The 11 Best Snow Maps in Call of Duty History, From Array to Summit

I love a good snow map in Call of Duty, and as we start to ease into that time of the year, I'm looking back at my favorites. These are the 11 best snow maps in Call of Duty history, counting down from Array to the map I think best represents the whole franchise. Snow maps have the best vibes you could ask for from a Call of Duty map, so grab your coat and a hot cocoa.

11. Array in Black Ops is flawed, but I think it's iconic

Array is what happens when Call of Duty gives you a giant snowy landscape, a satellite dish the size of a shopping mall, and approximately 17 places for somebody to snipe you from. Some people hated the map. I think it's iconic, and I loved it even though it was flawed.

It's one of Black Ops' larger maps, with long stretches of open terrain connecting the buildings and elevated positions. If you enjoyed sitting at the back of the map with a sniper rifle and making sure nobody had a good time, Array was practically a five star vacation destination.

The downside was that matches could feel sluggish, especially when half the lobby was more interested in staring through a scope than playing the objective. Still, the Soviet satellite facility had a distinctive atmosphere that made it memorable. It's not the first map I'd pick for a night of Black Ops, but it deserves to be here. Just don't ask me to play Team Deathmatch on it with six snipers on each team.

10. Stronghold in Black Ops 3 turns a Swiss chateau into a futuristic war zone

Stronghold takes a Swiss mountain chateau and turns it into a futuristic war zone. It has sleek architecture, interesting outdoor routes, and plenty of opportunities to get shot by someone flying through the air doing action movie jumps off the patches of high ground.

The central building is a major point of contention, while the surrounding paths let players flank enemies or take advantage of Black Ops 3's advanced movement. Because this is Black Ops 3, holding one doorway does not guarantee safety. Somebody could wall run around the building, boost over a wall and introduce themselves to you from behind with a shotgun.

The combination of close quarters combat and more open engagements gave Stronghold some variety without making it feel like a giant, directionless playground. Plus, the snowy mountain backdrop looked cool.

9. Ardennes Forest in Call of Duty: WWII nails a bleak, miserable atmosphere

Ardennes Forest deserves recognition for making you feel like you've been dropped into one of the most miserable places on Earth. Set during the Battle of the Bulge, it surrounds you with snow covered trees, ruined military positions and a landscape that looks like it has already endured several weeks of absolute misery.

Unlike the futuristic resorts and military installations elsewhere on this list, it has a bleak, depressing atmosphere that fits Call of Duty: WWII like a glove. The trees and terrain break up your view, make movement through the forest feel dangerous and reward players who pay attention to their surroundings.

Naturally, that also means you can occasionally get shot by somebody hiding behind a tree you didn't know existed, but that's Call of Duty. The map's appeal comes from its atmosphere as much as its gameplay, and it has snow on it, so it's eligible for this list.

8. Frost proves Infinite Warfare had good maps on Europa

I hated Infinite Warfare's multiplayer, but I can recognize a good snow map. I've said before that Infinite Warfare may have had annoying gameplay, but the maps were pretty good for the most part.

Frost takes the fight to a research facility on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, which is awesome. You get icy exterior areas, sleek corridors and futuristic architecture. The map has a nice balance of indoor combat and exposed routes to keep things interesting, and there were many places to make use of the advanced movement in some pretty good ways.

What makes Frost stand out to me is that the environment feels integral to its identity, rather than being a standard military map with a winter filter slapped on top. I think the icy setting and futuristic facility give it a distinct look.

7. Sub Base in the original Modern Warfare 2 rewards players who learn its buildings

Going old school, Sub Base mixes industrial interiors with exterior walkways, creating a variety of engagements depending on which part of the installation you're fighting over. Inside, the cramped spaces make for good, dangerous close range engagements. Outside, the longer sight lines give assault rifles and snipers more room to work.

Because this is Modern Warfare 2, every single corner comes with the possibility of running into somebody using a weapon that has no business being as good as it is. Sub Base also rewards players who learn how the buildings connect. Charging through the most obvious routes is a good way to catch a shotgun blast.

The setting does a lot of work here. The frozen facility and the industrial equipment give the map a very distinct identity, and it fits right in with Modern Warfare 2's general atmosphere.

6. Infection in Black Ops 3 is a large map that still became a fan favorite

Infection is one of the larger maps in Black Ops 3, yet it's still a fan favorite, which isn't usually how that works. It also had a neat Easter egg: if you looked at the giant wall on the side of the map, it was a remake of a classic Call of Duty map. And while you were looking at the wall, you'd get sniped by somebody camping in the second story windows on the other side of the map with a Locus.

