Annihilation map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops gets official June 28 release date

By Adam Rosenberg June 16, 2011

call-of-duty-black-ops-online-gameplay-xbox-live — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Yesterday, Ryan told you about what looked to be an early glimpse of the third map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. Although clearly in “rumor” territory, the artwork on the leaked image very clearly resembled that of similarly leaked (and later confirmed to be accurate) artwork for the game’s second map pack, Escalation. A little more poking on the Internet even came up with a release date, June 28, which seems awfully soon when you consider that the previous two DLC packs came out roughly a month after they were announced.

What a surprise then that Activision has confirmed the coming of the Annihilation map pack with a press release listing the launch date as June 28. The information that slipped out yesterday is indeed accurate, and our four new multiplayer maps will be called Hangar 18, Drive-In, Silo and Hazard. The new zombie map, which went unnamed in yesterday’s image, has been confirmed to be called Shangri-La. No price is listed, but you can almost certainly expect it to fall at 1200 MS Points (also known as $15).

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The pack will arrive on Xbox Live first, as part of Activision’s ongoing partnership with Microsoft. The release of the map pack will be accompanied by a double XP weekend, starting July 1. No word on the PC or PlayStation 3 release, as has become the standard, but you can probably start expecting to hear more information on other versions a month or so after the initial release.

The press release offers little in the detail beyond a statement from Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia that is specific to the new zombies map: “Players will also enjoy an all-new Zombies experience, Shangri-La, an exotic and mysterious map filled with deadly traps, dark secrets and innovative gameplay that will challenge even the most daring Zombie hunters.”

Sounds awesome. Probably not the moonbase setting that some fans have been expecting, but any excuse to grind up more zombies with a death machine is a good thing indeed. Let the speculation begin now on new boss zombies and weapons!

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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There's nothing more refreshing than taking a nice big swig of a Perk-A-Cola during an intense Zombies match with your pals in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Besides tasting great (we assume), these colas empower you with buffs that will keep you alive until the later rounds. These bonuses are just as important as the Pack-A-Punch, but come in a wider range of flavors. It is possible to stack them all, but that gets expensive very fast so you need to be thrifty about choosing which ones are most valuable early on. These colas come in eight different types that may or may not be worth your Essence to chug. If you want to know which ones are the best in Black Ops 6, check out our ranking.
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We're ranking these Perk-A-Colas based on their base bonuses, not any additional effects you can get if you Augment them, from best to worst.
Jugger-Nog
You can never go wrong with the classic Jugger-Nog. Increasing your health by 100 is useful for the entire duration of a Zombies mode, but especially in the early rounds. Going down is at best a major setback and at worst a cascade into defeat. This extra health allows you to get out of a bad situation that would otherwise end your run.
Quick Revive
This Perk has two components, with the less useful one being the ability to revive teammates 50% faster. Ideally, that shouldn't be needed but is nice. However, what makes it rank so high is the 50% shorter delay on health regen. Your health will come back over time in Zombies but at a dreadful pace. Starting to heal faster means less time running and kiting zombies around and more time in the action helping the team.
Speed Cola
The best early guns for Zombies mode have a large magazine, fast reload, or both. Running out of ammo at the wrong time and not being able to get more rounds in the chamber fast enough has ended many a run, but Speed Cola is the solution. It will speed up your reloads and armor plating by 30%. That's not a massive number, but fast enough to make the difference.
Stamin-Up
These zombies aren't the shambling types. They will chase you down like sprinters, and some of the monstrous ones can outpace you even at full tilt. Stamin-Up sounds like it would let you run for longer, but actually just lets you run faster since you have no limit on sprint in Black Ops 6. Positioning is everything in Zombies so being able to get where you need to be faster is never a bad thing, especially if it's a downed teammate bleeding out.
Deadshot Daiquiri
Every zombie has a weak spot, which is most often the head. Deadshot Daiquiri makes a critical hit hurt even more than normal, plus increases your auto-aim on those weak points when you aim down sights (ADS). That second part shouldn't factor much if you've got good aim, which is why this is only a decent Perk-A-Cola.
PhD Flopper
Not being able to hurt yourself is situationally useful, and the ability to cause an explosion by diving is a risky move. Yes, it's cool, but you don't want to be lying prone surrounded by zombies. This is a cool gimmick, but save yourself the Essence and skip it.
Elemental Pop
When Elemental Pop works, it's great. The problem with it is that you can't rely on it. It gives a small chance on every shot you take to add a random ammo mod effect, which is cool but impractical. If you have spare Essence on you, sure, it won't hurt you to have, but it isn't something that will turn the tide for you or your team.
Melee Macchiato
Finally, Melee Macchiato bottoms out the list. It is fine in the early game when the hordes are small and you're better off meleeing enemies since it will smack enemies away with each hit, but quickly drops off in usefulness. When the zombies get too strong and too numerous, you will need a lot more than a strong punch to deal with them and end up forgetting you even have it.