Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 final DLC releases August 27 for Xbox, PC "to follow"

It's become a tradition now for Call of Duty DLC to offer re-skinned, re-worked versions of classic levels and the final Black Ops 2 map pack is no exception. And in another nod to a deeply-held pastime, the new DLC—Apocalypse—releases August 27 first for Xbox Live customers, "with other platforms to follow," according to a press release.

Two of the four new multiplayer maps echo previous entries in the annual series and sit alongside a brand-new zombie playground right out of a steampunk nightmare. Longtime COD players should recognize Takeoff and Dig from previous Treyarch titles Black Ops and World at War, perhaps giving them a head start when the maps eventually release on PC. The two completely new maps, Pod and Frost, take us to a broken-down utopian commune in Taiwan as well as a snow-covered European locale, respectively.

The new zombie map—Origins—does give us all a look at some aesthetic innovation, at least for Call of Duty, in that we're getting a " dieselpunk "-zombie mashup with "1,000-foot, mechanical giants striding across the landscape," according to the game's executive producer Jason Blundell.

For a guided tour of the new maps or just to whet your appetite for that classic Call of Duty atmosphere , check out Blundell and Treyarch studio design director David Vonderhaar in the preview video below.