Ascension

"The risen dead have overtaken a Soviet Cosmodrome and all Hell has broken loose. The countdown to the zombie apocalypse has begun."

- Ascension level description Ascension is the eighth Zombie map that appears in the Call of Duty series, which was released on February 1, 2011 for Call of Duty Black Ops on the Xbox 360 and will be released on March 3, 2011 on the PS3, the end of March for the PC but unannounced for the Wii. It takes place in an abandoned Soviet Cosmodrome. The map includes Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki, and Edward Richtofen and includes new weapons like the Gersch Device and Matryoshka Dolls, as well as new perks such as PhD Flopper and Stamin-Up. A new enemy, called space monkeys, also appears in this map, replacing the Hellhounds or Pentagon Thief (in the case of Five). Also a new power-up is available.



Off-Wall Weapons:

 * M14 - Centrifuge Floor 1
 * Olympia - Centrifuge Floor 2
 * MPL - Stair way
 * PM63 - Stair way
 * MP5K - Lunar Lander D
 * AK-74u - Outside Lunar Lander F
 * Stakeout - Outside Power Room
 * M16 - Lunar Lander B
 * Claymore - Lunar Lander F
 * Sickle (Replaces regular Knife & Bowie Knife) - Lunar Lander B
 * Grenade - Lunar lander D

Mystery Box Weapons
Power-Up Weapons:
 * Dragunov
 * CZ75 (single or Dual Wield)
 * Commando
 * SPAS-12
 * AUG (Swarovski Scope)
 * FAMAS
 * Galil
 * L96A1
 * China Lake
 * Ballistic Knife
 * Crossbow
 * Spectre
 * G11 (Low Power Scope)
 * FN FAL
 * HK21
 * HS10
 * RPK
 * M72 LAW
 * Ray Gun
 * Thundergun
 * Matryoshka Doll
 * Gersch Device
 * Death Machine

Chained Doors

 * Centrifuge Floor 1 - Door (750)


 * Centrifuge Floor 2 - Door (750)


 * Stairwell Floor 3 / Base Level - Door (1250)


 * Lunar Lander B [ Б ] Access Door (1250)


 * Lunar Lander D [ Д ] Access Gate (1250)


 * Lunar Lander F [ Ф ] Access Gate (1000)


 * Lunar Lander F [ Ф ] Access Door (1250)


 * Pack-A-Punch Access Gate (1250)


 * Power Room Door (1000)


 * Power Room Gate (1250)
 * To gain entry to the Pack-a-Punch Machine, all lunar landers' landing pads must be used. Once a player has ridden all three back to the Centrifuge Room, the player can activate the rocket by pressing the button to the right of the power switch. After the rocket has taken off, the large door concealing the launch area will open and the Pack-a-Punch Machine will be to the right. It costs 5000 points as usual. Unlike Kino der Toten and Five, players can stay in the Pack-a-Punch room for as long as they like. There are two barricades in the Pack-a-Punch room to make camping there harder.

Perks
Ascension features two new perks, both costing 2000 points. However, Double Tap Root Beer does not make an appearance. Each player can only have four perks at a time, with the exception of already having four and obtaining the bottle power up to obtain five perks at once. Therefore it is possible to obtain all 5 perks as viewed here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGRqjotTKWw.


 * PhD Flopper; located outside near the Lunar Lander launch pad that has the Fragmentation Grenades. This perk makes the player drop a small 'nuke' when diving to prone (almost anything above flat ground). The 'nuke' kills all nearby zombies. In addition, the player absorbs any explosive damage done to the player, including Ray Gun's splash damage, fragmentation grenades and Matryoshka Dolls.


 * Stamin-Up; located near the AK-74u, towards another Lunar Lander launch pad. This perk gives the player increased movement speed, similar to Marathon or Lightweight. Since Ascension is a rather large map, it is more useful than one might think, especially during Space Monkey rounds where a player may have to get to a Perk-a-Cola machine that is being attacked.

