We are reunited with the four original playable characters in this mind-blowing map. Origins does indeed take the player back to the start of all this nonsense, where it adds more confusion whilst simultaneously making things clearer. If you don’t know what I mean let’s have this sentence. Fighting during World War I in trenches besieged by Zombies (so far pretty normal), a drone can help kill Zombies and revive you whilst you battle Templar Zombies in order to power up six generators allowing you to move around on a Tank to obtain items to build magical elemental staffs and fight/avoid massive robots that roam around. Somewhere in making this intricate map Treyarch lost it’s goddamn mind but still ended up making an immersive and truly awesome experience. Right let’s jump into the long list of new features in the map.

Additions: We start with new enemies; the giant robots are not necessarily enemies but can kill you with their giant metallic feet so watch the skies. Templar/Crusader Zombies, these are as you guessed Zombified Templar Knights, how you ask? Science and I don’t know is the answer. Anyway, these glowing pests will confront you as soon as you start powering up a generator, they will spawn out of the Teleporters and try to disrupt the generators. The second new enemy is the Panzersoldat (Tank Soldier), living up to it’s name these guys are Tanks, they can take an absolute beating. They appear at Round 8 and every few rounds after that, they can fly around with jet packs and use a flamethrower and grappling hook to mess the players up. The first Panzersoldat that you kill will drop a piece of the Staff of Fire, after this then just a random Power-up is dropped.

Now onto what the hell is going on with these giant robots roaming the map, there are in fact 3 of them and each has been aptly named with the names of Norse Gods (Thor, Odin and Freya/Freyja). Each robot just walks up and down the map in their specific line and can be entered by the player if the glowing foot is shot or the player is wearing the Golden Helmet (obtained using a Golden Shovel, just go with me on this). Similar to Green Run/TranZit there is a transport system, now instead of a bus there is a Mark IV Tank to ride around on top of, the Tank is also needed to obtain Staff of Lightening parts (as some of them are off the ground and can only be reached using a platform, the Tank).

There are two new buildables, the first is the Maxis Drone, which is a flying Drone that follows the player and is equipped with a machine gun, can kill Zombies and revive players.

The second buildable can come in one of 4 forms (you can get all four in one game), that is the Elemental Staffs, by picking up parts around the map the player can build the Staffs with different Elemental damage additions (Fire, Ice, Lightning and Wind). The staffs fire bolts/balls of Elemental magic at the Zombies.

There are three new Power-ups added in this map; Zombie Blood (the player cannot be detected by zombies for 30 seconds), Blood money (awarding the player a random number of points), and Empty Perk Bottles (providing the player with an empty perk slot). A new Perk Machine is available, Der Wunderfizz, which gives the player a random Perk with each purchase. As previously mentioned there is a Shovel addition, this can beused to dig up certain spots around the map and rewards players with Weapons, Power-ups, Staff parts (if made into the Golden shovel by digging 30 spots with a shovel, then better power-ups and weapons can be found). The shovel can also dig up negative items, such as live grenades or Zombies.

A new explosive, the G-Strike can be obtained by performing certain steps in the map, it is basically a Monkey Bomb but more explode-y with Napalm or Robot missiles.

The One Inch Punch is not only a hilarious dick joke but is also a pretty useful melee weapon obtained through filling up chests with Zombie souls, it can kill with a single hit until round 19. This can be upgraded into the Iron fists (one hit kill until round 36) by killing 20 Templar Zombies, with the One Inch Punch melee in the Staff Room. The Iron Fists will take on an Elemental bonus of whatever Staff the player is holding.

Easter Egg: The main Easter Egg of this map follows the Little Lost Girl achievement or Trophy and is obtained by releasing Samantha.

Releasing Samantha

– Firstly the player needs to have obtained and upgrade all four Elemental Staffs, to save time and space I am not going into detail on the part locations or how to upgrade, also because the upgrade process for all the Staffs just confuses the hell out of me.

-Once the Staffs are upgrade new Staff holders will be placed around the map (in the room with all other staff holders, and in each of the Robots). Place the specific staff in each holder (doesn’t matter which order). If done correctly Samantha will talk to the players and the staffs can be picked up again from the Staff Room holders.

-For this step the G-Strike (a guide is needed to do the necessary steps to obtain it) is needed. If the last step has been correctly completed then all the Robots will walk the map simultaneously, however only one of their feet will be lit (therefore you can only enter one Robot at a time). Enter the Robots and press the red button that has now appeared. As this is done another player (can also be done in solo if the player is quick and uses Odin’s foot near Stamin-Up) needs to throw the G-Strike at a seal covering a hole (looks like a circle of cracked concrete) out of bounds behind Generator 5 (locate the seal before pressing the button). If the G-Strike misses the target then a laugh can be heard and the G-Strike disappears, if done right…boom goes the dynamite.

-Throw the Maxis Drone into the newly created hole and Panzersoldats will be released from the hole. Kill all the Panzersoldats, once done Samantha will talk about finding the Spirit of the Sky.

