In a map, which I would argue is one of the most picturesque views of any Zombies map…well my usual view in any Zombies map is a red screen or staring at a crowd of ankles as I die again and again. However Der Eisendrache with the translation The Iron Dragon  offers more than just a view. This map carries a few new features, mainly in the form of buildables, traps and Wonder weapons. The only new foe you’ll come up against (outside of the Easter Egg) is the Electrified Zombie, basically normal zombies that have been electrified and will hurt and stun the player momentarily. A new transport system is introduced, the Wundersphere, similar to the Gravity lifts in the Moon Map. The new traps are; the Death Ray, which creates an electric shock along the ground (it can hurt the players), and the Gate Trap which causes the gates to rise up and down crushing any zombies caught. The new buildable is also in the sphere of a Wonder Weapon, the Ragnarok DG-4 (similar to the Gravity Spikes), there are three parts which can be found in the following places; dropped by the first Panzersoldat killed, in the teleporter of the Rocket base by activating three lights around the Rocket, and collected from the Wundersphere after tuning on the Death Ray trap.

The second Wonder Weapon is the Wrath of the Ancients, which is a bow (similar to the Sparrow) which can be upgraded to take on one of four effects (Electric, Wolf Spirit, Fire and Void)

How to get and upgrade the Wrath of Ancients:

• To obtain the bow the player needs to find the three Dragon heads around the map (near Speed Cola/Fireplace, near Double Tap, and in the Pyramid Room), feed each Dragon head around 8 zombies and they will turn back into stone and break. After all three have been fed the Bow will appear above the Undercroft.

• To upgrade to Electric; find a small tower with a lightening symbol on it and a weather vane at the top (in the Bastion area above the courtyard), use the Wrath of Ancients to shoot the weather vane and the area around the lightening symbol should crumble dropping a broken storm arrow which you collect. Next find and shoot (with the Wrath of Ancients) three bonfires located outside the map (a hit will ignite the fires), they can be found in the distance by; looking behind the Mulekick, between one of the launch pads and the Wunderfizz (look through the broken part of the wall, this one is way in the distance to the left of the Search lights), and from the Rocket base look to the right of the Castle and it’s just up the cliff face. Next turn on the Anti-Gravity in the Undercroft room (by standing on each of the four pressure plates until they light up, this can be done by one person), then you will notice 5 symbols on the wall that almost represent a gust of wind, you must wall run and run over each symbol without touching the ground (if done correctly all symbols should be lit up). The next step is to locate three vase/urns that have electric sparks coming out of them, they are located; in the bell tower, the Rocket Base, in the room above the Double tap. Killing around 5 zombies near the Vase will cause the Zombie souls to fly into the Vase (you will know when you are done as the souls will no longer appear). Once this is done you will need to walk up to the Vase with the Bow and pull back an arrow (this will give the arrow tip an electric spark), you will need to keep the arrow pulled back and shoot the same bonfires as in the second step (if hit lightening will strike the bonfires). Once all three fires are shot with the electric arrows then go back to the Weather Vane and shoot it once more, this will cause a blue cloud to appear, use the action button on the blue cloud to place the broken arrow, it will then be taken up into the Weather Vane and then a forged arrow will be dropped. After picking up the arrow, go to the pyramid in the Undercroft and place the arrow on the shrine that has the lightening symbol, once placed the shrine will need around 20 Zombie souls (once completed no more souls will appear from killing zombies). After this take out the Bow and use the action button to place the bow into the Shrine and after a little wait the Kreema’ahm la Ahmahm (electric bow) will be over the Shrine to collect.

