It seems like only yesterday that I was shelling out for 1200 Microsoft points for the under par Stimulus pack, when all of a sudden the Resurgence map pack is upon me. Is it worth another 1200 points?
Let’s start off with the new maps. The first up is a simple map and my personal favourite, Trailer Park. Set, not surprisingly, in a run down trailer park with narrow paths, broken down trailers and it comes with it’s very own paddling pool with plastic pink flamingos. I don’t know why, maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t understand why there is so much plane debris in this level. There is a limited amount of open ground, which means the map doesn’t afford itself well to sniping as it takes place entirely on one level, with no elevated ground. It is a map designed best for team-based games and those that like to create chokepoints. I can imagine that with a little strategy it could be easy to dominate on this map. This is by far my personal favourite out of the new content.
Fuel is the largest of the new maps and rivals Overgrown in the stakes of sheer size. I personally consider this map to be Dust’s big brother, Dust being one of the shipped maps, as it resembles it with the fuel pipelines and oil silos, but I feel that it doesn’t play as well as either of them, Overgrown or Dust. It lacks the pacing of other maps and seems disjointed as the buildings are vacant and oddly placed, with huts and building complexes making up the majority of the scenery, with one bland and dusty open sand plain for the snipers and campers. The only thing that makes sense to me in this level is the fact that the higher and lower levels are easily accessible by the over abundant amounts of stairs. This map doesn’t seem to sit right with me and as far as I’m concerned is the weakest of the pack.
Last but not least, the most obscure new map, Carnival. This one is plain barmy and not for those with an irrational fear of clowns. That being said it’s easy to take out your frustrations on the clown bins as they burst open when stabbed or shot. The map takes place over what I would call four very distinct areas. First up is the most noticeable, the “Funhaus”, a large garish clown mouth welcomes players into the fun house where they can find two levels of fighting with an out-door sniping area. Second is the “World of Tomorrow” which includes a UFO and a rocket ship, which provides snipers with a good vantage point to survey a good portion of the map. Thirdly, the food stalls and kiddies merry-go-round, though if you’ve seen Face-Off you know that combining guns and kids attractions can only end badly. Finally, the castle, with it’s roller-coaster that can be used to good advantage for sniping and travel, rampart vantage points and a moat to lurk in. I had the pleasure of seeing an AC-130 rain down fire on the poor team inside. Gives a whole new meaning to storming the castle.
Finally, a look at the classic maps, Vacant and Strike. Not much has changed between Modern Warfare (Call of Duty 4) and the new installment. The maps have received a visual upgrade as well as some aesthetic changes including razor wire for effect, sandbags and more objects that are dispersable by gun-fire and explosives. The only thing that has changed about the maps is the way in which you play them with the new weapons and killstreaks. They keep familiar pacing as old favourites do and in some cases they keep a few of their original glitches which is unfortunate in some team-based games. I won’t go into great detail as most hardcore Modern Warfare players will already know, or have fallen foul of them, but playing Headquarters on Vacant can be trying with the table glitch in one of the rooms. These two maps are some of the best the original has to offer, Vacant with it’s frenetic corridor gun-play and Strike with a good mixture of sniping and close-quarters combat, but the question remains, do we need the classic maps or would we rather have had two entirely new maps?
I can honestly say that this DLC is much more impressive than the Stimulus pack with obscure, yet fun, new maps (baring Fuel) and some of the best classic maps, in my opinion, included in the pack. I can’t help but feel that we should be getting all new maps for the points we’re having to cough up the cash for. Aside from that gripe, I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for more variety in their online games.
VideogameUK verdict: 8/10
