The Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package has been out for a little over a week now.  Some of you may have bought it already, but others might be wary of the 1200 Microsoft Points (or $15) for three new maps bundled with two old ones.  Seeing as how MW2 is the only game I have been playing the last few months, I decided “Why the hell not?  Better to play them now than when I’ll eventually buy them in a few months anyway, right?”  Now, since then I have been playing the new maps for a week, and I am here with my thoughts on them and to let you know if I thought it was worth it buying.

The new maps are as follows: Bailout, Salvage, Storm and Crash.  Bailout consists of two apartment complexes that are divided by a street running down the center of the map.  This is my favorite of the new maps.  The two apartments have many ways in and out, as well as many windows and balconies overlooking the street below.  The layout provides a lot of opportunities for chaos to erupt, as the outside street is long and great for assault rifles or sniping.  However, once you are inside the apartments, close range weapons like shotguns are much better for striking down the enemy.  One of the great things about this map is that if you prefer one of those options more so than the other, you can stick to your game plan very well and both can be very effective.  Most game options work well with this map and it is just overall cool, in my opinion.

Salvage is a snow-covered junkyard with a small house on one side and a warehouse on the other.  This map is very small and has many different twists and turns in between piles of wrecked cars, barrels and various other debris.  This is, by far, my least favorite of the new maps, probably because I am always getting killed in it.  Mid- and close-range weapons dominate in this area, because you can run into an enemy with every turn you take.  Death Match games go fast because constant battling is going on.  I will give that last part a slight nod, as the constant rush of killing can’t be totally bad.  Salvage doesn’t work well with a lot of the game modes because it’s a small map and the side with the house on it is usually being dominated.

Storm has a giant warehouse that takes up most of the map, with a few small houses on one side.  Oh yeah, if you couldn’t guess from its name, it’s also raining outside!  The warehouse here is similar to the hangar in the “World at War” map, The Hangar.  Most of the battle takes place in the warehouse, but I like to do my dirty work on the outside houses.  From the rooftops you can shoot at people on their way into the warehouse, but beware because both houses are very visible to one another.  Alleys surrounding the warehouse create bottlenecks through the map as well.  This provides a good mixture of inside and outside game.  A wide variety of classes can be used here which creates good game dynamics.  The bomb placements are also set up very well and make for some fun sabotage and demolition games.  I have nothing really bad to say about Storm, as it’s an overall solid map.

Crash is a returning map.  Most people who played the first Modern Warfare liked it, including myself.  What more can I say about Crash?  It fuckin’ rules.  Overgrown is another old map.  I don’t remember myself being a fan of it the first time around, but it has grown on me…  Perhaps even “Overgrown” on me?

Modern Warfare 2′s Stimulus Package brought some quality maps, but was it enough to warrant 1200 Microsoft Points (or a quarter of the price of the original game)?  While they did bring two really good and fun maps in Bailout and Storm, I could have done without Salvage.  However, it isn’t bad enough to write off completely.  The two returning maps featured a classic, and perhaps a classic-in-the-making, but it still sucks paying for something I have already played before.  If most of your gaming time is spent playing MW2, you should stop holding back and buy the Stimulus Package now.  But if  your gaming time is consumed by a variety of titles and you only play MW2 occasionally, I would recommend holding off on this for now.  You won’t be missing out on anything incredible, and those points could be used for something better.