long indoor sight lines. Full fledged medium range AR exchanges from one “back wall” to the other break out all the time, and have the same feel as being on extreme ends of the map on, say, Urban. And this example is taking place in an area that’s about 30% of Drift’s entire layout. To compensate for the numerous two and three story outlook spots, there are several elevation changes and “natural” cover opportunities like huge mounds of snow. In terms of looks, it is the prettiest of the Havoc offerings. The white powder reflects the festive holiday decorations with impressive glow, and the “twilight” setting gives the outside and inside lighting completely different “feels.” This might go without saying, but you definitely want to pack a longer range primary to be truly effective here. I, myself, don’t snipe. So I fashioned an IMR with an ACOG scope, and that seemed to do pretty well in most scenarios during TDM games. During objective games, you can use SMGs and high tempo ARs because of the inherent “crowding” nature of “territory” match types. Although, you will need to be “crafty” when creeping up on a group of enemies. Be mindful of your surroundings when weaving from building to building, and you can attain pretty consistent success with your beloved ASM1 variant in hand. TDM and Hardpoint are great here, while Domination and KC struggle because of the massive scale.
In my opinion, the value of a “map pack” gets a decent boost from a weapons drop. Fortunately, his opening round gives us just that. The AE4 is a new assault rifle that sets itself apart from many of its brethren. Its two biggest attributes are accuracy and ammo. It joins the IMR as the most reliable in the class at landings shots. Despite it being fully auto, the recoil is minimal, perhaps the lowest of any other AR, variants included. Speaking of variants, one alternate is offered from the start. Dubbed “Widowmaker,” you’ll be a slight bump in accuracy with a dip in fire rate. While the Widowmaker isn’t ideal for “in-close” exchanges with a quicker primary, the “stock” AE4 is pretty slow anyway. So, for my money, I’ll take the upped accuracy, because I’m going to be at a close range disadvantage regardless. Regarding ammo, well, in multiplayer there is none. Because it fires pulse laser charges instead of bullets, it’s unlimited. To counteract this advantage, the gun overheats when fired at a decent rate. You can tap reload to install a new “battery pack” in an effort to expedite said process just a bit, but it won’t accept the new pack immediately. I wasn’t a huge fan of the stock iron sight because of its extra wide presentation, but I have seen it put to good use by others. My attachment suggestions are Hybrid Sight, Heat Sink (to raise the overheat tolerance), and Foregrip (with the Primary Gunfighter Wildcard queued up) for even more accuracy at a longer range. With that setup, the medium and far sight lines of the Havoc maps become easier to manage.
It wouldn’t be CoD DLC without something for the co-op contingency. And it seems that the fight against the undead is no longer a Treyarch exclusive trademark. Enter Exo Zombies, Sledgehammer’s spin on the classic template. Outbreak is episode 101 for this gameplay remix. In short, experiments done at Atlas on “patient zero” candidates got way out of hand. Now the compound stands as an epicenter for the undead epidemic. Up to four Xbox LIVErs (or two through local play) will inherit the roles of a fresh group of survivors with celebrity voice acting: Oz (John Malkovich), Kahn (Bill Paxton), Lilith (Rose McGowan), and Decker (The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal). The basic template from the World at War/Black Ops version is largely untouched. There are (hopefully) multiple rounds of zombies that come from multiple spawn points around the map tasked with melee-ing you and your teammates into submission. As the rounds go up, the number and difficulty of lame brains increases. The biggest change in features is, of course, the inclusion of the Exo suit. You will have to unlock a few doors and “turn on the power,” but this can be done in the first few rounds, so you should have the kit at your disposal before “it gets real,” as the kids say. Some of the cornerstone features are also borrowed, but now have different titles. The Perk-a-Cola system has been retooled as Exo Upgrades. After snagging your new metal limb attachments, up to five “power-ups” can be tacked on: Health (health boost), Soldier (reload while sprinting and sliding a la Gung Ho), Reload (decreased reload time), Slam (Boost Slam attack), and finally Medic (faster ally revive). Another big one is the Mystery Box, or 3D Printer for the purposes of Exo Zombies. It works in exactly the same fashion. Pony up 1,000 credits and the wall mounted tech creates a random weapon. And much like the dreaded “Teddy Bear,” the Printer will eventually “malfunction,” and be replaced with a working station somewhere else on the map.
Pack-a-Punch is replaced by the Upgrade Station, with one key difference. The weapon upgrade happens much, much, faster now. Because of this, the strategy for managing your two primaries changes dramatically compared to the Treyarch guidelines. In later rounds, waves of zombies become overwhelming, as expected. But instead of hitting the 3D Printer in the hopes of getting something that can deal with the new onslaught, it is very possible to just roll with wall guns and upgrade them when necessary. Outfit yourself with a reliably quick arm such as the HBRa3 and perhaps something for “in your face” action like the Bulldog, and just continue to hit the Upgrade Station so they can stay effective as the rounds tick over. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two Zombie philosophies is the size of the map. More specifically, the available footpaths. Outbreak is uber cramped when stacked up side by side with most levels in WaW and Blops. Some maps might have had claustrophobic features, like the cell blocks in Mob of the Dead, but there were also places to get in “open air” and have room to space out. And if you consider something as sprawling as Origins, Outbreak is like a one bedroom efficiency. to cope with the small spaces, the leading strat to achieve long(er) runs is to “train” the zombies up by running and Exo-ing, then pulling a 180 at crucial choke points to decimate as many as possible before the horde pushes down on you too much. The Exo Jump is exponentially important to keeping you alive, but because of the diminutive stature of the real estate, precision jumping and landing is of the up most importance. Lackadaisically hopping to and fro will eventually land you in the lap of a group of hungry walkers. In other words, look both ways before crossing the proverbial street. Unfortunately, the Exo suit isn’t a survivor only feature. Periodically (and more frequently as the rounds progress), the infected will be outfitted with Atlas’ futuristic tech. They’ll be able to continue the chase despite your best efforts to boost away. Additionally, some of them will have two added damage threats. One is green “poison touch,” which will down you within a minute if you don’t visit one of the Decontamination Zones along the main paths. The second are zombs with an EMP blast that will temporarily disable your Exo suit. These must be identified and taken down immediately. If escaping a horde comes down to quickly Exo-ing away, and you can’t because a pulse has disabled “super jumping,” expect to be downed. And much like the WaW/Blops progenitors, going down takes away all weapons, Exo suit, and unlocked abilities. Personally, I’ve never been a good CoD Zombies player so I really didn’t mind the accelerated pace and abridged run ways. For dedicated Treyarch players, these two changes in the gameplay will be disorienting and frustrating. Despite that, I still think this is a worthwhile endeavor, as was Ghost‘s Extinction. But for those hoping Treyarch’s heralded brand of co-op had come in earnest a year early, you might have feelings of antipathy towards Sledgehammer’s version.
For most AW players, Havoc would be a solid purchase. Sure, the four maps all have their “quirks,” and one or two have some inconsistencies. But I love the fact that each of these selections don’t try and facilitate proficiency for all types of players. When a map tries to please everyone, it often winds up not pleasing anyone at all. Sure, traditional snipers will probably hate Urban. CQC enthusiasts will probably find most of Drift repulsive. So what? For what those places try to do, it does that very well. Thumbs up. The AE4 adds some interesting dynamics to a group of weapons that can often crowd each other in terms of features. The slower tempo, but deadly accuracy is a welcome change amongst the sea of Bal-27s and MK14s. And despite its humbling-ly different flavor, I think the first taste of Exo Zombies is pretty good overall. It will be interesting to see what the other three quarters have in store for the not-so new co-op mode.
