Two months later, Infinity Ward (what's left of it at least) has released another map pack for Modern Warfare 2. As with the first pack, you'll be given a total of five maps, three new and two re-releases. The three new maps are entitled Fuel, Carnival and Trailer Park and if you've played Call of Duty 4, you'll recognize Vacant and Strike. In addition to the maps being released, it was also double XP weekend.
The first argument you'll hear from everybody is price; $15 IS steep for a map pack any way you slice it. Especially given the fact that this is the second pack and it's being released relatively quickly after the first, you'll have paid $30. In such a short period of time, you're paying for half the cost of a new game in multiplayer only content.The second is that two maps are just updates for MW2 and the other argument has been and will continue to be that there are only three "new" maps. Either way, people have to put time into either recreating or rebuilding these old maps and that time costs money. Growing up a PC FPS gamer, the idea of paying for additional game content was lost on me at first. Consoles, unlike PC's are a closed platform. The content has to pass through the "police" before it can be approved. This entire process costs money. It would be great if these maps were $5, a fair price that causes more people to purchase the pack, but with a far greater opportunity cost. Suppose ten people will purchase the pack at $10, that's a $100 profit, all other costs ignored. Let's say that only seven people will buy at a $15 price point, you net a profit of $105, all other costs ignored. It's easy to see which price will be set with this simple analysis.
Cost complaints aside, how do the maps stack up?
Fuel - Initially billed as a sniper map with wide open spaces, every match I've played on this map has been concentrated on two large buildings in the center of the map with only a handful of snipers through multiple playthroughs. If your team controls the building directly across from building number 3, the large warehouse type building, you can easily win matches. Set up shop with some claymores and Scavenger, you'll build your killstreak in no time. Easily the best and biggest of the newest maps, it doesn't feel as chaotic or claustrophobic, but not too large that you don't see people for long stretches at a time. Score - 4/5
Carnival - This old amusement park is a medium sized map with plenty of vantage points that will let you see most of the battlefield at a time. Much of the action is centered around a funhouse and broken roller coaster. There are some choke points that will find you getting shot from above if you aren't careful. For a map this size, it seems like you're in the open an awful lot and must constantly watch your back as there are multiple access points to many of the closed areas. Score - 3/5
Trailer Park - As the name implies, this is a rundown trailer park that feels like it should be a paintball arena. The pacing is as breakneck as the map is small. Expect quick matches with bullets flying everywhere while enemies await you around what feels like every single corner and hallway. Don't expect to snipe much as line of sight is very limited. My least favorite of the new maps as it can be difficult to put solid kill streaks together. Score - 2/5
Vacant - What Infinity Ward billed as a fan favorite from CoD4 is back with some minor adjustments. Depending on your play type, the grate near the initial spawn side of the empty office area for the Spetsnaz may or may not be there. Other than that, the map is largely unchanged. I'm not sure why this was up for a remake as many of my experiences with CoD4 ended with this map being skipped. For some reason, it seemed that the community at large had a sour taste for this map. If your enjoyed it before, you'll enjoy it again. Score - 4/5
Strike - The second of the urban maps to be re-released, Strike features larger road spaces and buildings to patrol. Controlling the statue area of this map, much like Fuel, is critical. It features no discernable differences from its predecessor. Strike stands as one of my favorite maps from CoD4, it's great to see it back in rotation. Score - 4/5
Overall, this pack felt more put together and polished than the Stimulus Pack. Assuming there will be a third pack before Black Ops is released, I'd really like to see Backlot, Crossfire, Downpour or Broadcast remade. If anything, it'd be great if there were an update that brought some of the old guns back into MW2, G3 or G36 in particular. However, an update of that nature would need to be free for all and would obviously be wishful thinking. If you have a spare 1200 Microsoft Points and you're looking for a reason to pick up MW2 again, you could do a lot worse than the Resurgence Map Pack.
