My Thoughts on Zombies Thus Far

[perfectlemonade]

My Thoughts on Zombies Thus Far

Well... it's been, what, a month? Three weeks? Yeah, three weeks. We're three weeks into this game, and I'm no longer afraid of the fog. I'm no longer afraid of the Avogadro. I have discovered Double Tap and all its glory. I now know Tranzit like the back of my hand. I know every little corner, every secret, every shortcut. I know how the zombies will react to my movements, how to escape from tricky situations, what the good weapons are, what the bad ones are.

We all do, now.

But this is just some feedback on the game so far.

First, I'll start off with the post that really got me started on this thread:

With the success of BO1, they must have felt they got everything they could out of it. Coming into BO2, they must have felt their top priority was to reach out to new fans, which was the reason behind the new mode transit.

Also in order to please the hardcore players, they added the grief, as well as other minor twitches to the game in the fashion that was discussed here. I would say overall BO2 in their minds was a major success, as they brilliantly maximized both.

Do hardcore zombie players like BO2?? Not sure but I know almost all of them bought the new game. I also know a lot still play the old game because it is still better.

Great post as always, Jay. Now, I'm guessing I'm a hardcore player (nah, I am a hardcore player. Just ask my friends hahaha) so I feel like I have the right to answer this question the best I can. So let's start things off.

Tranzit

So, for those of you that don't know (this isn't a guide—this is an essay, if anything—so I won't go too in depth; I'll save that for another thread) Tranzit is a collection of the Survival maps (Bus Depot, Farm, Town), as well as some other locations and goodies, connected by a long, winding, looping road. There is a bus, driven by its automated driver TEDD, that drives along the road in constant laps, dropping you off at various spots that you need to access in order to advance in the game.

Whew, that was tough. I've never been that concise in my life. But no, really, the notion behind Tranzit is absolutely brilliant. I wouldn't be shocked if this map was bigger than all the Black Ops maps combined (don't quote me on that, though). Granted, it's a lot of nothing—a desolate, marred wasteland overrun by mole-like denizens, rivers of lava, and annoying fog—but still, it's HUGE. However, with size, comes a certain degree of tediousness.

Think back to Moon, for instance. Fun map, right? Yeah. Right. It was fun at its core, but the map itself felt rushed and it took about three years to finally get set up for your high round game. The Biodome was excruciatingly slow; going down sometimes meant playing entire rounds without Jug; and, best of all, you either had to wait for Excavator Pi (something that is left to chance—Zombies should never be reduced to a primitive game of chance) to breach, be it to get the Easter Egg started or trap the astronaut. It took forever.

Well, Tranzit is just as bad. No, scratch that, it's worse, probably. If you're doing the Easter Egg, and this is just a side note, you have to spin the box, sometimes for hours, to get EMP's. Just ridiculous and overcomplicated. The sheer size of the map makes getting set up a pain, with or without the bus (or denizen teleporters). It takes me at least an hour to get Galvaknuckles, get my perks, get my guns, build the Jet Gun, and Pack a Punch. At least.

Because, you see, I've noticed something. With size, comes a lack of speed. This map is, and I'm quoting Richtofen, "ün marathon". And yes, before you ask, Zombies has always been a marathon. But you've always had the option for speed. The Ascension PaP room strategy was 20 seconds a horde. But this map? Jesus, you're looking at at least 90 seconds a horde. And it's not just the Jet Gun, whose cooldown speed is so slow it's laughable, but it's the fact that the zones on this map are ridiculously huge. Zombies are spawning out of the ground and they're spawning a half mile away and it's just... it's not pretty.

Despite these flaws, Tranzit is, ultimately, a fun time. Once you get past the beginning stages—an average, solo round 8 on Tranzit, for me, lasts at least thirty minutes because I'm getting set up for the game—the map is fun. Sure, recovering from a down is difficult, slow, and tedious (more so than the actual game), but that's how it's supposed to be, right? The Jet Gun is lame, its slow cooldown time, horrible walking speed, and the fact it sucks you TOWARDS the zombies, but, even then, you can't overlook the fact that it has infinite ammo and that it doesn't even take up a weapon slot. It's not the best Wunder Weapon (is it even a Wunder Weapon?) ever, but it's certainly not the worst (that honor goes to the Winter's Howl). The training spots are extremely easy—the bus stop area outside of the farm is so wide open I could probably do it with my eyes closed (not really).

This map is laughably slow, and it certainly strayed away from Black Ops 1 Zombies and its gameplay mechanics, but high rounds are certainly possible on this map and already have been completed (I've seen two separate 100's so far), though it will take a much longer time than on the original Black Ops. It's fun. I like it well enough. Was it what I had hoped for? No. But is it still a fun map, with lots to do and lots to explore? You bet it is!