It was fun, though. The center area was a nice little arena, a fight pit with everybody getting funneled in, while the two side lanes had some interesting flanking opportunities, assuming you didn't get sniped by someone else camping with another rifle. It's a pretty sniper heavy map, but it was snow, and it was cool.

5. Downhill in Black Ops 2 stands out with its French ski resort gondolas

Downhill takes us to a French ski resort, with snow covered slopes, resort buildings, a snowman, and a gondola system that makes the whole place feel considerably more expensive than your average Call of Duty map. I think the changing elevations helped distinguish it from flatter battlefields.

The buildings provided pockets of close range combat between more exposed engagements. You couldn't sprint forward and expect every gunfight to happen at the same distance on this map. Sometimes you're clearing a room, and sometimes you're getting shot at from across the resort.

The gondolas are the map's most memorable feature. They gave Downhill a visual identity beyond the usual collection of military buildings and concrete barriers. I think Black Ops 2 had an excellent multiplayer map pool, and Downhill deserves some credit for trying to be a little different.

4. Drift in Advanced Warfare had an avalanche that could reshape the fight

I bet you forgot Drift even existed. It takes a festive mountain resort in the Rocky Mountains and turns it into a futuristic firefight where even the environment is trying to kill you. The map features a snowy ski village, a central carousel, elevated positions and a dynamic avalanche that can dramatically change parts of the battlefield.

Because this was Advanced Warfare, you could also boost around the resort in ways that would make an actual ski instructor immediately quit. The carousel was a particularly memorable centerpiece. The avalanche added an environmental hazard that could force you to rethink your route and positioning. I thought it was a clever idea, and I think it gave Drift a little extra personality.

3. Winter Crash in Modern Warfare Remastered adds holiday cheer to a classic

I know putting Winter Crash here is cheating. I do not care. Crash is awesome, and so is this variant. The underlying layout remains familiar, of course: the central building, the helicopter, the narrow streets, and plenty of places to get ambushed by somebody who's been holding the same angle since the match started.

Winter Crash added some holiday cheer to that experience without losing the character of the map. There's something hilarious about turning a brutal military firefight into a Christmas celebration where the main activities are shooting strangers and calling in air strikes, and those air strikes are delivered by Santa Claus loudly ho ho hoing.

The helicopter has Christmas lights on it now, because why not. "Nothing says Merry Christmas like shooting somebody so hard they turn into a pile of neatly wrapped presents." Also, Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

2. WMD in Black Ops works for all kinds of play styles

WMD is one of my favorite maps, and it's one of the reasons I remember the original Black Ops having such a fantastic multiplayer map selection. It's set in an abandoned Soviet Nova 6 facility, with industrial buildings, catwalks, elevated positions and multiple routes for approaching engagements.

I think the central building was an important position, but controlling it isn't the only way to influence a match. You could move through the surrounding structures, use the outer routes to flank, or take advantage of elevated positions to punish people crossing exposed areas.

That flexibility helped WMD accommodate all kinds of play styles. Snipers had their opportunities, assault rifle players had room to work, and close range players could find the action around and inside the buildings, once again putting a shotgun to use at point blank range. The map also had a strong visual identity, with its snow covered facility and ominous chemical production.

1. Summit in Black Ops is the snow map I'd pick to represent Call of Duty

Don't worry, I didn't get this wrong. Summit is the obvious number one, and maybe one of the most obvious picks in any of my countdowns. It takes the top spot because it shows just how much you can accomplish with a compact, well designed battlefield, meaning the battlefield of the map, not the other game.

We're in the snowy mountains at a remote Soviet research facility with a central control room and narrow exterior hallways. Who remembers fighting in there? Then there are the random drops that made it clear whoever designed the place did not care about anything. The control room is a major point of contention, but the surrounding routes meant you couldn't hold one doorway and expect to survive.

Players could flank through the exterior path, or push through the facility to a little side route down the side of the mountain. It was compact, but the layout pushed for action and engagement, and it worked with all kinds of weapons and play styles. The setting is instantly recognizable: the snowy mountain, the buildings, the dangerous drops. It gave the map a strong identity in Black Ops.

Summit has returned in many Call of Duty games, and it's a fantastic map. If I have to pick one snowy map to represent the franchise, this would be it. Just watch your step, because you can fall off the mountain. It was embarrassing, but everybody did it.