- "Battle at the launch pad of this cosmodrome. Perfect for any game mode."
- — Launch's map description
Launch is a multiplayer map featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Overview
Launch is set in the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and features a Russian Soyuz 2 rocket taking off in the background. At some time during the game, although on average, around the halfway point through the round/match the rocket will launch, and set alight and kill anyone located beneath the rockets engines. In Search and Destroy and Demolition, target A is located under the rocket. The B flag is located under the rocket in Domination.
Launch is very much a vertical map as it is horizontal because it uses the rocket as a large part of the map. When Call of Duty: Black Ops was released, vertical gameplay was not seen very much, although this new map type was used in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in maps such as Rust.
Trivia
- This was the first known map in the Call of Duty series to feature an actively changing environment, as it was revealed before any others.
- In Team Deathmatch, the rocket will begin ignition whenever one team reaches 4000 points.
- Before the rocket launches, one can hear an alarm and someone speaking Russian through a loud speaker, counting down to one in Russian.
- If the player is under the rocket when it launches, they will be killed.
- It is possible to see a second rocket launching at least a minute before or after the one in the map does, possibly Soyuz 1.
- It is possibly a reference to Mason's quote in Executive Order: "There's Soyuz Two, scheduled to launch 10 minutes after Soyuz One".
- If one looks at the rocket after it takes off, it simply disappears in a short time.
- Launch has both Campaign and Zombies counterparts, similar to Asylum. They are Executive Order and Ascension, respectively.
- If one looks off in the distance, it is possible see a white rocket similar to the ones on Moon.
- Launch is similar to the map Ambush in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, as both maps share many similarities, such as the central crest that is partially blocked by vehicles.
- If a player is on the platforms next to the rocket, they will be killed when the rocket takes off regardless of the fact that there are walls between the rocket and the platforms.
Gallery
Video
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