History VideoGame / MobOfTheDead

''Mob of the Dead'' is a unique entry in the Aether StoryArc of ''Zombies'', focusing on a cast of characters exclusive to the map with a self-contained story ([[CanonWelding at first]]). In prohibition era San Francisco, four gangsters - mob boss Sal [=DeLuca=] (Creator/ChazzPalminteri), his favored leg-breaker Billy Handsome (Creator/RayLiotta), gambler-in-chief Finn O'Leary (Creator/MichaelMadsen), and con artist Al "The Weasel" Arlington (Creator/JoePantoliano) - form a daring escape plan to break out of [[TheAlcatraz Alcatraz Penitentiary]]. On the night of their escape, however, the guard they kill to break out, Stanley Ferguson, suddenly reanimates as a zombie, and is joined by countless others. As Alcatraz transforms into a nightmarish hell of its' already hellish self, the four mobsters try to fight their way out, but are quickly overwhelmed by the horde and devoured.

* AmbiguousSituation: Ultimately [[spoiler:whether or not the cycle is broken or not is left unclear since it's up to the players which path they take. "Blood of the Dead" shows the group still imprisoned as spirits in Alcatraz, even Al who now is a seagull spirit called Icarus, suggesting that either they never broke the cycle, or that even if Al did, he was still trapped in Alcatraz just with more freedom.]]

* BreatherEpisode: PlayedWith. ''Mob'' is the only map of ''Black Ops II'' to not be a part of the main arc of Maxis and Richtofen's war, telling its' own self-contained story, but it's also ''the'' darkest map of the game. Later ArcWelding would tie it into the larger mythos of the series, but from a ''Black Ops II''-only perspective, it's almost completely on its' own.

** One trap put in the way towards the Warden's office consists of two fans that [[DeadlyRotaryFan gib any zombie that passes through them.]] The other trap is located in the Cafeteria and rains ''pure acid'' onto the zombies.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The darkest ''Zombies'' map to date. A hellish setting, protagonists who are almost entirely evil, and one hell of a MortonsFork for them no matter what happens. [[spoiler:It's telling that the good ending is simply Al getting to pass on peacefully while the others die or go to hell in full.]]

* EvilAllAlong: Sal, Billy, and Finn are all hardened criminals to begin with, but [[spoiler:it's revealed they turned on Weasel out of frustration and spite in the real world. In the final step of the Easter egg they turn on him once again.]]

** Throughout the prison you can see various regulations with firm guidelines and warnings for prisoners, but one stands out among the rest - Regulation #666. "They are not your friends" is likely addressed to Al, [[spoiler:who was killed by the other three in real life, but the 666 is foreshadowing what's coming for the other three.]]

** The dials on the clocks continuously kick back after a certain amount of time, and the Perk machines phase in and out of reality, [[spoiler:foreshadowing the map's nature as a GroundhogDayLoop.]]

** The Warden's office has newspaper clippings of the word "-gatory" and a picture of lightning striking the Golden Gate Bridge, foreshadowing [[spoiler:Alcatraz being turned into Purgatory and what is waiting at the bridge.]]
* GenreShift: ''Zombies'' has slowly been introducing more explicitly supernatural elements, but ''Mob of the Dead'' is when the series more firmly embraces it due to the afterlife being one of the main themes and mechanics of the map [[spoiler:and indeed, the ''actual'' setting.]] This map also sees more of a cinematic presentation of a more dedicated story, a trend that would continue for the rest of the series to date.

* {{Hellgate}}: The ''Icarus'' turns out to be one, as it [[spoiler:ferries the mobsters to the Golden Gate Bridge where three of them will meet their final fates.]]
* HellholePrison: Subverted. Alcatraz looks downright horrific, but [[spoiler:it's all an illusion. The Alcatraz in the real world is child's play compared to the purgatory dimension the crew is stuck in.]]
* {{Jumpscare}}: If the player looks through a scoped weapon from the rooftop to the direction of the fireworks, they are surprised by a scary face and a loud scream. This is notably the first of this trope in the series. Another one, that is ''extremely'' rare is if you go to the window next to the Mystery Box spawn in the cafeteria and you'll see the scary face flash during some lightning.
* LethalJokeWeapon: The Golden Spork; as ridiculous as this sounds, it's more lethal than the '''Galvaknuckles'''. Yes, a ''spork'' is more deadly than electric brass knuckles! Holy crap! To specify, the Golden Spork is five times more deadly than the Galvaknuckles. Getting it requires using the acid infused Blundergat in the laundry room after mixing the spoon in the bathtub of blood. A laugh later, and go back to bathtub. Have fun using it to {{Curbstomp| Battle}} zombies. It returns in ''Blood of the Dead'' with more or less the same method of creation, bringing some much-needed levity to the otherwise-morose map.

