Highrise

For the Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nintendo DS) map, see Highrise (Black Ops).

Highrise is a medium-sized multiplayer map in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and shown in the reveal trailer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, set in the United States.

Overview


Highrise is set atop a nearly constructed skyscraper with two office buildings on opposite sides of the map. The center of the map is occupied by an elevated helipad, which many players will try and use to their advantage. Most of the combat on the ground is short to medium range with the construction equipment and in the office buildings. Shotguns and submachine guns are excellent for these offices, but assault rifles are ideal for the sometimes medium-long range combat that occurs in the more open areas. The map is also suitable for sniping, with several vantage points that look over most of, or nearly all of, the map.

A unique feature of this map is its multi-tiered construction; both offices can be accessed by a tunnel underneath, which leads upstairs at various points in between. Near the cranes, there is an elevator shaft with a ladder; behind it is a climbable ledge players can hide behind. Players can access the roof on the south block, and see almost the entire map, although after a few kills these players can easily be taken out and the journey to the roof needs a skillful player that can run and make quick turns on the ledge, while avoiding getting shot. For this reason, a Tactical Insertion is recommended for doing this. Players can climb to the top of the crane at the west side of the map, giving a similar view on the map, and become harder to spot. From that crane, there is access to the ledge above the north tower's office - a Tactical Insertion is also useful here. To get to the North tower, players must climb on to a crane, walk across to the north building, then climb onto one of several window-cleaning platforms and walk across the ledge. There will be a window where players can crouch under it, there will be a choice if the player wants to go onto the platform (smashing the window) or stay on the ledge.

This map is one of the best places to get the Extended Mags attachment, as there are many good places to kill enemies through cover with FMJ, for example the windows, and office furniture.

Trivia

 * If one climbs on top of the crane near the elevators and looks over the building of the Rangers spawn point, it is possible to see the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
 * On top of the southern tower, there is a group of teddy bears with stars on their chests. A teddy can also be found on the light fixtures on the north building.
 * Highrise is very reminiscent of the Call of Duty 4 map Wet Work. They are both very linear maps and have high up sniper positions on both sides and middle of the map, albeit not as easily on Highrise. Both maps are also infamous for their ease of spawn trapping.
 * When on the yellow long catwalks, the player can see that the giant letters on the edge of the level spell out "Kriegler" (Lead Map Designer), a fictional shipping company referenced several times in Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warfare 2.
 * On the building with the teddy bears on it where the concrete block is on the side where it says WKM in the lower left hand corner there's a name that says "ALEXANDER ROYCEWICZ 2009".
 * This map has the most teddy bears in the game.
 * In the elevators, the same IW sign can be seen scratched into the wood, just as in No Russian.
 * Occasionally, though they are barely noticeable, there are several Mi-24s that fly around the map, indicating that the map is staged during the beginning of the Russo-American War.
 * There is a very detailed hotel building outside of the map, which is odd as usually things outside the map aren't detailed because they'll never be entered by any players. It is possible that this area was originally playable.
 * Just south of the map, there are a small collection of office objects on top of the building.
 * There is a mark that looks like a teddy bear on the left building near the R of the Kriegler sign.
 * If the Javelin is shot directly below the edge of the map, the missile won't engage in the climb but instead just speed straight up.
 * The boxes that are found all over the map are filled with candy and cookies.
 * The phones have the letters CoD4 on them.
 * In the small shack outside the south building, there is an electrical panel next to the window that does damage if shot at close range. There are also several other panels with the same effect throughout the level, but other panels do not do damage and many of them don't react at all to shots.
 * Due to the map's height, Harriers may, on occasion, fly below the playable area.
 * Throwing the Care Package Marker down into the street will still send the package. However, there is no way to getting to it and the crate will disappear as soon as it hits the ground, but the minimap icon is still present, showing where it has been deployed.
 * In the Ranger spawn the clock is upside down.
 * Highrise resembles Vertigo, a scrapped map in Modern Warfare 2. Vertigo is only playable through hacking.
 * Vertigo shares the name of an official Counter-Strike map, DE_Vertigo, where, like Highrise, its placed on a building and going out of bounds results in death.
 * Underneath the fog (which is just a few thin layers) is an aerial photograph of city streets. It is of very bad quality.
 * Highrise is shown in the campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This makes sense, as New York is the city shown in the "America" section of the game. It is shown in the reveal trailer.
 * There is a glitch, if you jump on a sideways platform,press pause, and unpause it, you are stuck on the platform.

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