Treyarch definitely knows how to keep their fans happy. Though they have dealt with a very lukewarm reception to Call of Duty: World at War overall, they have done a spectacular job keeping their fans interested and involved by releasing three map packs to augment the game to date. We’ve covered every single one of them here at Spawn Kill, and now the third map pack review has rolled around. It can easily be summed up in one word: fantastic. This might just be the best map pack yet out of the three, mainly because of the phenomenal improvements made to the Nazi Zombie map in this go-around. In all, it’s a fiendishly fun addition to your map pack collection that you’ll want to fire up again and again. Just make sure to keep bathing.
Revolution
Revolution is placed in a rather large, factory-like location in the mean streets of Russia, hence the title, I suppose. You’ll spend most of your time finding your way around the map since it is rather huge, featuring interspersed buildings, passageways, and alleys that you’ll need to memorize if you ever want to come out on top. While instinct may have you trotting about outside looking for people to take down with your trusty knife, you’ll want to be wary of the rooftops where snipers will find plenty of perches, just waiting to pick off anyone who dares venture outside the buildings on the map. You’ll find many different areas here in which to take refuse if you look carefully enough, though most players have also discovered by now that the best way to avoid getting a bullet between the eyes is to stick in the buildings below. You’ll take in some rather unsettling imagery, such as an abandoned brewery replete with a silo. Revolution is also a fairly balanced map that offers an equal chance, no matter where you happen to spawn so that you can find and get to cover whenever you need to, wherever you are, unless you just aren’t highly skilled at Call of Duty.
Battery
Battery is actually quite a bit smaller than the rest of the maps included in this package, and will likely remind you of Call of Duty 4’s “Wet Work” with its tighter quarters and feeling as though you’re on a ship – which you actually were, in the former. Battery actually places you on a small island with mines and cannons dotting the edges of the land. As you’re locked in with the rest of your teammates and enemies on this island, you can imagine that this map requires quick reflexes as well as close-combat strategies rather than sniping. Out of all of the Map Pack #3 maps, this is the one that caught my attention the quickest, as I am every bit a run-and-gunner who enjoys hopping into a game, mowing down the competition, and getting the heck out of dodge before I fall victim to someone who shares the same sentiments as me. You’ll be weaving in and out of what resembles abandoned diners as well as the backcountry of the island. While it isn’t the most aesthetically-pleasing offering of the four maps, you’ll soon discover that it serves up the most frenetic and hectic balance of skill and fun, moreso than many of the previous map packs have showcased. If you’re going to fire up any World at War multiplayer, then this is the map you should hope that doesn’t get vetoed.
Breach
I’m a bit hesitant to say that I didn’t really enjoy Breach too much at all, though it could be just the fact that it’s not my style of map. You’ll infiltrate a very heavily war-damaged Berlin that offers plenty of aerial hiding spots for snipers and very low visibility for either style of play, whether you’re picking off soldiers from the skies or scurrying around on the ground like citizens below the plate in Midgar. Though it does seem a bit more accessible to those who prefer the cowardly (yet very precise) method of hanging out of sight and pumping you full of lead, as in Revolution, there are still plenty of buildings to find sanctuary in if you’re not looking for that kill/death ratio to take a sharp drop just yet. Regardless of my personal preference, it’s still quite the solidly built map and very expansive so that you’re not confined to a short area in which to get your kill on.
Der Riese
For me, the true meat of any World at War map pack lies in which direction the Nazi Zombies gameplay is going to go in. With the last map we saw a push toward giving the characters personalities and names as well as backgrounds. Der Riese continues those characters’ stories in an abandoned factory populated by (you guessed it) zombies. While a bit more confined than the previous maps, there are plenty more new areas, traps, and perks to discover each round as you fight to stay alive.
In this top secret Nazi research facility you’ll find electric barriers, more hell hounds, and the brand new “Pack-a-Punch Machine” that allows you to finally upgrade your current weapons. Since you now have the ability to upgrade you don’t always have to rely on the mystery box as often, though you’ll definitely want to make some trips over to one as the newly-added Monkey Bomb is an invaluable tool for getting the horde off of you and directing their attention elsewhere – to hell.
The Monkey Bomb is in the innocent shape of an endearing little monkey toy that you can toss to the side and attract all of the zombies in your surrounding area to. A few seconds later, say goodbye to those pesky shambling undead menaces, because the bomb will send them packing once and for all. It was a very welcome addition to strategies already in place for previous zombie maps, such as leaving a crawler to meander through the map while re-boarding windows and entrances, upgrading weapons, and getting your bearings for the next round. Der Riese has also added teleporters that will allow you to transport throughout different areas on the map, and you’ll find that a truly clever usage of the teleporter is getting the heck away from the hell hounds who insist on having you for lunch.
For a measly 800 Microsoft points, this is by far one of the best World at War map packs that Treyarch has released. You’ll sink hours of your time into Der Riese as with each new Nazi Zombie installment, you’ll find new ways to stay alive longer, to survive more rounds, and to up that number on the scoreboard. Treyarch, make a standalone game already! If you still enjoy booting up Call of Duty: World at War, you owe it to yourself to check this baby out.