After several years of an either terrible or non-existent Zombies mode in Call of Duty, it has returned with the classic round-based gameplay that was so missed by fans in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Do these new maps perhaps play it a little too safe and formulaic though?
The game launched with two maps, and since then one more map has so far been added as part of the season one content. I had low hopes for this, I had heard the maps were basically areas from Warzone cut off and dirtied up a bit. Thankfully, these maps do actually feel like they were created with zombies in mind. The first of these maps was 'Liberty Falls', which takes place in a town in West Virginia. This map includes various shops, and key places like a bowling alley and comic book shop. The core point of all this is the local church, existing in an alternate realm and the way to pack-a-punch your weapons. Second of the launch maps was 'Terminus' which is a more dark map, taking place on a prison island that has secretly been experimenting on the undead in a secret underground bio-research station. This map includes boats that can be driven around.
The third map released was 'Citadelle Des Morts', and as the title suggests, this takes place in and around a zombie infested castle, principally, its dungeon area and the town surrounding the castle.
All three maps are huge, and due to this they do have a bit of a samey feel. The large space means the zombie surviving experience lasts longer, with even me and my best friends first game lasting over forty five minutes. It is fun to play, and of course it is a pleasure to return to proper Zombies maps, but the large areas give it less of an intense feel of the older Zombies maps that would contain you in much smaller locations. Also, there is no boarding up of windows, something that is needed for that old school feel. Nowadays Call of Duty multiplayer remains the much bigger draw, this mode is fun to play, but the long match times means I often put off playing it.
In general though I have been impressed with the zombie content in the latest game, something that has spilled out into multiplayer, even the single player story fitted in horror elements. As well as pre-order and Vault edition versions including zombie 'Operators' for multi-player, there has also been unlockable items such as loading screens and stickers. This included the first prestige level being made up of homages to Zombies, and the Christmas event that included a zombie Santa. Sticking with the horror theme, there is currently a Squid Game 2 crossover taking place which has been a lot of fun.
I might not play as much Zombies as I once did, but it was still good to see it return. At heart I may still be wishing for a Zombie Chronicles 2 (the older maps are much better), but this is a decent way to waste an hour, and killing the undead is as fun as ever. I did like the Christmas crossover that made the enemies into festive versions, especially the spider monsters wearing Christmas hats! I also like that there is a dedicated 'directed' mode that actually guides you through the steps needed to complete the ever complicated story missions within the maps. Even on this mode I struggle to get things done, but hope one day to succeed!
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