Reused Maps in World at War Zombies

I wanted to take a closer look at how created some of the most iconic maps by repurposing assets from World at War.

[@barple367]

I found that a big part of the novelty zombies had was how good it was at asset flipping in the earlier days. I remember playing Five and Ascension and remembering the missions/ mp maps they originated from and how cool it was to see them totally reimagined for zombies. Reusing assets isn't bad if you can do it right.

[@rig0rmort1s]

cold war never did it well

[@CalixtoGarciaIniguez1898]

@@rig0rmort1s really? How?

[@killwillv2610]

@@CalixtoGarciaIniguez1898 bo1 used cool layouts such as the Pentagon for a zombie apocalypse. A place everybody knows. Cold War gave us Mauer...like who cares?

[@CalixtoGarciaIniguez1898]

@@killwillv2610 was Mauner really that bad or not too exciting?

[@killwillv2610]

@@CalixtoGarciaIniguez1898 personally, the excitement came from the enemies and not the map itself. I got bored of running around such a huge map that I quit after 2 days Now that I think about it, the enemies were boring too. We had seen them all before in one form or another across multiple maps

[@Broskibrother]

to be fair nacht was an afterthought that wasn't really meant to be a main attraction for the game

[@_speedyhops8058]

what about it?

[@Broskibrother]

@@_speedyhops8058 I mean they probably reused assets because they weren't really planning on it being a hit, just a little mode after the main campaign ended. I believe the developers just made it for fun and it wasn't even originally supposed to be in the game

[@_speedyhops8058]

@@Broskibrother yeah but i was confused because the video never really said much about zombies simply being a side project

[@Broskibrother]

@@_speedyhops8058 nah, but it did seem like it was slamming treyarch for reusing assets to an extent, at least in the beginning. I was just stating it's somewhat justified in the way the mode was originally made

[@theGODZILLA150]

Maybe I should have made it more clear, but I wasn’t criticizing the maps, just trying to get a better understanding of their development. In Nacht’s case, you can see how most of their effort went into making it functional, which makes sense considering the map’s origin.

[@isaacfaith9369]

Re-using assets or locations isn’t in itself bad. For WaW it really gave it this sense of coherence to the rest of the game. I loved it as a kid and I love it to this day.

[@MarioTheLiopleurodon]

It's super creative and I honestly want to see more, both out of my own curiosities and also passion for WaW. Honestly, I think it would be a good challenge for custom-zombies mapmakers; " you have 1 month to asset-flip a WaW campaign or multiplayer map into a zombies map. You can only use assets already found in-game (though custom perks and buyable endings are allowed). It must contain at least 3 buyable doors, the mystery box, an easter-egg song from WaW, and the original 4 perks; not required but still strongly encouraged are: Pack-a-Punch, custom/future perks (Double-Tap 2.0, Stamin-up, Mule Kick, etc), and buyable ending." All we gotta do is get a zombies youtuber to host it and make it happen!

[@gusemiester]

I love how they reused assets in waw, they did it extremely well, especially with how new and unfamiliar zombies was to the devs, very well done to them for managing to create completely new experiences from pre-existing assets in the way they did. Same goes for bo1 too, like how they used 5 from the second mission(?) And ascension from the cosmodrone mission. They used to be so creative with their asset flipping

[@jloe01]

The 2nd mission was Vorkuta, 3rd mission was Five.

[@HelterSkelterWarzone]

He hit them with the “good direction is far more important for making a good game” SHOTS FIRED👀 ACTIVISION GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER😭

[@Tensifyed]

Wonderful video! Never knew Der Riese reused assets from that Multiplayer map, I always thought it was entirely original

[@shieldsxreflex]

Bit of a long one The one thing I miss about reused maps is the MP maps tbh. I always liked how say in MW2 you had maps that were either ripped straight from the campaign or use the same aesthetics. One that springs to mind is Terminal. I don't think it actually shares any kind of resemblance to the No Russian mission but it's obviously the No Russian mission. Or how you can very faintly see Rust in the background of the final mission. I remember I used to go into spectator mode and try and see beyond the barriers to get where you would be in Single Player. Shit was fun. Plus, it made the games feel like they were really about the story, and that every mode tied into it. Instead of feeling like 3 separate modes that have their own fan base.

