While Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies had many strengths, such as a winning gameplay loop and upgradeable Perks, its maps were heavily criticized for being forgettable. Unlike visually spectacular locations such as Shadows of Evil and Der Eisendrache, players visited a Russian training facility and a Vietnamese village that had already appeared in the campaign.
Despite reusing Nacht Der Untoten, Die Maschine managed to be the most original location in all of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies. While part of this uniqueness is tied to a lack of reused assets, the Dark Aether dimension also helped the map stand out from the other round-based content in the game. However, outside of this map and the Holdout objective from Outbreak, the Dark Aether was severely underused, something that should change going forward.
The Potential of The Dark Aether in Future Zombies Maps
Outside of the heavily rumored standalone Call of Duty Zombies game, Treyarch’s iconic co-op experience will likely always be treated as a third game mode by Activision higher-ups. For this reason, the budget and resources dedicated to the mode are sure to stay on the lower end, which means that round-based Zombies content will have to continue using assets from the campaign and multiplayer modes. While this is a letdown, the Dark Aether is a great way to ensure that even areas players have already seen feel fresh.
Though maps like Mob of the Dead will always be preferable due to their fully unique aesthetic, maps with more “boring” settings like Firebase Z would have been far more appealing with the inclusion of the Dark Aether. In Die Maschine, this dimension features a purple aesthetic with breakable crystals that provide useful gear. A powerful Megaton is consistently marching through the area, while ethereal jellyfish float from the sky and unique portals are opened up. All of this could be used as a basis for future maps.
Just like in Die Maschine, players could enter through a portal to access the Dark Aether, making for a major change from the default version of the map. Adding more unique enemies to fight while in the Dark Aether could be interesting, as certain mini bosses could be made exclusive to the dark dimension. While the stronger, red Megaton was a solid start in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s launch map, it was essentially the same as the original version in terms of its attacks. Fully unique enemies tied to this realm could be exciting, as could some more non-hostile wildlife like the jellyfish.
One interesting way to approach the Dark Aether would see two players spawning inside the dimension, and two others spawning in the normal world. Like the classic Call of Duty: World at War map Verrukt, these players could be split up from the beginning, needing to work together to complete tasks before eventually meeting up. This would be a fun way to make the Dark Aether dimension feel entirely unique, as half of the map could be tied to it.
Even a simple Dark Aether filter for Zombies maps could be a memorable addition. While some maps could make it a key aspect of their design, others could keep their use of the Dark Aether limited to visuals and breakable crystals. If players press a certain item on each map, they could give it a Dark Aether makeover, changing the look and feel of all its areas. Having two different visual styles for every map would be huge for replaybility, as players could switch between the normal and Dark Aether versions of a map whenever they want a bit of a change. If this switch brings fresh enemies to fight and easter eggs to solve, too, many players would be a lot more positive on less original maps.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
