How Did It End...for You?

[AlphaOmega]

So here we are...2014. It has been a long journey with a few bumps in the road. 2012-2013 was definitely a year to remember in zombies. We got awesome content from Treyarch and saw their dedication to the fanbase. Now it is time to look back and remember, but to also look forward.

 

So as my first topic of 2014: How did it end for you?

 

Please answer any of these questions:

 

-Did "Origins" end zombies for Black ops 2 well or not? 

-Will you be looking forward to more storyline or gameplay?

-Has Treyarch made good on keeping to the fans and still giving a good experience?

-What was the worst DLC?

-What was the best DLC?

-How did the VAs and Music do?

-What was the most innovative thing you have seen to freshen up zombies?

 

OR 

 

Make your own question and Answer!

 

Welcome to 2014 ladies and gentlemen. The year of Zombies has returned! 

[TheBSZombie]

Did origins end bo2 well for me? Yes.

Storyline or gameplay? Hopefully a little bit of both. I rather have more gameplay stuff though.

Has treyarch kept the fans? Depend on what fan group you are trying to keep. The hardcore fans seem to hate this game because its to easy or they didnt do enough. I loved it personally. And I think they did a great job in expanding the fan base.

The worst dlc was probably buried. Really disliked that map. But it did introduce some good storyline stuff which was cool and the rgm2 which was really awesome. But the map itself was just a little bland and in my opinion just felt to small.

What was the best dlc? Definitely Die Rise. Loved that map. Was really challenging and fun to mess around with.

What was the most innovative thing? I think the buildables was pretty innovative. Maybe not put to its best use, but I liked it.

[GameChanger]

Great discussion starting topic. What a great way for CoDz to start 2014 right with some great posts.
 

-Did "Origins" end zombies for Black ops 2 well or not?

Definitely not in terms of Story. One of the biggest shortcomings in this game was that the story didn't really have a direction. The N4's story never felt "complete" so to speak. It felt more about the Steps than the Reasons behind the EE, personally. We also get zero update on the O4 from Moon, creating one of many loose ends. In terms of Gameplay however, Origins is fantastic. It combines the classic Black Ops 1 feel while giving it a Modern twist with new mechanics that aren't frustrating to deal with it. I really hope the "challenge" system makes a return in a future map.

-Will you be looking forward to more storyline or gameplay

Mainly story. Our story was so lackluster in BO2, there's no way Treyarch will be a two-time loser with 3.

-Has Treyarch made good on keeping to the fans and still giving a good experience?

In general, yes.  Even though they were too ambitious at the moment (TranZit MK. II on XBone/PS4/PC without anything holding it back like console limitations will be incredible) they do stay true to the classic formula and generally give a good experience on all maps at least.

-What was the worst DLC?

As I don't play MP that much, I'd have to say that Vengeance had to be the worst in terms of Zombies. Buried seriously suffers from the EZ PZ issue with such mechanics like the Paralyzer, Time Bomb, Bank, Witches, and more. In the end, we get two lackluster endings of either Eddy getting "total control" (We don't have an idea of what power the MPD has, so we can't understand what total control really is) or Maxis usurping Richtofen in his quest to open Agartha.

-What was the best DLC?

I'd have to say Apocalypse. Origins combines what makes Mob so wonderful without making "gimmicks" an annoyance. It was a nice change of pace to Hell Hoppers and unnecessary  complex map design for the reason of VERTICALITY!

 

-How did the VAs and Music do?
Though people seem to dislike my homeboy Clark, I think he did fine. I really hope we get to see more of him the next game. Malukah did great too (congrats to her for finally hitting the big time!) but I'm worried that BO3 will exclusively feature her. A7X is cool with me, too. On the subject of Elena, we probably won't be seeing her for a LONG time as she has a job at Irrational Games (Bioshock Infinite developers) and Kevin will most likely respect that by waiting until the last map to have her sing (which will be a LOOOOOOOONG time from now. Trust me, Acti will milk this cash cow for as long as possible). The N4 was great, but I really wished they fleshed out their respective stories. Buried teases us with their potential, but not much comes out from it. Misty is a good character, but she needs more of a story. For now, she's just the boring Farm Girl. What was her past life like? How does she really feel about Marlton?  It's good to see ALL the O4 cast, but really? Normal personalities? We needed some Honorable American Vodka poisoned Spleens in Origins! Funnily enough, it seems that people are digging Origins Takeo (For me personally I really like how his accent isn't so forced) and hating Origins Nikolai (Take away the Vodka, and you take away the man).
 
