Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike DLC

After just over 4 months since Black Ops launched, the first DLC for Black Ops has finally been released on PC. "First Strike" includes 4 new multiplayer maps and 1 new zombie level, and can be picked up for $15 on steam. Personally I'm not a fan of the zombie mode, so I wont review it here but I can definitely say I'm a fan of the new multiplayer maps. They bring freshness to the game, with some new interactive features, and some also address a few of the issues I had with the original round of maps. Unfortunately, spawn problems can make play a little frustrating and a couple of features may take a little getting used to. I'll explain each multiplayer map in detail below.

Kowloon

Heading back to Hong Kong, scene of the rooftop battles from the single player mode, this map delivers two things I found severely lacking in Black Ops: weather and verticality. The entire level is one big rainy slope on the roofs of the ramshackle Kowloon Walled City, with dozens of hiding places and camping spots, but few choke points thanks to multiple paths through the level. Campers will be happy, but the rest of us who have become used to the openness and relatively sniper-free levels of Black Ops might be a little less thrilled. Running through the middle of the level are two ziplines which can be used to quickly descend down the slope, but the benefit of speed is lost unless you are standing directly in front of them, as navigating the multi-level maze can be mildly confusing. The complexity of this map can be a plus once its learned, and for Capture the Flag players is especially useful, with multiple hidden paths on the outside and through the middle.

Discovery


Discovery takes place in an icy rock outcropping on the edge of a frozen sea, with the main feature being a large chasm running horizontally across the map. Several warehouses and industrial buildings are found on either side, with a central bridge choke point and two other ice bridges crossing the chasm. One of the ice bridges is destructible, which can provide some interesting kills and hilarious suicides, but so far I haven't seen as much use of it as the designers may have intended. An ice cave at one end of the map serves as a good sniper point, while a walkway through the chasm is useful for the sneaky kill now and then. This map works best with Domination, with the central bridge serving as the B point seeing heavy fighting, often unclaimed until up to a quarter of the way through the round. CTF also works well here, with the chasm walkway and the side bridges serving as great getaway routes with many great claymore spots.

Berlin Wall


What Cold War era game would be complete without including the most prominent symbol of the period? Berlin Wall is essentially a large rectangle with a no-man's-land torn lengthwise through the map. This area is strictly enforced by automated sentry guns, and can only be crossed using three blood-marked breaches directly under the sentries. It's an interesting concept, and the lengthwise orientation of the wall means that players who are unfamiliar with the map or simply forget about the sentries are often tempted to traverse the enticing open area, only to be mercilessly gunned down by the machine gun fire. This forces most of the fighting into the streets running parallel on either side of the trench, and to the breaches in the wall. Berlin Wall was built for domination, with B placed in the central no-man's-land crossing, and either point in a small court yard at either end of either street. The one downside of this map is that due to the essentially mirrored design, the fighting often splits into two separate battles down either street, rather than one cohesive battle. Little cover is available apart from the several buildings on either side of the streets, although some are quite useless providing small vantage angles while others can be lethal, housing several snipers at a time.

Stadium

A dog-leg shaped map, Stadium provides some intense fighting in and around an American ice hockey stadium. For those yearning for some close quarters action, but unsatisfied by the tube and grenade spam-filled chaos of main-rotation map Nuketown, Stadium may be just what you're looking for. Reminiscent of Modern Warfare 2's Invasion, Stadium's small size is offset by loads of cover, preventing spam and excessive camping. Several balconies and some scaffolding give a good view of the centre of the battle, but can be easily targeted if not properly defended. Most of the action takes place outside of the stadium itself as the edge of the map ends at the edge of the arena, which is a little unfortunate as this could have been an interesting feature if explored more. Team Deathmatch or Domination work well here, and Search and Destroy could have some potential, but Capture the Flag will usually result in a very quick and often one-sided round, as spawn problems can be an issue. An inclusion of an interactive feature would have been nice (piloting the Zambini around the ice rink perhaps?), but despite this Stadium is a great map for a quick fun round.

All in all, First Strike is a refreshing update with some fun interactive features I can see being utilized more in further Call of Duty installments. If you're like me and bought Black Ops at launch, then you're probably already going to buy the DLC as $15 is a small amount to pay considering the 100+ hours many players have invested. If you're new to Black Ops, then I would advise to buy the maps asap and learn them before it becomes too difficult. The other option is not buy the maps and get kicked when the server cycles to a new map, and in my mind the benefit of avoiding this annoyance far outweighs the small price tag.