The Resurgence Map Pack - First Impressions

So yesterday I went out to Gamestop and picked up 1600 Microsoft Points to get the Resurgence Map Pack. After a rather quick download I was all ready to be blown away by the awesome feeling that I get when I play a new map.

The first thing I like to do is just load up a private match and run around the new maps with a Marathon/Lightweight class, just to get a feel for the maps; so that's what I did.

Carnival
First up was Carnival. It took me a while to find the giant clown mouth that is the entrance to the Fun Haus, but when I did I couldn't help but smile. It's located in the middle of the map, roughly. The best thing to me though was the roller coaster, it's just so cool that you can run up it, granted you can't get to it's highest drop, but the awe factor when I first came upon was, well...awesome.

Everything else on the map seems pretty standard, the castle is a hell of a spot to hold out, as any castle should be. I found my self destroying people (once I played an actual game) who were trying to disarm the bomb while I was posted up on top with an ACR.

One fun thing that I found was a Zoltar machine in the Fun Haus, you know that fortune teller. Anyway, it's made up to look like Captain Price, or at least that's what I took from it. Of course the first thing I do is shoot it, and there's a nice death animation with sparks and everything. Good work IW, it's the small things in life that matter, right?

Fuel
Fuel is uh...big to say the least. And by big I mean absolutely massive. Even massive might be an understatement. I hear people comparing it to as if you took overgrown and added a second overgrown right next to it. It's that big. (I've also heard the comparison of derailed+overgrown=fuel, that might be pushing it though.)

There is just so much to do on this map. It took me a minute in a half to sprint around the edge of the map the first time I loaded it up. When I actually got to play it on the Resurgence playlist I was baffled at where people were when they were shooting me. They weren't kidding when they said this map has long site lines. The one thing to watch for on this map is snipers, they can and will be anywhere and everywhere.

Trailer Park
Ugh. This map. What do I say about this map? I was actually looking forward to this one the most (other than Strike) out of all five of the maps. It's got what I like, narrow corridors and tight paths, perfect for what I do, which is sprint around with an SMG. I thought it'd be another Salvage for me. (I love Salvage.) But I was wrong.

The map is good, don't get me wrong, it just hasn't played out the way I wanted it to. The first game I played on it was a very, very long game of Headquarters. I went 61-20, which is good, but it just didn't feel good to me.

I think what bugs me the most are the long site lines around the edges of the map. I love, love, love just doing laps around maps, flanking and surprising my enemies. But there isn't a lot of cover to help me out when I'm hugging the edges of this level.

Well, you might ask, why don't you go through the middle? Where all the trailers are? Surely you're sprinting SMG tactics might work there? I have one response to that. Shotguns. If you're going into a trailer, you better bring one, or prepare to be shot by one, because it's going to happen.

Bottom line on this map is that it's good, but based off of one night of playing it, I personally don't like it. I hope my feelings change.

Vacant
Oh boy, I have a long history with this map. For those of you who don't know, it was one of the three beta maps for COD4:MW, along with Overgrown and Crash. This is the map that began my play style. This is where I started sprinting around with a silenced Mini-Uzi dominating those who stood in my way. Boy that's a thing of the past, huh?

So far I've only played two or three games on vacant. And each of those few times the hallways have been riddled with shotguns. Like I said in my introduction post, I can appreciate most any play style, but I have a special place in my heart for shotguns and one day I'll rant about those too. But until then, I'm going to avoid the hallways of the Russian office complex in which I, as a Call of Duty player, was born.

Strike
Strike was a classic map in COD4:MW. I couldn't get enough of it at one point. I loved the urban feel of it, with it's tan color. Sadly I can't comment on it yet, as I haven't loaded it up in a private match and each time it's come up while I'm playing the Resurgence playlist it's been skipped or the host leaves and we merge with a different group. While that makes me sad I'll be sure to post my feelings about this remake when I play it.

The Resurgence Pack as a Whole
As a whole right now I'm not in love like I was with the Stimulus map pack. It just doesn't flow as well for me. They appear to be good maps , the layouts are solid, the design work is great. I just haven't adapted to them yet I guess is all. Which is strange because I usually do really well when no one knows the maps. Maybe I'm just put off by them because I'm at the top of a prestige and that is usually where I play the worst. Especially lately, I haven't been playing well at all.

So while this is what I took away as my first impression of the new map pack, I'm almost certain my feelings will be different once I play the maps enough. But I'm sure about one thing, these maps are good, but not as good as the Stimulus maps.

(For those of you who haven't checked out the new maps, or are still on the fence about whether or not to get them, especially after my mediocre first impressions, I urge you to check out the preview done on Inside Xbox. Check it out here.)

Always remember, Go Deep. Go Hard.
-K1ng K00p4