 

 

-What was the most innovative thing you have seen to freshen up Zombies?

 

Hard choice. It's very close between Digging, Der Wunderfizz, and Challenges. Digging's a pretty nice system that rewards continued use with better drops (Powerups, Perk Slots and more), but I personally think it's best as an Origins exclusive feature. The long requested Der Wunderfizz really shakes the game up. Bored of your usual Perk loadout or don't have enough for that certain machine? Take a spin with Der Wunderfizz, and randomly get what you need. Challenges are pretty great as they reward skill and aren't just these easy "kill 5 Zombies with a knife" stuff.

 

-Team Maxis, or Team Richtofen?

 

 

Richtofen all the way. I knew from the start that Maxis was planning something evil, and I simply chose the lesser of two evils. One of the few things that Origins makes me angry about is that it implies that the Maxis side was canon according to one of the more logical theories. Why include a story that's seemingly was community focused, and then drop it without any sort of results?

 

 

All in all, I'm looking into 2014 with high hopes for Story (More CONSPIRACY! quotes) and using the new console's power to create innovative, but not frustrating gameplay.

 

 

 

Off Topic, but why are sections of my post being covered in white? It's very annoying to try and fix every single part of it.

[Rissole25]

-Did "Origins" end zombies for Black ops 2 well or not?

I'm on the fence with this one actually. I think Origins is pretty good gameplay wise, and the challenges and staves where a new and pretty cool. Story side, I think it was a little let down. Not because of what we got, but what we didn't get. We got no resolution to the O4 post-Moon. Only Samantha (still in Edwards body) who seemingly was now trapped/stuck in Agartha with no news on Tank, Nikolai and Takeo.

But the bigger disappointment was no resolution to the N4 storyline, and Buried's continuation. The Maxis/Richtofen affair just seemed to have been forgotten.

 

-Will you be looking forward to more storyline or gameplay?

Well, it's a new generation of consoles it will be made for now. Which mean new things can be achieved. Not necessarily a good thing as the dynamic can change for the worse. So I'm worried about gameplay for now, and just looking forward to the story.

 

-Has Treyarch made good on keeping to the fans and still giving a good experience?

Yeah and no. Really too many things to go into, but I will say this:
It seems like they bought the O4 back for Origins just because people were whining and hated the N4. I don't know if that's actually it but I believe so. Also they said somethings which they didn't deliver. TranZit was way over hyped and I saw no multiple upgradable weaponry in Die Rise.
So I will just say Sometimes to this answer I guess.
 

-What was the worst DLC?

Eh, I really think TranZit was the worse to be honest. Since you say DLC, I'm not just thinking about maps, but the modes that came with. Apocalypse in that regard since it bought no extra modes unlike the previous three. If we're talking strictly map, I guess Die Rise.

 

-What was the best DLC?

I like Buried. I know nearly everyone dislikes it because it's easy and boring, but that's why I love it. If I'm in a slump, or just wanna get to some far rounds without hassle, Buried will nearly always be my choice. Also it's good to do challenges on because you can get to high rounds easy, get outta sticky spots in those challenges, etc. Oh and PhD Persistant Upgrade.

 

-How did the VAs and Music do?

Great! I love every song Kevin produces, but some of his finest work is on here. My top 3 in no particular order are We All Fall Down, Always Running, and Archangel.

 

VA's did a nice job I think. I know people got annoyed with the N4 voices alot, and I did as well. (That one quote Marlton says while knifing in Die Rise about Russman, I thankfully can't remember it). But I think they conveyed there characters very well, and sure hope they return voicing the N4.

O4 were good to hear, especially not as the way we knew them. and the Mobsters were superb. The actors really portrayed some good emotion, especially in those mini dialogues they have when going down reflecting on their life. And also when they try to speak to the person who is doing it all, saying they should just kill them already.

 

-What was the most innovative thing you have seen to freshen up zombies?

Buildables were a nice touch. The Bank was okay, I just didn't like how it made things super easy. Persistant Upgrades? Eh, I prefer them to go honestly.