[@kapkant6197]

The Asylum in Ring of Steel, more than any reused location always felt weirdly dreamlike in comparison to its Zombies counterpart. In that like a dream you are seeing what you know is a familiar location but it has almost nothing in common with the "real" version despite you recognising it. Thank you for further reminding people of Zombies always reusing assets, when I was younger I always got a kick out of seeing these familiar campaign or multiplayer locations but made to look nightmarish in some way, and I don't really understand why maps like Firebase Z don't get a pass from the community when the Omega facility itself has nothing in common with Ripcord (a location you only see from the air) in the campaign.

[@WarVeteran213]

I like asylum it's one of my favs because of ring of steel where I get my favorite gun the double barrel sawed off which I use in multiplayer as well which is why I like using it on asylum and upheaval which are both on ring of steel

[@nialltomy15]

Interestingly, the bunker from Hard Landing, which Nacht is based off, is also based on a real building. It was the Japanese Headquarters at Peleliu airfield. It was intensely fought over and still stands today.

[@creerpepro]

Interesting🤔

[@jimmiewoodsjw]

Dude, awesome video! As a kid growing up it was always so cool to see the differences and being stoked to make comparisons when switching from zombies, multiplayer and campaign; what a treat of a video!

[@Timdeenter]

Totally agree, the most important thing is a good direction. Those older games whole point was being hard and trying to survive. Cold War and vanguard are way too easy with wide open rooms to train everywhere. I think the difficulty needs to come back into the map design

[@cloudynguyen6527]

Agree. Zombies at this point is just farming undead instead of surviving the undead.

[@LAST_STAND_FAN]

@@cloudynguyen6527 THAT IS THE BEST WAY OF PUTTING IT I'VE EVER HEARD. I'M STEALING THAT.

[@yuriscynicism]

@@LAST_STAND_FAN -🤓

[@Robbie1872]

cold war zombies is the easiest zombies i’ve ever played (can’t answer for vanguard as i only played shi no numa once)

[@lljw7151]

so play the old ones

[@naiveveg8447]

Maybe that's what made them so great. The sense of familiarity of these dark dangerous themed maps is distinctly human danger, it's neat to see that theme removed for what the zombie corruption offers.

[@officialmrfifty]

Hey man, great video. Just wanted to point out that while the layout of Shi No Numa is fairly novel in design, it actually borrows assets from both Knee Deep and another Multiplayer map, Makin (see the huts, buildings and connecting platforms for reference).

[@theGODZILLA150]

That’s true, and Makin is based on the campaign level Semper Fi, which was probably worth mentioning.

[@aliataye1415]

Great video, loved the minimal editing and you have a very soothing voice keep it up!

[@MattJSowards]

Great video man, really hits deep.

[@CODZombiesHQ]

Enjoyed this vid a lot, great job!

[@JohnPoopsTV]

loving your content my dude :D

[@HenryMyth]

At least when they would reuse assets in WaW it was done tastefully and under far more understandable circumstances than Cold War and Vanguard. They would actually put effort into making them feel different.

[@mocha8227]

Awesome vid. I would love to see another vid for other zombies games and how they reuse assets. Another interesting idea for a vid i havent seen anyone do is a vid about the 4 or potentially 5 grim reaper blood stains and any myths with it ( predicting future zombies maps , near dead bodies,)

[@mehnoy]

great video. The Der Riese comparison is my fav

[@SAMMYfypfg]

Ascension was in black ops campaign mission Executive Order, and was called launch in multiplayer

[@stars111535]

Ascension's layout is nothing at all like Executive Order. Launch is also very different from both. really the only similarity between the three is that they all have a rocket launch.

[@ethanfenlon]

I had no idea some of these maps from waw were reused, loved the video 🖤

[@PinkFloydBootlegs]

You have to also take into account with some of the second floor walls in Nacht (and Verruckt) were made to account for deployable machine guns (this feature would be disabled after it was found to be insanely overpowered around the time Verruckt was released/right before Shi No Numa's release).

[@Exton_Z1]

1:17 yeah I can tell they put an extra sand bag cuz the lighting on that specific one is separated model and is brighter than the others

[@BossEncounter]

This was a really good video. Talked about the only COD I really played, and was really well edited.

[@HBRO_04]

I love these analysis videos. I always felt the same like knowing the WaW maps are just reused assets from the campaign and multiplayer.

