Call of Duty: Black Ops Message Board older than one year ago

Sure, Escalation is out and there are new maps to play in Call of Duty: Black Ops, but that doesn't matter to you. You don't play for the fun of exploring a new map and discovering new strategies -- you just want cold, hard progression points. If you can't level up from it, you're not interested.

Fortunately for you, Treyarch has your back; the company's kicked off a Double XP weekend, so everyone playing BlOps, in the new maps or elsewhere, picks up double the points the whole time. Whew! Close one there -- you almost had some fun in that new content completely outside of the standard XP grind.

[Thanks, gandrade]

Something’s happening in Call Of Duty world! Our sinister agents have picked up some information about Activision preparing to make a major announcement regarding the Call Of Duty franchise, and it sounds like the PC could be at the heart of it: Call Of Duty Online. We understand that the “online solution” Activision have been hinting at might finally be ready to be shown to press. No other details now, but I’m going to speculate that this is Activision’s big move against EA’s Battlefield Play4Free and the like.

Will it be a browser-based shooter? A free-to-play MMO? A side-scrolling beat ‘em up? We’ll find out soon!

It's no secret that the new Call of the Dead map for Call of Duty: Black Ops packs some major star power, but it also contains some well-hidden firepower. NextGenTactics details how to unlock the map's secret Wunderwaffe DG-2, an Achievement and some hilarious cameos in the video after the break.

Most of the content in the new Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC is pretty standard for the military shooter genre -- a few new maps for $15. But the "Escalation" has one obvious standout in "Call of the Dead", a new map for the game's Zombies mode.

Out of the blue, Treyarch hired B-movie legends like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Michael Rooker and Danny Trejo -- all posing as themselves -- and pitted them against the unrelenting waves of the undead, and even brought zombie master George Romero into the mix as a boss. The Zombie mode itself has always been presented as tongue-in-cheek fan service (the original mode from World at War had players fighting Nazi Zombies, and maps since then have included zombie monkeys and mad scientists), but "Call of the Dead" takes the goofiness even further.

So, how exactly did this happen? Joystiq cornered Zombies creative lead Jimmy Zielinski at a press event for the map pack earlier this week, and asked him how the developer decided to use some of the most familiar names in horror and monster film history for just one map in an add-on pack.

The weapons of Call of the Dead get creative! Take a look at the fancy arsenal in action in this gameplay from the Escalation DLC's zombie map.

Map packs generally come with price and content complaints. So with developer Treyarch releasing the new Escalation Map Pack onto Xbox Live yesterday, six months after the original game came out, the price versus content debate can rage on again. While Activision advertised the new zombie map, Call ...

It's like a petting zoo, but with guns. Lay waste to the human animals in the Zoo map of Black Ops' Escalation DLC pack.

Turn this vacation spot into a place of nightmare as you play the Hotel map from Black Ops' Escalation downloadable content.

This barren Russian town is the perfect grounds for all-out warfare in Black Ops' downloadable Escalation pack.

Battle upon the grounds of an ambush in the Convoy map, available with the Escalation DLC pack.

George Romero becomes king of the zombies in the Call of the Dead scenario of Black Ops' Escalation DLC.

The cast of Call of the Dead start to understand real horror movie material when George Romero takes charge only to be taken by the real zombie horde!

#watchthis Earlier today we gave you a glimpse of the spoiler-laden cinematic introduction to Call of Duty: Black Ops' fancy new zombie mode, Call of the Dead. Here's a quick look at how gameplay shakes out. FYI: You don't get to choose which scream screen star you play as in single and split-screen. More »

The Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" DLC is available now on Xbox 360 for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). The pack contains five new maps and ... wait, wait, this totally deserves its own paragraph.

And: "Call of the Dead". It's a new zombie mode map featuring Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer), Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, the ever-present Danny Trejo (Machete) and The Walking Dead's Michael Rooker -- oh yeah, and an undead George Romero.

#spoiler The Escalation Pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops hit the Xbox 360 today and with it comes Call of the Dead, a star-studded zombie expansion that features it's own story and a new backdrop. More »

Let's take a moment to thank Activision for bringing the man pictured above into our lives. First seen in the Call of Duty: Black Ops television commercial, he now appears in the 'Escalation' map pack trailer featured after the break. Seriously, how cool is this guy? He's like the coolest guy in the room. Any room.