Origins Challenge Box was the most innovative thing I think, and I think they should include a Challenge Box like that in all maps from now on, giving small rewards like we were given.

[Dopey Legend]

Q1: Considering the start BO2 had, Origins ended the zombie slaughter brilliantly. The map layout, the staffs, the crazy place ect made the map more interesting than the others on BO2. 

Q2: Im looking forward to both gameplay and the story aspect. Considering the new CoD game will be on the new generation consoles that excites me most to see waht they can do with the new tech. A huge cliffhanger at the end of Origins will carry on the zombie story line but im not sure how they'll do it.

Q3: I do believe that treyarch are still giving the players what they want as a community but much prefered the mob of the dead and origins than die rise and buried.

Q4:Worst dlc IMO is buried, didn't change much in gameplay as much a mob of the dead did.

Q5: Best dlc is tie between Mob of the dead and origins, i loved them maps.

Q6:-

Q7: I think the challeges in origins were cool, But im not sure!

Thanks, Horseman 

[Hells Warrrior]

 

Off Topic, but why are sections of my post being covered in white? It's very annoying to try and fix every single part of it.

 

Hi Gamechanger,

 

I'm assuming you posted using a mobile device? If you did I/we are aware of the problem and looking into it. If you posted from a web browser I'm not sure what you mean? I can't see anything wrong with the post itself?

[GameChanger]

Hi Gamechanger,

 

I'm assuming you posted using a mobile device? If you did I/we are aware of the problem and looking into it. If you posted from a web browser I'm not sure what you mean? I can't see anything wrong with the post itself?

I'm on a web browser. I had to manually edit it out of this post, but it's much more evident here http://www.callofdutyzombies.com/forum/index.php/topic/158370-proof-that-team-zombies-didnt-work-on-mob-and-origins/#entry1476413

[Speedo Cola]

Did "Origins" end zombies for Black ops 2 well or not? 

No. The map was too centered around the EE, and it really lacked replayability in my opinion. I liked the return of the O4, and the staffs and such were pretty cool, but overall, it was too difficult/annoying at times to really wanna play it a lot. The story ending could be taken either way though. In a way, I didn't like it cause it changed how things were originally. However, if they take that ending and apply it a certain way, things could get really interesting. I believe the best best for this ending would probably be something to do with MMX's theory on it. That's what I'd like it to mean.

 

Will you be looking forward to more storyline or gameplay?

Really both. If I had to choose, gameplay. That's only because of the Origins ending though. If it wasn't for that, I'd choose storyline. However, the ending made it where anything could happen, so now I'm not as anxious as before to see what exactly happens. However, I would hate it if they completely abandoned using a story-line on the next map. It's really a hard decision to make. 

 

Has Treyarch made good on keeping to the fans and still giving a good experience?

Yes. I can see they still care about the franchise, and they definitely gave me some good memories with the maps. While I believe they could've done maybe a little more storyline-wise this go-round, they still kept me satisfied, and the gameplay was amazing. The Rank System sucked, however. 

What was the worst DLC?

Apocalypse. I just didn't want replay it much. The map was amazing, don't get me wrong, but it was too annoying to wanna play it over and over and have to do all these certain things to succeed. It felt like it was too focused on the EE, and so the actual gameplay was neglected. That's just my opinion though. 

What was the best DLC?

Probably Revolution. I absolutely loved Die Rise, and the Peacekeeper was amazing. Not to mention the (pre-patch of course) Sliquifier, and the Zombies introduction of the AN-94 (AKA My Baby). A (very close) runner-up would have to be Vengeance, however. I loved Buried and the Mark 2 as well, and it came with a Grief and Turned map as a bonus! Plus the WW could be used as a jetpack, and we had portable time machines! But Die Rise is still my favorite BO2 map.

 

How did the VAs and Music do?

