Box art
Background
Though it had been hinted at many times, Nazi Zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops was officially confirmed on September 30, 2010. A special container containing the four Call of Duty: World at War Zombie maps is included in the Hardened and Prestige editions of the game. The game continues follow the Nazi Zombie storyline that was hinted at during Verruckt, Shi No Numa, and Der Riese. There are new weapons that are featured in Nazi Zombies.
Zombie Maps
There are six basic Nazi Zombies maps in Call of Duty: Black Ops called Kino der Toten, "Five", Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri-La, and Moon. Ascension was released in the DLC "First Strike,"Call of the Dead was released in the DLC "Escalation," Shangri-La was released in the DLC "Annihilation", Moon was released in the DLC "Rezurrection." The four original maps from Call of Duty: World at War were also included in the Hardened and Prestige editions and in the DLC " Rezurrection." There is also an arcade-like game called Dead Ops Arcade.
Kino Der Toten
Kino Der Toten (German for "Theater of the Dead") takes place in an old, abandoned German theater. Kino Der Toten continues the Nazi Zombie storyline from Call of Duty: World at War by teleporting Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki, and Doctor Edward Richtofen from Der Riese, a factory in Germany, in 1946 to the so mentioned theater above in the 1960s. This map features several original appliances from Call of Duty: World at War such as the Electro Shock Barrier and the MP40. However, many new things appear. The most notable are the new weapons. Weapons from the Cold War era such as the Commando, Dragunov, RPK, and many more replace World War II weapons. The Ray Gun makes its reappearance again as well, but a new Wonder Weapon named the Thunder Gun replaces the old Wonder Weapon the Wunderwaffe DG-2. Monkey Bombs also make a reappearance in this map. Also a new power-up called Fire Sale makes its first appearance in this map as well. Teleporters and the Pack-a-Punch Machine also make another appearance here. However there is only one Teleporter and it sends you to the Pack-a-Punch Machine in a balcony that is free of zombies. It is free to teleport however the Teleporter must be linked to the mainframe after every use. The regular Zombies and semi-new Hellhounds are the primary enemy, but a new type of zombie called the Crawler Zombies makes its debut here. Hidden in different sections of secluded rooms that can only sometimes be reached after being teleported out of the room containing the Pack-a-Punch Machine are film reels that can be collected to put together a movie that is shown on the large movie screen that rolls down after the power is turned on. Also the original Perk-a-Colas (Juggernog, Speed Cola, Quick Revive, and Double Tap Root Beer) make their reappearance in Kino Der Toten with the original prices. A new feature in Solo modes Quick Revive will put the player into Last Stand and will allow them to use dual wield upgraded Colt M1911s (unless you have a different pistol or Ray Gun) also the price of the Perk-a-Cola is reduced to 500 points. After a short while (about the time it takes to revive a player on split-screen or multi-player mode without Quick Revive) the player is revived but all Perk-a-Colas including Quick Revive must be repurchased, you can also purchase it while the power is off. Be aware that after three uses, the machine will disappear for the rest of the match. When you are not playing solo the Quick Revive Perk-a-Cola costs 1500 points and requires the power to be turned on.
Five is a zombie map that takes place in the Pentagon; it is unlocked by completing the Story or unlocking it via the terminal. It features the Pentagon Thief, Winter’s Howl, teleporters, and the DEFCON switches.
Dead Ops Arcade
Dead Ops Arcade is an arcade-like game that is only unlocked by going to the CIA Database Terminal and first entering "BO", hitting enter then typing "DOA" and pressing "enter". Dead Ops Arcade is a twin-stick, top-down shooter that is similar to the regular Nazi Zombies game mode. The objective is similar: survive limitless waves of zombies. The regular weapons from Kino der Toten and "Five" make their appearance, but with some differences to some weapons. Throughout the map there are bars of gold that the players can collect that give them treasure (replacing points). The characters in this map are unknown.
Ascension
Ascension is a map that was released with the First Strike Map Pack. Ascension takes place in an abandoned Soviet cosmodrome in the 1960s. Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki, and Edward Richtofen are the characters. This map is unique as it introduces various new weapons, including the Gersch Device and Matryoshka Dolls. Along with these new weapons, two new Perks called Stamin-Up and PhD Flopper make their opening appearance here. All the original Cold War era weapons are included in this map. Space Monkeys replace the Hellhounds and Pentagon Thief, and attempt to break Perk-a-Cola machines. Gas Zombies do not appear in this map. A utility called the Lunar Lander also makes a debut. The Lunar Lander transports to player to a different part of the map in a unique way. An addition to zombies has been made: they are now Russian and possibly German soldiers and scientists possibly from the Ascension Group. This map and the map Five also take place at the same time due to the fact that you can hear the characters from Five via the red phones.