My Rating: 7/10

Survival

I'm really a much bigger fan of Survival than I am Tranzit. It's just... it's old school. Surviving against the undead is what got us ALL hooked on Zombies, not causing grief to other players or stumbling around drunkenly in the fog. Survival will always be my favorite gamemode. It has a special place in my heart. There is just something... awesome about teaming up with your friends, picking a good corner to hole up in, and going to work as undead try, in vain, to swarm you.

A lot of people have been disappointed with Survival so far. I don't understand this logic. Bus Depot is the new No Man's Land—and you know how popular that was with the hardcore players! Farm and Town are both reminiscent of classic Zombies, and I mean classic. World at War. Nacht. That kind of stuff. Tight, dangerous, basically a round limit at 70. Farm is tiny and cramped, but, at the same time, a blast. Town is only slightly larger and, even though there are more perks to choose from and access to far more firepower via Pack a Punch, I feel to be the harder map of the two. There isn't a go-to strategy on Town. The map itself is very open, but the lava will eventually be the end of you.

Farm, on the other hand, is a rather easy map. The only reliable strategy is very fast (relatively speaking), very easy, and very straightforward. It would definitely be easier with a Pack a Punch, but that's Survival for you. Sometimes you don't have everything you need, and while that definitely limits you, it's, at the same time, really awesome. It's, in a strange way, almost comforting to know that there's a round cap on these maps without a power weapon and/or traps to get you through those high rounds. For my high rounds guys out there, isn't it nice to know that there's a feasible end to the game, like 70 or so, instead of going on for infinity (the Black Ops record, for those that do not know, is 198. The player, KingJaqOffSuit, was reset. The game took him 90 hours)? I kinda like it, myself. I like having to use explosive weapons without Flopper (or, sometimes, Jug). I like the fire. I like finite rounds.

Nuketown is pretty awesome, too. Love the atmosphere, the fact that it takes place during Moon, the addition of a couple new weapons, and the falling perks/Pack a Punch. It's fun, narrow, and pretty difficult. I like it. A lot.

Only thing I'd ask for is a little more incentive. I'd like to be able to turn on the power. That would be freeing. I also would've liked to have seen a Diner and/or Power Area Survival map, but I understand they were rushed. We'll get to that at the end, though.

Also'd like some quotes for Survival. Just saying.

My Rating: 9/10

Grief

I haven't played enough of this to make a fair judgment on it yet. But, really, the only difference I've found is that shooting players makes them slow down, and there's this meat thing that mess people up. It's not really my cup of tea, but, like I said, I haven't played it enough to make a fair judgment of it.

Zombie Mechanics, Guns, Etc.

Okay, so, as we all know, Zombies is now on the multiplayer engine. At first, I thought to myself... oh, cool! This should be interesting! And, well, it was interesting. I like how much variety there is with the gamemodes (hellhounds on/off, magic on/off, starting round, etc.) but there are some hugely infuriating flaws that have really gotten me frustrated with this game so far, and they all directly tie back to Zombies being on the multiplayer engine.

There's knifing, for example. It's awful. It's absolutely, positively god-awful. We would all complain about the knife lunge in Black Ops, but I'd never lunge through a wall. I'd be able to knife zombies that weren't reaching through the window. Funny enough, though, it seems as though a good majority of this stuff doesn't happen with the Galvaknuckles. I don't know if they're trying to penalize you for not having them or whatever, but the horrific lunge just doesn't happen with the Galvaknuckles.

Then there's the hit detection. Half my shots don't even register! It's not as big a deal as it is in multiplayer, but, come on, Treyarch. After everyone complained about the hit detection on Black Ops 1, I thought you would've taken a hint and made that a priority for this game! But no. Instead of fixing the fundamentals, you added new stuff.

Leaderboards resetting, losing rankings, not being able to join matches, forcing us to play public matches to record on the leaderboards... a majority of this can be attributed to the switch to the multiplayer engine. Well, Treyarch, we loved the Black Ops 1 engine. It was GREAT. It was a blast. It was fair. We may have complained at times, but, in hindsight, it was the perfect Zombies engine. Because that's what Zombies needs.

I don't want a multiplayer engine, I want a ZOMBIES engine.

Now, perhaps I am being unfair and I'm certain I've ruffled a few feathers, so I'll go out and say that custom games on Zombies is... awesome. Just so much fun. Host migration is also really cool. But, other than that, I feel like the actual engine Zombies runs on is a step down from its predecessor's. Just my opinion.

I've also noticed the Zombies themselves are a lot dumber than those in Black Ops. Maybe it's just me, but I rarely get trapped in this game. I get out situations I wouldn't've dreamed of getting out of in Black Ops. I think this is, perhaps, compensation for the lack of Flopper (though I do expect to see Flopper's return in DLC). I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it's definitely interesting. It's lowered the skill level required to be truly great at this game, though.

The new perk is pretty meh, for me. It's cool that you can get more than 4 perks out of it, but other than that, I don't really care for it. It's useful for random games on Tranzit, though. If you go down, chances are, you won't be getting revived. Double Tap is awesome, though.

