It was recently during the Call of Duty Next 2024 (we were there and will of course offer more complete coverage soon) that Treyarch took the opportunity to show off their first Warzone map in four long years in the form of the Nuketown-based Area 99. Below you’ll find some information and a whole bunch of cool pictures. Aesthetically, the Nuketown idea is lovely with clear Fallout vibes and great destruction.
Activision about the upcoming Resurgence map Area 99:
“Inspired by the rapid and unrelenting gameplay of the Multiplayer map Nuketown, Treyarch deconstructed a lot of what made that map special and applied it here while increasing the size and scope of Area 99 to accommodate the lore and Warzone gameplay mechanics, which is revealed in the various points of interest across the map as well as keeping the gameplay extremely fast and tactical. Much of the scenery and landscape across Area 99 will be familiar to fans of Nuketown, but on a much larger scale. The landscape has main roadways to traverse on foot and in vehicles (though motorized transport wasn’t in the Alpha build on show at Call of Duty: NEXT), while other points of interest on the map are linked by open trenches of sand, pipework, and wiring. The central Reactor bullseye, and the huge crane balancing a Nuketown house in the air, seem to be vying for hot-drop locations, though much of the action is likely to take place in the center of the map.
With unique gameplay flare, Area 99 celebrates the retrofuturism art style, both in the use of materials and architecture of the map. There are locations featuring curved rooflines and once-grand conference rooms with a nod to the Art Deco movement. One of the biggest nods to a future of curved plastic housing with the 1950s Diner aesthetic are the remains of the Pod dwellings, where garish wall colors and compact kitchens collide. Ruling over the remains of this military compound is Area 99’s official mascot, Archie Atom! Relentlessly chipper, Archie appears on signs and billboards across the site, cheerfully reminding you of the stringent safety protocols, dangers of unsupervised conduct, and threats to the nation if the site’s secrets are exposed. None of this did any good apparently, as Area 99 was seemingly abandoned in March 1962, and has been slowly decaying (and the reactor leaking radiation) ever since.
Not the place to visit if you suffer from automatonophobia, a large-scale mannequin plant – established in 1949 – dominates the northern part of the map. The plant has been overproducing mannequins unsupervised for years since the facility was abandoned, leading to comically large piles of mannequin parts. Thousands of torsos, heads, and arms are strewn everywhere, as the decades of extreme heat and encroaching sand cover the exterior cargo bays with plastic body parts and dune piles. The interior of the connecting assembly buildings is a dilapidated maze, featuring giant molding vats, a mold preparation system, conveyor belts, a large assembly chamber with rusting, automated robot arms frozen in time, a hydraulic press that’s seemingly operational, and the pervading stench of melting plastic.”