Our thoughts on the 'MW2' Stimulus Package

The first downloadable content for Modern Warfare 2 - the Stimulus Package – has been out for a week now on Xbox Live. The five-map pack, which features three new arenas and two from the original Modern Warfare, has cooked up quite a storm with its divisive price of 1200 Microsoft Points (£10.20).

> Click here to see videos of the new Modern Warfare 2 maps

Bailout is our clear favourite of the bunch (and conveniently, the one that appears most often in matchmaking) thanks to being thematically most like the MW2 campaign. Set in a wartorn North American residential area, it comes with an empty swimming pool and an arcade-filled recreation room, with balconies hanging over a central plaza that offers predominately long-ranged skirmishes. Like most maps in the game, no vantage point is secluded enough to be safe, and so players constantly need to be aware of their surroundings and switch positions to avoid being easily flanked.

Salvage is set in a snowy scrapyard, with tire walls to duck behind and stacks of crushed cars that block off sections of the map. Its tight and enclosed nature naturally offers the opposite playstyle to Bailout, with fast and furious shootouts around corners, players sprinting from one point to the next and finding clever ways to avoid doorway-dwelling mines. The third new map is Storm, which has that that rather overused wet and downtrodden look to it, but is the more balanced of the new maps. The industrial complex is populated with spacious alleyways surrounded by storage containers, and a deadly warehouse in the centre with balconies and multiple vantage points to be sniped from. It's the one that will easily yield the most strategy in the long term.

The two returning maps - Crash and Overgrown - are largely untouched, and so far they seem to be as popular as the new maps, having been rarely been downvoted during matchmaking. (Which is somewhat of a surprise considering they've been around since COD4's beta days.) Personally, while they are still enjoyable, they don't seem nearly as focused as the other offerings, and it's hard to shake the fact that this is rehashed content we've already played countless times before. It's an obvious (and perhaps stupid) thing to say that we would have preferred two new maps instead but, well, that's how we feel.

All five maps are well designed and easily integrate into the current rota offered with the game. Whether they are worth picking up, however, really is a subjective choice. There are no new perks, weapons or anything game-changing with the Stimulus Package, so don't expect something that will capture your interest if it hasn't already. It's a no brainer for those who have dedicated (and will continue to sink) hundreds of hours to the game, but as expected, they offer nothing new to the core experience. (And in some ways this is quite fair: after all, any additions outside of new maps would tear the userbase in two.) But as an excuse to get back into the game, it's an excellent one.

Regardless of the actual quality, what of the price? Is five maps for £10.20 fair, especially when you can get an entire Xbox Live game (Such as Castle Crashers, Trials HD or Shadow Complex) for the same price? What about the fact that the cost per map is higher than the usual charge of three maps for 800 Microsoft Points (£6.80), despite that two of them are rehashes? Again, the decision to purchase the Simulus Package is more subjective than perhaps any other downloadable content offered before: it really is a case of perceived value for the individual rather than something you can instantly recommend to everyone.

The map pack is currently exclusive to Xbox 360, with PC and PS3 versions coming within a month. Would you recommend the pack to these users? And what would you like to see from the next downloadable package?

What do you think of the map pack? Do you still play Modern Warfare 2 online? Add a comment the space below!