Villordsutch reviews Ascendance DLC for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare…
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Ascendance DLC brings along with it four new maps, a new addition to the fantastic Exo-Zombies story, a new weapon called the OHM and also a new way to play within the maps with the grapple hook. Doesn’t sound too bad already for its rather small asking price of $14.99/£11.59 so let us crack on and see what this beauty plays like.
Before we dive into Exo-Zombies – which I loved the most about Havoc DLC – I’ll run you through the maps starting with…
Perplex – Set within the Australian City of Sydney, this small but tall map looks rather fantastic. This will either have you loving it or hating it as it comes around on the map rotation. You’re in an modern apartment complex with is still being slotted together by drones and as you leap for living pod to living pod. You’ll either be a clay pigeon or a marksman on this map and I’ve learnt to steer clear of leaping around and to wait for those that choose to fight on the ground floor.
PerplexSite 244 – You find yourself in the ruins of a downed alien vessel and also within the shadow of Mount Rushmore. This feels like a fairly big map due to the amount of areas you can cover and climb, and with numerous gullies you can wander into you’ll easily find yourself ambushed if you’re not careful. It’s also appears to be a firm favourite for snipers, both the long distance variety and the quick scoping swines too.
Chop Shop – A rather basic map truth be told with what appears to be two warehouses and a courtyard. This has the feeling of a map you would have received on the initial COD:AW push. Not that is an issue but after the first two maps of height and an alien craft at Rushmore you’re suddenly dropped in a simple, vanilla style map. Still it places everyone virtually on the same horizontal/vertical level – at least – giving everyone a fighting chance.
Climate – Set within a bio-dome, this is a circle-style map and you’ve got here high, medium and ground fighters going gun happy. Not only that but the pools of water midway through become acid making them completely out of bounds. This is another favourite map for the snipers amongst you; however be aware of us Assault Rifle users as we love this map too and if you do happen to fall to the ground you are ours.
ClimateLooking at the OHM it really wasn’t the weapon of choice for me. When I eventually got hold of the AE4 in the Havoc DLC I loved it, but I found the OHM to heavy (but it is a Heavy Weapon so I should expect that) and as I’m not used to this style of play I noticed it impact my playstyle instantly. Within the new maps like Perplex and Chop Shop you really can’t be cumbersome on the small corners, even with the shotgun mode on.
As for the Grapple Mode I fell out of luck of this after repeated attempts to access the grapple playlist servers I just couldn’t no matter how many attempts or restarts I was constantly told there were zero games available, which is a shame as the trailer for the grapple feature looks like it would be rather fun to play.
This now takes us to the new Exo-Zombies and we’re in Burger Town, and it has suddenly become a lot harder! So much harder I’m finding it rather difficult; the issue I believe is now the people playing need to actually work as a team and less as a bunch of “lone wolves”. With two open areas and a sewer network with tunnels, dead ends and drains with zombies quite literally swarming out of you can’t wander off on your own. When Goliath Zombies appear you really need to be together as a force; when you’re taking a survivor back to be airlifted to the pickup point, again the four of you need to watch all angles. If you’re not doing this then the team you are in will be dead quite quickly.
This issue of teamwork makes the latest episode of Exo-Zombies frustrating and it’s not the fault of game it’s the fault of unfortunately us the players. I clearly need more friends on COD:AW to advance further rather than relying on PUGs.
Ascendance DLC for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare isn’t at the same standard as the Havoc DLC was, but it’s still very enjoyable and playable. Sledgehammer and Activision have still delivered here something that is well worth the money and more so if you’ve done the wise thing and bought the season pass. If you haven’t already, buy the Ascendance DLC.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Ascendance DLC is available to buy now via Digital Download here.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=8HTiU_hrLms
Originally published May 15, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
