Call of Duty Black Ops Escalation Review

"Answer the Call of the Dead"

Campaign

The Escalation map adds four more multiplayer maps Convoy, Hotel, Stockpile, Zoo and one more zombie map Call of the Dead, to Black Ops. I will say right off the bat that these maps are far better than the last packs. Convoy I find is not a great map, it’s basically a street in the middle surrounded by two small areas to the side which have some small buildings. Hotel is the best of the pack, and is basically on one side a casino leading to a pool/walk area, then to a hotel on the other. With some fancy elevators, which I guess are somewhat interesting for strategic use. Stockpile is basically a big map with a central warehouse area, it has the feeling of Revolution from World at War to me, and actually is a fairly fun map for objective games. Finally Zoo, which has a neat feel, although I wish there was animals in the cages. The map has a open, yet closing feeling between moving in the cages, the map also has a monorail railing the surrounds a portion and gives a tactical edge.

Call of the Dead Zombie Map

Call of the Dead is without a doubt the largest zombie map ever made. It showcases and amazing cast and brings back some the best parts of zombies. The setting is a crashed ship in an arctic area with a lighthouse, ship and open cold water areas. The map continues the well built formula, adding some new weapons, perks and enemy boss guy called the Director. Now the map is amazing and large, but I find the director to be somewhat large of a nuisance that takes away from the experience. The annoyance of him is that he will follow you relentlessly and chase you with rage if shoot or get too close to him. There are however ways to get rid of him, but I won’t ruin it, anyways the maps good and has tons of new secret things for everyone to discover.

The Conclusion

The map pack actually isn’t bad no matter what area of Call of Duty Black Ops you like. For the most part I found the multiplayer maps delivered in variety and good play feeling. Despite the annoying director, I still find the zombie map very interesting and love the new environment it brings to play.

Call of Duty: Black Ops for Xbox 360

Rating Overall: 7.6