‘Black Ops 3: Awakening’ DLC Finally Out For Xbox One, PC
PlayStation 4 players received the first Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 DLC, Awakening, last month. Xbox One and PC owners of the first-person shooter now have their opportunity to jump in on the action today, March 3.
The Awakening DLC is available now on the Xbox Store and will go live for the PC via Steam at approximately 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT today. The paid add-on content is included at no extra cost as part of the $50 Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Season Pass, and will cost $15 by itself. Note that PS3 and Xbox 360 owners will not have the opportunity to purchase any DLC for the game.
Black Ops 3 fans receive an all-new Zombies adventure with Der Eisendrache. This is the first chapter in a new storyline that will unfold over the course of the four DLC packs that are planned for the shooter. The map takes the original characters of Richtofen, Nicolai, Takeo, and Dempsey to an eerie snow-covered medieval castle, where many dark, occult-like events have taken place over the centuries. Additionally, it is home to massive deposits of Element 115, the meteor element that is used to create zombies and powers many of the outlandish weapons and devices.
Four new Mega Gobblegum were also be introduced to the Zombies experience with the Awakening DLC. “Crawl Space” turns all nearby zombies into crawlers, “Fatal Contraption” spawns a Death Machine power up, “Undead Man Walking” slows all zombies down to shambling speed, and “Head Drama” will count all bullet damage against zombies as head damage.
The four new multiplayer maps – “Skyjacked,” “Rise,” “Splash,” and “Gauntlet” – all use the same three-lane design that is favored by the team at Treyarch. Things are mixed up some, such as with “Gauntlet” using a completely different environment for each of the lanes.
The rest of the maps are re-imaginings of previous maps from the Black Ops series. The most striking of these is probably “Skyjacked.” This is a remake of “Hijacked” from Black Ops 2, but set on an Avengers Helicarrier-like setting versus a luxury yacht. The new Black Ops 3 movement system looks to set up some hair-raising moments, as players can wall run on the outside of the VTOL.
Meanwhile, “Splash” takes place in the water while “Rise” is located in a snow-covered factory near Zurich. The two are inspired by “Grind” and “Silo,” respectively. You can check out the official description for each of the maps from Treyarch and Activision below.
Gauntlet: Grounded in a military training facility, Gauntlet plays up the core philosophy of Treyarch’s classic three lane map structure with distinct variety in visuals and gameplay. Each of the three primary lanes has a unique environment as players battle through a sprawling jungle, sub-zero artic zone and rainy urban cityscape.
Splash: Set in an abandoned water theme park, this vibrant and playful map delivers an imaginative environment complete with waterslides, a wrecked pirate ship, and a lazy river ride that winds through a fantastical forgotten city. Splash is designed to drive an open flow of combat, including plenty of opportunities for underwater gameplay.
Rise: Set in the snowy outskirts of Zurich, Rise is a Coalescence Corporation construction project for a massive subterranean research campus. The design of the map caters to a mix of classic Call of Duty cover combat alongside strategic core movement opportunities, with each section of the map offering distinctly different styles of gameplay.
Skyjacked: Set on a security VTOL in the clouds over urban Zurich, Skyjacked is a reimagined version of the popular Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer map Hijacked, and retains the same fast and frenetic gameplay from one of the most popular maps in Call of Duty history, but with a twist. Skyjacked gives players the opportunity to explore the map in a variety of new ways thanks to the all-new core movement system in Black Ops III.
[Image via Call of Duty]
