Call of Duty Zombies Bracket Round 1!

[RadZakpak]

Hey everyone, I wanted to start a bracket tournament for Call of Duty Zombies Maps to get everyone's opinion! I've included every map from WaW to BO4, and put them into a bracket tournament pictured here: 

So, time to vote on who proceeds through round 1! Just reply in this format:

1. [Your Pick]

2. [Your Pick]

3. [Your Pick]

...

15. [Your Pick]

 

Once I have a sufficient number of votes, I will move on to round 2!

For those that can't view the image, here are the options: 

1. Nacht der Untoten or Shi No Numa

2. Die Rise or Ancient Evil

3. IX or Nuketown

4. Revelations or Shadows of Evil

5. Voyage of Despair or Buried

6. Der Eisendrache or Moon

7. Bus Depot or TranZit

8. Kino der Toten or Mob of the Dead

9. "Five" or Verruckt

10. Blood of the Dead or Ascension

11. Zetsubou No Shima or Shangri La

12. Classified or Gorod Krovi

13. Der Riese or Dead of the Night

14. Town or Call of the Dead

15. Farm or Origins

 

Feel free to discuss your picks!

[RadZakpak]

My Picks With Explanation:

1. Shi No Numa (Lots of great memories on this map, introduced our beloved Ultimis)

2. Ancient Evil (Purely by what I have seen because I have not had a chance to play. Die Rise is my least favorite map, so...)

3. IX (A top five map for sure, Nuktown didn't stand a chance)

4. Shadows of Evil (This map is a masterpiece, and one of the most unique and beautiful)

5. Buried (Tough choice, both underappreciated map, but Buried has so much quirky uniqueness that I find it hard to compare. Voyage is a good map, though)

6. Moon (All time favorite, masterpiece! Tough choice though, as DE is a masterpiece too.)

7. TranZit (Pretty easy choice, IMO...)

8. Mob of the Dead (In my opinion, these two might be the most overrated maps of all time, even if they are pretty great. Mob just flipped the whole zombies experience on its head and changed the way we look at it. Kino is just Kino, in comparison.)

9. "Five" (I've always loved Five, so goofy and different)

10. Ascension (Lots of great memories on Ascension, and I do not like Blood of the Dead's gameplay at all.)

11. Zetsubou No Shima (An underrated gem, IMO! I love the plants, and the atmosphere and story of the map)

12. Gorod Krovi (Tough choice, given my love of Five, but it lacks some of the charm of the original, so I have to give it to this badass map)

13. Der Riese (Dead of the Night is a sleeper hit waiting to happen, but Der Riese is an all time classic, and managed to keep people's attention for 2 years before zombies returned while it was still in its infancy!)

14. Call of the Dead (Unique, fun, just all around fantastic and often forgotten in these times.)

15. Origins (It's... Origins vs. Farm. Origins changed everything.)

[Guest]

First off this is an awesome Idea @RadZakpak

The only thing opinion I have is that I believe Tranzit should be 1 map instead of splitting up each area.

[anonymous]

1. Shi No Numa: While NDU is seen as the 'ultimate classic map' by many, SNN is where the story started going somewhere. Also, I love how the developers created a grim and eerie atmosphere out of a natural environment.

 

2. Die Rise: Not really fair, as I've never played Ancient Evil, but Die Rise is actually one of my favourite maps. The elevators and verticality of the map made this map really unique in any way, and I like that Asian megacity apocalypse style it is set in.

 

3. Nuketown: That map is so just much fun, espessially split-screen. The fact that the Perks (and PaP) fall out of the sky in a random order makes every game different.

 

4. Shadows of Evil: The layout of that map is so beautifull

 

5. Buried: I like the fun. I like the atmosphere. What else do I need to add?

 

6. Moon: I've never been a real fan of DE. On top of that, Moon ranks second as most favourite map

 

7. TranZit: Well, I guess you all know what my favourite map is....so no explanation.

 

8. Kino der Toten: While MotD appears to be a masterpiece, I've never really got into it (also, its my only non-bought BO2 DLC). Next to this, Kino is just a classic runner, with a bit WW2 and Cold War atmosphere added. Love it.

