It’s hard to believe that Black Ops launched only last month, and many players have logged enough hours to prestige some insane number of times already. Thank goodness Treyarch has been hard at work on something else that will consume the remnants of your time (and money) — new maps! The Call of Duty brand is well-known for its moderately overpriced DLC and they aim to keep the trend going with new maps in a bundle called ‘First Strike’.

This new DLC will add a solid four brand-spanking-new multiplayer maps, as well as a new zombie map.

  • “Discovery” is based off of the one and only mission in the Black Ops campaign where the player takes control of Reznov, which of course happens in the Antarctic. This map is played out in a lab, so hopefully there will be some monkeys to shoot in between knifing friends. The next map takes place in Kowloon and has been given the very appropriate name, “Kowloon”. Battles on this map will take place on roofs, but be careful it’s a long way down. The third map in the bundle is “Berlin Wall” and takes place at the famous American/Soviet border crossing, Checkpoint Charlie, where Russians and Americans held an uneasy alliance during the Cold War. Expect the Berlin Wall to play a role in the map’s layout. The final multiplayer map in the add-on is “Stadium”, and Canadians will love the fact that this level takes place in a hockey arena. There have been no details on any new hockey stick weapons, but it’s probably only a matter of time.

Players who buy the First Strike DLC also get a new zombie map called “Ascension”. Unfortunately, other then the map’s name, details on this map are non-existent. Players should assume that it will play out similarly to every other Zombie map, but whether or not it will feature JFK and crew or the cast from World at War remains to be seen.

All of this wonderful new DLC becomes available for download for the Xbox 360 on February 1st next year, and because of Microsoft’s timed-exclusivity it likely won’t be available anywhere until at least a month after the Xbox release. The new ‘First Strike’ DLC will run the standard 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15).

What do you think about the new Call of Duty: Black Ops’ maps? How do you feel about the time-exclusivity?

Source: Major Nelson