Editor’s Note: the following column was not written by Mania’s Toy Maniac. Instead it is by his online Avatar, Rogue___5.
I didn’t know what I was getting myself into the first time I appeared in the Nacht der Untoten level. The rules seemed simple enough: stay alive for as long as you can and kill anything undead. This seemed nothing uncommon to my early days when I played as Pac Man munching my way through the maze while dodging and eating the undead. There were three other guys in there with me that day. Two immediately broke for the guns on the on the walls while the third stood perfectly still. I walked around him and starred at him for a little while. What was he doing? Was there a glitch? Was he in the can? He never did move and when the zombies did break in he was the first to go. Those early days were both scary and lonely. Guys with headsets either yelled at you for doing something they considered dumb (yeah, because we all went to Nazi Zombie fighting school). Whereas others would boot you off because you didn’t have a head set. Like I can’t hear you and take orders. Come on people. No, sir, those early days were rough and I probably would have gotten through it if not for a few friends.
Thankfully my human counterpart did what he always does when he gets a cool game: he invites his best friend over to play it. In less that a week, Laughing_Boy* was set up and a real Zombie School began. Working as a pair was fine for Nacht der Untoten for a while. Having someone watching your back is always great; especially when it is your best friend. We learned quickly how to accumulate points, when to stab, and the all importance of a good Crawler. My human acquired another teammate for me as a long time friend, StripperA$$_Sandwich, revealed he too was into COD. Did we become the three Musketeers? No, but a team of Zombie Killers was born. According to my human this relationship is a reflection of one in the real world. Each one protecting the other and a real bound of friendship. That became evident to me on the field of combat. Rounds, points, and kills all started going up. In the days and nights I did play without StripperA$$_Sandwich and Laughing_Boy the victories seemed hollow. Help was only ever given to those that fell because no one wants to stand alone against the undead. You weren’t friends and brothers in the game, simply not dead. This was the only thing that made you allies.
Zombie Verruckt presented new challenges. An instantly divided team created a dilemma of getting to the juice and freeing our buddy. Those nights were tough but anyone could see that our surviving skills were improving. Response times quickened and those perks really started to make a difference. Death is always inevitable when fighting Nazi Zombies, this I assure you. The true trick is to see how long you can keep fighting. Going 20 to 30 rounds is great. However, after that, are you ready to do it all again?
The Shino No Ma level is far from being my favorite. I’ll bitch and complain right off that it is way too big. I’ve made numerous stands with Laughing_Boy at my side and we never got very far. A clear plan of attack was never established. No fault to either one of us, but it seemed that there might have been too much ground to cover. Or perhaps those pesky Japanese Zombies are just smarter than the Nazi ones. I visit the Shino No Ma level from time to time. Craziness always ensues but, in most ways, it is my white whale.
When Der Reise came out, my human and I had long grown tired of killing Nazi Zombies. An invite from Laughing_Boy, one night, brought us back to the fray. I had always thought that there was one thing missing from our terrific trio and that maybe as three people it was never go to last. Our fourth and final member of the team finally joined us in that twisted level. Mop_top_drummer was Laughing_Boy’s nephew and someone who could play the game a lot longer than three grown men with wives, girlfriends, and jobs. Secrets were told, battle plans were rewritten, and zombies started to drop by the hundreds. With the four of us together, the zombies never really stood a chance. Hours and hours passed and even alone, I could still run the gauntlet if I kept to the plan. After awhile, the thrill got stale. Laughing_Boy became stupid boy and took all kinds of unnecessary risks. Mop_top_drummer got a girlfriend and, at that age, girls are better than killing zombies. StripperA$$_Sandwich created a clan of his own and turned to the world of Modern Warfare. I, on the other hand, thought that perhaps it was time to retire. That was until I got the word. Our next stop was the Moon.
In case you are wondering: yes, I have ventured into the world of the Black:Ops Nazi Zombies. Kino Der Toten has been fun but a mad house of death, too. The addition levels (Shangi La and Call of Dead) have been great, but nothing to get the blood flowing. That original behind the scenes clip was great (seen here) from Activision. The ideas, the battle plans and the fun suddenly came rushing back into this Avatar’s head. I felt as if some re-training was order. Why? The original levels will all be updated in this next map pack. The Moon however looks to be the pinnacle of the Nazi Zombie story. Will the MG42 still be a great weapon in this new game? How did Nazi Zombies get on the moon anyway? I saw some new weapons in the trailer (below), but what else do they have in store for me and my friends?
As I sit here and dream of the hours that I will waste killing hordes of the undead I keep thinking: why am doing this? It all comes back to why I ate all those power pelets and swallowed those damn ghosts. Was it for bragging rights, glory, comradery or the war stories? Damn it, it’s for all of it.
Call of Duty Black OPS: Rezurrection is out August 23, 2011 for the Xbox 360.
Call of Duty Zombie Labs' Rezurrection Trailer
* All Avatar names except Rogue___5’s were changed to protect the innocent. Robert’s Avatar is still striving for 1000 kills in a single game without cheats. Until then, his human counterpart will write two weekly columns for Mania the DVD Shopping Bag and the Toy Maniac. Follow Robert on Twitter for his for Geek ramblings, Cosplay photos and film criticisms.
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