Ready yourself for intense and constant gunplay: Alcatraz island is now a new standalone Blackout map available for free today on Xbox One as part of the Blackout Free Access.
After descending from your sky portal onto the notorious prison in San Francisco Bay, expect something a little different. Unlike the core Blackout experience, the action starts almost immediately. You only have a short amount of time to grab some equipment and begin tracking down enemies, avoiding the undead inhabitants shambling about this prison, and concentrating on almost-constant combat engagements.
Nowhere to Run, Everywhere to Hide
Developer Treyarch has ratcheted up the tension on this new map while reducing the player count and the size of the environment. This results in focused, immediate battles where there’s almost never time to rest. With 40 players in quad teams attempting to control strategically-important areas across the rock, expect a chaotic and action-packed outing from the moment you ditch your ‘chute!
Confined prisons, stepped courtyards, rocky cliffs, and dozens of dilapidated structures crammed with guns, gear, and ambush potential… matches are incredibly tense, filled with trepidation, and usually result in multiple takedowns in seconds, not minutes. With this in mind, games are usually over in 10 minutes, compared to 25-minute games with 100 players across the main Blackout map.
Know Your Environmental Overview: Look Down, Up, and Out
Whether you’re planning on using the cluster of tents and dilapidated dwellings at the Parade Grounds, battling for control of the Ruins, or taking refuge on the roof of the Cellhouse at the top of the rock, Alcatraz brings a new level of verticality to Blackout matches. Your trip around the island begins at sea level, with beaches, dotted islands, and rocky shores to investigate, and rusting ships, old docks, and abandoned field hospitals to navigate. Expect the aforementioned quarantine tents and apartment buildings to be brimming with gear, as well as enemies and the odd undead zombie or dozen.
Dart through, around, or under industrial warehouses, use scattered and overgrown bushes, and as you reach the northern tip of Alcatraz explore the derelict Powerhouse with its crumbling chimney. Then there’s the Cellhouse itself; a maze of interior cells on multiple floors, where the close quarters nature of combat, heightens the intensity.
The nine destinations of Alcatraz each have a distinct nature to them, but everywhere on the island there’s a sense you’re being watched by enemy players, from doorways, rooftops, rusting jail cells, ruined out-buildings, or even the top of a huge water tower. You’re never far away from opponents; so gaining the higher ground is a tactic players should consider.
New Blackout Map: New Battle Tactics
Immediate equipment gathering, and a reliance on twitch skills, close quarters combat, and constant movement to cover and gain higher ground are all aspects of Alcatraz you can choose to employ. You may find yourself holed up in a ransacked house, using a Barricade or Razor Wire to block a doorway or staircase while setting up an ambush for enemies who landed on the roof is one strategy to consider. Such barriers may protect you and your team, and if you find a Grapple Gun consider utilizing it to move swiftly through narrow corridors, or up to rooftops when your current location is compromised.
But don’t think Alcatraz is all about close quarters mayhem; players have numerous places to tag foes from. There are plenty of structures, rooftops, and cliff edges offering great sight lines all across the map.
Whatever you end up cramming into your backpack, and whatever your chosen tactics, the time is right to join the fight for Alcatraz!
The limited-time Blackout Free Access event ends April 30, 2019. Available now on Xbox One for Xbox Live Gold members.
