What The Next Black Ops: Zombies Needs To Succeed
Call of Duty: Zombies has gone from a simple survival game and evolved into an incredible story spanning multiple universes. It has gotten so big that Activision has a studio that works solely on the Zombies component of the game. Last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War introduced some new additions to the zombie’s formula that many fans loved. They added a new tier-based upgrade system for most components of the game and a new mode that encouraged high-level play-throughs. It was something that the zombie’s formula needed. With the next Call of Duty game’s announcement right around the corner and theories about it continuing the zombie’s storyline we wanted to talk about some features and additions we’d love to see. Here are five things we’d love to see in the next Call of Duty Zombies.
Gumballs or Something Similar
We realize that in the current Zombie formula some of the abilities of past gumballs are implemented into the game via the upgrades. But those upgrades are set as soon as the game start and they aren’t as powerful as their gumball versions most of the time. With gumballs, there was sort of randomness and fun that came along with them. Going to the gumball machine and not knowing which gumball you would land. Landing your favorite gumball. These kinds of moments were part of the reason Black ops 3: Zombie Chronicles was so fun and replayable. Every playthrough was different. We also miss the gumballs that were there just for fun. The funny noises, the zombies with duck floaties, and even the one where zombies would fall upwards. These kinds of moments made it feel like you were more in control of your experience. A new iteration could include a more in-depth formula of gumballs. Maybe the addition of tiered gumball machines. They could also include an Easter egg where a special gumball machine would let you use a high-level gumball without consuming it. There is a lot to be explored in this area and something we hope to see again.
More Maps Tied to Famous Landscapes
We want to see more maps that are tied to iconic landscapes. Of course, we’d want original ones as well. But one or two that are developed after famous landscapes would be fantastic. We love seeing how Treyarch reinvents places. They could even take mythical lands and recreate them. Imagine a zombie level that takes place in Atlantis? That would be surreal. And with how Treyarch gives different wonder weapons for different maps we’d love to see a trident style weapon and different variations. Sort of how they did their staff upgrades in Origins.
More Wonder Weapons
We love the wonder weapons in Call of Duty. They allow you to change the dynamic of any game and they are fun to use. The most iconic one, the Ray Gun, has been present in almost every map available. Different iterations of the Ray Gun have also been developed, the Mark II and the Mark III. Unfortunately, there is usually only 1-2 wonder weapons per map. We want to see more. Some maps do include the addition of Wonder Weapon variations which are used to progress the Easter Egg. But we want to see more weapons that are fun and unique. Remember the shrinking 31-79 JGb215 or the human creating V-R11. We want to see more like that. We’d really love to see a zombie map with all the wonder weapons. They could make the map be unique and offer obstacles that could balance out the inclusion of every wonder weapon. If the Ray Gun can be on every map so can the Thundergun. The Thundergun was created by Gersh from Ascension. It is an intense blast of pressure that usually kills zombies instantly and knocks others out of the way. It is a great weapon to clear out space for an escape or to clear out a room when cornered. We want to see it more. We want to see it on every map. It is one of the most iconic weapons and it seems that sometimes it gets forgotten and shelved up. We would love to see it as a constant in every map similarity to the Ray Gun.
Wonder Weapon Customization
We want to see customization options for Wonder Weapons. It would be great to be able to choose between a few skins and aesthetic features. Imagine being able to change the color of the Ray Gun from red to a blue one? Would be great for when you have a party where every member has the Ray Gun so that they can feel unique and special to the player. It could be just one to three extra skins to spice it up a little. It would also be great if you could add upgrades to the Ray Gun and other constant Wonder Weapons. Along the lines of the upgrade system in Cold War Zombies. Adding a slot for Ray Gun upgrades would be pretty great. Increase the radius and maybe introduce a few different firing modes. That way you could take the Ray Gun to a whole other level. It is already the only wonder weapon in every map so why not build on it.
Dynamic Maps
We want to see more maps like Transit. Maybe not on such a large scale. But being able to play a dynamic map is such a fun experience. Examples of this could be a map with a volcano that explodes after a certain round, changing the whole landscape. Or even a boat level where the boat eventually gets submerged. We want to see maps that change as the levels progress or even randomly. Treyarch could really have fun with and explore their possibilities.