• To Upgrade to Void; next to the Double Tap there should be a symbol on the ceiling, shoot this with Wrath of Ancients and a broken arrow should drop. Now make your way through the mineshaft and past Mule Kick, up the stairs should be a circular room, in the centre of the room is now a purple glowing slab, melee kill a zombie in the purple square slab (with the bow kept out) to reveal an urn/vase in the floor. Using the action button on the vase to cause it to levitate, after this you will need to find 6 Keeper skulls, they are located in the following places; coming down from the Vase following the stairs to the left of Mule kick will be a skull on the broken wall, second one is in Samantha’s toy chest located in her room, third one is one the broken wall to the right of Double Tap (on the corner of the room), the fourth one is in the main area in the Church Courtyard (looking at the Wundersphere) up the stairs on the right and on a window ledge, the fifth one is in the Basement Teleporter room in the sink on the right, the final one is in the Rocket Base on the truck (with headlights on) at the back of the site. Lead six crawlers (better have more just in case) to the Vase (which now has the Keeper skulls around it) once the Crawlers enter the circle they will be killed and sacrificed. After they have been sacrificed a voice will say 3, what seem like random words, write down (or remember) the words and the order they were said in. Next kill zombies as normal and they will eventually start to drop purple symbols (there should be around six that are dropped). After collecting the symbols go down to the room full of Knight statues, outside the power room, and locate the Knights that relate to the three words said earlier (i.e the Knight of the Door if Door was said…poor bastard, spent his life training and fighting only to be the Knight of a Door). Use the action button on each of the Knights correlating to the words said, in the order that were said. After using the action button on each Knight a Symbol will appear on the statue (make a note of this, it will be needed later). Go back to the Vase room and with the Wrath of Ancients shoot each symbol on the floor in the order they appeared (e.g. if the words said by the voice were Door, Horn, Crown, then shoot the symbols that appeared on the Door statue, then Horn statue and then Crown statue). If done correctly the voice will say “that is my name” , clear the room for a little bit and the arrow will be available to pick up. Next go down to the Pyramid and place the arrow in it’s corresponding shrine and collect zombie souls and place the Wrath of Ancients in the Box to receive the Kreegakaleet lu Gosata’ahm (Void Bow).

• To upgrade to Fire; Go to the top of the Bell Tower and shoot the Red symbol on the wall with the Wrath of Ancients and pick up the broken arrow. Go down to the Rocket Base and wait for the Rocket to test fire (hide behind the blast doors or you will die) after the Rocket has fired run out the Blast Doors and look to the right (above a small building) there should be an Orange object with the Wrath of Ancients. After this 3 Red circles appear around the map (next to the Bell Tower, in front of the Death Ray and in front of Double Tap) using the Wunderspheres you must shoot each circle with the Wrath of Ancients whilst in mid-air (not by jumping but whilst using the Wunderspheres), if hit the circles light up. Whilst standing in the circles kill Zombies to collect the zombie souls (once complete a huge fireball emerges from the circle). Once done for each circle head back to the broken wall that you shot to collect the arrow and hold the action button on it causing the mechanisms to spin. This will cause a symbol to appear at the 12 o’clock position, note this symbol down. Around the map there are three fire places (underneath the dragon next to speed cola, in Samantha’s room, in the room next to the Dragons head near Double tap) look at the back of the fireplace to find the symbol that corresponds with the one shown on the clock. Charge an arrow and shoot dead centre of the symbol (if done right a max ammo will spawn and fiery mist will appear), use the action button to pick up the fire mist. Head to the giant fireball near the Death Ray and kill a zombie near to it and then hold the action button (if done correctly there will be a voice character quote, then look at the fireball and press the action button causing rock to surround the fire. The fireball will then explode in the sky dropping the fire arrow. Go down to the pyramid and place the bow in the Fire shrine, and collect zombie souls once no more souls appear then place the Wrath of Ancients into the shrine to get the Kreeaho’ahm nal Ahmhogaroc (Fire Bow).

• To upgrade to Wolf Spirit; First off find four painting around the map (in the Bell Tower, upstairs in the Church, in the room past the Mineshaft and one in the Trophy Room (with all the Knight statues). Use the action button on each painting to activate them, all four need to be activated in a certain order that changes each match (if the painting is chosen in the correct order then two wolf symbols will appear on the painting and a guitar strum will be heard). From the Church head into the Basement and the wall with the Wolf symbol on it will crumble allowing the player to pick up the broken arrow. Head to the Rocket Base and find the Red Flag on the top of the cliff, a skull will roll down the hill and the player will need to pick it up. Place the skull in the Wolf Shrine next to the Pyramid, this spawns a ghost Wolf that you will follow. The Wolf will stop and dig at three sites around the map, the player will need to kill zombies and collect souls in the area the Wolf dug in (you know you have finished when the souls stop appearing after a zombie kill) then hold the action button on the dig site to move to the next spot. After this is complete the Wolf will head into the Basement and sit underneath a crack high in the wall, using anti gravity wall run around until two glowing Wolf symbols appear above the crack, shooting inside the crack with the Wrath of Ancients will cause a ledge to appear under the crack. Use the ledge to stand on and hold the action button to cause the arrow to appear and be collected. Finally head to the Wolf Shrine and place the arrow inside, collect zombie souls around the Shrine, once completed place the Wrath of Ancients inside the Shrine to upgrade to Kreeholo lu Kreemasaleet (Wolf Spirit Bow).

The Easter Egg follows My Brother’s Keeper Achievement/Trophy and all the upgraded Wrath of Ancient bows are needed if playing with four players (follow the instructions above to obtain them), however if playing with less then each player must have an upgraded Wrath of Ancient (doesn’t matter which ones). The Ragnarok DG-4 is also needed to complete this Egg.

