Black Ops 'Escalation' DLC confirmed, detailed

The Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" downloadable content that was leaked last week has unsurprisingly been confirmed.

11

The Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" downloadable content that was leaked last week has unsurprisingly been confirmed. Microsoft's Larry Hryb (aka "Major Nelson") posted the announcement on his blog, detailing what we can expect from the pack when it hits the Xbox Live Marketplace on May 3.

The stages from the leaked flyer were accurate, but now we have a bit more info for them. The Hotel is a Cuban luxury hotel in Havana, Convoy takes place at an ambushed US military convoy, Zoo is in an abandoned Soviet zoo, and Stockpile is set in a Russian farm town with WMDs. The new Zombie level also promises new playable characters.

The May 3 launch is a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360, thanks to Activision's deal with Microsoft. The first piece of Black Ops DLC, First Strike, hit PS3 about one month after its 360 release, with the PC following a few weeks later. We'll probably see Escalation come to PS3 and PC sometime in June.

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 11, 2011 10:30 AM

    Comment on Black Ops 'Escalation' DLC confirmed, detailed, by Steve Watts.

    • reply
      April 11, 2011 10:38 AM

      Summary: The Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" downloadable content that was leaked last week has unsurprisingly been confirmed.

    • reply
      April 11, 2011 11:40 AM

      My friend who plays this on PC has shown zero interest in the first pack, saying all he plays is nuketown, so why bother.

      • reply
        April 11, 2011 1:40 PM

        Because your 'friend' is not the only person who plays this game. Plenty of people will buy this, including me.

        • reply
          April 11, 2011 2:22 PM

          Lol at paying for content that should be free.

          • reply
            April 11, 2011 2:29 PM

            I don't necessarily think DLC content should be free, as long as it isn't finished before the discs are pressed.

            I also don't like the assertion we hear a lot that DLC "continues to support your purchased game". While I love DLC and don't mind paying for it, it's not "supporting my game" if I have to pay more on top of what I already have.

            • reply
              April 11, 2011 4:28 PM

              That's my issue. I like the idea of new content, but not when they are holding back on it to be able to sell it at a higher price than it's valued. I still love the disc based expansions of past where you got a better value for the quality and quantity of the content as oppose to the overpriced DLC we see now.

              Mysteries of the Sith, Opposing Force, and Dawn of War Winter Assault are examples of how expansions should be. Meaty and more bang for your buck. Unlike MW2's overpriced expansions. 15 bucks for 3 maps and 2 recycled ones. I bet they just dragged and drop those recycled files from one folder to the other.

              • reply
                April 11, 2011 7:00 PM

                It used to be they sold an expansion with tons of content because they'd already finished the engine and knew how to use it so they could produce content easier. At least that's how I understood it anyway.

        • reply
          April 11, 2011 3:25 PM

          No doubt, but plenty will also keep on playing 24/7 nuketown I'd assume. I haven't looked at the server list since that last pack came out. Are those 24/7's still the majority?

        • reply
          April 11, 2011 8:52 PM

          "why bother" applies to the friend, who only plays nuketown. You know, the one who "has shown zero interest in the first pack". It is presumed to apply to anyone else who only plays nuketown. Congrats for demonstrating that there are people to whom that doesn't apply

      • reply
        April 11, 2011 3:06 PM

        Your friend is stupid, nuketown is the worst map of all time.

        • reply
          April 11, 2011 6:23 PM

          quality of the map doesn't = the most popular.

        • reply
          April 12, 2011 6:14 AM

          Its decent for a SMALL number of players (2 to say...6 or so) but it doesn't work when you cram it full of people...then its just too cessy/spammy. I can enjoy a meatgrinder occasionally (I used to frequent 24+ player Q2 servers back in the day)...but its not high quality gameplay.

          It really doesn't work with DOM very well (I play HC DOM almost exclusively)...so I'm not really happy when it pops up.

      • reply
        April 11, 2011 9:01 PM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      April 11, 2011 3:05 PM

      Average call of duty player's expense in 1 year:

      $60 game
      $50 XBL
      $30 of map packs

      Thats $140 a year. Why do people think it's a bad thing to insert a subscription fee for those that JUST play call of duty?

      • reply
        April 11, 2011 3:50 PM

        What are you talking about? Insert a subscription fee where? And who says this mystery subscription is a bad thing? And how do they know what you're talking about?

      • reply
        April 11, 2011 4:30 PM

        Actually, XBL subs are 60 bucks now.

      • reply
        April 11, 2011 4:31 PM

        How many people have a 360, BLOPS, XBL and ONLY play that? Seriously?

      • reply
        April 11, 2011 7:08 PM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      April 11, 2011 3:52 PM

      Bought'd

    • reply
      April 11, 2011 6:17 PM

      The only real question for me is "is the new zombie map worth $15"? The multiplayer is tired and old, and after playing Homefront, there's no reason for me to go back to CoD multiplayer again. If the zombie map is as good as ascension I'll likely still pick up the DLC.

    • reply
      April 12, 2011 12:29 AM

      F..bomb on xbox 360. Dislike it on Facebook. PS3 > xbox 360.

    • reply
      April 12, 2011 4:15 AM

      good stuff

Hello, Meet Lola