Activision Details ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Dynamic Pre-Order Bonus Map

Of the several features in Call of Duty: Ghosts that Activision highlighted during its May unveiling — features that, while some gamers weren’t sold, are meant to embody the series’ leap into the next generation — online multiplayer’s dynamic maps may have one of the larger impacts on actual gameplay, interjecting matches with “events” that alter the landscape, forcing players to adapt their strategies around a constantly evolving environment.

One example of this that Activision cited was a flood rushing into a map mid-session. Today, announcing a free map as a perk for pre-ordering Call of Duty: Ghosts, the publisher has detailed yet another instance of jeopardizing geometry: the inside of a slowly collapsing skyscraper.

Bonus maps as pre-order perks aren’t new to Call of Duty — Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 offered its preliminary adopters access its Nuketown 2025 map last year — but shape-shifting, precipitously-falling-down-to-Earth maps? Quite another story. Activision says its new level, entitled Free Fall, “drops players into a shattered skyscraper on the brink of collapse.”

From there, metaphorically speaking, it’s all downhill:


“Sideways staircases climb into the night sky, elevator shafts run along the ground, and what were once windows now form a terrifying glass floor, hundreds of feet above the city streets. Free Fall’s close-quarters combat and frenetic action are then thrown into overdrive as the ruined skyscraper continues to fall throughout the match. With every drop, the accompanying shockwaves cause further destruction, disrupting sightlines and constantly evolving paths and chokepoints as the map changes in real-time.

According to Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin, dynamic map events like the ones built into Free Fall are meant to encourage players to think strategically, “on the fly.” They’re also one of the many new features the develope plans to unveil within the coming weeks:


“Dynamic map events change the way players approach the game, and Free Fall does a great job illustrating this new mechanic. As the match progresses, the geometry of the world continues to change and players need to adjust on the fly or else. It’s a really fun new feature that adds layers of strategy and constantly evolving gameplay options for players. And this is just one of the many new approaches we’re putting into Ghosts’ multiplayer across the board. There’s so much more that we look forward to sharing in the weeks to come.”

With July 2 marking the Xbox 360 release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2‘s final DLC pack, “Vengeance” (PlayStation 3 owners will receive access to the content in August), expect the marketing campaign for Ghosts to come alive in full. The game had a reliabliy solid outing at E3 2013, showing off three levels of its single-player campaign. But for the first time since Call of Duty exploded as a gaming, even pop cultural, phenomenon, the series will have to compete with publicity of two next-generation console releases — not to mention the plethora of exciting launch titles that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have already lined up.

Ranters, will Free Fall, dynamic multiplayer maps and the rest of Call of Duty: Ghosts new, next-genish features entice you to buy in on the franchise’s tenth installment?

Call of Duty: Ghosts releases November 5, 2013 for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U. The game will also hit the PS4 and Xbox One, but an official release date has yet to be issued for either one.

–