Chopperface

As far as zombie go: 1. Mob of the Dead 2. Origins 3. Buried 4. Tranzit 5. Die Rise 6. Nuketown Multiplayer: 1. Uprising 2. Apocalypse 3. Vengeance 4. Revolution

I've been suspecting a greater evil at play since at least Call of the Dead. Moon and We All Fall Down seriously implied it, and Mob of the Dead was the final nail in the coffin (even if Moon pretty much confirmed it by itself). I can't help but be reminded of Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated. Much like here, an ancient evil manipulates villains and heroes alike to engineer its' release to unleash its evil upon our universe. The main antagonists (save one who eventually repents) all willingly go along with it in the hopes of power and what not, but ultimately they're screwed over. Just like Richtofen and Maxis.

Marlton and Billy by far. Marlton's a vain jerk who can't even deign to return the feelings of this hot girl who wants him, let alone be nice to anyone besides her, or be grateful for being revived. Billy's a stone-cold killer, but then again that is the point; he's the one among the M4 who does not want to repent. The Panzer is cool, but as said, I could do without the claw. If they count, I also hate the Denizens and the Jumping Jacks, the latter for being too difficult. I love-hateingly call them xenomorphs for their quadrepedal stance, their overall difficulty in killing, their shrieks, and their manueverability.

I always thought there was a pretty logical reason for no video sequences. People who want to view them can't, since most random players online will just skip it to play, be it from not caring about the cutscene or just out of accidental button-mashing habit (which I am a victim of). I would like to have seen a cutscene for Moon, since it was the big climax to Samantha's reign as Demonic Announcer and Richtofen's scheme and all. One for Tranzit would've been nice as well, but really, the setting was a zombie apocalypse. Every map takes place after a zombie disaster, Tranzit was no different, so no need to explain what had caused it to general audience members in a cutscene, and the fans all know why the zombies have taken over. I also would've liked to have been properly introduced to the N4 like with COTD, MOTD, and Origins' cutscenes introducing/reintroducing their crews.

Mob of the Dead at the top, also Call of the Dead, Verruckt, Shi No Numa, and Moon. I particularly like Moon's Alien-esque vibe. Just like Alien, there shouldn't be anything alive besides you and your friends. It makes it all the more terrifying when say, a crawler catches up with you after a long period of silence besides your character talking. The music from Samantha's reveal was also fittingly... well. Relevant, perhaps? This was a huge moment in Zombies. The sort of reverence Samantha gets when the alien device is opened is just haunting and a big wham moment, since we're dealing with forces beyond our "mortal comprehension" as Maxis would later put it.

Russman is my favorite of the N4. I just love that crazy old coot. "Run down, turn around, kill a herd'a zombies!" And he's also a pretty decent old guy if the Buried cutscene is anything to go by. Sal and Weasel are my picks from the M4. Finn is likable, but kinda flat. Being on PS3, I can't pick one out of the younger, less crazy O4 just yet. My least favorites are the two assholes, Marlton and Billy. Marlton can't form a sentence without condescending someone, even the sexy girl who can actually want him, or without praising himself as an intelligent God. He was funny enough in Tranzit but just got worse as the maps went on. Billy's just an unrepentant murderer and psychopath, but that's just who he is, I guess.

Just about the hardest question ever. Zombies music is consistently amazing minus one exception (Coming Home). If I had to choose my favorite, it would be either Not Ready to Die, Always Running, Lullaby for a Deadman, or 115. To rank them all: 1. Not Ready to Die - AX7's first contribution, a long, terrific song revolving around Richtofen. 2. 115 - epic start to Black Ops' Zombies, definitely intense for one of the best maps to date, and Elena's best. 3. Always Running - A slower, but no less amazing favorite. Malukah easily succeeds Elena. 4. Lullaby for a Deadman - back in the days of old when Zombies was just beginning, a slow, despairing song set the mood for the creepy, horrific and desolate Verruckt. 5. We All Fall Down - Clark comes to form with a song from Maxis, focusing on the story, and seemingly hinting at things to come. I got the vibe from the latter parts of the song - "we can still see ashes in their eyes, but until it crashes..." - that the Zombies story we so love is far from over. So stay tuned. 6. The One - a creepy, slow song that was when we really got entrenched in the Zombies story, when it really started with the first appearance of the O4 and the backstory. Fitting, since we were entrenched in the muck of the swamp of death. 7. Where Are We Going? - Malukah's first song and even though it's the shortest, it's absolutely stunning. In a map that introduces so much and changes up a lot, Malukah asks where we are going. With songs like this, frankly I don't care, I'm coming. It sounds like a cross between a lullaby and a Hans Zimmer piece. 8. Pareidolia - A quite beautiful song with an extremely foreboding tone that foreshadowed Richtofen's scheme coming to a head soon, with Zombies changing forever, as well as the presence of Lucifer/Ancient Evil/etc. That ending piano is just incredible. 9. Nightmare - The true Easter Egg song to Moon, easily surpassing Elena's offering. Even though it wasn't written for the story like Not Ready to Die was, I can't help but still imagine parts of the song being from Richtofen's point of view during Black Ops' season finale. 10. Beauty of Annihilation - A fan-favorite and for good reason, an excellent season finale to the Zombies we so love in a map we so love. 11. Carrion - Clark's first song, and the kick-off to Black Ops II's Zombies. What 115 was to Black Ops, this is to Black Ops II. Intense, and it sounds like it truly was spawned from eternal night by infernal rite in Hell. It's a real badass boast for Richtofen and it fits the hellish apocalypse we must survive in Tranzit. Also digging the references to past songs. 12. Abracadavre - A long song that is creepy and slow in some parts, but epic in others. Still not that bad. I'm not rating Undone and Archangel just yet, simply because I haven't listened to them over and over again like I have with every other song. Both are definitely excellent from the few times I have listened to them, however. But damn, I could write an ad the way I described these songs.

