Origins

"Every story has a beginning...and an end."

- "Origins" trailer

"Unleashed after the Germans unearthed the mysterious Element 115, this next chapter in the Zombies legacy will explore the saga’s origins as players reunite with an unlikely band of soldiers that come together to defeat the greatest evil the world has ever seen, using a period-specific arsenal that includes Wonder Weapons that harness supernatural powers, a diesel-drone and Mark IV tank, as well a new perk machine and power-ups – and that’s just the start. Players will need all the help they can get to succeed in defeating the undead, as well as evading an unprecedented 1,000-foot tall robot abomination."

- Origins release article

Origins, also known as Excavation Site 64, is a Zombies map included in the Apocalypse downloadable content for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. It is the seventeenth (chronologically the first) Zombies level.

Overview
The "original characters" (younger versions of Dempsey, Nikolai, Richtofen, and Takeo) return as the four playable characters. The zombies have orange eyes in this map. The map features Wonder Weapons that harness supernatural powers, a Panzer Soldat and Mark IV tank, as well a new Perk-a-Cola machine and Power-Ups. Revealed in the cinematic intro of Origins, a zombie in typical crusader attire is scheduled to appear. Unlike typical zombies, the crusader zombies have light purple eyes, possibly because they may be the original zombies not controlled by any announcer and are exclusively affected by element 115.

Generators are found all over the map; they are used to power Mystery Box locations and perks in that area as well as other things. There is no new perk, but rather a machine called "Der Wunderfizz" that gives you a random perk bottle, much like the box. The Giant Mech roaming the map will down players when stepping on them, so it is wise to be aware of a players surroundings. There are two new power-ups, Zombie Blood, masks the player with zombie blood, in which they see reddish-orange and zombies don't attack them, and Blood Money, which is obatained using the Shovel. Blood Money is similar to Bonus Points, it gives the player a random amount of points when obtained. Buildables also return, featuring four elemental staffs (Staff of Lightning, Staff of Fire, Staff of Ice, and the Staff of Air), the Zombie Shield with a new dieselpunk aesthetic and the Maxis Drone, which is similar to the MQ-27 Dragonfire. The Maxis Drone will fly around the player and shoot at zombies.

Players can also use Shovels to dig up certain spots, where they can find either a Power-Up, a weapon, a buildable part, or a zombie; the former three can be picked up by any players after they are dug up. However the player can also dig up grenades that will explode and down the player if he/she is too close.

The release trailer features one of three Giant Mechs and either German/Allied airships. One of the airships provide a part necessary to build one of the four elemental staffs.

The Demonic Announcer for this map is Samantha, when she is initially trapped as a young girl. Her voice has not yet been altered into the demonic type as heard on the previous maps where she is the Demonic Announcer. She will ask for the players to "free" her. Even though zombies controlled by Samatha typically have yellow eyes, the zombies in Origins have orange eyes.

It is possible to enter the Giant Mechs heads by waiting for the mechs feet to glow yellow, then shooting the base of the foot until a large yellow orb appears when the foot steps on the player, instead of being crushed the player will teleport to the giants head.

Features
Weapons

Opening Scene Transcript
The words Northern France, 1918 appear on the screen before shifting to scenes of various locations across a snowswept battlefield as Samantha narrates.

Voice: It began long ago, on the battlefields of .

A map of France appears on screen as two pictures of Dr. Ludvig Maxis and Edward Richtofen shortly overlay.

Voice: Two German scientists sought to harness dark and mysterious forces. Buried for centuries. They believed their discoveries would assure Germany's ultimate victory. But they could never have imagined just what else their research would unearth.

''Scenes of German excavations are shown, as well as a meteorite of a strange element. In one chamber, three German soldiers wearing gas masks break through a wall. Through the hole, an unseen assailant emerges and surprises them. The figure is revealed to be a Zombie clad in old Crusader regalia. The zombies overwhelm the garrison of German soldiers before emerging from the ruins and onto the battlefield and killing all remaining German forces.''

Voice: As an ancient evil ravaged the front lines, the hopes of the Allies rested on three soldiers set to stop it.

''The scene then changes to a crawling zombie being crushed under a tank. Atop the vehicle is Tank Dempsey, kicking a zombie off before jumping off himself and engaging the zombies with an MG 08, soon switching to a knife and a Remington New Model Army revolver.''

''Elsewhere, Nikolai Belinski is seen engaging zombies with a Hatchet and a Mauser pistol. He breaks a zombie in half with the Hatchet before throwing it at another and taking out an Olympia.''

''Closeby, Takeo Masaki is also cutting through zombies with a Katana and a Mauser. He makes his way into a room where he encounters Dempsey and Nikolai.''

''The three draw their guns on each other, before they all point them towards another figure in the room. Dr. Edward Richtofen is seen with a bonesaw cutting a dead zombie's head open. He briefly examines hs bloody hands, seemingly confused, before the four notice more zombies approaching them through a hole in the wall.''

''Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo aim their guns at the zombies. However, a bright yellow light surrounds them as all four look up to see a Giant Robot looking down upon them. It raises its foot as the four dive out of the way, before the Robot stomps down upon the ground, the scene going black. The voice, now revealed to be that of Samantha closes the intro.''

Samantha: My name is Samantha. I'm going to tell you how all this really began.