And now, for the guns. My first reaction: what's up with all the burst-fire weapons? There's the B23R, Chicom, M8A1, that shotgun... am I missing anything? Regardless, they're definitely interesting. The SMR is an atrocity, and the War Machine is the next China Lake, but I'm absolutely in love with the MTAR. One could call it the new Commando, but, in all honesty, I find the MTAR to be a lot better. Recoil is way easier to deal with. You run insanely fast with the Chicom, the LMG's are awesome, and I really like how they brought back a few Black Ops guns. All in all, they're solid. Now, would I take them over the Black Ops guns? Excluding the LMG's... no. But, are they still good zombie killing weapons and fun to use and experiment with? Heck yes they are.

Last bit: the buildables. I like them. A lot. Excluding the Jet Gun, they're easily my favorite addition to this game so far. I don't think they should've messed with the Wunder Weapon formula (use up ammo, recycle), but, excluding that, it's really, really cool. Love the Zombie Shield... love it! Also really like the notion of portable power. It creates an incentive for the game, and that is something I really appreciate.

Final Verdict

This game is flawed. There are things that need to be fixed. You can tell that the devs were rushed by the corporate headquarters to get this game out. The fog covers up texture glitches. Diner is on the world, but you can't physically select it. This makes me think they released an unfinished game. Do I blame Treyarch? No. They do their best. They put their heart and soul into creating something that will make us happy, which, let's be honest here, is a very difficult thing to do.

No, instead, I blame Activision. I think they rushed this game. I think Treyarch tried to overachieve with Black Ops 2, and Zombies in particular, but they just didn't quite live up to the potential. The marketing scheme advertised a gamemode of epic proportions (**coughmorethantwentyfourzombiesonthemapatonetimecough**) that just, in my eyes, never materialized the way we all hoped.

That being said, this game is fun. The first DLC will be a make-or-break type thing for me, and for a lot of other hardcore players as well. My expectations are still extremely high, and while I think Tranzit was a pretty weak showing for Treyarch compared to past games, there is still room to grow.

However, and this is completely contradicting what I just said, but a lot of people are not giving this game a proper chance. They are expecting Black Ops 1 DLC, but in disk form. Well, that's not what this game is about. I'm still trying to get over that myself, and maybe when I do, I'll be able to start appreciating the game more.

This game was never meant to be Black Ops DLC.

This game was meant to be Black Ops 2.

I'm starting to warm up a bit to it—I like it a LOT better than I did a couple weeks ago—but I haven't quite bought into it like I bought into Black Ops. It's fun, though. It's enjoyable. And while I feel that Treyarch has tried too hard to appeal to the Plebians at the expense of the elite, I'm still enjoying myself. I rage at times, but to those that have already gone back to Black Ops, I ask that you give it until at least the first DLC, if not the second. Let things run its course. If you still hate it then, fine. No one will judge you for going back to Black Ops. In fact, to answer your question, after this game has run its course, I will probably make a return to Black Ops. A world record on No Man's Land would be... delicious. Regardless, I wanna live in the moment. I want to enjoy what this game has to offer.

And it offers a lot.

My Rating: 8/10

Thank you for reading, and post your thoughts in the comments below! I'm out! PEACE!

-perfect

[Ehjookayted]

Poignant, powerful, and surprisingly concise. Heh.

Well done, Andrew, well done.

Though I do not have the game, this is the best review I've seen of it. Excellent work. As usual. 8-)

Ehj~

[MixMasterNut]

I'll admit I currently play BO2 zombies simply because it's a newer game. Not because it's the superior game. NO NO NO. Once that new feeling fades away, I'll probably be back to playing those tired old maps again.

I absolutely hate what they've done to knifing in this game. Knifing was one area I thought they'd improve upon in BO2 (ie BO knifing was better than WAW). The hit detection on crawlers was aweful as it was. Now I can't even stab a zombie behind a window unless his hands are physically on a board ready to tear it off. Now I can't even stab a zombie in front of me without taking a hit every time. I cringe at the thought of what playing No Man's Land with these knifing mechanics would be like. This is absolutely the worst knifing in any COD I've ever played. I'd take the WAW knifing any day over this. I can't express how badly Treyarch fucked up knifing!!! OMG it pisses me off to no end, so I'm moving on....

So far Nuketown has been my favorite BO2 map. For a smaller map, I like the layout. In many ways it feels like a classic map to me (but with shitty knifing mechanics). The fact that there is no EE, and the secret songs are just rehashed from the Moon, I find super-cheesy. That's below par at this stage of the game.

I'm hoping for a flash update on the knifing mechanics.

Also, I'm really hoping the DLC has some quality survival maps in it that feel the size of Ascension, Cotd, Shang, and Moon. These small maps on Green Run that all look the same don't feel like an upgrade anything to me. They all suck in their own way. And they best bring my Phd Flopper back, pronto.

Done ranting for now

- Mix

[Mr. Jay]

This Is what I have missed the most; thoughtful, well written, precise analysis, and/or interesting article on zombies.