[@juanisamazing95]

This video better blow up. You did this PERFECT

[@joer.g8568]

Yeah haha. Nice to get straight into the video and no extreme intro and outro

[@madmac9629]

Id love to see more of these!

[@mobofthedeadenjoyer4921]

Great video bro

[@Ragnordragon]

Great video I used to do this to multilayer maps and see what ones would make great zombie maps

[@eclipse9304]

There's nothing wrong with reusing assets, just how you use them, sometimes in tackling projects like this, you only have one original idea good enough to make it through, and others you need an existing framework to work around.

[@soupterpoopter]

Yooo the king posted

[@DanielTominiko]

Keep up the good work!

[@brianegan8130]

great video!

[@MoistRolls]

I kinda miss the simplicity of zombies and the map layouts. Granted I'm 24 years old now and I was 10 when I first played so I look at zombies with rose lenses now. Something about the map layouts and design from world at war genuinely freak me out and are a lot of fun and something I go back to with friends often and reminisce on the "good ol' days" so glad I got to see this game at its peak.

[@hunterxxkaleb9870]

so glad this popped into my suggested

[@duncan5318]

I don’t know how I never realised der riese is based off nightfire. Great video

[@Qwepzy]

They say the budget is smaller yet make over 2 mil a day on skins

[@mellin7049]

awesome video!

[@LightsJusticeZ]

Cold War's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th RBZ maps each used a map from the campaign as a starter base, but they did a great job and changing the layout around so it doesn't feel too similar.

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

I love WAW, i was max prestige on console and have about 300 hours on PC. Never noticed Verruct was taken from the campaign, when i was in my teens i really liked that they shared these maps. Made it feel like the whole game was set in an alternate universe compared to later CODs were zombies just went a bit mad

[@intonerpx2139]

Great video 👍👍!!

[@ChadKakashi]

Your voice is amazing. Also great video.

[@chouji112141]

I remember fixating on this as a kid. funny to see it all put in a video. thanks.

[@bradwinger8199]

i loved the re used maps i felt it gave zombies a feeling of familiar unfamiliarity, really set the atmosphere for me.

[@ToMAhawKSlIp]

its one thing to take a part of the campaign or multiplayer map n turn it zombies, theyre taking previous zombies maps n re releasing them. blood of the dead tag der toten shi no numa n the newest last map of the current cod.... waw bo1 bo2 gave us 4 orginal dlc maps errytime 😔

[@GSpot1998]

Awesome video very interesting

[@bakedwaffles420]

dont know why but this video just hits the spot as a OG zombies player

[@liar-888]

Good video man

[@SuperGoldfish96]

I loved the reuse, back when the map packs were still coming out my brother and I would look through the multi-player maps and guess which would lend themselves best to be the next zombie map. I personally believed the subway map would have made a good zombies map lol

[@fullnelson4986]

I used to do that on bo1 as a kid lol i thought firing range was gonna be a zombie map😭

[@ColeHurstFilm]

I never thought that it was a lack of budget or effort or anything when I saw the similarities, I actually thought it was cool seeing the reused assets. Gave the main game a connection to zombies, like a different timeline in the same space!

[@jbeezy31]

Your videos are too good for someone with low subs. Keep grinding.

[@tman7042]

Very interesting, you should cover five as well

[@Basarius]

Mmmm Creamatorium. I kid this is a great video. You have the voice of a game dev showing gameplay. Reminds me of the Assassin's Creed 3 gameplay trailers or Todd Howard with Oblivion or Fallout 3.

[@MZC3]

Honestly the argument of recycled maps has always intrigued me bc zombies has always partially been reused assets. However, it doesn’t mean we as a community should expect this 15-20 years into the franchise. It’s time for zombies to get the bump in resources much like bo4 originally had

[@BT0WN]

Great vid

[@deadkey5737]

Great video

[@masonvevo.]

You should do the rest of the CoD zombies games (: I know there’s not much left, so you can probably fit them all in one video

[@221Prohunter]

I would love to see more of these or an all-encompassing version of this video with the rest of the games! This was a really neat concept.

[@eeeddddddiiieee]

I’ve noticed that the zombies maps are reused but I had no issue with it at all. Thought it was kinda cool. It’s like we are all enemies but we have to join together to fight the zombies.

[@papadingo6975]

FINALLLY someone who notice how the og zombies are all just reused maps

[@hudsontarlow]

The Kino Der Toten theatre layout was also built upon the W@W campaign mission “Downfall”.

