Image: Treyarch and Raven Software / Brett Moss
I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love arena shooters, MMOs, and MOBAs, but I'll pretty much try any kind of game.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
Area 99 is an exciting new map that’s much smaller than most Warzone maps. However, there are still a bunch of options for where to drop in and start the game. From the huge reactor area in the middle to all the little open zones surrounding it, you have plenty of options. In this article I’ll take a look at three great spots to start your Area 99 run at, as well as a couple you might want to avoid. But first, a quick overview of Area 99 and the Resurgence game mode accompanying it!
Area 99 – Resurgence Overview
Area 99 is the newest map in Warzone. It’s a smaller map themed after a nuclear test site that was eventually abandoned due to a reactor failure. Area 99 is in the desert surrounded by tons of buildings you’d expect at a nuclear test site. There’s a reactor, pods for scientists to live in, warehouses, and plenty more. But even though it is a smaller map, there’s still an abundance of long range action. The balance between these indoors areas and sprawling open zones is great, and really allows you to use any kind of weapon effectively.
The game mode Resurgence fits Area 99 perfectly, as the small nature of the map makes it as chaotic as you’d hope for from this game mode. Resurgence allows players to spawn back in after dying, as long as a teammate is still alive after a short waiting period. To wipe a team out, you’ll need to kill all of them before this respawn happens. It’s a nice mixture of the chaotic nature of BO6 multiplayer and the more general strategy of Warzone.
Pods
The Pods are arguably the best spot for close-range fighting that’s not also extremely dangerous. My favorite thing about the Pods area is how open it is. You can jump from pod to pod and escape easily if needed, and there’s some of the best loot locations you could hope for inside of the pods. It’s easy to get all the weapons you’re hoping for here, as long as you can avoid the other people who drop here since it is a pretty popular spot.
At Pods, I highly recommend cooperating with your team to clear each pod before just running in. As a counter to how nice it is to be able to escape them easily, it’s very open to long range attacks. Obviously, this can be a problem. You’ll want to make sure you have nearby teammates to help if you get sniped. But on the bright side, it’s usually not hard to get out of harm’s way when you get downed. Just watch out for all the others here and you’ll be able to get prime loot before leaving to go clear out either Manufacturing or attack the Reactor with all that loot.
Pods is pretty far off to the side of the map, so you will have to worry about the circle. But since this isn’t really a spot you’ll want to stay in throughout the whole game or set up camp, that’s not a huge worry. And since Area 99 isn’t a big map, it’s easy to get to wherever the game forces you to go when it’s time. Pods heavily benefits from the respawning in Resurgence. It’s not uncommon to get taken out from someone right behind you even after you clear your pod, but respawning is constant, so it’s not a huge concern in this game mode.
Cooling Towers
Cooling Towers are a set of three towers near the center of the map. I personally love this as a drop spot because of how easily accessible other important areas are, as it’s right by the Reactor area in the middle and overlooks pretty much everything near it.
The appeal of Cooling Towers is how it offers a fantastic high ground where you can get easy long-range kills. There’s a decent number of rooms with loot down below, as well as numerous loot caches up top. It’s not too hard to get a sniper and a decent SMG or AR to back it up, and once you do you’ll be in a great position to get long-range kills, even including people over near the Reactor and nearby areas.
Since it’s a small area, you don’t have to worry about as many people as at Reactor or Manufacturing. You also have a good view of the people dropping back into the map after respawning. If you’re good enough with Snipers or LMGs, it’s not too hard to kill them before they even land. If your team can establish dominance of the Cooling Towers, you’ll have an easy time just chilling up there until the circle forces you to move.
Since Cooling Towers is near the map’s center, you don’t have to worry much about bad luck with the circle. And if you get lucky enough to be near the edge of it, you’ll have a perfect spot to camp and take out people trying to get into the safe zone.
Manufacturing / Warehouse
The Manufacturing and Warehouse areas are two of my favorite large buildings to start at. I’m including both of them here since they’re right by each other and are very similar, so there’s no real need to split them up. There’s plenty of open areas around these buildings, so you’re not limited at all. There’s tons of loot, plenty of high-up areas to survey your surroundings from, and lots of people to chase down. That is one downside, though. This tends to be a popular spot, and since it’s connected via several rooftops/bridges, it’s easy to get spotted.
Manufacturing and Warehouse are pretty generic battle royale locations, but I don’t mind that. They aren’t really much more than just a few buildings with lots of rooftop battles, but they’re still good starting points. From Warehouse you can easily make your way over to Manufacturing. Then you’ll have a good view of nearby areas, as well as Reactor to finish off fights happening over there. Just don’t feel like you’ve ever got an area locked down here, because there’s always someone lurking behind you.
Some Places to Avoid
While there are a lot of good places to drop, there are also some I’d avoid (at least early on). Here’s a quick overview of two of them.
Reactor: Since it’s the middle of the map, Reactor attracts the most attention. There’s a lot of loot in there, but it’s not worth it right at the start. Unless you have a very confident team, I just don’t recommend going here early. The circle will probably force you in that direction at some point anyway, so wait until later to check it out.
Loading Bay: Loading Bay is just not worth the trouble. There are too many areas where people can snipe you from afar, and not enough loot. It’s an extremely chaotic area, and it’s just not worth your time.
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