You wanted your zombies and now you are going to get them. In Best Buy’s rundown of the content included with the Hardened edition of Call of Duty: Black Ops, they list:
"... four zombie maps pack made famous from Call of Duty: World at War."
As of right now the zombie maps pack is only be touted for the game’s Hardened Edition but with the Prestige Edition completely dwarfing Hardened in awesomeness it is hard to believe the pack wont be included in both. If the pack is only just that, a set of multiplayer maps inspired by the Zombie mode, and not more arenas to test out Black Ops’ new zombie mode, I can assure you at least one gamer will be upset. Yes, the new multiplayer is poised to deliver another winner, but zombies are what we expect out of Treyarch.
When the schism that currently exists in the Call of Duty franchise first started, it was based on the premise of delivering two perspectives of war’s past. Then, original developer Infinity Ward made a giant leap forward with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, blasting the series into a contemporary setting and giving the players one of the most visceral FPS experiences to date. Most gamers figured that the new schism between Treyarch and Infinity Ward’s approaches would be between the modern and the senescent, but with Black Ops, Treyarch is planning on slowly creeping up to Infinity Ward. It seems that in no time the differentiation between the two will be the fact that Treyarch’s includes zombies.
Sure, killing off zombies is fun, and this play choice has inspired other games like Red Dead Redemption to follow suit, but any type of zombie play mode should remain ancillary to an already amazing game. My faith is completely in Treyarch to up Infinity Ward’s ante with Black Ops and solidify themselves as a suitable counterpoint and a worthy bearer of the Call of Duty franchise.
How do you feel about the Zombie Mode in Treyarch’s Call of Duty games? Would you prefer they follow a little closer to Infinity Ward’s lead or do you enjoy that they want to establish themselves as an equally viable developer?
Call of Duty: Black Ops is scheduled for a November 9th release date on the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii, with a separate version planned for the Nintendo DS.
Source: CVG
[Update: Treyarch Community Manager Josh Olin has confirmed that we'll be seeing zombies in Black Ops:
"All 4 existing CoDWaW Zombies maps will be included in Hardened & Prestige editions of CODBlackOps as callback co-op levels!" ]