Sound familiar? That's because it is familiar to anyone whose had the pleasure of experiencing Treyarch's unique experience on the Zombie invasion formula that they've bundled not so secretly with their past two Call of Duty outings. The thing that sets it apart from typical zombie invasion or horde-like modes is the sheer amount of depth to each level on top of all of the other things there are to do in order to survive as long as possible. There are a multitude of different pathways to take, weapons to purchase and with each new level, tricks and almost an individual storyline to experience in each of the levels. This makes each randomly-generated play through immensely satisfying, and from my experience, never frustrating.As a partner post to Sean's First Strike impressions, this is going to focus on the zombie map they've packed in, entitled Ascension. The first thing you're going to notice is the massive rocket ship as you descend to the starting point of the stage. Before it begins, the entire color scheme gets desaturated. Yup, the entire stage is played out in black, white and shades of gray until you hit the power...but should you hit the power? More on that shortly.
The level layout leaves you with just as many ways into a situation as there are ways out, and double that for the zombies. The entire stage is huge, overwhelming at first with all of the options, twists and turns available. Weapons and vending machines placed strategically so knowing the layout is just as important, if not more, than your gun skills. But which doors to open? Which weapons work the best against the undead horde? Experimentation and rash decisions are what await you.Like with previous maps, if you decide to turn the power on, this gives you a large amount of new options for your zombie stakeout, but can also provide just as many problems as it can solutions. For starters, the color returns in all of it's yellow and red glory. You also receive access to a number of other switches and levers I have yet to explore, including something involving an authentication code for that ominous rocket, and a launch platform that lets you fly over to previously visited launchpads as a great escape route when feeling a bit cramped (After you've visited them with the power on, of course). The main downside I've noticed was that during certain waves, undead perk-stealing space spider monkeys show up. Being siblings to the Cosmic Silverback (From the fantastic Easter egg Dead Ops), they're just as greedy as they are dangerous. Some of them seek and attack any survivors as soon as they touch down with their Hulk-like ground stomp, but most go straight for the vending machines if you've purchased any perks earlier to steal your abilities. That's right, they don't steal them directly from you, they steal them from you through the vending machines. So if you've bought perks, then trying to protect those investments involve going back to the vending machines and gunning down the dangerous little guys in spacesuits, but don't expect it to be easy.
Overall, I feel like it's an entertaining and varied addition that complements the other maps that have been released thus far, and that's including the flashback maps from World at War they've bundled with the limited edition copies of the game. The routes are well selected, the doors and weapons are well placed, and the monochrome style and lab coat zombies are a great throwback to simpler and sillier times. From what I've read, a lot of people buy the map packs solely for the zombie map, and while this is one of the most interesting zombie maps yet, the bulk of the $15 purchase is 4 shiny new multiplayer maps. Are they as interesting as Ascension? Head over to Sean's first impressions of the 4 multiplayer maps to see if he believes your hard earned money is worth it.
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