Call of Duty: Black Ops 'First Strike' DLC coming to PC on March 25

Dust off your arsenal, PC gamers! The 'First Strike' map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops is coming to the platform on March 25...

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Dust off your arsenal, PC gamers! The 'First Strike' map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops is coming to the platform this Friday, March 25.

The news was revealed earlier today courtesy of a tweet from Treyarch community manager Josh Olin. The tweet also let players know that pre-orders for the premium map pack are now available via Steam.

According to the DLC's Steam page, the downloadable content is regularly priced at $14.99; however, it is currently available for 10% off.

First Strike was originally released on the Xbox 360 on February 1 and then on the PS3 on March 3.

The add-on includes five maps: four competitive multiplayer maps and one zombie mode-specific setting.

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 21, 2011 4:15 PM

    Comment on Call of Duty: Black Ops 'First Strike' DLC coming to PC on March 25, by Xav de Matos.

    • reply
      March 21, 2011 4:27 PM

      I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of BF3 coming.

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      March 21, 2011 4:32 PM

      This is a nice illustration of Treyarch's true prioritization of the PC version: dead last, 2 months late. Remember back in August when Cesar Statsny said that they "[planned] to open the game for modding sometime post-launch"? http://www.shacknews.com/article/65286/

      I'm not holding my breath. I haven't even tried connecting to an online Black Ops game, and got sick of playing Combat Training, instead preferring Q3 and UT99 botmatches. Also, Brink is coming out May 17th; I'd rather wait and play that.

      Luke Plunkett had a nice editorial over on Kotaku (mobile-edition'd for your protection): http://m.kotaku.com/5783900/ive-had-it-up-to-here-with-map-packs

      There are two reasons big shooters get maps packs (or zombie packs) as downloadable content: they're catering to the large multiplayer fanbase shooters develop, and they're relatively cheap and easy to make.

      Singleplayer add-ons require scripting. Level design. New voice-acting. Rigorous play-testing. In other words, lots of work for DLC that, post-release, may not appeal to as many fans as additions to the game's multiplayer mix.


      Activision's strategy is to apparently continue to pump out 6-hour heavily scripted campaigns, and $15 map packs. This is their "subscription model", effectively.

    • reply
      March 21, 2011 4:39 PM

      And all the retards will buy it on PC and use the "its my money" comments to sound like there in the right, just face it... its a broken game and will always be a broken game.

      • reply
        March 21, 2011 4:54 PM

        [deleted]

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        March 21, 2011 4:57 PM

        this is how i feel... i paid the 60 bucks for a pre-order, and was one of the people with the unplayable stuttering... i've booted it up since the patches, and it does run now, but it still feels broken(not to mention i am MONTHS behind skill too)... it's like that bad taste in your mouth that just won't go away... so i've never really played cept maybe 3hrs or something... (beside the 10hrs i logged trying to get the fucker to run in the first place.. lol)

        and someone mentioned brink above.. that i hope to be the next awesome thing in my life.... (cuz let's face it the only thing between now and it's release is my birthday.... whcih only means i'll be older by the time it comes.)

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        March 21, 2011 5:03 PM

        Really, can we drop the inflammatory bullshit...there's a perfectly valid discussion to be had on the value of the map pack and whether its worth buying...calling people retards makes you come off as an overly self-righteous aspie...and I doubt you are.

        I've not run into issues with the game...it doesn't appear to be broken on the various machines I've run it on. It scratches a certain itch that CoD4 scratched for me (and MW2 failed to scratch)...as much as I enjoy BC2...the combat just isn't as solid...the mouse input doesn't feel all that great...though having been playing Quakeworld again (with shackers) I've found that everything pales in comparison to the combat in the Quakes (though I miss my DOOM2 SSG whenever I play QW...but thats another story).

        • reply
          March 22, 2011 6:01 AM

          Shooters will always pale in comparison to Quake, at least now that consoles are the target audience. Think about it, the best netcode ever... simple play, but with all the options. Hitscan, Rockets, Grenades, Rails. It's a glory to behold.

