Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s first batch of downloadable content has come under some heavy criticism to say the least. This was mainly down to the fact that Activision were charging gamers 1200MS Points for three new maps and two classic maps. Why should we pay so much when the real work has only gone into the three new maps? Well I, most probably like you, was a little hesitant at the pricing structure. But I can safely say I’m glad i’ve taken the plunge, and I want you to take that plunge with me.
The new maps breakdown like this; Bailout, Storm and Salvage, along with Overgrown and Crash from the first Modern Warfare game. Here’s all you need to know to decide whether or not you can justify spending 1200MS Points on ‘some maps’.
Bailout
This is my favourite map of the package for a number of different reasons. Your location is a multi-story set of apartment blocks hosting an empty swimming pool, walkways and a variety of different tiers. The different tiers require gamers to look both up and down, trying to make sure your not easy meat for your opponents. It makes for intense fighting both at a distance and close in and there’s never a dull moment in Bailout. There’s lots of ways to travel throughout the map so it’s essential to familiarise yourself with the surroundings and landmarks, including the waterless swimming pool. Fail to take in your surroundings and you’ll be a sitting duck for your enemy’s, like I was for the first few matches. After a while though I was able to competently take part in the maps best game types; Domination and Headquarters.
Storm
Storm is the perfect map for Capture the Flag games as it hosts almost symmetrical, yet still unique sides. Your location this time is an open industrial park littered with heavy machinery meaning plenty of places to take cover should you receive some oncoming fire. There’s a decent mixture of external and internal areas in Storm and like Bailout, there are also different tiers to this map making it both fun and intense for close-quarter-combat.
Salvage
Salvage is a snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars and by far is the most linear map available. You can get up on top of a hut here and there, but the bulk of the action will happen scavenging around the crushed cars. It’s perfect for Team Deathmatch games as well as Headquarters and is a nice compliment to the Stimulus map pack.
Classic Maps
Having traded in my copy of the original Modern Warfare it was great to run around Crash with an M16 again, as well as using the roof of the house in Overgrown as sniper cover. The old memories return and this time with the new killstreak rewards it makes these maps much more exciting than ever before. You may be wondering why Infinity Ward haven’t re-vamped these maps like most developers do when bringing back old maps to new games. Well in this instance I prefer it. If it were to be changed slightly it wouldn’t be the same map we all love and adore, a perfect example of this going wrong is the Lockdown to Blackdown map located on Halo 3.
Overall
Now of course you could argue that 1200MS Points is too much for a map pack, and I would have been inclined to join you in that decision, but the simply matter of fact is this; If you love/like/play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, you owe it to yourself to pick up these new maps. The maps are of decent size and are sure to keep you playing Modern Warfare 2 forever longer. If you want a game with me you’ll find me on the third floor of an apartment block in Bailout!
