The reason it is my favorite is for numerous reasons but it ticks nearly every box, the difficulty, WW, zombie bosses, layout and even EE all serve as the ultimate test for the player and the mechanics of the map can be used to your advantage. The layout is a circle like Kino but with way more connective tissue, traversing around the map is fast and convenient with the minecart, water slide and geysers that you can go up or fall down through making the map flow very well.
The overall difficulty of the map makes it much more replayable than other maps where the gameplay is usually either run around in a open circle until you get bored or camp in one spot and shoot the WW at the ground and call it a day, Shang forces you to compromise and it doesn’t hold back. Playing in Co-op requires good coordination and even training spots like the ak74u room or the hill and area around jug/speed isn’t 100% safe and forces you to stay focused which is a much more engaging experience but the map throws you many bones and opportunities that can benefit you so it’s not totally unfair.
The monkeys are a godsend that do way more good than harm, turning a carpenter into a max or double points when setting up in the early rounds is very helpful not to mention being able to get more than 4 perks from them and it feels very rewarding when you manage get 8 perks from well done timing. The Napalm zombie is intimidating and can one shot you if you’re too close to him but can simultaneously leave a makeshift fire trap that can potentially block off a hallway or pathway after you kill him which I think is good design since it’s a boss that is a danger to you but can also help you kill zombies itself for a little bit. The shrieker zombie is kind of whatever, he’s by far the weakest of the 3 bosses on this map but he can also stun and kill any zombies around you after killing him. What I love about all the bosses on this map is that they all can be used to your advantage if your smart enough and I wish more maps had this philosophy of “dangerous but helpful”
The baby gun/31-79 JGb215 is still the best WW ever IMO in terms of both effectiveness and how entertaining it is to use. It has 48 shots and is infinite damage and can spawn drops (which also goes back to how the monkeys can be manipulated through this) which is huge for Bo1 standards, it also makes any other weapon able to kill the shrunken zombies after using it which most people would typically use the Mustang and Sallys for when the drawback however is that can it sometimes hurt you when running through a train after shrinking them. Some also use the Semtex combo with the baby gun for this scenario too meaning that’s there’s multiple ways to use the WW, either strategically or normally
As for the Easter Egg I think it is one of the better designed ones as most of the steps are fairly straightforward as it doesn’t require much RNG or a lot steps but it requires teamwork and can only be done with 4 players which is a downside. It has nice set pieces like eclipse mode, resonating crystals and meteor along with the story of Brock and Gary and completing the EE will give whoever picks up the focusing stone permanent perks and can be done multiple times in one game so everyone could potentially get it if you and your team are willing to do it another 3 times.
As for the flaws of this map the RNG mud pit maze is not well designed for traversing since it can not always take you to the direction of where you want to go and can even take you back to where you initially started which can lead to BS downs at the wrong time and is easily the worst part of the map. Another big flaw is accessing pack a punch with randoms since everyone must step on a pressure plate depending on how many players are in the game and this is usually a hard thing to do with bad communication like when someone doesn’t have a mic or listening which isn’t good for something as important as pack a punch, then again public matches on Shang have always been dry.
So when you take all this you get Shangri La, a map that is brutal and challenging with unique and helpful mechanics that has a good transportation system along with map flow, and a amazing WW and Easter egg. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk
3 Comments
It’s good, and the world record is still achievable too. Only annoying thing is the baby regrowing crash
I think it’s also one of the prettiest maps, the loading screen gives me Indiana Jones vibes. And I agree that the Easter egg is one of the most fun, matching up the slabs was always fun!
W map choice