With game releases picking up around this time of year, Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC is a tough sell when you could be experiencing the whimsical magic of Ratchet & Clank or the masochistic beauty of Dark Souls III – and rightly so, considering that the strangely-named Eclipse isn't very special at all. The sun doesn't shine much on this part of the Season Pass, for sure.
As with most CoD DLCs, the main addition here is a brand new zombies map, Zetsubou no Shima – or Island of Despair – which is set in a research facility on a remote Pacific island, in which mysterious scientific group Division 9 have been conducting secret experiments. The zombies crew of Takeo, Richtofen, Tank, and Nikolai are there to destroy Takeo's cloned body in order to prevent the destruction of Earth – trust us, this probably makes sense to someone.
The map itself, like Shadows of Evil and Der Eisendrache before it, is big and complicated. There are plenty of doors to open, buildings to enter – including a huge bunker that's essentially a second level – and secrets to find, and there's more of an emphasis on exploration and getting the best gear than survival, with the ultimate goal being to kill Takeo's double in a convoluted Easter egg that requires many steps.
There's some new gear to make, too – as well as the usual Zombie Shield – including the Skull of Nan Sapwe (a wonder weapon that freezes zombies), the KT-4 (a weapon that causes explosive sacks to grow on zombies), as well as gas masks, seeds, and buckets that are all needed to fulfil certain tasks. It's the most complicated zombies map yet, which will have many yearning for the simplicity of the World at War levels. It's well designed, but it feels a little overwhelming the first couple of times that you play – eventually, though, you'll build up a routine as you push for those higher rounds.
Elsewhere, the multiplayer maps, once again, are a mixed bag. Knockout – set in a temple in Polynesia – is the highlight here, with the pink blossom trees, grand Shaolin temples, and blue skies almost making it a disappointment that you'll spend most of your time there dying and re-spawning instead of exploring. It's got the usual three-lane system that so many CoD maps are based on, but Knockout feels more close-quartered, with Safeguard being the mode of choice; successfully escorting the robot through a choke-point-filled bridge feels really satisfying.
Verge isn't half bad either, and is chock full of personality. Based on World at War multiplayer map Banzai, it takes place in a post-apocalyptic battleground known as The Wastes, and is home to plenty of tunnels, bridges, and fortresses to fight in. Running through the cave systems always feels tense, and while you may feel a little hard done by when shotgun-toting enemies gun you down easily, it won't stop you having fun.
The other two maps, however, are pretty uninspired. The best of the worst, perhaps, is Rift, a military facility set over a volcano in Iceland. There are some cool wall-runs and parkour sections to use, but it feels too open and exposed, forcing you to hole up in a bridge that's far too easy to defend. There can be some exciting moments when playing Rift, but every match you play will be laced with frustration.
Lastly comes Spire. Though its clean, white, New York space port setting is aesthetically pleasing, it's a very dull and repetitive map to play on, with all of the action focused on the middle courtyard that rarely offers much more than a battle of attrition. There are plenty of easy places to camp and snipe, but you're often pushed there anyway through bad map design.
Conclusion
Unlike its real-life counterpart, Eclipse isn't anything to get excited about. While the Verge and Knockout multiplayer maps have a lot of personality and are excellent fun, Rift and Spire are pretty dull. As for the zombie map, Zetsubou no Shima will prove rewarding for any dedicated Easter egg hunters and secret scavengers, but it's lost the heart of what CoD Zombies is all about, and it'll put many a player off. It's not a bad DLC – you just won't love it to (or)bits.
Comments 9
@Anchorsam_9: Great review. I actually enjoy Rift more the Verge. Maybe it's the game mode and type I play, hardcore, kill confirmed or the fact that I never played World at War so I can't compare Verge to the original. I found Verge to be to big and way to clutered. It seemed like all I was doing was running all over the place, just to find someone. My favorites would rank this way
Knockout
Spire (Although this is by looks alone, I have yet to play this map on MP)
Rift
Verge
Talking about simplicity.. looking at that trailer and comparing that to the original Modern Warfare (many peoples favourite), you can't help but wonder where it all went wrong
This DLC is very much dependent on how you 'feel' about BO3, the Zombies and what game modes you play
Verge, the W@W DLC remake map, is very 'Mad Max' inspired. Knockout is certainly the biggest map on offer and definitely the best looking map of the 4. Spire is very clean looking with one side designed for wall running and the other more for 'feet on the ground' combat with a very symmetrical design - small to medium in size. Rift is quite long and narrow which makes it feel small and favours more CQC engagements but also some longer sight lines. Its also the darkest and grittiest of the maps. I found that all of these play very well in my preferred game modes. Not one of them lasts the full allotted time. I can see something like TDM being a bit slow on Knockout - because of its size. Overall though the maps all feel playable and fit into the BO3 movement well.
Zombies (Zetsubou no Shima), is excellent. Whilst it doesn't have the 'simplicity' of W@W Zombies in its design, its aesthetics are set very much in that era. Yes the map is huge and we have never had a map like this - closest would be the Dead Ops Zombies but they don't really count. It maybe a 'bit' confusing at the start but the sheer size and scale of these, the detail that goes into them etc is incredible. Being a co-operative mode, its best played with a team and that's when this really comes into its own.
Personally I think BO3 is the best CoD this generation. I can't say the campaign is the best - I much preferred Ghosts and AW's, but the MP plays very well and the new movement, in general, has enhanced rather than altered (like AW's did) the experience. Zombies is as good, if not better, than ever too.