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            March 22, 2011 6:16 AM

            I think Counterstrike got the ball rolling in the wrong direction before the consoles even were the target audience.

            This post makes me happy...it makes me want to take the day off and go home and work on my advanced dlight and shadow code for the Generations Arena guys...it makes me want to make a standalone badass DM game with all the crazy shit I'd want to see in said game...it makes me want to load up a game of QW with shackers right now. Sadly I have to go into work here (I'm typing this from a parking lot outside a Mr. Donut that I'm about to go into to get my breakfast, and then drive the rest of the way into work)...and I like my job...but damn this post if it didn't make me smile.

      • reply
        March 22, 2011 5:56 AM

        At least they're supporting games they like on their favorite platform. I don't own it, but I doubt it's "broken".

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      March 21, 2011 4:56 PM

      Yeah right like the majority of PC players are going to pay for this when all of World at Wars were free. What a joke. Activision: greediest assholes in the industry

      • reply
        March 22, 2011 6:06 AM

        because the MW2 packs sold horribly.

        Oh wait, they topped steam sales charts for weeks.

    • reply
      March 21, 2011 4:59 PM

      i wish MW2 would get another map pack, just so it can be harder to find a game on IWnet.

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      March 21, 2011 5:39 PM

      I can swallow $10 map packs for Halo Reach. That's not too bad of a burn but it's pushing it. $15 map packs for a game that will last less than a year due to annual installments and I won't bother until they recapture the balance and gameplay of CoD4.

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        March 22, 2011 12:50 AM

        Hey have some heart! These guys need to fill their gas tank too......WITH PREMIUM!

    • reply
      March 21, 2011 5:42 PM

      Oh for shame, some how if only we could pay homage to the good old days of community made maps, what a grand time it was in history when anyone could sit down and map for the current gen shooter.

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      March 21, 2011 8:14 PM

      People that have this on 360 or ps3, how does this compare to BC2 vietnam?

      Well vietnam was more expansion pack than map pack, but hey, $15.

      • reply
        March 21, 2011 9:38 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          March 21, 2011 11:29 PM

          You're right. It's 2011 and we can still make custom maps for every Source, Unreal and Cryengine game.

          • reply
            March 22, 2011 2:19 AM

            So what? These are professional maps where someone needs to be paid to make them. I agree they're more expensive than some map packs, but then companies charge what people will pay. All those free old UT/Q3 map packs? Mostly community made.

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              March 22, 2011 7:29 AM

              Valve makes TF2 map packs for free and the result is they make a profit from increased sales.

        • reply
          March 22, 2011 7:28 AM

          Maps worth 15 bux? Yep, sure they are.

          I'd rather download 500MB-1GB maps for L4D2 from L4Dmaps.com and play it with my friends (all for free) or make my own that will play better than the maps they have. OR maybe download BFBC2 Vietnam for the same price with a totally different gameplay and perhaps about the same number of maps.

          Also, 1999? Please, World at War AND MW1 was NOT released in 1999, and both of them have map packs and patches, oh and you know what? FOR FREE.

          You want us to pay for maps? Fine, but 15 bux is just simply mind blowing. I bought the game thinking that it would be a complete game. Turned out they are also doing this BS, so sorry, I'm not buying it anymore. I dont have a problem with the game, but I realized there are a lot of players out there frustrated and have tons of issues with this game, so whose fault is it?

          In the end, yeah, BF3 is coming. Forget this game.

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      March 21, 2011 8:15 PM

      And now it's top 3 on steam sales...

      I really wish steam accounts were tied to forum accounts. Something is definitely off.

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        March 21, 2011 9:34 PM

        Wat? Oh snap. It's second already. Dumb asses.

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      March 21, 2011 11:17 PM

      Take your $15 (or 13.50) and shove it. I'd rather pay $15 to remove nuketown.

      • reply
        March 22, 2011 6:40 AM

        Hah hah, I wish you could filter out Nuketown 24/7 servers.