VA's did great. The Music was alright, however, as a rap fan, I wanted a little bit of that. Because "Won't Back Down" helped me so much on FIVE. The music was still great though. I liked "Imma Try It Out" by Skrillex on Tranzit, before it was removed of course. I hated Die Rise's song. MOTD was awesome with their selection, and Origins was alright. Hopefully next time Eminem will make a track (just for zombies) on the next game. It sucks that he is instead working with Infinity Ward right now, but hey, maybe he will make an Extinction song! (That'd actually be pretty interesting) And then, he'll be even closer to Activision, and we have our chance lol. I know most of you probably wouldn't like it though because it's rap, but you can't deny that he has insane lyrical abilities. And if he used those powers to write about zombies, there's no telling how many subliminal messages he can hide in there for all you song decipherers, as well as make an amazing song. Again, that's just coming from my rap-loving point-of-view though.

What was the most innovative thing you have seen to freshen up zombies?

Probably perma-perks. They were so useful, and created so many (while fake, they were interesting) community urban legends. My favorite was the one that let you keep your perks when downed. QR would be next. Overall, I believe that this is helping to pave the way for pro-perks (which I believe if implemented, should only be available after like Round 60 or 70 or so) by adding abilities to our normal perks. Anyways, I can't wait till next season, and these are my thoughts on the ending!

[Hells Warrrior]

I'm on a web browser. I had to manually edit it out of this post, but it's much more evident here http://www.callofdutyzombies.com/forum/index.php/topic/158370-proof-that-team-zombies-didnt-work-on-mob-and-origins/#entry1476413

This is signed by the core Black Ops 2 Zombies team, I went around and got it exclusively signed by those of us who worked on TranZit at the time (as well as Die Rise and Buried thereafter).
 
I find it odd how he doesn't mention that the Zombies team didn't work on Mob or Origins. This would imply that another team mainly worked on the maps. Maybe this is finally sufficient proof that the Campaign team created both maps, as I had my doubts before. What do you guys think about this?

It appears you put a background colour into the text

[Boom115]

-Did "Origins" end zombies for Black ops 2 well or not? 

When we first got a glimpse of the original fours return, I am sure all of our minds were racing. However I feel like this was a missed opportunity to bring an origins that fit in without question. A lot of question could have been answered (although many were), instead of just raising so many more. The fans would have eaten that up and would have reintroduced our beloved crew to possibly a new audience and set up for a new game. In short, I feel that they Lost'd us.

 

-Will you be looking forward to more storyline or gameplay?

As we roll into the fifth year of zombies the desire for  high rounds seems to have escaped me. The storyline has become more and more important to me. I still play recreationally several times a week and I love playing maps like MotD where they incorporated storyline into game play. I would definitely like to see more of that in the next game.

 

-Has Treyarch made good on keeping to the fans and still giving a good experience?

Although Black OPs 2 received a lot of hard criticism. I would have to say yes. I have only been playing this game (with the exception of a few short breaks and Ghosts...) for the better part of a year. Only now almost five months after the final DLC am I finally considering getting another game. Yes, thank you Treyarch! I had a blast.

 

-What was the worst DLC?

Buried: I liked the map, but it was my worst experience by far. We just get off an amazing side quest on MotD and have to return to preforming these meaningless tasks to light up a tower. Joy. The map was visually...well, brown. Understandably it was underground and a western theme but good god was it boring. The Boss rounds...just why. I think we need to return to the days of the Pentagon Thief. This constant mechanic of shooting things for a minute and getting a perk bottle drop should have stopped at die rise.

 

-What was the best DLC?

MotD: I think this map received a lot of love and had so many new elements. Not to mention it actually got away from the cartoon-y zombies experience that has become the norm; and actually scared us a bit. Aside from nearly having a seizure every time iIm on the roof, the map is freakin' gorgeous.

 

-How did the VAs and Music do?

Where the f**k was carry on?! Shepherd of Fire was by far my favorite. I thought Rusty Cage was a pretty awesome addition. Although Malukah has a gorgeous voice, I'm not sure it was well suited for zombies. Unless it's intention was to put the player to sleep to make the game more difficult.

-What was the most innovative thing you have seen to freshen up zombies?

[Tattoo247]

Did Origins end zombies for BO2 well or not?- I think it ended in a way that could either carry the story we already have, or it could created a new story, branched from what we already know story wise. I surely don't think it's over. It ended well enough for me, but in all honesty that intro to Origins beat the ending 100x over haha.

