Call of Duty’s Blackout battle royale mode is getting a new map called Alcatraz tomorrow on PlayStation 4. This island locale has players fighting through a foggy, cramped environment. Like the real Alcatraz, a prison sits at the center of the rocky hill jutting out from the sea. Unlike the real Alcatraz, you can’t escape it, even if you recruit Sean Connery.
The Alcatraz map is the biggest addition to the content in Blackout since its launch. Players will have an option to play on Alcatraz or the original map. Treyarch is also promising that Alcatraz will require players to explore new styles of battle royale play. The studio expects that fans will have to use different strategies to succeed, and that could keep the action fresh.
While Alcatraz is hitting PlayStation 4 first, it should come to Xbox One and PC soon. Downloadable content for Black Ops 4 has typically taken about an extra week to hit other devices after PS4. This is due to Sony’s co-marketing arrangement with publisher Activision.
What to expect from Alcatraz
In reality, Alcatraz is a relatively tiny island. And that seems like the point for Treyarch. The original Blackout map is sprawling with lots of open spaces. A smaller map will force people into closer proximity at an early point in the action.
But you can also try to stick to exterior areas or to take advantage of higher ground. This still gives players the option for long-range engagements. But it seems likely that you will end up in scenarios where you have to go through the cellhouse.
And when you do, you’ll find Blackout stables like zombies waiting to chase you down.
Treyarch is also including its marketing spokesperson and actor Peter Stormare in the promotion of Alcatraz. The Swedish and American performer is best known for his role as a criminal in Fargo and a number of other Coen Brothers films. But he is also The Replacer in Call of Duty ads.
As The Replacer, he takes on your real-world responsibilities so you can keep playing more Call of Duty. In the trailer for the Alcatraz map, however, you can see him applauding from behind bars.
Treyarch added The Replacer as a playable character in Blackout on March 19. So that probably means he is not just wandering around Alcatraz even if that is something that Peter Stormare would seem like he would enjoy.
