According to Mark Lamia from Treyarch, the Escalation DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops, coming exclusively to Xbox 360 owners early next month, will satisfy our need for variety within the game. With five new maps on the cards ranging from some top secret ‘surprise’ zombie map to a team deathmatch in a zoo, players can expect to need another hefty chunk of free time to learn the twists and turns of each of them.
Lamia was quoted as saying that:
“In crafting the Escalation multiplayer maps – Zoo, Convoy, Hotel and Stockpile – the team developed them to be distinct experiences in their own right, giving players the variety they crave in both setting and gameplay. And I don’t want to spoil any surprises for Zombies fans, but Call of the Dead takes it to a whole new level.”
Cynical (but maybe truthful) whispers have been creeping over the internet lately, saying that the only real ‘sell’ for the last DLC was the new Zombie map and that this is partly down to that fact we only got two maps in the original box (Dead Ops is something else entirely, let’s be honest). People seem to be a little reluctant to fork out the cash for the high priced extras but yet everyone seems to be buying it. Perhaps this speaks the truth about the Call of Duty situation more than any review will; globalized ‘in group’ mentality, and peer pressure.
The new zombie map “Call of the Dead” is supposedly going to mix up the traditional formula they’ve stuck to so far and ‘take it to a whole new level’. I will confess I only really play Black Ops for the zombie mode now so I’m suckered in despite daft financial logic. Over £10 for one map?
As you probably all know, the First Strike DLC sold a ridiculous 1.4 million in the first day on Xbox Live alone and I’m sure Escalation will do the same, if not better.