More than ever, first-person shooters are defined by their online capabilities rather than their single-player stories. Sure, there's the occasional maverick like BioShock, and Call of Duty gave us a couple of good campaigns back in the day, but even Activision is now toying with the idea of making the series online-only in the future. More than ever, gamers are being drawn to pure shooters based on the quantity and quality of their online maps, rather than how good a story they tell. And man, have multiplayer maps changed since their inception in the 90s - going from futuristic, jump pad-filled arenas to accurate recreations of Middle-Eastern warzones. There is no such thing as the 'perfect' multiplayer map, with different ones catering for different gameplay styles - ranging from bombed-out urban cityscapes designed tanks, choppers and infantry, to tight, twitchy arenas filled with lethal choke-points, right the way through to meteorites with two seemingly ancient fortresses built into them. But over the years, only a handful of maps have gone down in legend - offering players the most memorable experiences, nostalgic memories, and countless hours spent joyously racking up the frags. Here are 15 of the greatest multiplayer maps of all time.
12. Crash - Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
With the relentless number of maps across the Call of Duty series, it wasn't easy sifting through them all to pick out the very best. But the relatively small-sized Crash from Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 manages to take the prize thanks to its tight design that always had you on your toes. It's a fiendish mix of rubble-strewn middle-eastern streets, hollowed-out houses, and choke points. Like so many great multiplayer maps, particular attention has been paid to verticality here, and the multiple layers offered by the houses of varying heights provide plenty of unconventional sniping spots. Crash captures all that people love (and others hate) about Call of Duty's multiplayer - tense, relentlessly fast-paced, yet deceptively tactical at the best of times.
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
