With over 15 years of history, it’s no wonder that fans of Call of Duty Zombies are desperate for a standalone game. After all, it can be quite difficult for players to access all the Zombies content they want, as this requires them to have multiple consoles set up if they’re on PlayStation and several large Call of Duty games downloaded regardless of their platform of choice. As a result, the idea of having every Zombies experience ever released on one disc – complete with their unique weapons and features from the games they debuted in – is a very attractive premise.
Obviously, it would be great to see a standalone Call of Duty Zombies game, as it is easy to imagine it thriving long after release if Treyarch were to give it regular support like a mainline CoD. Having a platform for Call of Duty Zombies would allow newcomers to easily start from the beginning, keeping round-based Zombies relevant and avoiding any potential droughts when non-Treyarch games release. Sadly, with Raven Software’s leaked attempt at a standalone Zombies game falling through, it’s unlikely that Activision greenlights such a big undertaking anytime soon – meaning that the next best thing could be a much smaller Dead Ops Arcade bundle.
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Similar to how Call of Duty Zombies’ many maps are spread across a half-dozen games, Dead Ops Arcade’s various iterations are exclusive to certain Black Ops entries. The original Dead Ops was tied to the very first Black Ops, a 15-year-old release. Black Ops 3 housed the second iteration of Dead Ops, while DOA 3 can be found in Black Ops Cold War. With the original Black Ops being a lot less accessible than Black Ops 3 and Cold War, getting the full Dead Ops experience is easier said than done.
The original Dead Ops Arcade was hidden from players, too, as they had to do BO1’s main menu chair Easter egg and input a code in the terminal to gain access to it. As a result, many players may not have even known it exists.
Dead Ops Arcade is not a first-person shooter, outside of a power-up that allows players to briefly switch to Call of Duty’s default perspective. This means that it could appeal to an entirely different audience, as fans of retro games and twin-stick shooters like Housemarque’s older games would be more likely to love Dead Ops than those who purely play FPS titles. Because of this, it feels like Dead Ops is essentially trapped behind the major Black Ops titles, as it could thrive as a standalone experience. Hopefully, Treyarch and Activision eventually realize this potential, releasing every Dead Ops experience in a standalone digital bundle.
What Could a Standalone Dead Ops Bundle Look Like?
It’s fairly simple to imagine what an ideal Dead Ops Arcade standalone release would look like, as checking some or all of the items off this list would please many:
- A lower-than-usual asking price for a Call of Duty game, with $20 feeling like a sweet spot.
- New content, either in the form of Dead Ops Arcade 4 or fresh additions to each game.
- Trophy support, potentially with individual Trophy lists and achievements for each Dead Ops game.
- Full online and offline co-op support.
- The permanent first person mode and advanced start modes from Black Ops Cold War.
- Some kind of exclusive reward for whichever Call of Duty game the Dead Ops standalone releases in proximity of, likely a CoD Store bundle.
Though it would not be the standalone Call of Duty Zombies game many have dreamed of – and Dead Ops could just as easily have its own section in a comprehensive CoD Zombies game’s menu – the mode deserves a chance to reach a greater audience. With the current approach, Dead Ops’ player base will always be limited not only to buyers of Black Ops games, but the small fraction of those buyers who are willing to branch out and try a top-down, twin-stick shooter that is packed with mini-games. That’s a shame, as it’s always clear that Treyarch puts lots of love and care into every iteration of DOA. It deserves the largest player base it could possibly have, and a standalone Dead Ops Arcade Trilogy with a welcoming price tag and some proper marketing behind it could provide that boost.