Radios
See main page: Ascension Radios

Space Monkeys
Space monkeys are in fact the hellhound and Pentagon Thief round replacement. Similar to how the Pentagon Thief has the ability to steal a player's weapon, space monkeys have the ability to remove player's perks. This is done not by directly stealing a perk, as is the case with weapon stealing with the doctor, rather, the space monkeys navigate their way to one of the Perk-a-Cola machines that any player may have. They seem to attack the first perk from each player, so if a player has Quick Revive first they will mostly go after that perk machine. Players can tell which perk machine is being attacked by paying attention to their perk symbols, at the bottom left of the screen; while a perk machine is under attack its respective symbol will begin pulsating. Also, the player's character will note what perk the monkeys are stealing. It is recommended that the team split up to individual perk machines and defend the machines depending on their first perk. When playing solo, it is best to defend the perk most valued at the time. After the monkeys temporarily disable the machine all players with the perk will be subject to lose the disabled perk. Defending the perk machine under attack by killing the monkeys is the only way to prevent the perk loss. Also, after the death of the last monkey, just like with the Pentagon Thief and hellhound rounds, a max ammo drops; however, a new power-up drops as well, which assigns a random perk to each player in the party. The new powerup only appears if you finish the monkey round without ANY damage to the perk machines you made purchases from. They will attack players from a few feet away by jumping on the ground, which is like being near a Gas Zombie's explosion, also they hit the player normally when close. Be careful while throwing grenades at monkeys as they can and will throw them back at you. Space monkeys will also willingly jump into the black holes caused by the gersch device

Node Puzzle
The man speaking at the beginning is actually giving the players a mission to complete the node puzzle to repair the Kassimir Mechanism. Once the mechanism is repaired, the players will each get death machines that last for 90 seconds.

Strategies
See: Ascension/Strategies

Easter Eggs

 * Three teddy bears holding sickles are located around the map, a song called "Abracadavre " by Elena Siegman (Remember to hold Use/Reload while your cross-hairs are on them to "find" them). Each teddy bears can be found in:
 * 1) The Centrifuge Room. When you go up the stairs, right and on the end of that walkway is the first bear.
 * 2) Behind a gate on the left, nearby the lunar lander with the claymore in the area.
 * 3) Nearby the "Speed Cola lunar lander", past the Speed Cola, when you have the wall in front of you. Turn right and on top of the wall there is the last teddy bear.
 * There are Matryoshka Dolls of the characters scattered around the level. They will say something to the player when the "action" button is pressed, depending on who the player is. Each of the Matryoshka Dolls can be found in the locations below:
 * 1) Tank's doll is in the lander room beside the Stamin-Up. Where you walk through the door he is on the flaming barrels on the left.
 * 2) Nikolai's doll is on the top of the shelf directly to the left of the Speed Cola.
 * 3) Takeo's doll is on the shelf directly to the left of the PhD Flopper.
 * 4) Richtofen's doll is on the floor below the power switch. It is on the table to the left of the door leading outside.
 * There are red telephones similar to the ones in "Five". J.F.K. is on the other end of the one in the starting room (unknown if it is random) and said "Need some more beans for the chowder here!". He says this in "Five" so it is likely an easter egg or the two groups may meet up in future DLC. Nixon can also be heard on the phone near the power switch. He is shooting a gun, presumably the FN FAL. He then howls like a wolf and resumes shooting .It is unknown what makes them ring. The locations of each of the telephones are:
 * 1) Next to the power switch.
 * 2) Left of the launch pad in the centrifuge room.
 * 3) To the right of the PhD Flopper machine.
 * A pair of car batteries found underneath a stairwell in the centrifuge/spawn room have "ЅРДЯКУ" written across the front.
 * When the rocket is launched, it is possible to destroy it by using a gun with high damage, such as the Ray Gun or the China Lake. It has been confirmed that you can destroy it with 5-7 normal Crossbow bolts. If it is destroyed, a random power up will spawn below it.
 * The Death Machine appears more frequently on this map than the others.
 * A massive Easter Egg, commonly referred to as the 'Node puzzle', is a series of little tasks you must complete to lead to a result of four Death Machine's (one for each player) that last for a total of 90 seconds. This can only be completed with four players. The following is a video tutorial:thumb|300px|right|blowing up the rocket easter egg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcNoCwQ5eys