As a said in the other post, the intention coming in was not to please the hardcore zombies, but reach out to potential new junkies that are tired of regular first person shooters. We all wanted another black ops 1 dlc, but got something a tad different. But its ok, they did their best to accommodate the hardcore fans.

I still love and enjoy black ops 1, and judging by the hundreds of thousands that still play black ops 1, I think Treyarch get the message that "we bought BO2, but if this is the new standard we will venture elsewhere."

[Lenne]

I think they took one step forward and three backwards.

They had good intensions but it didn't work out.

A beta would be pretty nice. I am not talking about a beta like the ones cod4 and waw had. I want one like minecraft. (I know that will never happen.)

But if more people who know what they are talking about could have been with TranZit (at some point during the development) and the zombie mode as a whole it would be a lot better now.

The survival maps just seem so "meaningless".

It really feels like they just did add those so the survival people don't complain and have something to do.

There is no turning on the power,no qoutes and they are too small.

Look at the maps you just have to open one door and you can buy Jugger.

And when you have Jugger you are golden. Especially on BO2,you are right the skill ceiling is just so low good players have to duckwalk.

They got rid of the "Quick revive guns" (Thundergun,Wave gun...) because they wanted to make it more challenging but why did they make the zombies so insanely easy to doge then?

Now there is Nuketown and for me and a lot of other people it was the biggest surprise in BO2 zombies.

It is so good...compared to the other three maps of BO2...but nothing compared to the lovely classics. I mean Kino alone got me through the 4 months of waiting for Ascension.

I can't see that happening with Nuketown,let alone the other maps.

This makes me look like a massive hater.

But I do not hate BO2 I like it. Just not as much as I'd like to.

I will play it for the rest of the month or so but after that I will play BO1 until the dlc.

They hyped it up like hell and our expectations were on the same level. (At least for me.)

And they couldn't meet those.

Although they wanted to.

Great thread Perfect. (as always ^.^)

And as you can tell I agree with you.

Fingers crossed for the dlc.

[Edward Richtofen]

One thing that has stood out to me is the fact that they took out a way to gather all the perks permanently. This was introduced in Shang and carried over to moon, kind of surprised that it was left out of BO 2, unless the EE has more to it still undiscovered.

Also, Flopper and Mulekick got removed. While I never was a strong supporter of Mulekick, Flopper was arguably the best perk in the game after Jugg. Why they removed this perk still preplexes me, although I suppose it's due to the fact that it would be OP considering the amount of lava and fire.

We get Tombstone instead, while useful, it's usefulness is only there because of the size and non-ability to move through TranZit quickly.

That aside, I enjoy the survival maps and the Grief mode. I'm glad they added this, even if the maps do not feel quite as glorious as those of Black ops. TranZit I'm still not sold on, but I'm coming around.

Good post Perfect, pretty much spot on.

[LJx19]

-Leaderboards can go fuck itself, give us back round rankings so I don't have to suffer with noobs anymore

-The fire can go fuck itself sideways, and I mean that as offensively as possible.

-Mustang and Sally shooting speed makes me jizz

-Galil reminds me of home so much its the only gun out the box I actually keep, occasionally the type 25

-No flopper...just wtf meng.

-Winter's howl > Jet gun. True story.

-God...these fucking leaderboards...

-Tranzit, it's not horrible, but holy crap is it time consuming just to get to round 20. It literally took me almost an hour to pack-a-punch 2 guns because (and I blame my tv screen for this) can not see jack shit in the fog and had to wait for the freakin bus :evil:. Like seriously the God damn bus already makes me late for school...why do I have to come home to wait on another freakin bus :x

-Survival, I need some damn lines man. Like seriously at least put misty in there to liven the thing up. I need space, these 2 squares we get for survival make me sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo booooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard. I've killed myself at least 3 times in the 30's on each map. And me and my buddy suicide on round 35 on town because we literally got so bored we started trying to kill each other. Also, at least give survival fans a damn wonder weapon. Or flopper. Matter-of-fact, just flopper. Mustang & Sally was all I used in BO 1 ( so help me if I ever got any wonder weapon besides the winter's howl and raygun in co-op).

-Host migrates on round 25 in a 4 player map, we all die on round 30 and it doesn't count on leaderboards? Seriously? Fucking seriously? These leaderboards are shit.

That's about all I got. Fix the leaderboards and you wont hear a word from me, seriously. I dont wanna play with round 10, 6 year olds, who have blue eyed skull emblems anymore...make it stop. Please :cry:

[XxJason LivesxX]

Yes, the leader board are horrible.

I raged on Tranzit for the first week of it's release, and vowed to never play it again and only do survival. That was until I played a game with people that knew what they were doing...

Now I really only play survival when I only a have a couple hours to kill.

Tranzit was mis-labled as a new mode. It is the Classic Survial mode, not the mini maps...

Once you begein to treat Tranzit as a "Classic" it will all make more sense.

Learn to use the teleporters, fuck the bus...