-The first step is to grab the regular Wrath of Ancients from the Tomb area (where you first got it) and head down to the Teleporter room. You will notice orbs sticking out around the top of the Teleporter, shoot each one with the Wrath of Ancients (as you do they turn orange), once you shoot all orbs they will stop glowing orange.

-Completing the first step will cause several random objects around the map to become electrified; the player will need to find each object and shoot a total of four electrified objects (they become electric one at a time) in a specific time frame. Once the player has found one of the electrified objects shoot the object with an Upgraded Wrath of Ancients. If the player shoots any of the other objects before they spark or time runs out then they will fail and have to wait until the next round to try again. The objects are; A Car Tire near Double Tap, a Phone near Quick Revive, a Globe in Samantha’s Room, a Phone near the Power Switch, a Clock in the room near the Bell Tower, a Box near the Work Bench above Double Tap, a Radio near Speed Cola, and a Clock in the Control Room. If done correctly the Teleporter in the lab will contain a purple mist/glow, all players will then need to stand on the Teleporter and hold the action button (note it has been known to glitch if the rounds are changing).

-The players will appear in the same room but back in time. This acts as a mini cut scene where Dr Groph will be talking to Richtofen, but the players will need to complete three tasks before they are teleported back. First collect the Blue Canister in the left corner (after coming out the Teleporter), second is to collect the fuses on top of a box to the right after coming out of the Teleporter, finally remember the symbols that Dr Groph puts into the safe (they appear on the right of the safe) in order from top to bottom.

-Heading back to the main map will cause the player to return to the Rocket Base, as well as a Panzersoldat spawning. The player must then head to the Death Ray (take the Wundersphere to the spawn area). Place the fuses in a small space on the side of large generator in the middle of the bastion, on the other side is a dial and you can now change the dial to point at protect instead of destroy by pulling the leaver. Head to the computer terminal between the Bell Tower and Wunderfizz, you will see each screen contains a symbol, use the action button on the screen in the order seen on Dr Groph’s safe (from top to bottom). If done correctly the safe in the Teleporter room will open and the player can pick up two Cylinders and a card.

-Head back to the Death Ray and place the newly acquired cylinders into each of the sparking pillars either side of the generator (there will be a small space on one side of each pillar for the cylinder). Then head back to the generator dial to change it back to destroy.

-This causes the two computer terminals (next to the Bell Tower and in the Rocket Base) turn on, head to each location and hold the action button on the terminal, this causes four symbols to appear on the small screens, memorise their positions as they soon disappear. Then the large screen will show one of the symbols, the player must go to the small screen that showed that particular symbol and press the action button, the player must then repeat this process until the game ends and one of the metal balls atop the Death Ray pillars will spark (note an infinite wave of Hellhounds will appear until this is complete). Do this for both Terminals to light up both metal balls. Head back to the Death Ray and hold the action button over the green light that has appear on the back (end facing into the castle) of the central Death Ray generator.

-A Rocket will now crash through the Bell Tower and into the Church Courtyard, so will Dempsey’s Crio-Chamber (which will be in an electric barrier). Pick up the Golden Rod that lies next to the crashed Rocket. The players will now need to repeat the second step and shoot the electric/sparking objects around the map to go back in time following the exact same steps as last time. Once back in time the players will need to hold the action button on a book located in the right hand side of the room (after exiting the teleporter), this will open a box located directly opposite the front of the teleporter, pick up the stone slab inside the box and return.

-Once back head to the tomb where the Wrath of Ancients is picked up and place the Golden Rod in the side of the Tomb. A Ghost Keeper will appear and lead the players around the map stopping at four locations, at each location a symbol can be seen next to the Keeper (for the area near Double Tap the stone tablet will need to be placed under the lamppost on the wall. At each point where the Keeper stops there will be a white circle that forms on the ground, each player standing in the circle will widen its radius, whilst in the circle the player will need to kill zombies with the Upgraded Wrath of Ancients that correlates to the colour tint at the bottom of the screen (i.e. a blue tint will need electric bow kills, orange requires fire bow etc) in order to obtain the zombie souls needed for each location (note that in single player only one bow is needed). After each stop has been completed the Keeper will no longer be a ghostly figure and will head toward the Undercroft before being shot by four lasers and transporting to the Moon.