Compared to the first DLC (Awakening), this is definitely a better offering. Splash for example was a great looking map but played very slowly, Skyjacked, the Hijacked remake, didn't offer anything particularly new - it still looks and plays just like the old map - a bit faster with the new movement. The fact its in the air isn't obvious. Gauntlet felt and played quite average. I liked the Aesthetics where each of the 3 lanes had a different setting. Rise though, feels cluttered and very large so overall these maps didn't impress that much. Die Eisendrach was for me the highlight and as such I would have given this map pack a 7. When you then compare that with 'Eclipse', ALL the maps play well in the context of BO3. I admit that Spire is probably the least inspiring of them all aesthetically but it still plays well. Rift, being narrow, leads players straight into gunfights. Knockout is stunning from a visual perspective and Verge feels 'new' despite the fact its a 'remake' because the game plays differently and not many people played the original. One of my biggest disappointments about the 'remake' maps is that people revert back to 'old' habits when playing them. Nuketown (for example) you know that people will be in the top windows and trying to control the 'blue' car regardless of which Black Ops you play! Skyjacked plays just like Hijacked did too.
Overall this is currently the best Map pack for CoD:BO3! Personally I would score this a 9/10 because ALL the maps play well - maybe not all as aesthetically inspiring as each other but you don't have 'time' to look at the finer details - particularly on the smaller maps. Zombies is incredible and immense - I would buy the DLC for this alone because the amount of hours I can get from just this puts many AAA games to shame. I have already put more hours into it than the Order or Quantum Break can offer.
@Flurpsel I loved Modern Warfare. I think for many though it was their favourite because it was their first. It was 'ground-breaking' at the time too. A modern military shooter in a sea of WW2 based games. Its campaign was quite revolutionary in that it killed a main character you were playing as. It also came at time when we had seen real life military targeting on the news and so 'they look like ants' took on more significance. It also wasn't afraid to slow the pace with a fantastic Stealth mission. Its MP was quite revolutionary too - adding in RPG type elements. It was very simplistic by modern standards but it wasn't without its flaws that wouldn't be acceptable today. It had crutch perks for example - perks you had to use to be 'competitive'. Some of the maps didn't play well either. People complain about 'large' maps but CoD4 had some massive maps - Bloc, Overgrown, Pipeline, Crossfire, Bog etc and its DLC had big maps too - Creek, Broadcast and Chinatown as well as a lot of 'dark' maps. Some weapons were certainly OP like the M16 and the starting weapons were terrible - you had to grind to get a decent competitive weapon. Yes the Killstreaks were simplistic - no choice. That didn't reward players who went on 'streaks'. Once you got the top streak, might as well die as you couldn't get another UAV.
You can often tell which CoD game was peoples 'first'. Its usually their favourite! I remember when W@W came out and most of my CoD friends hated it because it felt like a big step back after CoD4 - back to WW2. When MW2 came out, a lot of people hated it, because it was more colourful and the scoring changed - then because of exploiting One mans Army, Noob tubes/danger close, grenade spamming with scavenger, camping and quick-scoping. People then didn't like BOs because it felt too slow and took ages to kill people. People then didn't like MW3 because of the Lag/host compensation, hit detection, death streaks and carpet bombing in support streaks. People didn't like BO2 because of the 'future' setting, the wall hack and highlighting scopes etc, People didn't like Ghosts because of the excellent hit detection (after BO2's slow TTK), map size (despite the fact that ALL CoDs have 'big' maps - its easier to name the small ones), the Field Orders and the UAV on the ground, Riley score streak even though its essentially MW4 in its MP. People didn't like AW because the movement changed the flow of games, Supply drop variants giving others an advantage etc. People don't like BO3 because of the new movement that essentially speeds up engagements, because they can't do quick scoping montages, because its also set in the future....
Every new CoD has come in for a LOT of criticism from the media, from the community etc. People still want to go back to their 'first' and try to recapture that feeling they had when playing for the first time, trying to recapture the many nights spent playing and having a laugh with friends. People complain that CoD is the 'same' game every year and then complain the game isn't like their first with all its 'issues' and balancing problems.
@Tasuki Thanks! I agree with what you say about Spire, it's a really nice looking map. It looks like something out of Mirror's Edge with its minimalism.
@Flurpsel I know what you mean. I'd love for shooters to revert back to simplicity at some point, I'm really not a fan of levelling up or anything like that
@Anchorsam_9 I might be the minority here but I enjoy the leveling up aspect, it's probably what has kept me playing Blops 3 this long. But I am fairly new to CoD with Blops 3 the CoD game that I have sunk the most time in. I did play others but never owned them mostly played them over at friend's places.
However playing Blops 3 has made me want to check out the others but my biggest fear is that there won't be any online communities for them.
@Tasuki I imagine most still have a fair presence, although World At War's multiplayer is full of hackers and modders. I'd recommend Modern Warfare because of its simplicity, but Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops 2 are also ones recommended by a lot of people.
@BAMozzy I really don't consider myself very opposed to CoD in general. I played CoD ever since the very first one (up untill MW3), and I enjoyed the heck out of it. MW1 was genuinely the best game of them all for a variety of reasons, not just because it was the first CoD for a lot of people (although I get your point).
It's just that CoD feels "cluttered" right now. Kind of like Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham Knight. The mechanics are still the same but I really felt like Arkham Knight became too cluttered with options and a big open world which distracted from the core game. Same goes for CoD.
@Anchorsam_9 Yeah I thought of picking up Black Ops 2 but the only console I have regular access to that has it is the Wii U, and I suspect that one has little to none online presence.
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