YMMV / Contagion (Monochrome)

• Abridged Arena Array: Roanoke PD is by far the mostly heavily played Escape map. Due to the small, compact map design and doors that can be opened that lead directly back to spawn, new players can easily and quickly locate other players, and it's not excessively long like Biotec, both Montclair sections and the first and the third maps of Last Stop, or chaotic from the start like Camp Whitner and Harvest. However, it does have a lot of chokepoints and confusing layout to boot, but in comparison to most other maps the flaws are less glaring.
• Complacent Gaming Syndrome: For Escape mode, search the map carefully until you find an MP5K, a SCAR or an AR-15, then slap a flashlight attachment and silencer on it. You're set for the rest of the run even without a scope attachment and will only die if you're careless enough as to get yourself surrounded.
• Game-Breaker: Any automatic firearm when you attach a flashlight to it. They all have huge magazines (that realistically aren't offset by long reloading times), can be used in the dark without the need for the unreliable pocket light, are easy to fire semi-auto with great accuracy but also have the option to toss loads of dakka downrange in case you find another survivor in Hunted or a riot zombie (or worse, player zombie) in other modes. To boot, ammo pickups are very generous at 15 rounds apiece per 9mm box and 30 for .45 ACP box and assault rifle magazine, and max ammo tops off at 150. They're so good, they overshadow absolutely all the other weapons, even the stealthy bow and crossbow – after all, who needs to sneak when you can lay waste to an entire horde from a good distance away, be it dark or bright, without having to reload more than once before everything in front of you has a ventilated cranium? It also helps that you can drop all the redundant weapons you may be carrying and save the slots for things like medkits, key items and explosives, saving you both time and hassle.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: The Colt 1911 pistol was a Scrappy Weapon for a long time in PvE modes. It dealt more bullet damage than the SIG players always started with, but against normal zombies that's moot, as they die in one good headshot anyway, and that extra damage came at the cost of all its other stats: ammo was rarer and only came in 7-round pickups (same as its magazine capacity), max carry capacity was a pathetic 56 rounds. The only reason to pick it up was to have a backup gun with a flashlight. Later updates gave it a much-needed boost, with ammo pickups made more generous at 30 rounds a pop (more than 9mm), and max capacity boosted to the same 150 rounds of 9mm and 5.56 rifle ammo. This makes the Colt a worthwhile item even if, thanks to the revamped Gun Accessories system, it doesn't spawn with a mounted light.
• Scrappy Weapon:
  • The Ka-Bar knife is vastly underwhelming in comparison to other melee weapons because its range is incredibly short, plus it may fail to kill a zombie with one charged head stab. While the players can perform stealth kills with it on unsuspecting zombies, they can also do it with any other melee weapon.
  • The Pocket Light is a flashlight that you can use when holding other items, melee weapons, or guns with no flashlight. Problem is, it takes up one of four precious item slots, its light tends to point out at random directions depending on what you're wielding, such as the bow, and it wobbles like crazy if you do as little as move one step. After the update that made Gun Accessories modular, the Pocket Light became all but useless, as even a middling firearm can have a stable and centered light on it, and guns with lights attached are not difficult to find.
• That One Level: Barlowe Square is not held in high regard by many because of its maze-like structure and lacking much in proper direction, meaning that it is easy to get lost if you can't catch up to other players. In addition, this map relies a lot on RNG, especially on the extraction part: you can get a simple subway scenario... or a not-so-easy truck scenario which will, once again, force you to go through a maze of fences and alleys, with a strict time limit if someone has already escaped and set off the countdown.

---