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Creek
This is where things get really exciting. Not only does Creek not look like any other map in COD4, but it also plays completely differently. It’s going to add a hell of a lot to the multiplayer game when it gets released.
But first things first. It’s one of the best-looking areas in Call Of Duty 4, and we’re including all of campaign mode in that statement. Lusher than an undersea rainforest, Creek’s blue, green and grey colour palette and sunlit sky gives it a fresh and airy feel unlike any other multiplayer map. It’s awash with vegetation; carpeted with deep grass and populated with slim trees which snake out of its sloping surface everywhere you look. It also has a rather pretty waterfall and splash pool, which we were actually disappointed to find didn’t have a secret cave behind it. Videogames have conditioned us to expect these things, you see.
The top-most area of Creek is vaguely reminiscent of Overgrown with its rural landscape and tumbledown farm buildings, but straying away from that point rapidly reveals just why this map is so damn cool. A wide, open slope gets gradually steeper until breaking off into a very-deep-and-narrow-indeed stone gully. There are a few rocky paths straight back up and a couple of shallow, meandering ledges that climb the valley wall on the opposite side, as well as a ladder up to a wooden platform. Part of the chasm leads into a short network of tunnels and back out into the sunlight on the other side.
There’s just something incredibly organic and free flowing about playing on Creek. It might sound like a glorified version of Overgrown’s river bed on paper, but its altitude variations are immensely bigger and much more dramatic. It might sound like a ghillie-suit camp-fest, but like most COD4 maps it’s balanced so that that approach is not without its risks. The wide, progressive curve of the landscape opens up stacks of variation in sniping spots, but also leaves snipers exposed to the more observant quarry and makes sure that an uphill fight is never impossible. It might sound focussed around one major feature and lacking in variety, but there’s actually more than enough going on. The caves provide both a great escape route from the valley and a really fun area in and of themselves. The contrast against the rolling countryside is refreshing, and the potential for ambushes and messy grenade action is obvious immediately. And if you get bored of all of the new stuff, you can always just go back up to the top for some traditional farmhouse assault action.
Mark our words. Creek is going to be big in Call Of Duty 4 multiplayer. Very big indeed. When we play our first Domination match on it our lives may well become complete.
