Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies is an excellent addition to the series’ history. It was a new beginning in multiple ways for Zombies fans. It started a new storyline with Samantha Maxis, who remains a pivotal character all of these years. A host of new features baked in made the game much deeper than it was before. However, the maps brought in their own liveliness, adding many new areas we had not touched before, unlike Black Ops IV, which only had remade maps in the Aether story.
All in all, BOCW provided fans with a phenomenal Zombies experience and rivals other legendary entries despite not having quite as many options as many of them. If you’re a fan of that addictive Black Ops 1 style gameplay loop, these are the maps we think you’ll like the most.
5. Outbreak – Black Ops Cold War’s Worst Zombies Map
Outbreak is a bit of a wildcard entry because it is so different, to the point that you can consider this a separate mode. Since choosing the mode gives you access to all Outbreak maps though, we will include it here.
In Outbreak, instead of surviving rounds, your team must complete objectives to advance to the next location where the enemies are tougher. Everywhere you go, you want to loot buildings for weapons and items to help you upgrade and better survive.
Outbreak is not terrible, but it was hard for longtime Zombies fans to watch this area get continuously updated with new maps and content when the classic round-based gameplay felt left behind at moments. This mode feels like too much of a good thing. Your first few times playing is great, but the novelty quickly wears off. There’s no real story here except in the two main Easter egg quests, and every item and boss is pulled from other Zombies maps.
4. Firebase Z
Firebase Z was the first post-launch Zombies map in Black Ops Cold War and was the first completely original Zombies map since Black Ops III’s Gorod Krovi in 2016. Set in Vietnam, the main Easter egg quest revolves around saving Samantha after being captured by Doctor Peck and thrown into the Dark Aether.
Setup-wise, Firebase Z is not anything special, but its layout is fun. You start in a small village where the Pack-a-Punch machine is and then teleport to the titular base. In the base, you can fight through three branching areas that have generators for the power. On the outside of each area is also a firing range where an Orda and horde of zombies will occasionally attack generators to take power away. Mimics made their debut here, starting as items on the ground that transform and attack you when you get close.
One of the best reasons to play Firebase Z, though, is its wonder weapon, the RAI-K84. This is one of the strongest and most satisfying wonder weapons ever, being a powerful assault weapon that can also shoot out balls of energy you can explode to take out large hordes. The bisected nature of the map gets repetitive after a while, but all in all, this was a solid entry in a game that treated Zombies with respect.
3. Die Maschine
Die Maschine is the first Zombies option in the game and marks a new beginning, as it includes the first Zombies map ever inside it, Nacht Der Untoten. While the classic rundown building is the first structure you see when you start the match here, the secret Projekt Endstation base hidden underground makes this map stand out. As Requiem, you are exploring why Omega is interested in the area and how the Nazis accessed the Dark Aether from here.
After fighting your way to the bottom, you can access the Dark Aether by interacting with a portal. The hallways throughout this section make traversing the area dangerous and exciting at the same time. Special enemies here are the Megaton Zombies and Plaguehounds. The D.I.E. Shockwave is the wonder weapon that sucks up zombies to make more ammo for itself and has four different elemental upgrades but remains our least favorite wonder weapon in the game. It’s a little unimaginative, but the map’s layout created fun opportunities for big loops, and ultimately ends up better than the sum of its parts.
2. Forsaken
Forsaken is the final Zombies map in Black Ops Cold War and introduces us to the Forsaken, a man who entered the Dark Aether in the BOCW Zombies reveal and over the years became a powerful entity. The map itself takes place in an Omega base styled after an American town and will have you running through various stores and streets as you teleport between various portions of the base. The Chrysalax is the wonder weapon here and is an incredibly strong end for powerful weapons in the game with its ability to transform between an SMG and axe on the fly.
Forsaken is a good send-off for Black Ops Cold War Zombies while also giving us a glimpse into the future. We know for sure now that Edward “Eddie” Richtofen is the Director of Requiem, Samantha has willingly gone into the Dark Aether again, and Requiem is imprisoned, but what is Peck looking for? The next Treyarch Call of Duty in 2024 is going to have a lot of questions to answer with various roads the team could go down. That potential alone could have pushed it to #1, but we’ve got another favorite occupying that slot.
1. Mauer Der Toten – Black Ops Cold War’s Best Zombies Map
Mauer Der Toten is a dynamite Zombies map that focuses on a vertical alignment. You start the match on top of a tall building and zipline between a hotel and convenience store as you make your way down to street level. Once at the bottom, you make your way to the subway to find power and then make your way back up to the other side of the Berlin main street to find Pack-a-Punch. The main enemies here are the Krasny Soldat that is just a repurposed Panzersoldat, and the Disciple that empowers normal Zombies and will drain your health.
Focusing on the story, our group of Requiem agents was captured by Omega during the second main Easter egg quest in Outbreak and forced by Kravchenko to stop Valentina. She turned on Omega to access the Dark Aether and control the zombies here.
The wonder weapon for Mauer Der Toten is the CRBR-S, another really fun gun to take control of. It starts as a pistol that blasts energy beams and has a floating buddy that doubles your firepower, but upon killing enemies, various mods drop that transform the weapon.
Each one gives you a different firing mode and helps keep the gameplay fresh. You also can power up the robot Claus, who will help you survive by killing zombies or reviving you if you go down. The only downside is he is not on the battlefield nearly long enough. Still, Mauer blends phenomenal storytelling with best-in-class gameplay and sets the bar in terms of Zombies experiences in an already-exceptional title.
That’s our thoughts on the best Black Ops Cold War Zombies Maps. If you’re looking for more Zombies content, then check out our guides. They’ll help you blast through all of the Easter eggs without losing your mind trying to piece them together yourself.