-Obtain a Zombie blood, once a player has one then only they can see a plane in the sky that is glowing orange/yellow (similar to the plane that drops part of the Fire Staff). This player must shoot down the plane, which will then drop it’s zombie pilot around the Excavation site. The player needs to get Zombie Blood again (this can be done by waiting out the round to buy a new Zombie Blood or putting out the fires in the carts around the Pack-a-Punch quickly which rewards the player with a Zombie Blood at the Pack-a-Punch) and find the Zombie Pilot. The Pilot looks like a normal Zombie and will walk around the Excavation site in a clockwise manner so outsmart him and kill him, he will drop the Maxis Drone once killed.

-Now everyone needs to get the Fists of Iron (the upgraded version of the One Inch Punch) first get the One Inch Punch, by killing around 30 zombies near each of the four chests around the map. To get the Fists of Iron, head into the room under the Excavation Site (the Staff Room) and kill around 20 Templar Zombies, they will have glowing white limbs emitting a white vapour, so punch those vaping bastards (the kills only count when done with the One Inch Punch). Once you killed 20 then a white tablet will drop, pick it up to get the Fists of Iron.

-Go to the Crazy Place and place the Elemental Staff in their respective podiums. You will then be swarmed by the Templar Zombies, kill the zombies and the teleporter in the middle will collect their souls, slowly lowering a white beam. When enough of them are killed (can be around 100) the screen will flash white and the achievement will pop, however there is still another step to come.

-After enough Zombies are killed the teleporter in the middle will become a vortex and get the Maxis Drone and throw it into the vortex. All players will need to step in the middle and hold the action button to end the game and move into the cut scene.

The Story: Little did our crew know that when they ‘defeated’ Samantha she actually just moved into an alternate timeline and ended up in France in 1918, not a great year for the French.

The Germans are excavating areas around the battlefields to further uncover and harness a new power that lies beneath the soil, which Maxis classifies as a new element, number 115 on the periodic table, hence Element 115. We have been taken back in this alternate timeline to the beginning of Group 935, to the discovery of 115 and the start of Zombies. They plan to use this new Element to power a Weapons program to help win the war. Fast forward a little and Robots! Group 935 uses Element 115 to create some giant Robots that now roam the battlefields

The radio messages start to speak of the ancient and mysterious goings on during the excavation process. The Germans decide to place generators using 115 around the place in order to create a local energy field. This begins to bring forward advanced machines and weaponry of unknown origin. Maxis concludes that Element 115 has some capability of causing a disruption in space and time. During the excavation process a soldier brings a Gramophone for entertainment and accidentally opens the seal to the main Chamber, where Maxis translates some cryptic language to learn about the Amplification Rods and Elemental stones. After a search neither Rod nor stones can be found, so Maxis asks Richtofen to make some Rods of their own. The last message tells us the most, Maxis mentions that a child’s voice is speaking to him and that she imprisoned in ‘Agartha’. She then tells Maxis that she is his daughter, even though in this timeline Maxis does not have a child. From this we can tell that Samantha has travelled into a different timeline and is still the ethereal being that we all know and fear. It doesn’t help that Maxis has previously showed signs of paranoia and mental psychosis (from over exposure to 115). Add this with him hearing the voice of Samantha and this interfering with work Richtofen fears for Maxis and starts to gain a hatred for this Samantha.

Due to Richtofen’s concern about Maxis the order to build these Mythical Rods is even greater cause for concern. However before Richtofen can report this accounts of ancient figures emerging from the mound near the generators emerge. Some unlucky souls uncovered a sealed area containing Templar Zombies or the generators caused them to appear, either way a combination of these ancient figures, turns out these guys found an entrance into Agartha via the Crazy Place (a small universe/realm between Earth and Agartha). Element 115 created a Zombie infestation in the German Trenches. This caused America, Russia and Japan to individually jump to the same idea; “Hey let’s go investigate/steal the work those Germans are doing. How can we do this? We’ll send one guy”. Thus Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai find themselves fighting through the German Trenches before finally reaching Richtofen, who is removing the brain of Maxis to help prevent further disease…because that passes for medicine in those days.

The four decide to work together in an attempt to survive, at this point Samantha decides to make herself known to the rest of the group and asks for help to be freed from Agartha. Whilst everyone is doing that, Richtofen decided to build a drone and strap Maxis’ brain to it so he can live again. Tank, Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen played the records on the Gramophones to open the portals to the Crazy Place, which was filled with Agarthan Zombies, each portal lead the players to the Elemental Stones in the Crazy Place. Eventually the group opens the portal in the uncovered ruins so that Samantha can meet her drone Daddy. This causes Samantha to become free of controlling the Zombies, as I guess you have to control the undead in Agartha, therefore preventing the outbreak spreading. I feel I missed something here.

Samantha was now free from Agartha and all the limitations that were set upon her. She was now more powerful than ever, but considerably less evil than in the previous timeline, for all she wanted was to go home. She created a new place, a new home for herself, one where she was reunited with her Father, with her dog Fluffy and had a friend. This ending scene is not a flashback but a new reality entirely where Samantha can act like a normal child and live her normal life. Where the Zombies notion was only a game, the rivalry between her and Richtofen (in this reality her friend Eddy) was merely petty squabbling between children. Did Treyarch just pull the ‘it was just a dream’ cliché on us? Did anything really happen?