    • reply
      March 22, 2011 12:55 AM

      Games with free maps like TF2 are great but I've logged over 100 hours of MP in this game so I'll definitely be paying for this DLC, the cost per hrs of enjoyment is well worth it.

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        March 22, 2011 1:46 AM

        As I said, ya just've killed PC gaming.

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          March 22, 2011 2:27 AM

          who the fuck says "just've", please take your elementary teacher and kill her/him with an axe
          SORRY BUT THAT BOTHERS ME

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          March 22, 2011 5:16 AM

          Yes, no one will make STALKER 2 or IL2 Cliffs of Dover now that vynn bought a map pack...its all ruined...this is the darkest of days. Let us huddle in a darkened hallway crying as we await our bleak fate.

          • reply
            March 22, 2011 9:33 AM

            ya.. sorry guys, I killed pc gaming, it was me all along.

        • reply
          March 22, 2011 6:07 AM

          stop posting

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          March 22, 2011 7:03 AM

          [deleted]

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          March 22, 2011 8:17 AM

          Fucking front pagers.

      • reply
        March 22, 2011 9:38 AM

        I wonder if they fixed the "can't go back" issue from MW2. you get DLC, you never see the original maps ever again

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      March 22, 2011 5:53 AM

      I have that GTX 580 Black Ops edition that DIDN'T come with the game. I have a cool Black Ops poster and a couple of stickers, however. Maybe I can buy the DLC to go with that junk that I don't need.

    • reply
      March 22, 2011 6:38 AM

      Here's the thing (and I'm typing this on a netbook, so its bound to be almost as laced with errors as it would be from a touch screen, but not quite)...THIS isn't "whats killing PC gaming" or any sort of huge horror unleased upon the earth.

      I don't think PC gaming is dying...but if anything WERE killing it, it would be people who can't be bothered to buy PC games...who always find an excuse for why a game falls short and therefore they'll save their money. It would be the people who can't be bothered to stray from WoW long enough to play any other game. It would be the people who couldn't be bothered to try out mods that weren't Counter Strike 10-11 years ago. Hell the mod scene was pretty much killed by gamers who couldn't be bothered to download a FREE mod that wasn't polished to a sheen when they discovered it by a team of professionals and thus demanded that every other mod have that level of polish with its first release. People giving a company 15 bucks aren't the problem...people who can't be bothered to give ANYONE their money or even their time are the fucking problem. There are people who will only play CoD or whatever and never touch anything else...but there will always be people who do that...its now different than what happened with CS.

      15 bucks is a bit steep for some people...I have a tiny bit of trouble justifying that price and I don't know if I'll buy the map pack or not...for me it really dpeneds on whether I'll need them to find an HC DOM server with a good ping and players on it that I can play on...hell if it were easy to find that with CoD4, I probably never would have moved on to CODBLOPS. On the other hand I buy a LOT of games regularly and I just spent 150+ bucks on a mechanical keyboard that fit my needs perfectly...this is my hobby and I'm willing to drop money on it and 15 bucks isn't much money on its own.

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      March 22, 2011 6:39 AM

      Thank fucking god. I was worried they'd go all Dead Space 2 on us.

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      March 22, 2011 7:15 AM

      I love sitting here watching people bash them for putting out map packs, it's all about the money BRAHS

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      March 22, 2011 7:44 AM

      You know people look forward to these map packs. I know some guys that play nothing else but Call of Duty games. 'm sure there are people on this site that do the same. I don't think there is anything wrong with charging for content. I mean their employees did work on this stuff right?

      The day 1 DLC and the unlockable "DLC" thats on the disc/part of the install I do have a problem width though. That just sounds like they carved a portion out of what would have been part of the v1.0 release to sell separately.

      I have the game on both the PS3 and the PC and play it mostly on the PS3 due to the PC version running like crap so I bought the DLC for the PS3. After I build a new gaming PC, I will most likely buy the DLC again. The maps are pretty damn good.

    • reply
      March 23, 2011 3:32 AM

      does this mean double xp week/weekend?

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