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Game: Call of Duty: Black Ops – Annihilation DLC
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Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
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Publisher: Activision
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Developer: Treyarch
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ESRB: M
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Genre: First-Person Shooter
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Players: 1-16
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What's Hot: Aesthetic diversity, Novelty in the Zombies addition, Mechanically distinct level designs
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What's Not: Silo map’s a dud, No new modes, 1200 MSP price tag
Review by: Justin Amirkhani
Like the changing of the seasons it’s time for another Call of Duty downloadable map pack. This summer starts with the Annihilation map pack that offers four new multiplayer maps and a fresh Indiana Jones-inspired Zombies stage. While the price remains the same at a steep 1200 Microsoft Points ( $15), the pack includes the most visually diverse offering to date. Veterans looking for change will undoubtedly want to pick this one up, but casual players may find enough variation the core maps to consider this one a pass.
Hazard
Set in a medieval-themed golf course, Hazard is the most visually unique map within the Annihilation map pack. Bright colors and stone facades provide a much lighter aesthetic tone than the industrial complexes that make up most of Black Ops’ arenas. With wide open greens stretching through the middle of the course there’s far more opportunity for long-range combat than most stages. If you’re not comfortable with a sniper rifle there are two partially protected paths across the perimeter of the map, but a distinct lack of buildings makes close-quarters or explosive-heavy strategies suicide. More than any other map in the pack, Hazard requires carefully chosen loadouts to ensure you put a hole in more than one.
Drive-In
Taking a page out of the Fallout handbook, Drive-In features a vintage drive-in theatre dilapidated from excessive fighting. Full of isolated buildings – several with multiple floors – Drive-In easily feels the largest of the Annihilation maps. With a large open court in the center the map shares some mechanical similarities to Firing Range but its size sets it apart. While still a blast in deathmatch modes, Drive-In really shines in objective modes like domination that take advantage of the disjointed buildings and create really frenetic moments.