[@funnyfunnySHIT12345]

Would love these base maps made into like extended versions of the zombies maps. If I’m making any sense, I mean just leaving the map like Nightfall just as itself but add zombies, have all the rooms left alone and areas not blocked off and stuff. That’d be cool af. 🤷‍♂️

[@NG-vb3pb]

i think someone made a custom zombies map of castle back in the day. that was pretty cool to see.

[@funnyfunnySHIT12345]

@@NG-vb3pb hell yeah I remember that. And asylum since it’s in with the mod tools as well

[@parkerdavis7859]

If possible, I think it'd be cool if you talked about some of the other bits of reused map geometry from pre-Cold War. Those games are when the practice came into focus, but Rev and the BO4 Aether maps, as well as the constant re-appearance of the Nacht bunker in other games, warrant a closer look. Personally, Blood and Alpha Omega are the two of most interest to me. The former keeps so much of the old Mob layout basically untouched while adding or unblocking previously visible areas, minus the spawn area which seems to have been a from-scratch creation to fit with the zombies comic. The latter, on the other hand, adds so much to Nuketown to give Broken Arrow its own distinct feel, but the controversy surrounding the underground's area's usage in Blackout before the release of AO has poisoned the well on its added areas. Would love to hear your takes on those two, though this topic (especially BO1 reusage) have a lot of ground that could be covered.

[@b.r.207]

Damn, those final phrases bro, preach!

[@lmcgregoruk]

I remember playing Zombies after completing WAW, then wondering how I was always dying in low round numbers. Then I watched people online and they were getting to higher rounds than me, but getting hit like EIGHT or NINE times, and I was I get hit TWICE and I die, it took a while for me to realise that you need to get hit TWICE IN ONE ROUND, if you make it to the next round, your hits get reset to ZERO. This was on the original map, before they added vending machines for perks. Also Nacht Der Untoten felt small/cramped like the zombies had cornered you, then the last map to get released (for W@W) "Shi No Numa" was when you could really start kiting zombies/take your time, I remember playing multiplayer online and everyone looking in the sky for the light.

[@moritzpollich8252]

I might be wrong but the Nacht reminded me a lot of that airfield bunker in teg show the Pacific.

[@Skyline_r3496]

Idk why but the vibes and grittiness of world at war zombies is just different compared to the rest it had that scary , creepy vibe that made you uneasy along with the sounds and music used in the maps compared to bo1, bo2 or after

[@salutations6370]

The thing with world at war nach is that zombies was made for devs to have fun and later became an Easter egg game mode

[@bingisboy]

great video

[@joer.g8568]

Great video. I always remember like 5+ years ago thinking “why has no one made a video about the world at war zombie maps and their multiplayer versions”. Perhaps another type of video you could do could be comparing re-made maps in cod multiplayer. Would love to see a vid on something like the Banzai remake from black ops 3 and how it compares to the OG one in WAW

[@grimace9670]

God I’ve always loved how much more horror and metal waw’s zombies was and kino

[@Figureitoutpodcast]

There’s a campaign mission I think it’s the one where you start on the tank, you can see one part of shi no Numa

[@harrisonhuynh9452]

Kino Der Toten was also meant to be part of World at War. Wonder if that is a reused asset from World at War’s multiplayer or campaign?

[@parallelarms5645]

Good video. : )

[@3Guys1Video]

I just wanna say it’s not just the maps that were reused, but certain objects and weapon assets have been reused as well. You can see this especially in games like BO2, BO3 and BO4. Considering they only get a year to pump out all their map packs back in the day, it’s usually a way to save time just to remodel existing MP weapons instead spending all that time and miss deadlines to create something entirely new

[@awesomestevie27]

The campaign version of Verrückt feels hella creepy tbh for being really white

[@ceag8724]

Nice video! I didn't even know der riese was even from a multiplayer map, which I never got to play multiplayer other then a few times, I only stuck to zombies and the campaign 😎def earned a sub from me!

[@puorrojuice1390]

Cool video

[@esctheo]

would of been cool to see if kino der toten had any reused assets since it was supposed to be dlc for waw i think. cool vid anyway!

