The First Strike Map Pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops is making its way to the PC this coming Friday after already releasing for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Sure, PC gamers have had access to modding tools that console gamers did not, but nothing beats hand-crafted maps from the developer (depending on price of course).

Among the goodies offered with First Strike are four new multiplayer maps (Berlin Wall, Stadium, Discovery, Kowloon) and a new zombie map titled Ascension. Each of the new maps, including Ascension, offer a unique gimmick, like Kowloon’s high speed zip-lines, that add a new dynamic to multiplayer matches.

While new maps are going to be a must buy for gamers who log countless hours on the Black Ops servers, at $14.99 they are a little steep for your casual Black Ops player. From our hands-on experience with the maps, we found each offering to be a decent blend of the unique with the familiar that’s worth the price tag, but only if you plan on keeping this high selling juggernaut in your disc-tray for a while.

One positive of being a PC consumer of the First Strike Map Pack is that if you pre-order the DLC through Steam, the price is slightly discounted — selling for $13.49 rather than $14.99. See, there are benefits to being a PC gamer amidst this heavily Xbox 360 favored DLC world.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEB0H90lt_M

With Black Ops racking up numerous stats and records by the handful, it would be hard to imagine that First Strike is going to be the last of the map packs to release. Unfortunately, since the PC has just been given their access that could be an indicator the next pack is a ways off.

Although the hope is that the map packs will come sooner or later, and Treyarch is probably hard at work on them, that doesn’t mean there aren’t hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of satisfied fans plugging away at the retail maps.

Any gamers out there glad that First Strike is finally coming to Black Ops on the PC? When do Black Ops fans hope to see the next map pack release?

Call of Duty: Black Ops — First Strike releases for the PC this Friday March 25, 2011.