Despite Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 still having a few post-launch Seasons ahead of it, as well as a final Zombies map to look forward to, the community’s attention is already beginning to turn toward Black Ops 7. As the show closer for 2025’s Xbox Game Showcase, Black Ops 7 re-introduced Call of Duty fans to David Mason and Raul Menendez, confirming that this year’s game will indeed be a Black Ops 2 sequel. This setting had been leaked prior to the reveal, and if this rumor turned out to be true, so too could the many leaks about Zombies. Said reports have suggested that the classic playable crew of Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai would be returning alongside some bold Dark Aether maps – including a reimagining of TranZit. While the brief shot of Zombies from the Black Ops 7 reveal seems to have supported the idea, as bus lights can seemingly be seen flashing, I’d much prefer a different “bad” Zombies map get remade.
In my honest opinion, despite Treyarch making Call of Duty Zombies content since 2008, it has produced very few experiences that can truly be considered bad. Call of Duty: Vanguard’s disastrous Zombies mode would be one of the few examples of indefensible Treyarch Zombies content, as a majority of poor maps are exclusive to the non-Treyarch attempts at recreating Zombies’ magic. For me, there are only two truly “bad” Treyarch Zombies maps, and even they have their merits. My personal picks for the worst Zombies maps are both found within Black Ops 2, showing just how much heavy lifting that game’s final three DLC maps had to do for that title. TranZit, the first of these two experiences, is something players have long hoped would be remade, as many of its issues were caused by the constraints of the Xbox 360 and PS3. And while I too am all on board with seeing what Treyarch can do with another shot at TranZit, I’d be even more interested in a second chance for Die Rise.
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To be clear, like most Zombies players, Die Rise would rank near the bottom of my personal CoD Zombies map tier list. While 2012 Rick managed to cope with the disappointment of TranZit by playing Nuketown Zombies and Town Survival, I was desperate for the first BO2 DLC map to live up to Black Ops 1’s Zombies content. Unfortunately, I was stuck waiting a little bit longer, as though Mob of the Dead blew me away when the second map pack for Black Ops 2 dropped, DLC 1 was… not the best. It didn’t take myself and many others to find a laundry list of issues with Die Rise, and while I still see the problems with Die Rise today, I can’t help but look back on it with fondness. And alongside that nostalgia, I can picture a version of Die Rise where the fun moments finally outnumber the frustrating ones.
Black Ops 2’s Die Rise Was a Literal Fall From Grace
Though there were a lot of individual complaints about TranZit, from the fog and lava to the Denizens and Avogadro, much of the criticism can fall under the same category: tedium. While Die Rise may not have had anything as awkward as the TranZit Pack-a-Punch system, it did have numerous annoying aspects, such as:
- Constant spots to fall. While this suited the skyscraper gimmick and forced players to have careful platforming, the margin for error was too thin given how tough some of the jumps were and the lack of PhD Flopper. The Trample Steam and Sliquifier were also dangerous to the player, which only added to the stress of moving around.
- A frustrating Elevator mechanic where players need to wait for perks and Pack-a-Punch to reach their level of the building, making it so that a significant portion of the match is spent standing around:
- A boring Easter egg quest full of little more than puzzle steps like shooting items and playing Mahjong.
- A borderline useless CoD Zombies perk in Who’s Who? After Tombstone disappointed in TranZit, it was a shame that an even worse perk was added in Die Rise. Since players were armed with nothing but a pistol after going down, reviving their other self was borderline impossible.
- An overpowered Wonder Weapon. While a corrosive soap launcher may sound like a silly killing tool on paper, it remains one of CoD Zombies’ most overpowered Wonder Weapons ever, as players could shoot the floor in front of them and kill an entire round if they stood in certain spots.
When thinking back to my time on Die Rise, I certainly remember running into all of these problems. I remember growing bored holding the last Zombie as a friend attempted to figure out the Easter egg’s puzzles, and I had my fair share of falls that ruined my game (even if I’m not nearly as clumsy video games as I am in real life). I made fun of Who’s Who? as much as any other old-school Zombies player, and I got tired of the most effective Sliquifier strat after doing it a few times. Despite all of this, there was a charm to Die Rise, at least in my eyes.
I loved Die Rise’s selection of wall weapons, from the AN-94 or PDW-57. I always enjoyed attempting the no-hit Jumping Jacks melee Easter egg, and I can’t help but smile when thinking about how I’d argue with my friends when one of us messed it up. Though I hated falling myself, it was admittedly quite funny when it happened to something else, and I did eventually learn how best to get around the map. Speaking of learning, trying to hit the jump spot to get back to the Mystery Box after the slide is something that took me ages to get right, but once I mastered it, it felt like I had a special skill that many others didn’t. And while Who’s Who may have been a disaster of a perk, watching someone try to pull off an insane clutch was consistently entertaining. Alongside all this, the aesthetic of the map was certainly unique, as I remember being impressed when I realized the first building was upside down. With these experiences in mind, it’s no wonder I want to see Die Rise again.
How Black Ops 7 Can Help Die Rise Stick the Landing
Perhaps the biggest thing working in Die Rise’s favor is that not every match saw players running into all of its low points, and if players managed to have a good run on the map, it could be just as fun as many other CoD Zombies experiences. If Black Ops 7 were to attempt to fix Die Rise, Treyarch could rectify all the problems above rather easily, as it has surely heard fans’ criticism of the map time and time again. A CoD Zombies map remake for Die Rise could feature more exciting Easter egg steps, like a jumping puzzle that plays into the map’s core concept or one of the always-satisfying lockdown steps. The Sliquifier could be more balanced, potentially through a few variants that give each player something to work on, while more Elevator keys or Elevator speed upgrades could be made available. Who’s Who? could let players respawn with a copy of their loadout instead of just a handgun, keeping everything but their perks to make self-revives more manageable but still a bit tough. Perhaps an Augment for Who’s Who? could even be unlocked that works like a bungee cord, rescuing players from a fall once per purchase, much like Quick Revive’s Dying Wish saves them from death in BO6.
A top-notch Die Rise remake is available as a Black Ops 3 Custom Zombies map on PC. However, myself and many other Zombies players game primarily on consoles, meaning that we’re stuck waiting for an official remake from Treyarch.
After these fixes, Treyarch would just have to address Die Rise’s biggest problem: the nonstop deadly falls. Funnily enough, the fix for this problem is simple, as Treyarch could let players acquire PhD Flopper instead of teasing them with it. Seemingly knowing how useful Flopper would have been on Die Rise, Treyarch let players see the perk and left it just out of reach with no way to acquire it. While this trolling was funny, this time around, Treyarch can let players obtain the perk through a side Easter egg. This would let Die Rise maintain its “watch where you step” identity until players get Flopper, but once they do, new avenues could open up. Something I’ve always pondered is what would happen if players could purchase PhD Flopper and use its removal of fall damage to jump all the way to the bottom of the skyscraper. In a remake, Treyarch could finally give me that answer, making it a Pack-a-Punch location or the home of a side Easter egg. While TranZit may be the community’s go-to “what if?” scenario, Black Ops 2 Zombies’ other bad map could also use a fresh coat of paint.