Itall began with the opening of the Dark Aether gateway at Projekt Endstation. After the Nazi experiment went catastrophically wrong and punched a hole through the dimensional veil, the effects traveled far and wide. More than we ever knew.
Our operatives have one slim hope in the form of help from unexpected sources. Professor Gabriel Krafft, a demonologist forced by Von List to uncover the five artifacts, sent out the initial distress call that got our operatives stuck there in the first place. With his guidance, and the help of the four entities fighting against Kortifex the Deathless, who all can give you special new powers, there might be some way to break the containment spell and keep the undead horde from sweeping across Europe.
Offer the new Sacrificial Heart loot item to the Altar of Covenants to choose from a variety of upgrades that randomize each time you return from an objective. As just a few examples, players can pick Ammo Gremlin to reload non-equipped weapons over time, Brain Rot to turn zombies into allies, or Unholy Ground to hold down chokepoints and objectives. There will be plenty of Covenants to choose from, empowering players to approach each game differently.
2024 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, CALL OF DUTY LEAGUE, MODERN WARFARE, CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS, CALL OF DUTY WARZONE, and CALL OF DUTY VANGUARD are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
A couple of months ago, we learned that Raven Software lead designer Michael Gummelt had worked on a live service Call Of Duty zombies game before it got cancelled. Details were practically non-existent at the time, but YouTuber Glitching Queen recently interviewed Gummelt about what the game could've become. Fun surprises: It would've been a free-to-play live service game featuring coliseum battles. Unsurprises: microtransactions, seasons, general background shenanigans between Treyarch and Raven.
In the interview - I've embedded it above, the first half focuses on Gummelt's stint on COD Online, the second half begins at around 12:54 which is what we're interested in - Gummelt expands on what the project could've been. He talks of up to four players starting off as gladiators in a Mad Max-esque arena, where folks have you caged for entertainment during the zombie apocalypse. Eventually you'd "stage an escape" then explore an open world where you'd "go to other places, fight zombies, get rewards, stuff like that". The original design doc pitch was a "fun, campy, experimental" experience that would have kept Call of Duty Zombies mode's historically goofy tone, with seasonal theme switches.
Rounding off the interview, Gummelt mentions Treyarch wanting zombies back from Raven Software, having given them the IP during what seemed to be an internal transition period as previous zombies lead Jimmy Zielinski was replaced by Jason Blundell "during or before Black Ops 2". While he's not absolutely certain, he got the sense that Treyarch were thinking of doing zombies again and wanted the IP back because they didn't want competition. In a positive spin, he does say that we wouldn't have gotten "Black Ops 2, and 3 and 4 zombies" otherwise, which I'd argue are fairly good hangs, if a touch overcomplicated at times.
My thoughts on this live service zombies game still stand from my previous post, which are basically: cancelling video games that people work very hard on is something I dislike, but a live service zombies game exhausts me. I'd prefer to play the game in bursts with pals and I don't think slaughtering zombies to earn tokens on a battle pass would fill me with joy.
If you, like me, have fond memories of blasting merciless waves of zombies in tight, confined spaces, and not really worrying about much else, then you probably used to play a lot of Call of Duty: Zombies with your buds and have been wanting a modern equivalent for years. Well, now there is: Hellbreach: Vegas, a new wave-based co-op horror FPS inspired by classic Call of Duty: Zombies, Killing Floor, and Doom.
Yes, I am fully aware there's a new Call of Duty Zombies mode, but without getting into the nitty gritty, it's nothing like the one I remember playing in 2010's Call of Duty Black Ops. I'm also aware that I am now fully embodying the 'old man yells at sky' meme, but I don't care; classic Call of Duty Zombies was the best. And a time when we also had Left 4 Dead 2, no less! Man, we had it good back then, but I digress.
Hellbreach: Vegas just launched into Early Access for the very reasonable price of $10 ($9 with the limited time launch discount that lasts until March 22), and although I haven't played much, it's like I'm 20-years-old again in my friends' smoky apartment trying to pretend I enjoy smoking hand-rolled cigarettes as much as I love screaming at each other as we slowly, chaotically lose ground to hordes of zombies.