I saw the name Odin inside one of them on a YouTube video. Maybe they're all named after various Gods?

Definitely works for me. Somehow Richtofen gets him a human body which lets him live until 1945.

So, there's a pathway to Agartha in these Parisian catacombs. Why am I not surprised. If we see Agartha in this map, I didn't think it was possible to be blown away any further by this map.

That's definitely cool to have all three singers except AX7 together... The screaming and pace reminds me of Coming Home. But personally this doesn't feel like the best Zombies song. Is it the screaming which has been absent since Elena's last song that messes it up for me, or said pace? Call me a heretic, but I don't really miss Elena too much. Or at least, I don't miss a Coming Home-esque song. Slower songs like Always Running, The One, Where Are We Going, hell even Not Ready to Die, Beauty of Annihilation, Nightmare, and all the others sounded much better than the parts Elena does here for the most part. I've grown to love Malukah and Clark Nova. Each and every song has made me think about the storyline. For example: Carrion addressed Richtofen. We All Fall Down was Maxis. Where Are We Going was the mobsters in their loop. Always Running was Sarah Faraday (according to an excellent analysis by MMX). This just feels like a throw-in, when its clearly not when they went to the effort of gathering all three singers. Maybe when the Easter Egg is done, things will be clarified and the significant of "coming home", "carrion", "all I am", "letting go", and "in the skies", among others, shall finally be explained. But until it crashes and the atom smashes, all our minds will just fade away trying to decipher it. Maybe I just need to listen to it more. Who knows, maybe it'll grow on me like other songs have, just like Carrion grew on me after being the first non-Elena song. Well, I can say I've let go of all I know (that being Elena singing zombies songs besides AX7).

That actually was not the real Fred Tatasciore, who apparently doesn't even have a Twitter. And yes, he's quite adaptable. He can play the freaking Hulk, and go from green rage monster to intelligent scientist no trouble. Tatasciore's already on hand to voice Maxis though, don't see why he wouldn't be back for Nikolai, same goes for Nolan North as Richtofen (come on, the guy can play an average Joe like Desmond Miles and still play ZE DOKTOR). Steve Blum's also done additional voices for Black Ops II and from what I can tell he enjoys his role as well, he'd come back, same for Tom Kane.

Probably just for the trailer's sake of not spoiling it was Samantha until the end. The voice editing sounds a bit odd at the additional line. Doesn't flow as smoothly as the others, but eh.

Even though it'd mess with continuity to have drunk Nikoli and insane Richtofen, that's still the Nikolai and Richtofen we fell in love with and whose return we so madly clamored for. Hell, I still loved going back to play Kino and listen to Nikolai sing "Reach for vodka toniiiiiiight!!" And Richtofen squeal about spleens and blood. But I thank you Treyarch for your work so far and for Origins, even though Origins hasn't been released yet. You did not have to make Origins but you still did it and are clearly putting effort into this season finale. So many good memories have been made playing zombies, be it fighting to hold Nacht der Untöten after returning from an SAT, playing Call of the Dead with my best friends in the summer of 2011, listening to The One in the murky depths of Shi No Numa, getting chills upon hearing Satan's voice for the first time in Mob of the Dead, desperately trying to catch the bus in Tranzit, feeling haunted by Moon reminding me of Alien, questioning what was to come while listening to Paraphony, checking MMX's thread for story updates, growing to love all the characters, watching the names of Nikolai, Takeo, Richtofen, and Maxis become assimilated into my iPhone's autocorrect, playing Kino with my girlfriend and watching her freak out every two seconds (poor baby)... It's been a wild ride. Thank you Treyarch, whether or not we finally ascend from darkness in Origins. MMX I'd still thank someone for cooking me dinner even if it turns out to not taste good. It's rude in my opinion to not thank someone for something they've done for you, regardless of whether you like it or not once you get it. They didn't have to make anything for you. If you don't like what they gave you, tough.

Finally, FEAR TEDDY is put down. Although, I have wondered if the teddy bears in Zombies are a manifestation of the Devil, who controls the MOTD zombies and is the greater evil Samantha warns Richtofen about. FEAR TEDDY could've just been referring to the Devil himself. I was also wondering whether the final map for BO2 would finally explicitly (moreso than MOTD) have the Devil, and players would be fooled into thinking FEAR TEDDY refers to Richtofen. When really the Devil, or the Teddy Bear, is the main threat of zombies. But, alas, tis not to be. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, FEAR TEDDY.