 

Will you be looking forward to more storyline or gameplay?- I will be keeping my eyes open for the next installment of zombies, but it's going to be REALLY hard to preorder, or run out and buy it on a midnight release. Although I thought BO2 was ok, it wasn't anything like I thought it would be, and the things I had major problems with, seems like I've talked myself into ignoring so I can continue to enjoy the game with friends. I spent a lot of money on BO2, and release night was awful, it's left a sour taste that will more than likely leave me waiting to hear you guys thoughts on the newest zombie installment before I rush out and get it. Of course, regardless I will own it, but may wait for DLC or price drop..or I could just be lying to myself and just get it (crazy fan logic). The gameplay has always been good, it's the story that's starting to worry me. I'm a very "meat and potatoes" kind of person so when you go throwing in new characters for us to play, raising new questions without answering the more important older ones, makes it all unfamiliar and risked making the story hungry fans not enjoy it so much, I don't know about you all, but I was SUPER excited to see how our old crew was going to get off the moon, and stop 935 once and for all, we didn't get the slightest tease to any of that....WHY?!

 

Has Treyarch made good on keeping the fans and still giving a good experience?- I know a few players from W@W that don't play anymore just because of how different the game has become, and I respect those reasons, but a lot of people don't realize you have to do things different or you become stale quickly. That being said, I feel like a lot of the additions to BO2 fell short, character story, character design, and quotes didn't meet my expectations, but it was balanced by the fact I got to play new zombies, and the maps were not all bad.

 

What was the worst DLC?- I will answer this question based on zombies only, the DLCs were all good in terms of either zombie or multiplayer maps. But I will have to say that Buried was, for lack of a better word, lazy. Most of you know the two or three camping spots in the map, and I'm sure you've heard the whole "well you don't HAVE to play the map that way" but what's the point of going against the grain? I strongly believe that the map was intended for the people whining the games maps were too hard, too big, wunder weapons being bad ect ect... They stuck that map in there so I guess everyone had a chance at a pretty rank logo  Don't ever put a infinite ammo weapon in zombies again PLEASE.....unless it's the so very fun, but so very useless flame thrower lol

 

What was the best DLC?- Again I'll answer zombie maps, and this one is a lot harder. I have to go with Origins just because it's still newer and fresh compared to my other answer, MOTD. I loved the look of both of them, I enjoyed the models of zombies for MOTD more, but enjoyed the atmosphere of Origins, I also prefer Origins EE even though I havn't done it, the steps are more fun and the pay off is better. Wunderfizz is awesome, I'm sure nobody could argue with that, the weapons were ok, I actually liked the blundergat better than the MG08, I also enjoyed the PaP skins for MOTD better.

Besides, I've wanted to play the old crew since the game came out, and while it technically may not be the players we were used to (Dempsy wasn't much different) I still got to play them and that's good enough. One thing I'll add that I would love to see implemented to all maps, on MOTD if you start a solo custom game, or a strictly solo game, the character acknowledge they are alone, calling out to the other players and when noticing they are on their own, give a small pep talk...I don't know why but I loved that so much lol

 

How did the VAs and Music do?- Tranzit had bad music

Die Rise was a little better, I activate it most times I play the map

MOTD music was great I thought, it fit the period and the look of the map, and of course Rusty Cage was good too, what was best was the random BGM that would activate, just so depressing and hopeless I loved it, it reminded me of Nachts EE song in terms of feel not sound.

 

What was the most innovative thing you have seen to freshen up zombies?- It sure wasn't buildable items. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate them, but if they left them out of the next game you wouldn't hear me complaining. What I thought was the best thing to freshen up zombies is what it always has been, weapons and perks.

I thought they did a really great job on the weapons, changing them from the multiplayer stats like they usually do cannot be easy to balance, they've always done a great job with that. Jet gun aside, the wonder weapons were all lots of fun to use, some of them since have become not so fun for me, but that still doesn't take away from the fact they are very useful and excluding Buried WW, they were not over powered.

The perks, I thought were great too. They always think in terms of how a perk will benefit the player on that map, on Tranzit I buy tombstone every time, because nobody wants to risk their life for you if you are like me and run in strange places (my favorite being Nacht, but you are very much on your own out there) Who's who wasn't great, but I can think of a few times that perk kept our matches going instead of ending because of stupidity lol it's probably my least favorite of the new ones, but still great. Don't get me started on electric cherry, they should pull a mule kick and put that perk in every map...it's so great...