[@MarioTheLiopleurodon]

I wasbig into custom WaW zombies maps during the Yoteslaya days, and played a lot when I finally got WaW for myself. Once BO3 released I started playing that instead and even tried (unsuccessfully) making my own map of Camp Pendleton's "Las Pulgas" 43 Area, though I didn't code the door right so it takes your points without opening and quickly becomes impossible to play. I would love to see the zombies treatment to other parts of the WaW campaign and multiplayer map roster, with creative asset flips to "zombify" the maps like what they did with Nacht, Verruckt, and Der Riese. Perhaps the Reichstag building would be a good addition, maybe Shuri Castle. As much as I'd like to see these become a thing, I suck at modding/mapmaking and WaW custom zombies isn't nearly as popular as BO3 custom zombies anymore :(

[@goatkittie]

Hearing that the radio on Nacht is “unnecessary” hurt my heart.

[@ch4rlesiv115]

World at War also reused character models All of the four characters (not the nameless soldiers) are taken from the campaign Richtofen - General Amsel Nikolai - Chernov Takeo - Japanese Officer Dempsey - Polonsky

[@theGODZILLA150]

I always thought it was interesting that they changed the color of the shirt for Richtofen. Maybe they just wanted the crew to be a little more colorful

[@radacidskull6156]

You should do this with Bo1 and bo2 well all cod games that feature zombies to see what’s reused and what’s not 🙂 it’s very cool and fascinating

[@420Impeller]

Something I noticed that shows how much of some maps were pulled from the campaign is a particular group of sandbags in Verrückt. You can find them in the STG room, to the left of the door you open coming from Double Tap. In Ring of Steel they are opposite of where an MG placement is and can be knocked down down. In Verrückt you can knife them and they will also fall. No other objects in Verrückt do this. They even fall in BO1, but they don't in BO3.

[@lucifer2b666]

I learned recently WAW zombies maps in Blops 1 are legit just ports not remakes in any way. That's why many of the same glitches and mechanics like those sand bags you just mentioned work exactly the same. Interesting huh? While the Blops 3 versions are remakes, not ports.

[@420Impeller]

@@lucifer2b666 Yep, they're simply ports with probably some touched up texture work and new guns in the box. It annoys me when people say they're "the BO1 remasters" these maps have been out since game launch and it's been clear for 12 years they're not remasters.

[@awc6007]

WAW & BO1 zombies just hit different

[@anyau]

reused assets is great imo, keeps the immersions in the games universe, campaign levels being turned into multiplayer maps is great. not sure about zombies and its timelines, if campaign/multiplayer arenas were used if it would make sense

[@xoiDROCKiox]

Shi No Numa uses the circular hut from the campaign mission Semper Fi and the multiplayer maps Makin and Makin Day for the Storage Hut

[@Raven_Redacted]

I want to see this become a on going series. Just when you get to gorod, remember it uses assets from Vendetta from the bo3 campaign

[@joer.g8568]

Vendetta from the black ops 3 campaign?

[@golemofwill4728]

Asset flips are actually fine by me. I don't play campaign or multiplayer so I never notice it. I do think Vanguard literally reusing a previous map in the same season was very noticeable and lazy however. I kinda wish there was a zombies mode for each multiplayer map like Onslaught but that gives you the whole map and not just portions. I would love to see these for any other maps in the other games, I know five was a cut scene in the main campaign.

[@ghosttoast8610]

You plan on making this a series? This is quite a well done video and makes it a great watch

[@The_Drunken_Molotov]

To be honest, I didn't really mind about the sniper rifle in the cabinet at all. I was totally fine with that

[@Clwnanite]

God I miss when they reused maps. It made it feel more personal with the game

[@CalixtoGarciaIniguez1898]

They were fun maps, all modes

[@StudMacher96]

Hey “History repeats itself.”

[@FavoredPizza]

Same for bo1 in the campaign mission vorkuta the ho rah is reused form the beginning of the Russian missions in was

[@ccz6368]

In The setup hey bro i wanted to know how do u load your Sample guide into the packs in the browser?

[@puftproductions899]

I always thought Shi No Numa was based on some parts from the Relentless mission in campaign

[@blu4390]

i feel like der riese would've been way cooler if you just played on nightfire with some minor changes in order to make it feel more like zombies, that map looks cool as fuck

[@Bagster321]

We can forgive reusing assets when done well. Additionally, WaW introduced zombies so didn't have much to work with. Black Ops 1 reused less assets but kept it creative when doing so. But you'd expect much better from the 17th title in the series with 3x the budget.