Achievements/Trophies

 * Little Lost Girl (75 Gamerscore.png/Silver Trophy Silver Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, release Samantha.
 * Not a Gold Digger (5 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, share a weapon you dug up.
 * All Your Base (15 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, active all generators without allowing one to stop.
 * Kung Fu Grip (15 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, free yourself and another from the Panzer Soldat's claw in one game.
 * Playing with Power (30 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, build all elemental staffs in one game.
 * I'm on a Tank! (10 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, ride the tank around the map without getting out.
 * Saving the Day... All Day (20 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, revive another player four different ways in one game.
 * Master of Disguise (15 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, use Zombie Blood to revive three players and activate a generator in one game.
 * Overachiever (25 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, complete all 4 Challenges in one game.
 * Master Wizard (40 Gamerscore.png/Bronze Trophy Bronze Trophy PS3 icon.png) - In Origins, wield all of the ultimate staffs in one game.

Easter Eggs

 * A new song, Archangel (sung by Elena Siegman, Malukah & Clark S. Nova), can be activated by pressing the action button in front of three green stone blocks scattered around the map.
 * The main easter egg shows Samantha playing with her friend Eddie with Zombie toys. It is unknown what this is supposed to intend.

Trivia

 * This is the third time in Zombies history that a new starting weapon (the Mauser C96) is featured (the first being Dead Ops Arcade with the M60, and the second being the Black Ops DS maps with the Makarov PM).
 * This is the first time the original group has made a physical appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
 * This is also the first time the original group is featured in an animated cutscene.
 * Origins marks the first ever Call of Duty feature to take place during the First World War.
 * This also makes the level the earliest-set feature in Call of Duty, with the previous earliest-set feature taking place in the 1930s.
 * This is the first time Tank, Nikolai, and Takeo are playable in Black Ops II, but also the first time Takeo is seen or referenced directly at all in Black Ops II.
 * Avenged Sevenfold's song "Shepherd of Fire" (from their  album) is featured in the opening cutscene.
 * The Origins Intro Cinematic was first uploaded to Call of Duty's YouTube Channel on August 19th, but at roughly 1:49 Nikolai Belinski's name was misspelled as "Belinksi". It was taken down, then reuploaded to Treyarch's channel the following day, with the mistake rectified.
 * A poster of Origins was released. It was created by Alex Ross.
 * A new version of the opening cinematic for Origins was released on 22nd August, on COD TV in the zombies section, with a younger Samantha as the voiceover with some extra dialogue.
 * This is the third zombies map to feature more than two ways of being able to revive other players (previous maps had standard revives and instant revives from the Pack-a-Punched Ballistic Knife). The first two being Moon with QEDs and the second being Buried with the Time Bomb.
 * This is the first time Ludvig Maxis is visually seen (in the cinematic cutscene).
 * This map features the most Shotguns, with a total of five (the SPAS-12 does not make an appearance in Origins)
 * This is the second Black Ops II map to feature PhD Flopper as a Perk-a-Cola, the other one being Cell Block.
 * This map has the most Mystery Box weapons, with a total of 27.
 * This is the first time zombies can have three eye colours at once. Yelow, blue and purple with a white tint. For German, Crusader and Super Crusader respectively. All three may be on sceen at once (this breaks two records for how many eye colours there can be seen in one game (previously two on Moon, Nuketown Zombies and Buried) and how many eye colors are visible at once (also two on Buried).
 * This is the first time Mystery Box weapons have attachments on them.
 * This is the second time the Mystery Box had a different skin. The first being Mob of the Dead.
 * This is the first map since Call of the Dead to feature the MP40.
 * There is an ending cutscene where it shows two children, Samantha and Eddie, playing with their toys. These toys are zombies and the characters from Zombies, hinting that the entire zombies universe is just made-up by the pair. Samantha and Eddie are called by Samantha's father in the midst of air-raid sirens. Samantha and Eddie depart with Samantha's dog, Fluffy, with Samantha saying things will get better as her father has a plan. Samantha is wearing pajamas that have what looks like the Monkey Bomb on them, there is a Juggernog soda can lying on the floor, there is a chalk outline of a MP-40 on the wall, there is a teddy bear on the window sill, and a bright white question mark is painted on what appears to be a toy chest. It is unknown what this cutscene is supposed to describe about the Zombies universe.
 * This is the first map since Der Reise in World at War to have weapons in the Mystery Box and on the wall at the same time.
 * This is the first Zombie map to feature a total of nine different Perk-a-Colas.
 * This is the first time a Black Ops II Perk-a-Cola has been featured in two main Zombies experiences, the perk being Electric Cherry, which is also featured in the experience Mob of the Dead.
 * The Medieval Zombie on the poster is wearing the Cross of the Knights Templar.
 * This is the first time since Der Reise that you can go prone in front of a Perk-a-Cola machine and get 25 points. Similar to finding a quarter under a vending machine.
 * This is the first map to feature the SCAR-H, KSG 12, and the Skorpion EVO. The M60 does not make a debut in this map, the HAMR still replaces it.
 * This is the Third map in which you can only purchase three of the four original Perk-a-Cola's via machine. The first was Ascension, with was missing Double Tap Root Beer (being pulled from the map last minute). The second was Mob of the Dead, with Quick Revive taken out because of the "Afterlife" feature. Origins only has Juggernog, Speed Cola, and Quick Revive machines present. (Although you can still obtain Double Tap Root Beer via Der Wunderfizz.)
 * This map will be available to PC and PS3 users later on the 27th of September.