Quotes
See: Ascension/Quotes

Trivia

 * Sometimes a girls voice can be heard saying "help us" (this can be Samantha)
 * "Ascension" is referenced in the campaign of Black Ops, like the Ascension group and Ascension on the piece of paper during the credits. Also in Level Vorkuta, one of the steps says "Ascend from Darkness, also in Nacht der Untoten, it says this on the wall.
 * The player must use all three lunar landers in order to launch the rocket.
 * Sometimes the windows are repaired with metal pipes rather than boards.
 * Game files suggest that Ascension was originally planned to be released on disc, but was later removed.
 * The spawn room contains a centrifuge which self-activates every couple of minutes. This centrifuge can kill both zombies and the player(s).
 * This zombie map is the largest yet at over double the area of Der Riese.
 * There are no crawler zombies on Ascension.
 * This map features Soviet zombies rather than Nazi zombies, Imperial zombies or American zombies.
 * When looking at the moon from the power room, one can see Element 115 spots, like in Der Riese.
 * The four main characters' appearances have changed. Each of the characters has more scratches and are covered in dirt, and Richtofen wears a spacesuit.
 * There are televisions next to each of the Mystery Box spawn locations to tell the player where the box is, just like in "Five". Sometimes, they will show the Illuminati symbol.
 * The game starts off with a black and white filter which will remain active until the power is turned on; only then will the game be in full color.
 * Zombies sometimes stumble to the right as they walk toward you.
 * If a space monkey destroys a Perk-a-Cola machine, you will still be able to buy the perk after the special round is over.
 * The Mystery Box's beginning location will always be in the power room.
 * The Space Program Announcer's voice is similar to that of Dimitri Petrenko.
 * In later rounds, due to the fact some zombies are Soviets, the zombies will sometimes perform the "Off-the-X" maneuver; hinting that although zombified, they have memories from their previous lives.
 * With Soviet zombies being combated on Ascension, all factions in World at War have been fought in zombie form.
 * Ascension is the first Zombie map to be set in the USSR, and the second zombie map in the main story line not to be set in Germany. Also, this map is the first to have its name in another language than where the map takes place from.
 * On the loading screen of Ascension the shadow of the three rockets form the number 115.
 * If the players tries to buy a fifth perk, the character will groan.
 * Occasionally at the start of the game, Tank Dempsey will break the fourth wall by saying "Treyarch, can we get a new objective please?"
 * All of the characters except Richtofen talk about updating their Facebook status when they are waiting for the Pack-a-Punch, which is quite humorous.
 * If you go to the area with the gate that leads to the launch pad, there is a green puddle on the railings. When a player stands in this puddle, their eyes become bright green.
 * If you play as Richtofen, it is possible to hear the "voices" in his head.
 * One of these "voices" is a girl giggling that sounds like Samantha.
 * This is the only Zombie Map where the use of teleporters is not required to access the Pack-a-Punch Room. However, the player(s) must use all three of the similar Lunar Landers in order to use the machine.
 * It has been known that if you get the teddy bear from a mystery box then a Fire Sale the box will not appear anywhere on the map afterwards and you can only get the box during a Fire Sale but after it will still not appear on the map.
 * After a zombie dies it's eyes lose their yellow glow and become blue with glassy sclera
 * Occasionally when playing solo all quotes and the song "Abracadavre" cannot be heard. This could be a glitch or a bug that needs to be fixed

thumb|300px|right|beating the space monkeys without them taking your perksVideos
thumb|300px|left|Musical easter egg song 'Abracadavre' thumb|right|300px|Easter eggs in Ascension