[InfestLithium]

I'm not sure why most people are nagging to Treyarch about how much BO2's zombies kinda sucks. To be perfectly honest, they already had hordes of noobish and professional gamers whining in BO about how zombies is always the same besides a new map and Wonder Weapons. They're trying their hardest to meet all the regular players' demands as well as ours, the devoted community bent on piecing together the background story behind zombies.

Let's discuss maps.

Green Run is actually a very spacious map when you think about it. Sure, some people don't consider the dog to be an actual part of the map, just a way to challenge players and make running from station to station worse. Nevertheless, if it's in the game, it's part of the map. I mean, we have a shortcut, Proto-type of NDU, the Tower, streetlights, the cabin in the woods, and tunnel. Consider that all these things are what lies in the fog.

If I were to emphasize the originality of dispersing Green Run to make only three viable places as playable stand-alone maps, then I'd have to half-heartily agree with the community. The maps are rather tiny, and not necessarily too roomy either (hell, even NDU seems bigger than these). It doesn't mean that one cannot achieve high rounds though; in fact, it's actually easy in a sense of surviving yet gives the challenge that if you screw up somewhere, you better have your zombie panties on. These mini-maps [as I'll refer to them] may not be top-notch map choices, but they're adequate enough to satisfy the general zombie slayer.

Let's mosey down to modes.

Yes yes, we all know how disappointed you are about the selection of modes. Let's see here...we have Tranzit (Survival), Grief (Team Survival), and Survival (Midget Survival). Let's do a very quick breakdown.

- Tranzit is nothing more than our typical zombie survival map, with the added fog and stations to create a sense of a big map. It may be nowhere as close to CotD or Moon, but it is still considered a large size. The differences between this mode and all the others are:

+ Build-ables

+ Bus/transport

+ New characters

+ Pack-a-Punch (excluding Town)

+ Easter Egg

+ Few wall weapons + Jet Gun

Most people would say that just one or two of these things really separate Tranzit from the common Survival map, but there are it's original differences. To me, this mode is great with its variety and challenge.

- Grief is under attack almost everyday by gamers. Some call it a team effort that situates the player to gain the help of other players while defeating another team in order to survive. Others call it a madhouse where your teammates may make or break a great game while using childish tactics that are not even worthy of making the mode called "Grief". In all honesty, I do have to agree with the second argument. Grief is nothing more than a two-team survival where players generally dick around with one another. But the goal does remain the same: only one team can win. That being said, what 3arc has given us is an average survival mode with the ability to step all over the other team. It puts trolling to its higher usage and can actually be hilarious when you understand the game mechanics. As for now, it is of fair rating (below adequate) and probably will be until further objects are implemented.

- Survival is...well, survival. The only difference here is that our maps are the same size as those of Grief. Just your average zombie survival map. Needless to say, this mode is adequate for players who want to recollect their inner slayer like the good ol' days.

Now the ranking system...there are a billion threads about this, so I'll keep this cute and simple.

Adding statistics, giving players ranks/emblems to display a player's success in zombies, implementing theater mode, and awarding seemingly "permanent" perks when doing a great job in-game are great ideas.

Not allowing others' statistics to show, sudden dropping of ranks, rounds not counting when a player leaves the game, misunderstanding of how the ranking system works (yet refusing to even give a broad hint as to the guidelines) are bad ideas.

Got it memorized?

Overall, I wouldn't call the present-day modes a huge success, but I wouldn't call them letdowns either. Treyarch tried their best to deliver what we all wanted in one sitting. It's not a easy task to accomplish here, guys. Just like it has in BO, Bo2 zombies will get only better and better. Before you know it, you'll eventually walk around saying "Y'know, Treyarch did a damn good job in this installment of zombies".

[Chopper]

I pretty much agree with everything Andrew said, except the few positives he listed.

The absolute only positive is potentially host migration. I personally don't enjoy anything else about it. Before people say that I need to give it a chance, I truly did. I played for around 30 hours before the release, and then prob 8 hours a day post release.

Bus depot is really not the new NML.....my first try I got to 22 in around 30 minutes. Compared to my first tries of NML.....just not at all comparable.

Grief is the only mode that has some potential in it, but I haven't seen it yet.

I may play BO2 sporadically, only with friends though. I will try again after the new DLC and see how it goes.

One thing I have realised is that complete obsession to 1 game is not a good thing. I was much to into BO, and spent far too much time playing it, neglecting other games.

Unless there is a gamechanging patch or DLC BO2 is not going to get much of my time.

I do have a stack of other games to play however :)

[perfectlemonade]

Thanks for the input, guys! You all brought up some really great points. I hope Treyarch gets the opportunity to see some of the points y'all brought up—I know Carbon still stops by every so often.

I pretty much agree with everything Andrew said, except the few positives he listed.

The absolute only positive is potentially host migration. I personally don't enjoy anything else about it. Before people say that I need to give it a chance, I truly did. I played for around 30 hours before the release, and then prob 8 hours a day post release.