Get a taste of the action in this trailer for the Escalation DLC pack for Black Ops.

#guncooker I was wondering when Activision was planning on returning to the dual pistol-wielding line cook from that live-action Call of Duty: Black Ops commercial. Welcome back, old friend. Things have escalated since we last met. More »

#watchthis It's not enough that you can play as the stars of Machete, The Walking Dead, A Nightmare On Elm Street and Buffy The Vampire Slayer in the new Call of The Dead map going on sale next week for Call of Duty: Black Ops. You've got what is said to be one of their biggest maps ever, one that's made for snipers. Check out a lot more footage of the map in this Microsoft-produced clip. The map, part of Activision's $15 "Escalation" expansion launches on the Xbox 360 on May 3 and will presumably come out for the PC and PlayStation 3 some time later this year. More »

A few weeks ago when we reported Activision's announcement of the new Escalation DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops and its 1200 Microsoft Points pricing, some of you in the comments expressed a bit of dismay at the notion of paying $15 for four new maps and a then-ill-defined new zombie mode. Well, as of today's announcement from Activision regarding that previously ill-defined, and now fully-defined zombie mode, we now know where your $15 will actually be going: Danny Trejo's paycheck.

Yes, the great, inimitable Danny Trejo is starring in Treyarch's Black Ops' zombie DLC, titled Call of the Dead. But he's not the only one! Also on board are Sarah Michelle Gellar ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scooby-Doo), Michael Rooker ( The Walking Dead, Slither), Robert Englund ( A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Mangler) and, in perhaps the most amazing cameo of all, the BIG DOG PITBULL of the zombie genre, George A. Romero...as himself. Everyone's in-game characters are modeled after the real actors, so if you want, you can just pretend Danny Trejo is Machete, or that Robert Englund is playing the skeezy, germ-obsessed strip club owner from Zombie Strippers. I know I will.

There is also a full trailer for the DLC, which we have provided below, because there is nothing worse than someone endlessly describing something you could just look at it yourself. Be sure and take note of every Grindhouse reference, as there will be a quiz later.

Is it weird that we're most excited for Michael Rooker?

George Romero dares you to take up the role as one of four heralded veterans of violence in the upcoming Call of Duty Black Ops Escalation DLC, Call of the Dead.

Well this is certainly ... wow. Activision has officially revealed 'Call of the Dead,' the previously unnamed Zombies Mode map in the Call of Duty: Black Ops 'Escalation' DLC. 'Call of the Dead' is no ordinary map, however, as Treyarch is throwing in lots of zombie-related fan service, starting with George Romero. The famed horror director stars as himself in 'Call of the Dead' alongside the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert "Freddy Kreuger" Englund, Machete's Danny Trejo and Michael Rooker, who recently played Merle Dixon in The Walking Dead.

Treyarch's Mark Lamia promises 'Call of the Dead' will provide "an exciting new zombie experience" that "takes Zombies to an insane new level." Check out pics in the gallery below and watch a (very Robert Rodriguez) trailer after the break. Oh, and we call dibs on Danny.

It's time to clean house at the Zoo and Hotel in this exclusive gameplay from Black Ops Escalation DLC maps for multiplayer!

Turn up the action with some close encounters with the enemy in this exclusive gameplay from the Convoy and Stockpile maps included with the Escalation DLC.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack which Jim heard about last week has undergone extensive trailerisation. You can watch flythroughs of the five new maps and listen to the somewhat limp-wristed advice from the Treyarch developers (this map is pretty good for snipers, but it might also be good for people who are not a sniper) after the jump. The pack will be releasing on May 3rd on Xbox Alive, but still no PC release date just yet.(more…)

It's the map pack that's sweeping the nation!

Preview Hotel, Convoy, Zoo, Stockpile and Call of the Dead coming May 3!

#video Here's our first look at Call of Duty: Black Ops' Escalation map pack, due out next month for the Xbox 360 and some later time for the PC and PS3. More »

The wait until May 3, we're sure, is killing you. But soon enough, spring will be in full bloom and you'll have five new Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer maps on which to murder friends. And Treyarch aims to stoke your desire with today's release of a new walkthrough trailer of the maps (after the break) and a variety of screenshots (below).

Does the sneak peek make the maps arrive any sooner? Unfortunately, no, but taking a look will help eat into the minutes between now and launch day. And that's something, right? Right?