Firstly I would like to apologize for my absence of late, but to make up for it here's a brand new article with the promise of more to come! As many of you are most likely aware, the second piece of DLC for
Black Ops 2 was released last Tuesday (16th April 2013). With its release came four new multiplayer maps, and the most ambitious Zombie map yet,
Mob of The Dead. Since downloading the map pack on Tuesday, I have had a fair chance to play each new map as well as
Mob of The Dead several times already and have really enjoyed the change of scenery.
The first map we'll be talking about today is
Magma. The main thing with you get with this map is the boundaries of the map move with the lava, this means that whilst playing this map you should always be wary of where the lava is and how close to it you are before getting into a fire fight. In terms map layout, there are several buildings you can shelter in, and several routes you can take across the map. I have found the derailed train to be the favorite route of many a team mate/enemy. In terms of playing Domination on it flags A and C have a fairly simple layout with little cover, B however is slap bang in the middle down from whats left of a road. My advice for capping B would be bring along some trophies, since people tend to spam grenades at B if their team is slower than yours at getting there. Overall I'd say
Magma is a fun map to play, with players needing to be as wary of their environment as they are the enemy.
Our next map is
Vertigo. This takes place at the top of a skyscraper, and if your not careful with your footing there is often the danger that you'll fall off the top. On this map a lot of the action seems to take place in the center of the map, in the circular room which houses Flag B on Domination. With several of the entrances to the room being through automatic doors, Bouncing Bettie's hidden round corners are often a nice surprise for your unsuspecting victims rushing through the doors. For this map I'd say work your way around the outside, mixing up your route so as to keep the enemy guessing and hopefully catch them by surprise. As with
Magma, this map is one where players need to be wary of how close they are to the edge, or kiss goodbye to that scorestreak.
Encore takes place in the aftermath of a music concert and as such the centerpiece for this map is the stage. It is possible to get onto the stage itself on this map, or if you would rather, head through the tight corridor underneath or around the edges of the map. A lot of the fighting on this map takes place around the stage, whether that's on the stage itself or people shooting from the little hut opposite the stage, checking all angles is important. in terms of Domination, Flag B is located next to the forklift in front of the stage that provides a slim amount of cover, however taking smoke grenades with cold blooded will help you remain unseen from those trying to shoot at you from range. This map is one of the bigger maps included in the DLC and challenges players in both close quarter combat and ranged combat.
Our final multiplayer map is
Studio. Many of you will recognize this map as the fan favorite from
Black Ops Firing Range. However since then it has received a gorgeous looking face lift. Instead of it being a firing range, it has now become a massive movie set, with several different film references including
Pirates of the Caribbean, Godzilla and Jurassic Park. These references are purely aesthetic similarities, with skeleton pirates, a miniature city and a dinosaur peeking his head over a fence. This is by far my favorite map from
Uprising purely on the aesthetics alone, in terms of game play, people will generally gravitate towards the center of the map and the Castle. Players who have experienced the original Firing Range map from
Black Ops will find themselves on familiar ground no matter what game type they're playing on. Overall
Studio takes my vote for best Map of the DLC and is defiantly up there with
Hijacked and
Mirage as some of my favorite maps on
Black Ops 2.
The new Zombies map, Mob of The Dead, is a real step forward in terms of the evolution of zombies. The same premise of surviving round after round is still there, however Mob of The Dead adds several new gameplay features including Afterlife. When you fire up Mob of The Dead, you'll start in this new Afterlife mode, this allows you to reach areas inaccessible to you whilst playing one of the four mobster characters, as well as help you to move through to new parts of the map such as the Warden's Office, where you're required to be in afterlife mode to open the office gate. It is also necessary to be in Afterlife to turn on all the perk machines dotted around the map. In terms of the big 75g (for Xbox) achievement, it is easier than High Maintenance and Tower of Babble, and can be done solo. In my next article I'll explain how to do this as well as talk about some of the other achievements. Overall I'd say Mob of The Dead is the best Black Ops 2 zombies map so far, and adds some interesting plot points to the overall zombies story arc, for those who seek it out.
