Melancholy

"The Earth has suffered, but has not perished as Ludvig Maxis had initially planned. Richtofen's Grand Scheme continues as the fragile balance of Earth is hung in the balance. With two new partners and a wide open world filled with the enraged undead, will Richtofen suceed or will his group stop him?"

- Level description

Melancholy is the twelth map in the Zombies series, set a few hours after the events of Moon on the dawn of the following day. It is set in Area 51 and continues the canon storyline, it has moved onto something known as the Dark Tears. Melancholy introduces numerous things to the Zombies universe.

Story
As Richtofen swapped souls with Samantha Maxis, Sam's father Ludvig enacted his own plan to stop Richtofen's Grand Scheme from becoming complete. Three rockets hit the Earth, annihilating Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern North America. Richtofen, however, anticipated this and invented a method of keeping the planet's atmosphere intact. A few hours after the Earth was damaged, two members of Group 935, Edwin Groph and Daniel Schuster. The original group was suspicous of them, but the two eventually teamed up. However, Groph and Schuster's intentions may not be pure as it was them who conspired with Richtofen and it was Groph who killed Ludvig Maxis. The original group decide to return to Earth to try and find a way to kill Richtofen without causing the planet to be incinerated.

Overview
The map starts in the Receiving Bay, specifically on the teleporter. An automated message says that the Teleporter is deactivated due to overuse and catastrophic breach of the facility. The entire facility is open with the exception of some minor buildings and towers. There are numerous Mystery Box spawns, aswell as five Pack-A-Punch Machines set out like a Square with a dot in it's centre. A Machine is in each corner, with the same one from Moon remaining in it's position.

The Hellhounds return, aswell as the Phasing Zombies and a new enemy known as The Technician. The special rounds return. This time they are randomised. There is a 50% chance that it will be a Hellround which plays out the same as in any previous map. There is a 40% that it will be a Phasing Zombie round were twenty Phasing Zombies teleport from the Moon and hunt down the players. There is a 10% chance that it will a Technician round. The Technician moves relatively quickly and causes electrical charges to travel underground and shock players who come into contact with it. The charges are revealed by blue lines glowing from underground to the surface as they move.

A new feature is the presence of permanent friendly AIs. The AIs are Edwin Groph and Daniel Schuster, previously heard in radios in Moon. They have been advanced beyond the capabilities of the Astronaut Zombies from Moon. The two often target Zombies closer to players, and they can be downed and can revive one another and the player. As such during solo Quick Revive has had it's effect changed to allowing the player to use their primary weapon when downed as the AIs remain in Solo. Zombies will also tend to go for players as opposed to the two. They obtain weapons off the walls and have goes of the Mystery Box as rounds progress, and will Pack-A-Punch if neccesary.

Wonder Weapons return, but scarcely. The Wave Gun, Quantum Entanglement Device, Ray Gun and Gersch Device return. They are accompanied by a new weapon, the Volt Injector. It is similair to the Technician's weapon, firing electronic currents underground, and shocking a large group of Zombies similair to an explosive when it comes into contact. Unlike the Wunderwaffe DG-2, it doesn't spread.

A new perk is introduced, known as Quick Gamble. It allows players to have a 10% chance of having a 10% discount on an item they can buy.

The map occasionly locks down areas, cutting players off from one another for five minutes until the walls re-open. This usually takes place when a Pack-A-Punch machine is used.

The players attire is always a Space Suit and cannot be changed.

Features

 * Area 51 opened
 * The Quick Gamble perk
 * The Volt Injector Wonder Weapon
 * Advanced AIs, coming in the form of Groph and Schuster
 * A new enemy, the Technician
 * A new system to the special rounds
 * A 'moving' map system

Trivia

 * Melancholy is a latin term of sadness.