Tomorrow, May 4th, will be an onslaught of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer goodness on the PlayStation Network!
First and foremost, the first downloadable content for Modern Warfare 2 — The Stimulus Package — will hit the PSN Store for $14.99 and bring with it five new maps to the multiplayer of MW2. Included in those five new maps are two classic Call of Duty 4 maps that we all know and love, and three completely new locations that offer a variety of unique locations for your favorite gametypes. The Stimulus Package includes:
Bailout – An American apartment complex that is amazing for objective gametypes, especially Capture the Flag, but one of those maps that works well regardless of what type of game you’re playing it on. Its long sightlines — like sniping from a blown-out wall of a second-story apartment suite — give it some nice spots for long-range sniping but also has plenty of flanking routes through the bullet-riddled gym, hallways, lobbies, and interconnecting units.
Salvage – A snowy junkyard covered in debris, crushed cars, and my favorite aspect — no place to hide (well, maybe one, but hiding in the dog house isn’t going to win you the game). This aspect of beautiful but simplistic design is what makes Salvage my new favorite map for Hardcore Team Deathmatch; it forces you to rely on your speed, accuracy, and skill. It’s all about offensive, sorry campers! This map is about getting in and STAYING in the fight.
Storm – A rainy warehouse district on the outskirts of a looming thunderstorm with booming lightning and rolling thunder. A massive interconnected warehouse with overhead walkways and plenty of machinery for cover makes this great for big team games. With plenty of surrounding outdoors areas for flanking or cutting through the connected buildings, this is a map that benefits from two teams working together to control their area and lock down domination points. This map has a great atmosphere and always results in some insane HQ games.
Crash – A war-torn urban environment with a crashed helicopter surrounded by several great vantage points. Whether you’re taking pop shots from the three-story building overlooking the map, or covering the center objective point from the second story of the appropriately named “blue room” windows, Crash is the first fan-favorite map to make a return from Call of Duty 4, and is one those multiplayer locations that is perfectly balanced regardless of the gametype you throw on it. Team Deathmatch is king on Crash for me personally and we’ve maintained every cover, sniper vantage, and perfect ‘nade spot you’ve grown to love, but have also filled the map out with even more detail.
Overgrown – A massive and open village divided down the center by a dried-up creekbed. Overgrown is a snipers paradise with its high grass, super-long sightlines, and earns its cred as one of our largest multiplayer maps. It’s back by popular demand from the community, and was one of my personal favorite maps of all time from Call of Duty 4. It’s been updated with some new lightning and atmospheric changes, yet maintains its trademark flow and appeal for big team games.
When you jump online to enjoy the new maps, you’re also going to be greeted with a few new additions to the playlists structure in multiplayer. You’ll notice two new playlists added to the bottom of the list: Stimulus & Stimulus Hardcore. These two playlists will allow you to play your favorite gametypes on ONLY the new maps. That way you get to experience them as much as you like.
Stimulus – This playlist will include all gametypes for 8-12 players and rotating through ONLY the new Stimulus Maps.
Stimulus Hardcore – This playlist will include Hardcore Ricochet Team Deathmatch, Hardcore Ricochet HQ Pro, Hardcore Ricochet Search and Destroy for 8-12 players and rotating through ONLY the new Stimulus Maps.
While these two playlists are reserved for those who download The Stimulus Package, the same day we’ll also be introducing an all new playlist for ALL Modern Warfare 2 players.
Team Tactical – 6-8 Players playing small team based games with Team Deathmatch, Domination, Capture the Flag, and Demolition. (First Person viewpoint)
This playlist is being added by HUGE demand from the community on our forums, Twitter, and other messages you’ve sent in to us; in addition to another requested change of adding the Ranger maps (Terminal, Skidrow, Highrise, Invasion) to the HC HQ Pro playlist.
When I said onslaught, I MEANT onslaught!
That’s not even all. When all these updates hit tomorrow on May 4th, we’ll also be flipping the Double XP switch for the first time, ON ALL PLAYLISTS, FOR ALL PLAYERS! So when you jump online you’ll be earning twice as many XP for your kills and objectives to help you finish off that Prestige you’ve been working on or, for all you level 70s, the deciding factor to take the leap into the next Prestige.
Tomorrow is all about adding even more mileage to your Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer, giving you all new locations to play, new playlists to play them on, and Double XP to make it all that much sweeter. I look forward to seeing all of you online!
You can follow official Modern Warfare 2 updates and news on Twitter by following @fourzerotwo.
i still say $15 is too much for this
Speaking from the developer side, not the business side of things, these maps will definitely give you a lot of multiplayer mileage for your dollar. I think every player should look at how much they play Modern Warfare 2 online and how much more play time they’ll get out of it with this additional content to determine if it’s a fair trade off for them.
If you decide to pick them up, I have no doubt you’ll enjoy them. If not though, you should still jump on and enjoy some double XP with us!