 

9. Verrückt: This was a tough one, they're both great maps. I've chosen for Verruckt objectively because the map introduced both the Perks and the Power. Also, I'm really fund on those seperated spawn points (and once again, the atmosphere).

 

10. Ascension: Fav map number 3. Don't ask me why, just like it alot. It also features the 'ultimate Ultimis travel atmosphere'.

 

11. Zetsubou no Shima: Though one again, I like both, but I think I would be quicker bored on Shangri La. I am also fund on the difficulty of both maps.

 

12. Classified: Just don't like the fantasy/sci-fi thing of GK (dragons, robots, AI, etc). Also, this is a way to repay my respect to Five (sorry number 9).

 

13. Der Riese: This map includes just so much intel about everything of the æther story. I also like the history and science based aspect of this map (all based on real science and history/conspiracy).

 

14. Town: Aww, this map has just so many memories.

 

15. Farm: I know its an unpopular opinion, but I just like Farm more than Origins. Dont say its better, I just like it more

[Lenne]

1. Shi No Numa: cause it offers more variety than Nacht.

2. Ancient Evil: I dunno I only played a bit of Evil, but gotta say that I like the map a bit more, just cause it is visually more pleasing.

3. Nuketown: It is simple and cool looking and also a lot of fun.

 

4. Shadows of Evil: It is funny, that it has to go up against Revelations, cause Shadows is probably my favorite map from BO3 at this point and Revelations is my least favorite.

5. Voyage of Despair: Cause Buried makes me sleepy.

6. Moon: NML> Everything else.

7. Tranzit: Cause Bus Depot is playable in it. But I also like Tranzit in general.

8. Kino der Toten: Cause it is what every map should be and it has the "My first map bonus".

9. Five: Just another example of why BO1 zombies is best zombies.   It also has the first "buildables" which is cool as well. 

 

10. Ascension: I am a sucker for these simple maps and it has the funniest qoutes and the better EE song. 

11. Shang ri la: One of my favorite maps ever and the first one to go beyoned 40 for me and it has the best wonder weapon. :3

12. Classified: I hate GK and Classified brought Ultimis back.

 

13. Dead of the Night: It is more fun for me and it is not too complicated. Otherwise I picked Der Riese.

14. Call of the Dead: I have very fond memories of this map and them adding George Romero and how they handled him from a game play perspective was great, also it was the last map in Zombies history to not feature the forced team work BS. As far as I know.

15. Origins: I love this map, even though I should hate it on paper, but @Electric Jesus showed me the way (Pun intended) and I started to apreciate it a lot.

[Schrödinger]

1. Nacht Der Untoten : The first map I played.

2. Die Rise : Best map of BO2.

3. Nuketown

4. Revelations : I prefer The Gift rather than nothing(I turned off the music volume when I played SOE).

5. Buried

6. Moon

7. TranZit

8. Kino Der Toten

9. Verruckt

10. Ascension

11. Shangri-La

12. Gorod Krovi : ♫

13. Der Riese : Best map of WAW.

14. Call Of The Dead : Best map of BO.

15. Farm

[jiipee95]

1. Shi No Numa - I've never really liked Nacht Der Untoten a whole lot compared to other WAW and BO1 maps so this was an easy pick for me. Shi No Numa is a great map in my opinion with the random perk locations and the freedom to go anywhere in any order.

 

2. Ancient Evil - Going with first impression here, also helps that I don't really like Die Rise cause of it's limited movement around the map.

 

3. Nuketown - I've started to like this more over the years. The perk system can be annoying since there is no way you can affect it. IX is a fun map, but has a bit too much going on in the later rounds.

 

4. Shadows of Evil - It's one of the best maps in BO3 and Revelations was such a huge disappointment that there's no way I would choose otherwise.

 

5. Voyage of Despair - I'm gonna pick this one mainly cause Buried feels like it's just all the unused ideas slammed into one map. Also I've been wanting a zombies map in a big ship ever since BO1.

