So How is That New Map Pack Anyway?

Well, I just wrote a whole article on the process of buying the new Black Ops map pack, but I didn’t actually talk about the product at all. But for as much as you surely appreciate my insights into the psychology and economics of DLC, fans of the game are probably more concerned with the maps themselves.

I’ve had a chance to play all the maps pretty thoroughly in the last 24 hours, so I can at least comment on them a little bit here. Read on below:

Kowloon

When I first saw the name, I had a brief flash of dyslexia and thought it was called “Kool Town.” “Kool Town? Who the hell would name their map Kool To….oh.” But now I’m just going to refer to it as that from now on.

I really didn’t like this map at first, as it just seemed like a bunch of windows to hide in and doorways to claymore, but once I got some groups who were actually willing to move from one spot, it was a good time. I finally had to remake my run and gun submachine gun class for use here, as you want the speed to sprint across the rooftops and get behind your enemies. It’s a bit dark for my tastes, but it’s different, and ziplining is fun, albeit sort of useless. You really should be able to shoot while doing it.

Berlin Wall

This is just a strange map. It’s essentially a giant square where you can go in the middle or else you’re killed by the Guardians (Halo reference). So essentially it’s an endless carousel of people chasing after each other, and occasionally treading through the tiny path in the middle.

Your best bet is to hole up in a building and pick off passersby, though that doesn’t make for a very fun scenario for the player killing or the players being killed. I still don’t know what class to use here really.

Discovery

Black Ops was desperately in need of at least ONE good sniper map, as Array barely even qualifies as that. Discovery is most definitely geared toward long range warfare, though that doesn’t suit my play style at all.

Essentially people hole up in two main buildings, and try to headshot each other from afar, as well as those who are dumb enough to try to run around in the open. As for the destructible bridge I’ve heard so much about? I don’t even know how to get there yet, so I can’t see it being a highly trafficked area.

Stadium

By far my favorite new map, I didn’t play a game where I got under 20 kills here. This is due to the fact that I appear to be the only person in Black Ops who believes you can wield a shotgun more effectively than an AK74u, and so I always clean up in tiny levels like this one.

It reminds me of that apartment level from Modern Warfare 2 DLC in terms of aesthetics, though it’s less corridor heavy. I don’t think the “stadium” part of the map is used well enough, and I wish you could go out on the ice. Otherwise, it’s my favorite of the bunch.