Call of the Dead
Call of the Dead is the map that continues the Nazi Zombies storyline in the Escalation map pack. This map features a "zombie-killing dream team" composed of Danny Trejo, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, and Michael Rooker. The four also save the original four characters, who had somehow teleported into a locked vault, by teleporting them to an unknown location called Paradise, which now appears to be the Shangri-La map (see next heading for more info). There is also two new Wonder Weapons, called the V-R11 that turns zombies into humans and the Scavenger, and explosive sniper rifle. Also, yet another new boss replaces the Hellhounds, George A. Romero. However, Romero is on the map at all times until killed, and does not count to a round's normal count of Zombies, effectively meaning that Romero will reach you in a while and force you to leave the camping spot you are trying to use, making camping even more difficult in a map that many say was never meant for camping. Once you kill Romero he will drop a death machine drop, but actually it could be the Wunderwaffe DG-2, But only if the player who killed him has done the Easter egg. You will be able to use it until you run out of ammo. Also when you kill Romero you will receive a free perk-a-cola. If you kill Romero enough you can get all the perks on that map.
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a map that continues the Nazi Zombies storyline in the Annihilation map pack. Set in an ancient temple isolated in an exotic jungle, this map features the first ever female zombies, along with male Vietnamese zombies. The Bowie Knife and Monkey Bomb appear for the first time since "Five”. It has a plethora of new enemy types. Whenever a power-up appears, Zombie Monkeys (not to be confused with Ascension's Space Monkeys) appear and try to steal it. When the monkey gets it, it will change the power-up constantly while it carries it, which could allow a lot of good luck. For example, Double Points becoming something like a free perk Bottle or a Fire Sale. However caution is required when dealing with the monkeys, as they will escape with your ever-changing perk if not killed before escaping to outside the map. Another new enemy type is the Napalm Zombie. When one spawns, it comes out of the ground; the spot it will rise is marked by a patch of flames. It will walk around slowly, following players until it either kills them or they kill it. Whenever it hits a player it inflicts fire damage. It is also much tougher than a normal Zombie to kill. Napalm Zombies explode quite violently upon death, so it is safest to stay FAR away from the Napalm Zombie when you kill it. This map also debuts the Shrieker Zombie. Shriekers come out of the ground as well. However, once it is out, it will sprint after players (much like zombies in Verruckt and in Call of the Dead). When it reaches someone, it will literally shriek, which will stun the player. Neither Shriekers nor Napalm Zombies count as normal Zombies, which means that keeping a crawler has its risks, as you may still be attacked by a Shrieker or a Napalm Zombie
The map also introduces the 31-79 JGb215, which is a shrink ray gun. When it hits a zombie, they humorously shrink, and their "voices" become higher-pitched. Walk up to a shrunk zombie to step on it.
Moon
Taking place in Area 51 and on the moon itself, this map is a challenge for all players. Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki, and Edward Richtofen return as playable characters, as well as being able to play as Samantha Maxis as part of an Easter egg. Two new Wonder Weapons make their debut: the Zap Gun Dual Wield/Wave Gun Combo and the Quantum Entanglement Device, with the Gersch Device replacing the Monkey Bomb from other maps. Two new pieces of equipment also make their debut: the P.E.S. and the Hacker device. The P.E.S. allows the player to survive in areas which have no oxygen, while the Hacker device allows the player to hack various objects and to produce a wide assortment of effects such as hacking doors, windows, the mystery box, the Pack-a-Punch, etc. Two new Zombies are featured in this map: the Astronaut Zombie and the Phasing (Crawler) Zombie; the Astronaut Zombie will walk around slowly, teleporting the player randomly to places they have opened and also taking a perk, while the Phasing Zombies are an advanced version of the Crawler Zombies, which can teleport short distances towards the player. Phasing Zombies have less health than Crawler Zombies, whereas the Astronaut Zombie has massive health, similar to the Napalm Zombie and Romero