Made by solo developer Ashley Ellis, who goes by Infinity Ape, Hellbreach: Vegas lets 1-4 players loose in three maps overrun by nine different kinds of demons. Your job is to, you guessed it, shoot 'em and watch your score tick up. There are more than 19 unlockable weapons and cosmetics - none purchasable with real money, I should point out - and neat mini-games where you interact with slot machines for a chance to win weapons, power-ups, and cosmetics.
In addition to the main Survive mode, there's also the claustrophobic Trapped mode and the Gun Pro mode for training your accuracy with all gun types. As it just launched into Early Access, you can expect more modes, maps, guns, cosmetics, and other stuff as time goes on, but for now, it's an easy recommend at $9, especially for classic Call of Duty Zombies players of a certain vintage.
After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish."}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Jordan GerblickSocial Links NavigationAfter scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.
Hellhounds are dogs that appear in all Zombies games, both as a special type of enemy separate from normal zombies. They are a vicious and murderous type of enemy that appears on Shi No Numa and Der Riese on Call of Duty: World at War as well as appearing on Call of Duty: Black Ops in Kino der Toten, Dead Ops Arcade, Moon, on Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS) in House, Facility, Overlook, Call of Duty: Black Ops II in Green Run maps (in customizations of private match) .
One day, Maxis used his daughter Samantha's dog, Fluffy (who was pregnant), as a test subject for his teleporter. Unfortunately, something went horribly wrong and Fluffy transformed into the first Hellhound. After this event, his assistant, Richtofen, set his plan into motion when he locked Maxis and Samantha in the teleporter room with the mutated Fluffy, and sent them through to the Aether. Dr. Maxis was teleported to an unknown location, while Samantha was sent to Griffin Station. Samantha seems to now control the Hellhounds as she attempts to kill Richtofen. One of the radio messages hints that Fluffy was pregnant, explaining why there are multiple Hellhounds.
On these rounds, the arena becomes foggy. They are the puppies of Fluffy, Samantha's pet dog who Richtofen and Maxis turned into the "Original Hellhound". They possess the ability to teleport (but only use it to appear on the map), and they appear with a bolt of lightning marking where they spawned at. The ground rumbles when a Hellhound has spawned nearby. They are weaker in terms of attack power and health than normal zombies, but are also much faster and may spawn anywhere on the map, rather than fixed positions.
After round 16 on Der Riese, Hellhounds spawn at the same time but also still get separate rounds where they appear alone. When the last Hellhound of the round is killed, it will drop a Max Ammo power-up. When a Hellhound round ends in Der Riese and Kino der Toten, "Beauty of Annihilation" is heard. The same goes for Pentagon Thief rounds in "Five" and Space Monkey rounds in Ascension. "Five" and Kino der Toten, both from Call of Duty: Black Ops, feature a new kind of zombie called Crawler Zombies. The Crawler Zombies is a zombie that crawls on all fours (hands and feet). It emits an "aura" of Nova Gas upon death, unless it is killed by a Ray Gun, Thundergun, explosives or melee weapons. Apparently, the Crawler Zombies were a failed experiment by Maxis, according to Richtofen.
In Green Run, through a Custom Games lobby, the host has the ability to turn on/off a Hellhound round if the host has selected a Survival or a Grief game mode map. The only maps that are available for Hellhound rounds are Town, Bus Depot and Farm.
Zombies is also known for carrying on the tradition of odd Easter Eggs within Call of Duty games. Later games feature "major" Easter Eggs known as Main Quests, which further progress the story; upon completion of said quests, players are usually granted an achievement/trophy, in addition to an in-game reward, usually in the form of weapons, Perks, or Calling Cards.
Zombies become stronger, faster and in higher numbers upon the completion of each round, forcing players to make tactical decisions about point spending and progressing through the map. On occasion, zombies will drop various power-ups such as Max Ammo, Nuke, Insta-Kill, or Double Points upon their death, making the round easier.
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