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 a month later on the PS3 and PC. A release date has yet to be given 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 also appears in this map, replacing the Hellhounds and the Pentagon Thief.

Weapons
Off-Wall Weapons: Mystery Box Weapons: Power-Up Weapons:
 * PM63
 * MPL
 * MP5k
 * M14
 * M16
 * Olympia
 * Stakeout
 * Claymore
 * Sickle (Replaces regular knife & Bowie Knife)
 * AK-74u
 * Dragunov
 * CZ75 (single or dual wield)
 * Commando
 * SPAS-12
 * AUG
 * FAMAS
 * Galil
 * L96A1
 * China Lake
 * Ballistic Knife
 * Crossbow
 * G11
 * FN FAL
 * HK21
 * HS10
 * RPK
 * Ray Gun
 * Thundergun
 * Matryoshka Doll
 * Gersch Device
 * Spectre
 * Death Machine

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)

Pack-a-Punch Machine
To gain access to the Pack-a-Punch Machine, you have to activate all lunar landers. Once you have ridden all three back to the Centrifuge Room, you can activate the rocket by pressing the button to the right of the power switch. After the rocket has taken off, the large doors to the underneath 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. Also, there are zombie barricades in the room, most likely to prevent players from camping there.

Perks
Ascension features two new perks, both costing 2000 points. Double Tap Root Beer, however, does not make an appearance. Note: There are 5 Perks-a-Cola Machines on this map, but the player is limited to only having 4 different perks at a time.
 * 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 (so long as the dive would normally cause the player damage). The 'nuke' kills all nearby zombies. In addition, you don't receive self damage as holding a grenade will no longer damage you. It also reduces splash damage that you may receive from the Ray Gun.
 * 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.

Space Monkey
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. 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.

Easter Eggs

 * Three teddy bears holding sickles are located around the map. Find these and the song, Abracadavre plays. (Remember to hold Use/Reload while your crosshairs are on them to "find" them).
 * The first teddy bear is in the Centrifuge Room. When you go up the stairs, right and on the end of that walkway is the first bear.
 * The second teddy bear is behind a gate on the left, nearby the lunar lander with the claymore in the area.
 * The last teddy bear is 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.
 * The song is called "Abracadavre " by Elena Siegman, which is a remix of the lobby song "Damned"
 * There are Matryoshka Dolls of the characters scattered around the level. They will say something to the player when Use/Reload is pressed depending on who the player is.
 * Tank's Doll is in the lander room beside the Stamin-Up Machine. Where you walk through the door he is on the flaming barrels on the left.
 * Nikolai's Doll is on the top of the shelf directly to the left of the Speed Cola Machine.
 * Takeo's Doll is on the shelf directly to the left of the PhD Flopper Machine.
 * Richtofen's Doll is on the floor below the power switch. It is on the table to the left of the door leading outside.
 * A small easter egg is in the room below the area where the Mystery Box and Power Switch are located. If the player goes towards the damaged windows, turns left and looks at the table, there will be papers, a black binder, two other binders in the back, and a Matryoshka Doll. If the player aims their crosshairs at the black binder in front of them, there will be an alien like voice and their character will respond to it in a way, sometimes with the information about their past.
 * There is a red telephone similar to the ones in 'Five.' It is next to the mystery box spawn, in the room next to the power; A second can be found where the players first begin on the wall to the left looking at the Lunar Lander; A third can be found just to the right of the PHD Flopper Machine; there may be more. (Note: it is unconfirmed what makes these phones rings, the second was found ringing after power, platforms, radio about black hole grenade and rocket have all been activated, but have not been able to duplicate).
 * A pair of car batteries found underneath a stairwell in the centrifuge/spawn room have "ЅРДЯКУ" written across the front.
 * When you launch the rocket, if you make your way to an area where you can physically shoot the rocket, you can blow it up by shooting the rocket with a Ray Gun as it launches.
 * If you look at the second panel in the loading screen, the shadow of the rockets say "115"
 * There are 6 hidden radios, one is near the PhD Flopper and the 2nd is near the Stamin up and the 3rd is in the start room after 1 and 2 have been activated. One of the radio is found in the Pack-a-Punch room(Exact Locations SOON AS POSSIBLE)
 * In one of the rooms a red phone attached to the wall will ring after some time and when the player uses the reload or use button a static will play and it will play the sound of Nixon when he howls on "Five" after a kill.

