With this year’s Call of Duty approaching both the summer slump, and the end of its lifecycle ahead of Infinite Warfare, it’s about time season pass holders got some more content. And so begins the third DLC drop, Descent. Featuring four multiplayer maps (including a remastered version of an old classic) and a new zombies experience, can Descent keep the player base coming back for more?
Beserk is first up, and is likely going to be many peoples tied first choice out of the bunch. Set in an ancient war-torn Viking village, the map’s layout is well suited for objective modes. The central bridge is often the focus of many battles, with solid cover in the middle and over watching lookouts on either side. Flanking is of course always an option with one (elevated) side home to risky wall running routes, with the corresponding other side being a slightly more open area, but with quick routes to the overlooking spots. The snowy aesthetic design is fairly striking too, especially in comparison to the games’ core maps, making it a welcome change of pace whenever it appears in the rotation.
Cryogen is up next and provides a true test of player’s wall running abilities. Essentially split into two sections, Cryogen’s large design is likely meant for two types of play. The larger, open side of the map features some decently long lines of sight, whereas the claustrophobic interiors on the other side, promotes close range combat. In reality, 90 percent of the fights you’ll encounter will be housed inside; trading SMG kills with the opposition whilst a few lone warriors stick to the smaller, more ‘campy’ areas outside. The interesting bio-lab style is also unfortunately overshadowed by the surplus of generic interior designs too, it’s a shame as it constantly feel as though Cryogen doesn’t quite live up to its potential.
Rumble is the final ‘new’ multiplayer offering and much like Cryogen, seemingly falls just shy of what it could be, especially in terms of looks. In another odd contrast to Treyarch’s normal prerogative, Rumble doesn’t exactly follow the usual ‘three lane’ design approach. Once again, the map’s essentially split into two sections, the great looking open outside arena, complete with large (although sadly inanimate) robots, and the more rushing internal sections. Whereas Cryogen might be better suited to Team Deathmatch, Rumble feels very much oriented towards Domination. Feeling strangely reminiscent to Black Ops 2’s ‘Encore’, it’s also one of two maps in this pack that lowers the emphasis on wall running too, giving it a more ‘boots on the ground’ feel.
Empire is Descent’s last multiplayer offering, and is the token reimagined map included in the pack. This time around we get a true classic from the Black Ops 2 era, Raid. A favourite for many during Black Ops 2’s glory days, its small size combined with some devilish lines of sight lets it hold its own against some of the heavy hitters in the rotation. To help keep a semblance of authenticity with its predecessor Raid, not much in terms of the map itself has changed and on top of this, the wall running options are once again, gratefully limited too. In terms of its looks, Empire has gone through quite the makeover; visually it looks great, with the rolling countryside providing a great backdrop to the newly implemented Roman styling. Sadly the basketball court’s on a hiatus, but I suppose we can’t have everything!
For those who’re more into their zombies, Gorod Kovi provides yet another delve into the supernatural, this time in the ever mysterious Stalingrad. Once again featuring the original cast, it includes super soldiers, dragons and an unnervingly large amount of chaos. Traversal around the map seems to be a little easier this time around too, with me being able to memorise routes and paths much quicker than before. When you’re not being bombarded by torrents of fire from the above circling dragon, mounting a machine gun (for a price) or generally being slapped silly by zombies, there’s also the new weapons added into the map to tinker with. Alongside a slew of recent multiplayer guns, there’s also the PPSh from World at War, of course on top of a new Wonder Weapon too. Whilst your first run through may fare better than other maps of the past, that’s not to say that there aren’t the usual plethora of secrets and easter eggs to discover too. The customary Treyarch touch is still present!
Descent is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to its content, the draw of a remade Raid in Empire would be a large selling point for me, but it’s more of a nostalgia trip than an excellently playing map. Beserk is probably the most fun to play as it feels the most balanced between lanes, engagement distances and wall running. The other two, Rumble and Cryogen feel a little too generic with bland indoor sections being home to all of the action, and that’s on top of their underwhelming visuals. Once again the zombies offering can be a great amount of fun if you’ve got a few friends to run through it with and, as per usual, is probably the strongest map of them all. Descent is probably more suited for the more hardcore players of the game who purchased season passes, which will still sting a little seeing as the supply drop weapons are far more desirable and game changing than these maps. If you’ve only got a passing interest in Black ops 3, then honestly, I’d probably recommend saving your money and sticking with what you’ve got.
