First Strike was fun. Escalation rocked. But Call of Duty: Black Ops fans want more – they crave new battlegrounds and new experiences. Black Ops developer Treyarch knows this, so they’ve been busy creating another fresh batch of DLC maps: Annihilation. The newest add-on content will be ready for download from the PlayStation Store starting Thursday, July 28th.
Annihilation features four new standard multiplayer arenas – Silo, Hangar 18, Drive-In and Hazard – and the deadly jungle Zombies experience, Shangri-La. “The goals we set were about quality and variety,” says Treyarch’s Online Director, Dan Bunting. “We wanted to make everything feel unique and distinct.”
Annihilation delivers on those goals with five all-new environments:
Drive-In: This one-time American movie paradise once showed war movies; now it’s the location for one. The holes in the screen have been filled with snipers. The popcorn is stale, but they’re still serving up hot lead in the concession stand. “Drive-In is a small map, very fast paced,” says Treyarch’s Online Director, Dan Bunting (the nice bearded man from all those behind-the-scenes videos). “It’s similar to Nuketown in that it’s a fast, close-quarters map.”
Hazard: Ah, the Cuban good life! This swanky golf course features lush greens, oceanic driving ranges, and long-range sniping opportunities straight down its deadly fairway. Never mind getting a hole in one — try not to get lots of holes in you. Those skilled with assault rifles and sniper rifles will enjoy this one.
Silo: If you’ve ever said to yourself, “This is a great map, but what it really needs are missiles launching right next to my ear, so every time I line up to snipe someone, I pee myself instead” – and really, who hasn’t? – this is the map for you. Muddy sloped terrain, a smattering of construction equipment, and a few carefully placed sniper towers make this military outpost a tactical challenge regardless of game type.
Hangar 18: This one’s a tribute to the Groom Lake military base where the government developed the SR-71 Blackbird – or, depending on the conspiracy theories you choose to believe, where they stored a recovered alien spacecraft. Either way, you’ll be in an out of buildings frequently here, not to mention using a multi-million-dollar piece of reconnaissance aircraft for cover. But that’s not the only secret project it’s hiding. “Hangar 18 has a couple of fun easter eggs,” hints Bunting. “I can’t talk about them because it would ruin them.”
Shangri-La: Welcome to the jungle, where the Zombies have taken over an ancient shrine. But be extra careful – the environment’s many hidden tricks and deadly traps can be used against you as easily as your undead enemies. “It’s one of the more creative and clever map designs we’ve got so far,” says Bunting with pride. “The diehard fans are really going to appreciate the story hooks in this one as well.”
Annihilation will be available in the PlayStation Store July 28th — less than two weeks away. And as is the custom, the weekend that follows will offer all players double XP in celebration. See you at the drive-in!
Hey whoever this Dan Amrich is, people at activision take notice he is good.
I abandoned the cod games since CODMW2 i didnt get black ops.
But this man’s genuine answers and not treating me like a child or an ignorant person with his DLC delay talk just sold you guys another copy of CODMW3. im back on board .
Man, some people need to calm down. If you don’t like it or are unsatisfied, that’s understandable. The bloggers who answer you’re questions are not magicians, just bloggers. It’s really unfortunate to see how many gamers are ungrateful and extremely disrespectful. sheesh guys (and girls), c’mon now.
hey Dan Armich CAN YOU ADD ME AS A FRIEND ON PSN? maybe we can game something? psn- ChaosStorm57 :)
@norcalbwlr:
How is it ungrateful to be disappointed with something you payed for? When I spend money on a game, I expect it to work properly. Black Ops has acted up so badly over the first 2 months, it was literally unplayable. And there are still lots of bugs in the game. Gratitude is for when you get something for free or without expecting it. Should I be grateful for crap hit detection, being thrown into lopsided matches, non-existent weapon variety and crappy looking textures? Really? As a customer I feel I have every right to complain when a developer fails so miserably in putting together a game on a franchise basis. MW2 had its flaws (OMA-DC-noobtube, incredibly ridiculous quickscoping, commando knifing with TacKinfe etc.) but it was playable and looked great. Bullets hit what you aim at, lag was very rare after the second patch and the weapons actually had variety. Example: In BO: WA2000 = Dragunov with a bit less recoil when using ACOG sight. Commando = AK47 = Galil (+ 5 more rounds per mag). The SMGs are even worse. When you dont have 4 green bars, dont even try using something else than the 74u or MP5K. Especially the 20 mag SMGs are near useless!
Meh.
I have a lot to say, but I don’t think it’s worth the time or effort. Though I have to say though that the overal price hike since Modern Campfare2.. I mean Modern Warfare2 and the five dollar increase (thats about a fifty percent increase people) I just do, not understand how, Activision feels justified in this? Especially considering the fact that none of the map packs are really “true” Add-on content in the sense that it feels more like a money marketing scam, and that most of these maps were being worked on before the games release or were already completed before the release. Not to mention that Call of Duty sorely needs to do away with the “Peer to Peer” system. It’s outdated, cheap, and lacking. For the amount of revenue generated by the copies of Call of Duty sold alone you’d think we could get some “dedicated” servers going. Not to mention that we’ve had to endure the price hikes.
Ps. I don’t know why (must be an Activision thing), but the amount of “smugness” exuding from you is intolerable at times, Dan Amrich (Am “rich” really?! anyone else see that too?)
I like to use big words and I always have; sorry if that makes me seem pompous, but I like my vocabulary and I’m going to use it.. I worked hard to get it. :)
But making fun of my Czech heritage and my last name? That’s low.