That was vanilla Nazi Zombies. Verrückt changes things up a bit by dividing the players (the mode offers co-op play for up to four players) into two teams at the start of the game, with a maximum of two players on each team. The location is an asylum (those who’ve played CoD: WaW‘s multiplayer will recognise the map, which is simply called Asylum in the map listing) which is without power, and it’s up to the teams to make their way through the building in order to turn the power back on. Once the power has been restored, the other new features of the map become apparent.
Scattered around the level are “perks-a-cola” machines, which are essentially vending machines that provide the player with life-saving perks in exchange for cash. The four vending machines come in the following flavours: Jugger-Nog, Double Tap, Speed Cola, and Revive Soda. These provide Juggernaut (an increase to your health means you can take more hits from zombies), Double Tap (higher rate of fire for all weapons), Sleight of Hand (faster reloading of weapons), and quicker reviving of teammates, respectively. Double Tap and Sleight of Hand are the more offensive perks, and they serve to make the game’s vanilla weapons more effective in the later rounds. The other two perks are defensive in nature, ensuring that players can more effectively recover from catastrophic circumstances. The perks add an entirely new dynamic to the game, and they give players something to spend their hard-earned cash on in the later rounds when the money is flowing freely. The downside is that, because these perks are scattered all around the map, you’ll have to work closely with your team to gain access to them in the late game. The perks stack, so you can have multiple perks equipped at the same time. They don’t last forever though: if the zombies manage to take you down, you’ll lose any perks that you’ve acquired.
- The dreaded teddy bear
All this new goodness is topped off by the fact that the magic box occasionally explodes and moves to a new location, forcing players to keep their strategies dynamic if they plan to stay near the box to play for the ever-elusive Ray Gun (the most powerful weapon in the game, which only ever pops up once in a while during the box’s random weapon generation). Just a word of warning: if a teddy bear pops up when you use the box, be prepared to change location, because the box is going to move to another random location somewhere on the map.