 

6. Moon - It's way more fun to play. Der Eisendrache for me always goes the same way. There just isn't anything challenging with buildable wonder weapons and unlimited damage, other than Panzer. Moon is also the first epic map for me and I have great time playing it

 

7. TranZit - While Bus Depot is fun for a quick game of zombies, I find Tranzit more fun experience in general. We all know it's not the greatest map, but it's still pretty fun cause of that.

 

8. Kino der Toten - This is the first zombies map I've played, so maybe it's nostalgia talking. Tough choice, cause Mob Of The Dead is one of my favorites as well.

 

9. Verruckt - It's one of my favorite maps cause of the challenge it offers. Five is difficult too, but personally I like Verrüct more.

 

10. Ascension - This is a lot more enjoyable experience for me. Tough one though, since BOTD did a very good job bringing MOTD into BO4.

 

11. Shangri La - Well ZNS is one the worst maps so, easy pick cause Shangri-La is one of my favorites

 

12. Gorod Krovi - This one is very tough. I like both, but I'm gonna go with Gorod Krovi. Classified suffers from the BO4 game mechanics, as it is very VERY easy with them.

 

13. Der Riese - I mean c'mon, Der Riese is a classic and so much better than Dead Of The Night. Dead of the night does have a cool theme though, but that's not enough in my books.

 

14. Call of the Dead - As much as I dislike George Romero going after you the whole game, I think the map is more fun than town. Town is good for a quick game of zombies though.

 

15. Origins - Can be a bit tedious to get started sometimes and I hate that the power can go off, but it's one of those epic experiences. Farm is fun for a quick zombies game, but this time Origins wins.

[Guest]

I think we should pair up favorite Bo1 maps/Bo2/ Bo3/ Bo4

So

1. Nacht Der Untoten vs Verruckt 

2. Shino Numa vs Shangri-La

3. Ascension vs Der Riese

4. Moon vs Call of The Dead

5. (Pair up Classified aka Five vs NukeTown)

6. Tranzit vs Shadows of Evil

7. Die Rise vs Zetsubou No Shima

8. Der Eisendrache vs MOTD

9. Orgins vs Revalations

10. Buried vs IX

11. BOTD vs Ancient Evil

12. Dead of The Night vs Voyage of Despair 

 

[anonymous]

16 minutes ago, RequixEclipse said:

I think we should pair up favorite Bo1 maps/Bo2/ Bo3/ Bo4

So

1. Nacht Der Untoten vs Verruckt 

2. Shino Numa vs Shangri-La

3. Ascension vs Der Riese

4. Moon vs Call of The Dead

5. (Pair up Classified aka Five vs NukeTown)

6. Tranzit vs Shadows of Evil

7. Die Rise vs Zetsubou No Shima

8. Der Eisendrache vs MOTD

9. Orgins vs Revalations

10. Buried vs IX

11. BOTD vs Ancient Evil

12. Dead of The Night vs Voyage of Despair 

 

I actually prefer Rad's pairs. He compared in generally equally-liked maps with each other. For example, both DE and Moon are one of the community's favourite maps. MotD and Kino also compare well (in terms of being liked), etc

[Guest]

Well let's that if it's TRUE then both MOTD and COTD shouldn't move on I forgot Gorod so I'd do

Gorod Krovi vs Moon 

DE vs BOTD

COTD vs MOTD

[Electric Jesus]

Dangit my reply got lost in the sauce. I’ll edit it back in when I can retype.

[RadZakpak]

I will no longer be taking votes after midnight CST on Friday, so make any last minute changes and tell people to vote who are unaware! Then I will post round 2 on Saturday.

[Electric Jesus]

1. Shi no numa. At the end of the day Nacht was the prototype map, and we love it for what it was.

 

2. Gimme 48 hours to update. Been in an Xbox mood lately. Probably gonna be AE.

 

3. IX. Probably in my top 5 maps of all time.

 

4. Shadows. Kinda uninviting for an on-disc map, but still a masterpiece in its own regard.

 

5. Buried. Voyage is great, but it looks like they finished making IX and were like “alright now lets make the harder / bigger IX.” Like it could be the “same map” but with just a different layout. Buried is just radically different. Hella buildables, unique mechanics, etc.

