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Having seemingly exhausted its supply of character-orientated gimmicks – personally I really wanted to see Ronald McDonald as a playable character – Invasion has instead applied this thinking to three of its four maps. Each comes with level-specific environmental hazards and a certain theme.
Mutiny, a square-ish arena filled with ambush-ready corners and different levels that make sniping a legitimate strategy, features a pirate ship. Pharaoh is set in dusty tombs and catacombs, (it’s also reminiscent of Ruins from the Devastation DLC), and features bugs that can obscure the player’s vision. It’s a large stage that also encourages sniping (the main courtyard being a great, if obvious spot), and thanks to the cramped locations of A and B it’s a good Search and Rescue pick.
Departed is the last of the new additions, and is set at the Mexican Day of the Dead festival. It’s a good map, mixing room-clearing action with good lines of sight for keeping objectives locked down. Blitz and Search and Rescue are particularly suited to Departed, and on the whole it’s an enjoyable place to play.
Invasion’s returning map is Modern Warfare 2’s Favela. Not the strongest offering in that game, it’s no better here. That’s not to say it’s bad, what with it boasting good running routes and plenty of places for a strong team to box the other in (the B flag in Domination, right in the middle of the map and only really accessible via narrow corridors, springs to mind), but it’s not the greatest.
Rounding out the package is the third Extinction map, Awakening. Throwing you straight into the action in the alien stronghold, it’s a far more immediate experience than before, chucking hordes of powerful enemies at you from the start. As with its Zombies equivalent, good teamwork is vital to progression. It’s just as tense and exciting as before, but the quick start also means that it feels like it peaks too early.
All told, Invasion is a perfectly serviceable DLC offering.
Version Tested: Xbox One
