DavidGoodman.Net

It’s been a few weeks since the new ‘Variety Pack’ maps were released for Call of Duty 4 on the 360, so the time is ripe to take a quick look at these maps, what makes them tick, and, most importantly, how they play. First up is Creek, a brand-new map set in the Former Soviet Republic of the Week that the SAS campaign from the single-player campaign has as its playground.

What that means is lots of burnt out Soviet APCs, ruined farmhouses and foliage, as well as the ever-present rasp of either a grizzled SAS chappy or Boris, your friendly Spetsnatz announcer. Nothing quite like losing to be told you ‘just got your arse kicked’. Fantastic, especially when it drowns out the 12 year old Ritalin addicts who just slaughtered you.

Like Killhouse, this map is not based on any particular location from the single-player campaign (by contrast, Chinatown is a re-skinned Carentan multiplayer map from COD2, and Broadcast is lifted pretty much straight out of the main game). While this makes for a tougher learning curve, it also makes it a uniquely balanced and fun map to play.

With a large, dominating ridge in the centre, a gentle slope up to a small village at one end and a cluster of farm buildings at the other, you would think that this game would turn into a sniper camp-fest, with the spawn-die-spawn-die gameplay that makes so many user-created maps unplayable. In reality, the map only becomes sniper-driven with very small teams, four or less on each side, when the sheer size of this enormous map gives snipers time to get a good position and rain lead death on anyone stupid enough to poke their head above the ridge line. Even then, it’s tough to find a really good sniping position - experienced players will nip quickly through the connecting cave system or lob a smoke grenade to cover movement, and you’ll quickly find a knife in your ribs or a Desert Eagle round between the eyes.

With larger teams, the map quickly becomes brutal, but definitely not sniper driven. A really good sniper who changes positions frequently might be able to rack up quite a few kills, especially if there’s a high number of newbies who don’t know all the nooks and crannies, but heavy machine guns win out for sheer weight of fire in the open places, and shotguns, grenades and assault rifles will carry the day in the claustrophobic caves, roof spaces and ravines. The claymore is your friend, and ‘Noob Tubers’ will find that the old M203 will work nicely when someone skylines themself on the ridge.

All in all, a very fun map that lends itself to strategic games, especially Sabotage and Search/Destroy. Do a few objective games to learn it, then throw yourself into some big Team Deathmatch games.