Get the ball rolling: Kino Der Toten map overview Part 1: The Lobby

Kino der Toten  is the first map featured in Black ops and the only map available right out of the box. The map takes place in an abandoned cinema/theater. The map introduces some new components to Zombies, including Crawlers and the Fire Pit, a trap as cool as it sounds but we will get to more on that in my post about the Lower Hall. There is a new Wonder Weapon that I will Showcase in my upcoming blog featuring all weapons for Kino as well as their Pack-a-Punched counter parts and the pros and cons of each. Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen, the cast of Shi No Numa and Der Reise, also return to the fight.

(Map provided for quick visual aid)

As you spawn in you will see the Quick Revive Machine to your right, a MUST HAVE perk in solo and very nice to have in team play. (in solo mode this is available without the power activated and costs 500pts, after three purchases of quick revive (in solo only) the machine will disappear much like the mystery box and you will not be able to purchase that perk again so use it wisely, in team play the power must be activated and it costs 1500pts.) In solo mode the Quick Revive perk will give you dual wielded pistols that shoot grenades as well as reviving you after about ten seconds of being downed, in team play it gives you almost instant revives when picking up a fallen teammate but does not grant you the self revive as in solo mode so be careful. There are four windows to man in this room, right behind you as you spawn in, to your left as you spawn in, up the left staircase and to your left, as well as under the right staircase. There are two doors available to buy, under the left staircase and up the right staircase and to the right, both costing 750pts. You have access to two weapons off the wall right off the bat at 500pts each, the Olympia (a double barreled shotgun) and the M14 (a single shot assault rifle). Both are decent for the early rounds if you run out of ammo or just don't feel confident in your knifing/pistol capabilities. In this room as well you will see a glowing pad on the floor, remember this because there is more on it later. In this room you can generally stay put until round five or the first dog round whichever you decide, but I do not suggest staying here for any longer than that seeing as the lack of useful guns and having no access to perks. At the top of the stairs, in the middle of the balcony, is a mystery box spawn point. Initially you will probably see a teddy bear sitting on some cardboard boxes as I have yet to see it spawn there right into the game. The Mystery Box costs 950pts and provides you with a random weapon each time you use it. You usually will be able to get anywhere from five to eight uses before it disappears and respawns at another location in the map (not 100% accurate because I have personally seen it take almost fifteen uses before respawning) . Here is where you will get your best weapons that you will stick with into the higher rounds. Directly across from the Mystery Box spawn point you will see a sign on the wall with a map of the level and the box spawn points indicated by light bulbs. This appears above all the mystery box spawns in the map so you always know where your beloved box is. At first this may seem useless but once you turn on the power the corresponding light bulb glows bright green indicating where the box is at any given time which gives you a huge advantage when trying to locate the box quickly in between rounds or just trying to find it without having to open every door in the map. That's it for part one of my Kino overview, stay tuned for more soon.