 

6. Der Eisendrache. Potentially my favorite map of all time honestly. Like the “story” of that map was so compelling. You saw the consequences for every step along the way in the easter egg, and it made sense and had a progression. Some easter eggs are just a bunch of disjointed steps that have nothing to do with anything, like why am I shooting this lantern? But Eisendrache was like, oh we gotta get into the safe, but we don’t know the combo, so lets go back in time and peep over the shoulder of the last guy to lock it, etc. it was like an actual story unfolding. Moon had a very compelling EE as well in the same way, but DE brought the first real boss fight, 4 elemental weapons, great contributions to lore, just tons done right. Some of my favorite cyphers.

 

7. TranZit. Screw the haters, it might not be the best, but I’ve had fun on TranZit. Denizens and lava suck, pack a punch sucks, jet gun sucks, but I prefer that over bootleg nacht. The map with the greatest potential room for improvement if they remaster.

 

8. Mob of the dead. Kino has a special place in my heart, but sorry, I have a tattoo of the afterlife eye, ez pick.

 

9. Verruckt. I’ve probably got way more play time on “five” than verruckt, but frankly, verruckt is just so nice. The first “real” map imo, atmospheric as hell, definitely comparable to five in terms of close-quarters-ness, but there ain’t no trench gun on five. Plus Classified just blows five out of the water regardless.

 

10. Ascension. I love Blood for its contribution to the story obviously, it’s just a really well done map narratively / thematically, but gameplay wise it kinda pales in comparison to IX for example. I’ve put an ungodly amount of hours into ascension, splitscreen, solo or otherwise. It really blew my mind coming out of kino, when the whole aesthetic up until then was nazi / axis stuff, then suddenly it’s a cold-war cosmodrome. From then on every map after that had a wildly different aesthetic. I think that’s where they really caught their stride and realized they could go anywhere. It’s also like the perfect example of how the zombies story is told in like a vignette format, like each map is a brief snapshot of a large timeline that we aren’t privy to. You spawn in on a lunar lander like “how the hell did we get here?” and just immediately have to start deducing stuff based on dialogue and surroundings. Nice.

 

11. Shangri-la. Zetsubou was a good map, glitches aside, but there wasn’t really anything there storywise. We knew we were coming for Takeo’s soul. Shangri-la was also a kinda “filler-map” in terms of it being a small step in richtofen’s grand scheme, but they wove it into the story of Brock and Gary, which was really interesting and set up major themes for the series. Zetsubou didn’t really feel like its “own” map in the same way.

 

12. Classified. Weird choice maybe, but i dunno man, Classified is like the “The Giant” of BO4, and I think I can’t help but favor it just by virtue of the fact that it’s in BO4. I just love the specialists, perks, elixir systems and such, and it feels really good. Perfect example of the Takeo Effect: take something disliked, shelve it for a few years, then bring it back in a more badass form and it instantly becomes everyone’s favorite. Some combination of nostalgia and the realization of potential that you always saw there. Classified doesn’t compare to Gorod in terms of its epic scale story wise and emotionally, but Classified is so OG with the radios and the storyline developments, and the aesthetic is killer. Winter’s howl ate its wheaties this time around. Just so much to love. Ultimis Cast.

 

13. Der Riese. No contest.

 

14. Call of the Dead. Hell yea. I really reeeeally hope they remaster Town though. I love the minimalistic maps like nuketown, and with bo4 mechanics it would be lit.

 

15. Origins. Everybody likes Oranges.

[RadZakpak]

Alrighty folks, after a week there have been six ballots cast, an even number, and surprisingly only one tie! I did not account for this while making this tournament, but have decided in the event of a tie, the victor will be decided by coin toss. The loser will be remembered in our hearts as a true contender... but only one shall advance.