Trivia

 * If one looks at the moon from the electricity room, one can see the element 115 as in Der Riese.
 * The Space Monkeys seem to come out of Lunar Landers that fall from the sky. In certain locations. However these landers do not kill a player, nor do they cause damage even when standing next to it (Confirmed)
 * There are Matroyshka dolls modeled after Takeo, Nikolai, Richtofen, and Dempsey, hidden throughout the map. When you hold the Use/Reload button they will either insult you, or compliment you, depending on who you are playing as.
 * There is a rocket on the map, and it will take off when all 3 Lunar Landers have been activated and ridden on.
 * Sometimes the windows are repaired with metal pipes rather than boards.
 * If you shoot the Rocket when it is lifting off with certain weapons, it will explode and leave a powerup in the Pack-A-Punch Machine room.
 * Game files suggest that Ascension was originally planned to be released on disc, but was later removed.
 * The spawn room contains a centrifuge which activates every couple of minutes by itself and kills zombies, but can kill the player(s).
 * This zombie map is the largest yet, at over double the physical size of Der Riese.
 * There are three Lunar Landers that take players from one place back to the Centrifuge Room (Starting Room).
 * There are no Gas Zombies in this map, however the Space Monkeys do occasionally release the gas upon death.
 * The zombies in Ascension have new models, as they are soviets rather than Nazis. These models include spacesuited-zombies, gas-masked zombies and lab-coat wearing zombies.
 * The player must buy a perk before the Space Monkey special round initiates.
 * The Centrifuge Room is the starting room and contains the Quick Revive.
 * The sickle seems to be the replacement for the Bowie Knife on Ascension. It costs 3000 points, like the Bowie Knife, and is more powerful then the Bowie Knife.
 * The four main characters' appearances have changed. Now having more scratches and being covered in some dirt, and Richtofen now wears a spacesuit.
 * There are televisions next to each mystery box spawn to tell the player where the box is, just like in "Five". Sometimes they will flash Illuminati symbol.
 * The game starts off in black and white filter. It will remain in this filter until the power is turned on, only then will there be full color.
 * Space monkeys replace Hellhounds as round-exclusive enemies.
 * When the player begins the 1st round, a Russian voice can be heard saying "Please, help me! She's coming, the mechanism must be repaired!" They might be talking about Samantha Maxis
 * The person may be talking about the centrifuge, as if they are inside it, but this is vaguely possible.
 * The mechanism could be the Centrifuge as it is out of control and the person inside wants it to be repaired so he can escape the torture of being stuck in there as it spins fast and at random times.
 * The artwork cover for Ascension, seen on the promotional poster for "First Strike", is clearly based on Inglourious Basterds.
 * The PhD Flopper is the first perk to affect everyone (since it starts a nuke when you are downed [unconfirmed]).
 * The Space Monkey rounds will not appear until somebody gets a Perk.
 * It is the first map where zombies are seen jumping up to platforms. If a player stands on the upper walkway of the first room, zombies will jump up onto the walkway to reach the player, this possibly to discourage camping at the end of the walkway.
 * Zombies have also been seen doing forward somersaults into the player, injuring the player and stunning the zombie as it has to get back up, this is a rare occurrence and is unknown what causes this.
 * They also stumble to the right as they walk toward you sometimes and there is also no reason for this.
 * The G-Force machine in the starting room will begin to spin randomly, after a few loud beeps can be heard, even if the power isn't on. If a zombie or a player gets under the spinning machine, he will be injured, as if a zombie has hit him once. Crouching or going prone can avoid it.
 * This map is the first Nazi Zombie map to take place in Russia/USSR.
 * If a Space Monkey destroys the perk machine - at the end of the round/start of new round, you can still re-buy the perk.
 * Takeo is often heard saying "The undead rack a disciprine" (The undead lack discipline). This is a joust of a Japanese stereotype of not being able to pronounce the letter "L" because of Engrish terms
 * This may also be a reference to the South Park episode "Bloody Mary".
 * The Mystery Box will always spawn in the same place everytime, in the area with the power switch
 * The screens that show the location of the Mystery Box may occasionally show the symbol of the Illuminati (pyramid with an eye on top or the All Seeing Eye), this shows that the Illuminati may have a hand in Ascension some how (perhaps the unknown voice at the start of the level), the symbol is not, as some belive, a Free Masons symbol (Article on FreeMasonry with Group Symbol: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry) A simple google image search of the phrase "illuminati symbol" brings up symbols exactly like the ones seen in Ascension, this is further supported by Richtofens background with the Illuminati. This symbol can also be seen when teleporting.
 * There are 6 radios: 1 talking about Project Gersch Device, the other about sending monkeys into space and the last about the delivery of a teddy bear and knowledge of element 115.
 * Some gamers have claimed they've seen an 'alien zombie', a zombie that does not have a human-zombie appearance. This is not confirmed though. (But this could be mistaken identity because they are wearing gas masks and broken space helmets, with usual zombies running at you with glowing orange eyes)
 * Double Tap Root Beer is absent from this map. This is probably to not confuse the player with the Stamin-Up and the fact that this is the generally the least bought perk in the whole Zombies game.
 * The Space Program Announcer has a distinct voice sounding like Dimitri Petrenko.
 * It is set to release for the PS3 on March 1st. PC release date is unconfirmed, and whether or not Wii will receive it at all has not been confirmed.
 * This is the first map to have the barricades repaired with metal bars instead of just wood.
 * In later rounds, due to the fact some zombies are former Spetsnaz soldiers, they will sometimes perform the "Off-the-X" maneuver, hinting that although zombiefied, they have memories from there previous lives.
 * Just like in Shi No Numa and Verrückt, some Zombies will spawn from the ground instead of outside the map.
 * There is a new Power Up usually given after a monkey round that allows you one free random perk. It is dropped if all players successfully defend all Perk-A-Cola machines that they have bought from.
 * The Ascension map is based off of the multiplayer map Launch and mission Executive Order.

Video
thumb|300px|right|Showing you how to destroy the rocket thumb|300px|left|Musical easter egg song 'Abracadavre' thumb|300px|left|Gameplay of the map 'Ascension'