Bus depot is really not the new NML.....my first try I got to 22 in around 30 minutes. Compared to my first tries of NML.....just not at all comparable.

Grief is the only mode that has some potential in it, but I haven't seen it yet.

I may play BO2 sporadically, only with friends though. I will try again after the new DLC and see how it goes.

One thing I have realised is that complete obsession to 1 game is not a good thing. I was much to into BO, and spent far too much time playing it, neglecting other games.

Unless there is a gamechanging patch or DLC BO2 is not going to get much of my time.

I do have a stack of other games to play however

I suppose you're right about Bus Depot. What I was trying to achieve with that comparison, though, is that Bus Depot and No Man's Land are both similar in the fact that if you've got an hour or two to spare, you can jump in and try to beat your high score...

I definitely agree with you when you say that playing one game exclusively is not good. There are some really good games out there that I want to try out—Borderlands 2, Halo 4, Farcry 3, to name a few. :)

[Reddonkeyham]

My initial thoughts of Tranzit.

The opening week or so, I was in the same boat as a lot of people. The bus, the buildable, the knuckles were all exciting new additions to Zombies. I thought all the hype paid off, the months of waiting and been teased by Treyarch was worthwhile. These five smalls maps were tight and perfect for training (when alone anyway) and the fact there were only a door or 2 to open.

The bus in itself was like a tiny map, trying to cover all angles, fixing all the windows and thinking this going to be easy, I can make loads of points on here. I liked how the kept it simple yet switched it all up with this transport.

I wasn't a fan of the fog and them facefookers were really winding me up, but (regardless of whether it is there to cover up any dodgy imagery) I liked how it forced you stay at your destination because you missed your bus.

Then we found out about the cabin, the tower, the hidden old map, after being told there is so much to find that is hidden, I assumed this was only the beginning. With a new perk and pack a punching it was all starting to become amazing. Being able to teleport then meant that missing the bus wasn't an issue any more, it meant we go attempt to get Juggas or wherever without having to wait for the bus and wait out the journey.

What I didn't like at the start of Tranzit:

No PHD

Revival ability (stranding your team and being unable to help them due the vast size of the map)

Lava

Facefookers

No wunderweapon

What I did like at the start of Tranzit:

Bus

Map size

Teleporting

New perk(although I thought It was rubbish I liked the fact, to me it seemed a better new perk than say deadshot which I despised)

My views on Tranzit now:

So 3 weeks in and I haven't played Tranzit for over a week. Admittedly my views haven't changed that much, but at the same time I don't like a lot of things. So where do I start?

Well I still don't like the fact reviving is near impossible and that regardless of how good the players you are playing with are. It means if they go down odds on there screwed, I wish there was one larger, main map within the buses journey. Other wise due to map sizes it means your cramped (yes I get that its harder) How are you meant to play? Do you all stick together to help ensure no one dies properly, or do you spread and play every man for themselves. If you chose the 2nd option then you may as well play solo.

The lava is fine with me now and I now just treat it like the ice in COTD and hop around when ever I see lava.

PHD

Well now I enjoy not having flopper, I always get bored in games of where I have had the ray gun and have no worries due to being able to shoot at my feet and not having a single worry in the world. I have since adjusted my game, less camping, no more tight training. I feel I have become a better player since its removal.

Meh… I'll come back to tranzit and its review at another time.

Survival

I canny be bothered to split this into before and after thoughts and I also cant be bothered to type all that much. I wasn't a fan of survival at the start, tiny maps, no doors, lack of perks, no power, lava. But since essentially giving up on Tranzit I have played non stop survival.

I like the fact that there are 3 small maps and that each one in there own is a different take on survival. You have Bus stop for the hardcore no juggaz type players. Town for pack a punching, farm for just surviving with perks (and guns of course)

Maps are tight, zombies vary in speed making it slightly harder to train. To me these maps are made for Solo, but when I'm playing with friends on these maps, wow do I Struggle (rhetorical question, I struggle a lot) you might camp in a room and when it gets much jump down to train them, but oh look when you jump down your friend/random is down there with his train.

Haven't played a lot of grief and haven't really formed an opinion yet, I like the concept. But I always thought it would work better on Tranzit (and I assumed pre release this is where it would be played) The other thing that annoys me is when it comes to reviving it seems that f you lay down you won't get pushed and that way make it very easy to revive (dependant on zombies of course) So if Treyarch fix this and find a way of pushing Greif on Tranzit, they may well have a winner here.

It feels like I keep writing so I'll finish up with this message to Treyarch regarding DLC.

I guess they will bring out a different Tranzit, a new transport, a new map. That's fine by me, but please bring out an old style map no transport just a large map and walkable from one end to other in time to help revive someone. I play the game and although I'm not the greatest 90% of my game involves reviving and with Tranzit you have made my job on the field impossible. Also now that you have cocked up making diner, do not attempt to charge us for Diner and Nuketown and leave it at that. We want fresh stuff.

P.S

Fix the leaderboards, I wanna see who I'm playing with.

Fix the fact when some one leaves that's it game over

Change it so solo leaderboard and team play.

Now is all.

[bbobs2]

Great review/analysis/summary of your thoughts. I agree with most of them so here is what I say, I'll try to keep it short.

For the first time in a while last night I had some time to kill & do what I wanted without having to worry about college work or any exams (at least until next week...) so I decided to really give TranZit a go.

My initial reaction to TranZit was that it was too much but after really playing it last night I've realized that it is a very enjoyable mode. I've been venturing outside of the key places & started walking which is also enjoyable. The problem is I feel like an element of team work has gone from TranZit. Normally in EVERY other map within the series I will always attempt to revive you & would either revive you, get close or down, I'd rarely let everyone down and me being the one alive.

With TranZit you can't do that unless you all stay within the same area, if someone at Diner goes down and you're in Town then odds are you have NO chance of reviving them unless you are lucky with the teleporters (and believe me, after travelling through 5 last night to attempt to revive three players, I'm not).

I have to agree with you, the map is slow at times but the challenge within this mode is great.

After my initial outburst on Denizens I feel like they have a place within the game, just like the Nova 6 crawlers did in Kino.

I also had a fun game of survival last night, four players, round 10 one left, round 19 another left then sent me a message saying they had lag (if you're out there then that's fine bud!) I was left with a player that downed & revived their way through to 27 but it was still fun, it takes me back to the original survival, Nacht is Bus Depot, Town is Der Reise and Farm is the one I've never played in my eyes. Each map in survival has its very own objective/style which is great fun & also offers a challenge.

Grief is great fun if I have time to waste, even though there is some amazing mechanics within this mode that can really screw over the other team I do feel that more could've been put in to grief the players but it doesn't stop it becoming a great mode & something I do enjoy when there is competition in play (proper training steals, kill steals and all that good stuff).

Overall the game modes are great IMO and it has taken a step past what we knew, whether this is a step forward or backwards is up to peoples opinions, but I feel like I need more and am really considering getting the season pass but whether wanting more is a good thing or a bad thing I don't know, I mean I lasted the whole of Black Ops without buying any DLC (apart from rezzurection for the WaW maps). Do I want more because of how much fun it is or more because there isn't enough to keep me for a year? That my friends is the question...

[javano]

"No, instead, I blame Activision. I think they rushed this game. I think Treyarch tried to overachieve with Black Ops 2, and Zombies in particular, but they just didn't quite live up to the potential."

Amen, man. All these people hating on Treyarch don't realize that it's the money-hungry pigs at ATVI forcing them to shit out gold every two years. Do you know how hard it is to make an entire AAA title in two years? Some of the Halos have been in development for twice that long. Unfortunately, Activision has a track record of running fantastic game franchises into the ground to make a quick buck (Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, etc..). A track record that I'd love to see come bite them in the ass as soon as they are done fucking up the CoD series.

[P Diddily]

Great post, I agree with most of the points made.

I think that the large size of the map and the difficulty getting to teammates to revive them is the main reason for the inclusion of Tombstone. Where the The teamwork comes into play is communicating where the player went down and then getting the rest of the team to go to that spot so that when the next round starts, the downed player can get their tombstone and have their perks and weapons immediately and get right back to killing without having to worry about surviving with a pistol for a round.

One of the funnest moments for me so far was when one of my friends went down out in the fog between power and town with tombstone and the 3 of us that were left had to escort him to his tombstone with zombies everywhere and Denizens attacking all of us when the next round(22) started. Shit got crazy, but we got it and got the hell out of the fog with everyone alive!

[Matuzz]

I doubt if the zombie mode is worth of 40€ to spend on. Idea of paying 60€ more to make the game better in matter of months by DLC isn't really my cup of tea either.

Any PC players: Is the matchmaking good in BO2 zombies?

[Saleenseven]

One thing that has stood out to me is the fact that they took out a way to gather all the perks permanently. This was introduced in Shang and carried over to moon, kind of surprised that it was left out of BO 2, unless the EE has more to it still undiscovered.

Also, Flopper and Mulekick got removed. While I never was a strong supporter of Mulekick, Flopper was arguably the best perk in the game after Jugg. Why they removed this perk still preplexes me, although I suppose it's due to the fact that it would be OP considering the amount of lava and fire.

We get Tombstone instead, while useful, it's usefulness is only there because of the size and non-ability to move through TranZit quickly.

That aside, I enjoy the survival maps and the Grief mode. I'm glad they added this, even if the maps do not feel quite as glorious as those of Black ops. TranZit I'm still not sold on, but I'm coming around.

Good post Perfect, pretty much spot on.

you forgot deadshot daquri, no one gave 2 sh*ts about that perk anyway though.

[jokrAzrael]

Tremendously enjoyed the article. Agree with much of what you said. Still feel as I have too much playing to do before rendering an solid opinion on too many things. One idea I wonder about, prompted by your article and some of the responses. On BO 1 many people were constantly dealing with leader boards. What is our score? How does it compare to others online? How do we rate?

What if here we have something else. Yes, there any number of included competitive areas. Actually with all the new stats there are tons more. But one of the areas I have yet to explore much is the Custom Game area. Points and K/D I believe can be gained there, but no leader boards. But taking a quick look at the array of options it seems we may have traded some competition for freedom. To make our own private games with changes WE chose. I really look forward to trying it out. Peace.

[Mr. Jay]

I have had a few stints with the new game at a friend's house, and thought I would like it if I play it a little more. Boy I was wrong.

Playing this game is like dating for the first time after the love of your life leaves you. I can't seem to get into it. No romance, no connection, bad sex.

BO1 anyone??

[GriefBoss]

I honestly wanted to like Tranzit, but I just don't have the patience. I know they tried to ease the pain by adding the lampposts and allowing you to run through the fog, but I still can't deal with all of the travel time. Just getting all the perks, setting up the pack-a-punch and chasing the box around can take over an hour. I understand why people enjoy the freedom/exploration of Tranzit, but I have never been into exploring the nooks of every map or doing easter eggs that require hours of time potentially wasted when you don't get the box item you need (or do things out of order). I find Tranzit essential unplayable.

Survival mode is fine although should be better. They should have allowed for more customization with which perks to add to the map and whether or not to include pack-a-punch or box. Even allowing to specifically chose which weapons to allow would have been nice. Instead, they set up each area for you and allow for very limited customization. Very disappointing. The areas themselves are limited and exactly as they appear in Tranzit. The nice thing about them is that they are compact and, therefore, very action packed. But their size also means that they get old quickly.

I actually really like Grief. It does suffer from frequent lag/framerate issues. However, the competitive nature is a great new take on zombies. I have played more Grief than any other mode. My only complaint is that the maps were not specifically designed for Grief and it shows. Strategy is limited by map layout and both maps encourage cheap strategies. I would love to see them put out a map specifically for Grief.

Overall, I would give zombies a 7/10. I am really looking to see what they do in DLC.

[Chopper]

I thought I would come back to this thread and give some more thoughts after playing a bit more again.

I'm not in love with the game, but I am enjoying certain aspects of it.

First room Tranzit is lots of fun.

Race to 30 on Farm.

4p farm 30 race no bleed outs.

Rack em up on Town - 20 start, no doors open, Sallies only. How many kills.

Everything else is laborious pretty much. 40 is easy on all maps, but past that it starts to take much too long.

Excluding Tranzit obviously.

The worse thing about the game though is how much easier it is than BO1. The gaps I can get through are completely stupid. If a zombie comes out of a window you can always get between it and the window. This shouldn't really happen.

Maybe Die Rise will change it, who knows. The rest is just kinda bleh to me though.

Grief is a bit stupid. Either a 2 hour + game on town is required or using cheap strategies on Farm. Not for me.

[Mr. Jay]

Having played all modes and maps at least a few times, I will go into depth how I feel about this game.

A few things to like:

Break down of the actual map. The idea of separating Green Run into Farm, Bus, and Town was good. Giving us the freedom to explore the map in the sub form.

Weapon balance. Especially with double tap, Mustang Sally and Ray gun are no longer that superior compared to the field. Shot guns and Snipers are now usable, and deliver more diversity.

Galvaknuckles. We discussed in length our desires for a better melee weapon than the Bowie.

Grief mode at first is refreshing.

A few things to hate:

Sub maps are very limited in terms of accessories and weapons.

Just like BO1, once you hit round 15 the game becomes very repetitive and boring.

Knuckle is harder to utilize than Bowie in BO1.

Very very limited choices of camping spots. The best part of zombies early on was camping with friends. Can't do it on

the new maps.

The game has evolved to noob friendly.

Grief needs more grief related weapons besides the meat.

That's all I have for now.

[Ryan Nowell]

The Winter's Howl/Fury was awesome haha! Esp. with Double Tap OMG!! The pentagon Thief died so fast, I'd get a Pack-a-Punch power up a good majority of the time. I made it to round 34 just sitting up in the beginning elevator room. The Jet Gun was a gigantic roll of toilet paper for me.

Great review btw. I'm not taking that away from you. You nailed it. I actually stopped playing zombies after nuketown's big let down. Die Rise however is quickly becoming my favorite map to play. There's just so much strategy built up. (None of this running in circles till I get bored and hop in lava) 10/10 from me.

I would like to see the Shotgun Wunder-Weapon: Thundergun 2.0.KSG. It’s not like the thundergun where everything in front of you “disappears” but it does have an similar effect. It’s a Pump action slug air shot with a devastating aftermath. Chunks of flesh, arms, legs and heads will be taken off in mere seconds in a ripping motion caused by a vicious wind tunnel slug shot from high speeds. that would be my favorite weapon

I know not many people agree with the thundergun, but it was pretty sweet!

[THERYMAN13]

well after reading that i can tell you did some work on it so thank you it really sums it up. great review