If you need something to drag you away from Grand Theft Auto 5, Activision has got you covered. By the time you're reading this, yet another Double XP weekend is now live for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
The reason behind it is to get players amped up for the game's final DLC, Apocalypse, which will finally be available on PlayStation 3 and PC on Sept. 26, after Microsoft's usual 30 day period of exclusivity. The DLC contains the following maps:
- Pod: A failed utopian community from the 70′s has left stacks of dilapidated residential pods nestled into an abandoned cliff side in Taiwan. Its residents long gone, the modernist compound now hosts frenetic combat as players must run atop the pods, as well as navigate their multi-tiered interiors for a strategic edge.
- Frost: Fresh snow meets explosive gunpowder in this snow-capped European city, where the bridge over a frozen canal separates it into two sides, requiring players to employ multi-level traversal strategies to outsmart and ultimately outshoot their enemies.
- Takeoff: Fans of "Stadium" from the original Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike DLC will find themselves at home on "Takeoff." Marooned in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, this remote launch site is all about close-quarters combat, combining tight corners with open spaces for intense encounters.
- Dig: An adaptation of the fan-favorite "Courtyard" from Call of Duty: World at War, where two archeological dig sites in Afghanistan become the perfect playground for combatants eager for hectic, unceasing confrontations. Treyarch, has retained the spirit of "Courtyard" with two major chokepoints, a wide open layout and raised platforms, but has provided fans with a fresh take on the multitude of paths.
The DLC also has "Origins," the latest addition to the game's zombie mode, which is packed with trench warfare, insane mechs, and all accompanied by a new song from Avenged Sevenfold, "Shepherd of Fire," which will be on their new album, "Hail to the King."
The DLC's been out on the 360 since August 27, and wasn't exactly heralded as much as it was tolerated. The two remake maps weren't as anticipated by fans as perhaps Treyarch was hoping for, and the DLC does little more than just follow the basic formula gamers have seen a million times over. The DLC currently carries a 66 rating at metacritic. For non-Season Pass holders, the DLC will set them back $14.99.
What's more, in addition to the Double XP weekend, Xbox 360 players are also being given a free trial period for the game's second DLC, Uprising. The DLC added 4 new multiplayer maps: Magma, Encore, Studio, and Vertigo. Vertigo is supposedly a remake of a map meant for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but was never released. It also added the Mob of the Dead mode, a new twist on the game's zombie mode featuring the vocal talents of Ray Liotta, Chazz Palminteri, Joey Pantoliano and Michael Madsen, in America's most infamous prison, Alcatraz.
The weekend closes Monday, 10AM PDT.
