Crash Is The GOAT Call of Duty Map, Period.
Image: Activision
“Season One” of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is currently live and with it comes a re-imagining of three classic, CoD 4 maps. Shipment and Vacant see their return but the crowning jewel of them all is Crash.
Crash has everything that makes a wonderful map in a shooter. Good sight-lines for sniping, but enough side routes to flank. A huge open central area that makes for great firefights, but enough cover to make them last long enough to be engaging. Its centerpiece is distinct and unlike anything else in the game at the time. The eponymous crashed Chinook helicopter that serves as a point of reference for the entire map. Only one segment of the map doesn’t have a direct sight-line to this point. By having such a distinct central point you remove the “three-lane” map style that MW became (negatively) known for.
In a three-lane map, there were always three distinct, well -defined routes from your starting spawns to the enemies. Each one was fairly equidistant and left you with easy routes to get into the fight. Left, Right, Center. While this lead to quick and simple map design, it made games feel very straightforward with little variation. Fighting almost always occurred within these lanes and rarely took place along the x-axis. In Crash, there’s really only one lane straight ahead from the “A” spawn. Everything else happens in and around that central chopper. The lack of lanes discourages camping. A good enough player with the right weapon could set up shop at the end of one of the “lanes” in a more traditional map and hold it single-handedly. In Crash, there’s simply too many flaking routes.
I’m a old school sniper. I don’t fool with quick scoping or none of that. I want to get to the high ground and rain fire down on my opponents before they can react. So my favorite part of the map has to be the “Restaurant”. Towering over the rest of the map, the Restaurant was one of the highest points of any map in the game. It was one of the best snipers’ nests too. Not only due to its height, but also due to there being only two points of entry. The stairs could be easily covered by traps, and the ladder was easy to get killed on. If you got to the top floor quick enough, you could rack up 5-7 kills in a matter of seconds. The downside is you were totally exposed to air support. With no roof above you, you’d vulnerable to airstrikes and choppers.
I love this map and I’m happy to see it back. I hope to see other classic CoD 4 and MW2 maps come to the game in the future. I could only imagine Quarry, Crossfire, Overgrown or Derail in the new game. I’d be super excited to play Highrise with the new weapons. Either way Crash is still the greatest map they’ve done in my opinion. Literally no one hates it. And if you are one of the few souls that dislike this map, uninstall. Its got something for all styles of play and will punish you for silly mistakes. I. Love. This. Map.
Youtuber, Nemsk has a really cool video comparing the original PS3 era map and the new up-scaled version. Check it out below!