-There will be a brief audio cutscene before the Pyramid from the Moon is transported back to the Undercroft with a corrupted Keeper. There will be 3 blue canisters on the corners of the Pyramid, the player must find the empty corner and place the blue canister picked up earlier in the past (this must be done by the same person who picked it up). All players will need to prepare themselves for a tough fight ahead, so Pack-a-Punch weapons, build a Rocket Shield, perk and GobbleGum yourself up. Each player will also need to have built and charged the Ragnarok DG-4 (kill zombies to charge it). Then, standing on each of the four blue slabs in the Undercroft (as in turn on the Anti-Gravity), each player must use the Trap function on the blue slabs, if done correctly the players will be teleported into a new room to fight the Keeper.

-The Keeper fight is broken down into several rounds. The first round the Keeper will have four attacks; Skulls flying at you (the skulls can be shot and destroyed), Skeleton zombies will be spawned (can be killed like normal zombies), Volcanic cones will spawn on the ground (from glowing spots) any player stand on them when they spawn will take damage and is normally downed, finally the Keeper can fire a huge wave of electrical bolts, this can be avoided by hiding behind the pillars. In this final attack the player can hurt the Keeper, before the Electric attack a large white orb will appear in the centre, when this appears on player must place the Ragnarok DG-4 in Trap mode on the ground in the orb, this causes the Keeper to start glowing, at which point it can be damaged with the Upgraded Wrath of Ancients. Repeat this until the Keeper drops a Max Ammo, also note that if a player cannot use the Ragnarok DG-4 then they will need to kill the Skeleton Zombies to charge the weapon before use.

-The second round is simply killing all the Panzersoldats that appear around the room, killing a Panzersoldat will drastically increase the Ragnarok charge so it is wise to make sure everyone has the weapon fully charged. The end of the round is signified by a Max Ammo being dropped in the centre of the room (this will usually be the second Max Ammo dropped in the round).

-The third round is exactly the same as the first round, but Hellhounds now spawn as well, so repeat the same process as round 1 until the Keeper disappears

-The fourth round is a repeat of round 2 so kill all the Panzersoldats until a Max Ammo appears for the second time.

-The fifth and final round rinse and repeat rounds one and three, this time after taking enough damage the Keeper will be killed and you will be Teleported back to the Undercroft.

-Once back in the Undercroft the Pyramid should reappear, on the front face should be a blue circle with the Summoning Key on it (a Golden Sphere), if the Key is not in the circle hold the action button over the circle. Take the Summoning Key to the Computer Terminal between Wunderfizz and the Bell tower, place it on the Terminal using the action button, sit back and enjoy. The players will now have all perks (not permanently however).

The Story

Using one of the Origins Robots, the gang hunts down a Cryostasis pod containing the Ultimis Dempsey. They finally reach Griffin Castle after the Robot was shot down by Group 935 soldiers protecting Cryo Dempsey. Due to this delay they could not stop Dempsey being launched towards Griffin Station via a Rocket. Richtofen attempts to trick Dr Groph by pretending to be Ultimis Richtofen, however Dr Groph is not entirely convinced by this act. As Samantha had not yet entered the MPD and was not controlling the Zombies, this is because during the Giant the event with Samantha and Maxis were slowed down for some reason.

However before Groph has time to confront Richtofen the group redirects the Rocket into the Castle’s courtyard giving them access to Ultimis Dempsey. Dr Groph reacts by enabling a security measure on the Cryo pod preventing anyone from touching it. So Richtofen comes up with a plan to activate the MPD and move it from Griffon Station to the Castle in order to battle a Keeper, which has been corrupted by the Dark Aether’s Power.

Corrupted Keepers (including the Shadowman) have been fighting alongside Apothicons against the Keepers for control of the Aether. Apothicons are just Corrupted Keepers who were trapped in the Dark Aether and evolved into the tentacled Apothicons. The Corrupted Keepers created the MPD and other Pyramids in order to harness ultimate power. After the War between Keepers and Apothicons some Corrupted Keepers hid inside the Pyramid devices in other dimensions, such as the MPD on the Moon.

The battle ends when the MPD and Keeper are sent back to the moon followed by a barrage of missiles. This causes Griffin Station and all 935 members to be destroyed. At this point Richtofen reveals his plan to kill all of the Ultimis gang (all 4 main characters) and capture all Ultimis souls in the Summoning Key. Richtofen realises during his travels that he must kill the Ultimis crew (the 4 characters from World at War) in order to save the Universe. Dempsey walks up to his Ultimis self and finally agrees to disable the life support system on the Cryo Pod and capture his soul.

Fun little fact Der Eisendrache was built by the Wolf King on the orders of the Primis crew in the 1300s. His remains, and those of his Wolf, were scattered around the Castle by his loyal servant Arthur who is then transported the Buried by a Temporal Rift. Therefore Arthur is actually the Giant who helps you in Buried.

Next stop Japan and Ultimis Takeo