* NonStandardGameOver: In a first for the series, the player can actually end the game without dying, so to speak. Additionally, if the player carries out the Easter egg to the final step, regardless of which ending they pick, the Game Over screen will instead say "Life Over".

* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: The mobsters end up crashing into the Golden Gate Bridge support beam with their makeshift airplane and fall to the ground below, but they just merely get dazed as a result. [[spoiler:Justified, they are not in the real world, they are in purgatory.]]
* NumberOfTheBeast: Shows up twice. You must feed six zombies a piece to each of the three wolf heads - aka 6-6-6. Also, if you input the numbers "115" into the keypad, the numbers will flash to "666".

* VillainProtagonist: Thanks to TheReveal, [[spoiler:Sal, Billy, and Finn end up becoming this as their murder of Al caused their imprisonment.]]
* WardensAreEvil: Brutus the warden [[spoiler:is actually not this, subverting this trope. The mobsters deserve their sentence, and he's just there to try to foil their escapes. Then it gets ''double'' subverted when "Blood of the Dead" reveals he truly ''is'' evil.]]

* LethalJokeWeapon: The Golden Spork in ''Mob of the Dead''. As ridiculous as this sounds, it's more lethal than the '''Galvaknuckles'''. Yes, a ''spork'' is more deadly than electric brass knuckles! Holy crap! To specify, the Golden Spork is five times more deadly than the Galvaknuckles. Getting it requires using the acid infused Blundergat in the laundry room after mixing the spoon in the bathtub of blood. A laugh later, and go back to bathtub. Have fun using it to {{Curbstomp| Battle}} zombies. It returns in ''Blood of the Dead'' with more or less the same method of creation, bringing some much-needed levity to the otherwise-morose map.

* OddballInTheSeries: Aside from "Nacht der Untoten", which gets a pass since it was the very first ''Zombies'' map, "Mob of the Dead" is the first entry in the series to have absolutely no ties to the greater mythos beyond the presence of zombies and two nods to Group 935 and Element 115. This also means that there are no audio logs until the end of the Easter egg, notable as usually audio logs will explain the backstory of the map.

** Regulation #666 sternly warns the reader "they are not your friends", which is likely addressed to Al, [[spoiler:who was killed by the other three in real life.]]

* OneOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Throughout the prison you can see various regulations with firm guidelines and warnings for prisoners, but one stands out among the rest - Regulation #666.
-->'''Regulation #666''': '''DEAL WITH IT.''' Do not get too close, they are not your friends. Destroy their brains for quick extermination. If you are bitten, please kill yourself.

* {{Jumpscare}}: If the player looks through a scoped weapon from the rooftop to the direction of the fireworks, they are surprised by a scary face and a loud scream. This is notably the first of this trope in the series.

* WardensAreEvil: Brutus the warden [[spoiler:is actually not this, subverting this trope. The mobsters deserve their sentence, and he's just there to try to foil their escapes. Then it gets ''double'' subverted when "Blood of the Dead" reveals he truly ''is'' evil.]]

The story of ''Mob of the Dead'' is followed up on in the quasi-sequel, quasi-remake "Blood of the Dead", released in 2018 as part of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIV''.

* TheAlcatraz: The setting of the map.

* AnAxeToGrind: If the players feed six zombies to the three wolf heads, they gain access to the Hell's Retriever tomahawk that they can used as a ranged weapon. They can further upgrade it into the Hell's Redeemer.

* MultipleEndings: [[spoiler:Sal, Finn, and Billy turn on Al and attack him, and the story of the map ends with either the three successfully killing him (the "'''THE CYCLE CONTINUES'''" ending), or Al is able to triumph and kill them all ('''THE CYCLE IS BROKEN''').