As part of Sledgehammer's continuing commitment to showing us they still care about traditional multiplayer, we're getting a whopping three new maps with Season 2. One of them is massive, one of them tiny, and one of them looks like it was designed for competitive.
With the launch of MW3 Season 2 we're getting three new multiplayer maps. One of them looks quite forgettable, but the other two look like they could be very popular. Here is a complete overview of the maps, including a few in-game images and the tac-map for each,
If you want to dive right into these when Season 2 begins, we expect the MW3 playlist update from that week will give us a 24/7 playlist for all three.
Warzone & MWIII Season 2 will launch on Wednesday, February 7. The season should last for about two months, ending in mid-April. You can find the exact global start times for Warzone & MWIII Season 2 here.
MW 3 Season 2 Multiplayer Maps: One Big, One Small, One Balanced
The three new maps coming in MW3 Season 2 have been quite well selected, at least in so far as they provide variety. Departure is massive, which sadly means it will be less popular, Stash House is tiny and so, conversely, we expect it to be an instant hit, while Vista is somewhere between the two.
But Vista isn't just a mid-sized map, it looks far more balanced and deliberate than we normally expect in CoD. So much so that we could see Vista enter the competitive map rotation, but more on that further down. First, let's take a look at the maps.
Departures
This is Departures, which we think is SHG's "answer" to Terminal:
This could be cool as a Warzone location, but it's going to feel huge for 6v6. We're also slightly concerned by what looks like too many open areas.
Stash House
Now, this is going to be a fun map. It's a tiny, one level map, that should be perfect for grinding and when you're bored with Shipment. Much like Season 1's Meat.
You just know people are going to try and use the hot tub as a head glitch.
Vista
Certainly the most intriguing of the bunch, this is Vista, which we suspect is the competitive map the devs were rumored to be working on.
If they don't mess this with up with poor Hardpoint/Bomb Site placements or bad spawns, we think this has potential to be the best map in Modern Warfare 3 so far.
Will any of these maps make it into Ranked Play or the CDL?
We firmly believe that the devs will try to get Vista into the competitive map rotation, however, they will need the sign-off of the pro players first. Ranked Play emulates the rules of the CDL as closely as possible, but the pros need to agree to any midseason changes, like a new map being added.
In this case, we think the pros are likely to let the map in. The devs have clearly designed Vista to be competitive, and they've specifically created a map here that should benefit SMGs (almost no very long lines of sight, more potential routes around the map, and very few open areas). The current map pool heavily favors ARs, so this would be a healthy addition.
In regard to Departure and Stash House, the former is much too big, and the latter is much too small.