 

Here are the results for Round 1:

 

1. Nacht der Untoten (1) vs Shi No Numa (5)

Winner: Shi No Numa with 5 votes! Shi No Numa may not be the first zombies map to send us on this journey, but it is a damn good one, with brand new innovations out the wazoo!

 

2. Die Rise (2) vs Ancient Evil (4*)

Winner: Ancient Evil with 4* votes! Despite the ever clear nostalgia for Die Rise, the brand new Ancient Evil advances to the next round with grace!

*Note: @Electric Jesusdid not make a final choice, but implied that Ancient Evil would be it. Even if they did not vote in that category, Ancient Evil would still have won 3 to 2.

 

3. IX (2) vs Nuketown (4)

Winner: Nuketown with 4 votes! Somewhat shocking given the universal like for IX, but CoDz tends to skew their love towards the older, classic maps, and as such, Nuketown Zombies advances!

 

4. Revelation (1) vs Shadows of Evil (5)

Winner: Shadows of Evil with 5 votes! Though it divided the community upon its launch, Shadows of Evil has been remembered as an underappreciated work of art by many of its fans. 

 

5. Voyage of Despair (2) vs Buried (4)

Winner: Buried with 4 votes! Voyage of Despair had the short end of the stick, being stuck between IX, a universally loved Chaos map, and two Aether maps at launch. It simply stood no chance against Buried's many quirks and innovations that made it unique.

 

6. Der Eisendrache (1) vs Moon (5)

Winner: Moon with 5 votes! Ultimis' classic final map of the Black Ops era proved to be the superior against the powerful legend-to-be, Der Eisendrache. We will be sad to see you go, DE, but Moon takes the gold!

 

7. Bus Depot (0) vs TranZit (6)

Winner: TranZit with 6 votes! Bus Depot stood no chance with its completely bare-bones gameplay that even Nacht would scoff at. Will TranZit advance another round? Only time (travel) will tell!

 

8. Kino der Toten (4) vs Mob of the Dead (2)

Winner: Kino der Toten with 4 votes! Though Mob of the Dead has been remembered as a legendary classic, Kino der Toten is many people's first introduction into the series, and it cannot be denied it perfectly personifies classic, simple Zombies fun.

 

9. "Five" (2) vs Verruckt (4)

Winner: Verruckt with 4 votes! Though "Five" is a cult hit with its unique gameplay and setting, the atmospheric Verruckt takes the cake.

 

10. Blood of the Dead (0) vs Ascension (6)

Winner: Ascension with 6 votes! In a landslide victory, the Black Ops classic surpasses Blood of the Dead, a weaker entry in the Aether story and disappointing throwback to Mob of the Dead.

 

11. Zetsubou No Shima (2) vs Shangri-La (4)

Winner: Shangri-La with 4 votes! With a rocky launch, Zetsubou has not been quite able to shake its reputation as tedious and annoying, and as such, Shangri-La is the champ!

 

12. Classified (3) vs Gorod Krovi (3)

Winner: Classified with 3 votes and a coin toss! A tie and a deserved one at that! The bonus map, Classified, shocked everyone but transforming "Five" into a map fit for the modern Zombies player, while Gorod Krovi provided a gritty, dark depiction of Stalingrad with unique enemies and weapons before a saddening final cutscene. Luck was on Classified's side, however!

 

13. Der Riese (5) vs Dead of the Night (1)

Winner: Der Riese with 5 votes! It is no surprise the instant classic and fondly remembered Der Riese takes victory here over the newer Dead of the Night, derived and barely advertised at launch with its Chaos setting and new characters.

 

14. Town (1) vs Call of the Dead (5)

Winner: Call of the Dead with 5 votes! Though Town is remembered as the best TranZit survival map, its pales in comparison to the absolute blast that is Call of the Dead, with the first celebrity cast and the inclusion of legend, George Romero.

 

15. Farm (2) vs Origins (4)

Winner: Origins with 4 votes! Origins completely changed the game in the story-line department, as was so good, many of its features are still being recycled in maps today. Farm unfortunately stood no chance.

 

That was a great Round 1, everyone! I will see you in Round 2, here: