My Problem: Origins & Solo Mode

[OMGItsPatricio]

Origins is, by far, my favorite map in Black Ops 2. But at the same time, I fucking hate it. Now, before I go any further I want to address the inevitable. No I'm not "bad" at the game. So far my highest round in Origins is 45. So, my main point in this thread is what I would have done differently in Origins (at least in solo).

I am a solo player and probably always will be. I play with friends but for the real serious long round stuff I don't like to have to factor in other people. So, I play all maps almost exclusively on solo. And origins on solo has a lot of shortcomings. Lots of them. Soooooo many. And I really want to detail all of them.

To begin, one of my main philosophies in zombies is that if a map requires you to spend more than 10 minutes at a time doing something not relating to killing zombies, it has failed. Waiting for something to come or happen truly was the failure in Transhit, as well as die rise. A map should always go for convenience. Though, do understand that convenience is separate from difficulty. Origins could be just as difficult as it is (which I like) but could've included more convenience. Spending 30 minutes waiting for the correct robot foot to show up just to build a staff, in my opinion, is horseshit. All the items you need to build in solo clearly take much longer than they should've. This should've been changed.

Another aspect of the map I also would've changed would have been all those secret weapons (like the monkey napalm strike grenades) which should be obtainable differently on solo than from co-op. In co-op you have four people, in solo you're on your own (obviously). So, therefore having to do the same things on both on the same way isn't balanced. There needs to be a sense of proportion in zombies. They at least got that implemented into door prices. They vary depending on the amount of players. So why can't goals be the same. This goes for the wonder weapon building. Couldn't they just have placed less parts in solo or required less steps to get, say, the monkey napalms? Solo is much different from co-op, so why is everything the same?

Another point I want to make is in regards to the side quest. I'm glad the Easter egg is achievable on solo but clearly that was something not intentional by the guys at treyarch. The lack of solo Easter eggs have always been one of my major gripes with Zombies. Mostly because slight modification to the steps could've made it accomplishable on solo. In origins we can finish the Easter egg on solo but it just doesn't feel right. It is borderline impossible, not so much because of the difficult but rather the tediousness. You see, I repeat that word far too often. Origins is not difficult in solo (at least for me) it's TEDIOUS. The Easter egg could've been great in solo if they would've modified some steps or maybe even omitted them. For example, in the rain fire step, adding say 30 seconds more in between throwing the grenade and activating the button in the robot would've added convenience, not less difficulty.

Another aspect I want to point out are the staves. I'm glad we have 4 "wonder weapons" but they are underpowered in my opinion (at least in high rounds). The ultimate versions, which not only take up easily 40-50 minutes to get all 4 staves built and upgraded, are not too effective above round 40. They don't deal great damage, making high rounds unnecessarily long, and again, tedious. Their "charged" effect again lacks at times. Honestly things like this could've been solved with a slight buff. They don't deal infinite damage like all other wonder weapons do. Meaning that at some point the zombie's health will catch up to the damage inflicted.

Now that we are talking about weapons, another weapon which appears to have been nerfed is the monkey bomb. It's pretty shit. zombies are still attracted to you. So you throwing the bomb, coupled with the mud means an instant down. And since the map makes it impossible for you to recuperate at a high round that means game over.

The reason the map makes it impossible for you to recover from a down is because of the spawning Templar zombies which sabotage generators. Chances are that if you're groin for a high round you've gotten to the point where you don't go out of your way to stop zombies from sabotaging the generators. By round 45 you have all of them powered down due to the damn Templars. So when you down, you have no option but to have to re-power a generator with 30+ zombies behind you, with no perks, and still pull of buying jug and getting away. On co-op this isn't too bad. You have 4 players to keep generators powered, but on solo it adds unnecessary strain.

Another thing that gets to me on solo is the way the golden helmet operates. I thought the robot was supposed to kill zombies when it stomped on them. The times I get stomped on by the robot (with my helmet) I get up all dazed and confused only to find myself overwhelmed with zombies that we're seemingly not killed by the giant. This should not happen.

In my opinion every map should have a balance. If there are Templar zombies that spawn and take your power off there should be a practical way of dealing with them. And unfortunately that's what origins lacks on solo, practicality. It is tedious.

But don't get me wrong. Even with the aforementioned points, origins is my favorite map to play. There's just so much to do. The problem is the way you do them. Origins for me is the best map every but at the same time my most hated.

[InfestLithium]

This map had proven to be a love/hate relationship. Great map and concept with tons of ideas, but the problem is no longer bad ideas more so than it is overwhelming yourself. Once you start playing this map frequently, you begin getting the basics out of the way and focus on what you deem necessary to survive.

