Fans of Treyarch’s Call of Duty Zombies story have been quick to criticize the shift to Operators, as though it is nice to have access to numerous cosmetics to wear, few feel like it is worth the cost of losing character conversations and protagonists with distinct personalities. Though it remains to be seen if Treyarch will address this criticism, if it does, the first map in the next Call of Duty Zombies mode already has a perfect cast for Treyarch to turn into playable characters.
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The Next CoD Zombies Map Can Let Players Control Requiem
At the end of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Forsaken map, Samantha is trapped in the Dark Aether while Eddie is revealed to be the director of Requiem. The core members of Requiem, Dr. Grey, Carver, Weaver, and Dr. Strauss are arrested, with Peck planning to rescue the characters from whatever prison they are held in. Funnily enough, four named characters are set to be rescued, ensuring that the Requiem characters could make for a perfect Zombies cast.
The next Call of Duty Zombies map could open with Peck breaking out these four characters, all of which are more interesting than the generic Operators players controlled in Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard. It is easy to imagine the potential interactions between them, as Grey and Strauss can talk about science, Carver and Weaver can bond over their military experience, and Grey and Weaver can talk about how they were both close with Sam.
With these characters having functioned as voices for the CRBR-S Wonder Weapon, Treyarch has already proven that they would be able to deliver one-liners like Primis, Ultimis, or Victis. The kind-hearted Grey could get distracted like Nikolai (only by science instead of drinking), Carver can deliver classic soldier voice lines resembling Dempsey, Weaver can be focused like Takeo, and Strauss could be the closest thing to an unhinged character like Richtofen. With Call of Duty Zombies also being a four-player co-op mode, Treyarch has given itself the perfect potential cast for a new Zombies map.
Though the reason for the Operator switch was so Call of Duty Zombies fans would be motivated to purchase cosmetic bundles from Call of Duty’s in-game shop, that would not need to go away with this dedicated cast. Treyarch could offer plenty of Zombies-themed bundles for these four characters, and players could use them within multiplayer or Call of Duty: Warzone 2 whenever they please. Before each match, players could lock themselves in to their character of choice, with only one of each Requiem member allowed per match so that the storytelling is not negatively impacted.
Ultimately, Treyarch’s goal with its next Call of Duty Zombies mode should be restoring its personality. More ambitious maps like Der Eisendrache and Origins are a starting point, and the return of unique, map-specific Zombies HUDs could be beneficial. A playable Zombies cast that players are invested in and that helps further the story is the most important thing of all, though, as it is the main thing that was missing from Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard. Fortunately for Treyarch, Forsaken’s ending has set up four perfect heroes for the next Call of Duty Zombies experience, and it would be strange to not take advantage of the opportunity.
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