Nobody expected Call of Duty: World at War's Zombie mode to be a success: it was a bonus, a fun distraction that the developers had come up with during development. It wasn't even advertised as part of the game — and yet, it quickly became one of World at War's standout modes.
In the ensuing eight years, Treyarch's Zombies mode only got more and more ambitious. The core mechanics haven't changed all that much, but how the levels are put together has: what was once a tiny, two-story house has evolved into elaborate, multi-layered puzzles. There's even a ridiculously convoluted story running throughout the different iterations of the mode, for players who want to try and solve all of the game's incredibly obscure puzzles.
The latest Zombies DLC map, Gorod Krovi, looks like it'll largely adhere to the formula established by its predecessors — only now, players will have to deal with everything from dragons to orbital drops to an alternate-timeline version of World War II Stalingrad.
The trailer is definitely a spectacle, but one has to ask: has the new Call of Duty: Zombies experience strayed a bit too far from the original mode's humble beginnings?
First and foremost: this is only based on what's shown in the trailer. No one's had a chance to play Gorod Krovi yet, so this piece is based entirely on what Treyarch has revealed thus far and not actual gameplay.
The original Zombies mode focused on a single enemy: Nazi zombies. Given the game's World War II setting, it made sense. Even when the series eventually jumped forward in time, the main antagonist of the Zombies mode were ... well, zombies. Yes, the settings got more and more ridiculous over the years, but players' main objective was still clearing out hordes of the shambling undead.
Fast-forward to 2016, and this focus has seemingly been cast aside. While zombies definitely make an appearance in the Gorod Krovi trailer, they're definitely not the highlight. Instead, the focus is put on B-movie science fiction tropes, killer robots and, oddly enough, classically-medieval dragons. Given that Gorod Krovi is once again set in World War II, it's easy to see where the different motifs start to clash.
Call of Duty is many things to many players. Some enjoy the summer blockbuster stories, other enjoy the player vs. player combat, while still others enjoy the Zombie modes.
Hopefully, this new take on the classic Zombies gameplay actually works when it's not in trailer form. Otherwise, it may be time to rethink what Call of Duty: Zombies is all about.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III's next DLC pack, Descent, is due out on July 12.