While it may not be much help to you, here's what I try to do in order to prevent most of what you stated (which are all very valid points friendo):

[*:13f1px74]Agarthan Zombies are horrible when it comes to keeping them away from generators. The good thing though is that they usually will not attack you when they destroy the generators. I always keep a couple Claymores near every Generator that I feel is absolutely vital for survival so they can be taken down much quicker.

[*:13f1px74]Knowing what you need and do not need is essential, especially for certain weapons/buildables. For instance, I don't really need a Maxis Drone in Solo so I can scratch that off my list. I typically wield the Staff of Wind wherever I go and perhaps the Staff of Fire if I really feel like having it. Each giant takes about 3 minutes to get through and grab their part. Since I have to do all the running around, I try to find out what foot it is as soon as possible. Otherwise, it only takes about 15 minutes max to finish the wild goose chase.

[*:13f1px74]I can agree with you wholly about the Lightning Strike Monkey Bombs. It's honestly not worth it if you don't want to do the Easter Egg; it's still a pain in the ass.

[*:13f1px74]It beats have a four-player Easter Egg. They could have easily done something along the lines of Moon, where half of it could be done on Solo and the rest in Co-op. Just imagine how that'd go.

[*:13f1px74]The Staffs aren't meant to be overpowered. When upgraded, their charged shots deal enough damage to take down Panzer Soldats. Even the Staff of Ice upgraded can wipe the floor pretty easily. Also bear in mind that we're given a larger arsenal than before to give us the ulterior edge. I think Treyarch's goal was to implement a map that didn't rely on one Wonderweapon to blaze through the high rounds. Well played, Treyarch.

[*:13f1px74]The Golden Helmet is only good for those "oh shi-" moments. Even with it obtained, I still avoid running underneath the robots like it's a plague. By the time you evne recover or switch out a horde-clearing weapon, you're pretty much covered head to toe in zombies.

[Nova Zombie]

The Ultimate staffs have infinite damage charged shots so the bit about them being underpowered is completely wrong.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Yes, but the effect ware off if you don't hit the zombies dead on, the ultimate staffs fix this issue..

On topic,

I love everything gameplay wise about this map, it's all great,

But everyone here knows I HATE the storyline of this map....

But about that robot bit: How? I've waited like... Ten whole minutes on flipping freya, NEVER came... Started building the lightning staff and the zombie was burned by the tank...

[mmm chocolate]

I agree with the tediousness, and I thought tranzit was bad.

After playing Origins 99% solo since release, I had to stop and decide which parts of the new map were fun and which were just too time consuming, so I've only ever used the maxis drone once, have only built all four staffs in one game twice, and only ever filled the four boxes twice.

I prefer a fun quicker more fast paced high round game rather than dying on round 20 because I was concentrating too much on building something or finding one of 12 staff pieces or filling a box etc...

[MegaAfroMan]

Even in a co-op game (definitely with just two players but still applicable with more) you kind of have to settle for not doing EVERYTHING on the map in one game. The tacticals are a pain, and the melee is tough as is getting all four staffs. Generally with my buddy we try to fill the chests in the beginning, but if we dont have at least 2 done by round x (usually ten) we stop because it isnt worth it after that point.

We almost never go for the tacticals, and we each only build one staff, usually all without ever needing a crawler. If I pass the parts for it while building or upgrading staffs, I'll build the Maxis drone, but I usually never retrieve it after it's first trip back to the charging station, and the generators we only bother keeping 4 and 5 running after we've aquired our desired weaponry and no longer expect to need the pack-a-punch.

So, even in co-op, but especially solo, if you don't want to take long pauses between rounds, you just have to narrow down your to-do list to maybe one staff, the sheild, and the generators once each toack-a-punch, then just be sure to be ready to defend Jug at Gen 4.

I do however love the map for the sheer amount of options it presents to us as players.

I just wish upgrading the melee wasnt an hour long ordeal, and that the tactical would have been a little more creative like the hells retriever.

[Youngblood73]

i've said it before. but the last two maps have really emphasized it. It's almost like killing Zombies has become a secondary objective.

in Buried, you spend 30-40 minutes doing stuff completely unrelated to killing Zombies just to get started. same with this map. although now, not only do you have to find parts for buildables, you have to find parts for wonder weapons. there is SO much time wasted collecting/building/filling chests/etc. that it's become somewhat of a chore to play.

I've almost completely quit playing these new maps in public matches(4 people) because there is just way too much stuff to do, the games just drag on forever.

just been running solo, or running a custom game with my son.