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Beams of lightning forming a cross above Teleporter Z-C, a DG-Scharfschütze in hand, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

Der Riese Declassified

Der Riese: Declassified, TZ Ghosts' Black Ops III remake of the World at War classic: the spawn under the mainframe as the First Room and its ZFRR rules, the Ultimis crew, the Wunderfizz, the DG-Scharfschütze, the main quest with its Samantha boss fight and what changes from Der Riese.

  • 8 min read
  • 10 chapters
  • updated

The First Room

The spawn yard at night, the mainframe and its blue coils rising above the sandbags and a burning arched window, First Room record footage, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

On ZFRR, the First Room of Der Riese: Declassified is the spawn of the factory, the yard under the mainframe, the landing pad of the three teleporters. A game opens on the words “Near Breslau, Germany, October 28th, 1945”, with 500 points, the M1911 and Stielhandgranates. The yard keeps the layout of the World at War original: barricaded windows glowing with fire, a staircase that climbs towards the mainframe platform, sandbags, and the Pack-a-Punch Machine behind its shutter.

The doors that lead out of the spawn are iron doors marked with the cog of Group 935, and their prompt reads “Cost: 750”, both in a guide and in a First Room record. In a First Room game none of them is ever bought, so the power and the teleporters stay out of reach.

An iron door painted with the Group 935 cog emblem, its prompt reading Hold to open Door Cost 750, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

A 750 door

An iron door painted with the Group 935 emblem: “Hold to open Door [Cost: 750]”.

The yard

The open ground of the spawn, under the mainframe, with burning windows on every side and sandbags along a low wall.

The Pack-a-Punch

In sight on the mainframe platform, but it only opens once the power is on and the three teleporters are linked. Doors closed, it never works.

Gewehr 43

The semi-automatic rifle bought from a wall of the spawn in the First Room records of JohnSmith, Jarrildo and MaDoLtra. No source gives its price on this map.

M1A1 Carbine

A wall buy by a window of the spawn, according to Chole’s grenade guide and a Reddit guide. No source gives its price.

Perks

No guide places a perk machine in the spawn. They put Quick Revive by Teleporter Z-C, Mule Kick in the furnace room and Der Wunderfizz further in.

Mystery Box

No guide places a Box spot in the spawn.

A radio

One of the radios of the story is in the spawn, to the left of the stairs that go down.

Enemies

Zombies and, in their own rounds, Hellhounds. The last dog of a dog round drops a Max Ammo, and the rules let the players hold it back before picking it up.

The Der Riese: Declassified leaderboard keeps one board for solo and one for co-op. Der Riese: Declassified is a custom map: it is listed with the Black Ops III custom maps, whose boards “count in no ranking and no rating”. The rules of the board:

Doors closed

“Reach the highest round you can without opening any doors or barriers.” “Every round must be played in full.”

Teleporter Overload

“Using the Teleporter Overload trick to always get a guaranteed Wunderwaffe from the Mystery Box is NOT ALLOWED.”

Dog round Max Ammos

“Keeping the dog round Max Ammos by not picking them up right away is ALLOWED.”

No glitch

“Glitches or Exploits are NOT ALLOWED.”

Video

“Full gameplay is required.” “Twitch: Make sure your footage is highlighted as past broadcasts will not be accepted.” “YouTube: Make sure your video is public or unlisted.”

Overview

Der Riese: Declassified is a custom Zombies map for Call of Duty: Black Ops III on PC, released on the Steam Workshop on October 29, 2020 by a team led by TZ Ghosts. It is a remake of Der Riese, the last Zombies map of World at War, “reimagined from the ground up for modern day scale and presentation, whilst preserving the map’s decade long legacy”, says its Workshop page. The authors close their credits with a line for Treyarch: “This is a love letter to you.”

GameBlack Ops III (PC, Steam Workshop)
CreatorsTZ Ghosts (mapping, project lead) and team
Workshop releaseOctober 29, 2020
Last updateDecember 4, 2020
Subscribers461,342 current, 835,117 in all (November 11, 2026)
Based onDer Riese (World at War); the official Black Ops III remake is The Giant
LocationWaffenfabrik Der Riese, near Breslau, GermanyOctober 28, 1945
CharactersDempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen
PerksJuggernog, Quick Revive, Speed Cola, Double Tap, Mule Kick, and Der Wunderfizz
Pack-a-PunchOn the mainframe, after the power and the three teleporters
Wonder weaponsWunderwaffe DG-2, Wunderwaffe DG-Scharfschütze, Ragnarok DG-5
Players1 to 4

The Workshop page quotes the original tagline: “The Giant has risen. Face the might of the Nazi Zombies one last time, in their heartland.” It promises a full lore-friendly main quest, fully rebalanced World War II weapons, side Easter eggs, buildables, a new wonder weapon, new radios and recordings, a dialogue system in the style of Black Ops 4 and a dynamic soundtrack made from non-copyrighted Call of Duty music, safe for streamers. It asks the players to turn every audio channel up before playing.

The loading screen, a comic book opened on a desk, Richtofen laughing over the Kronorium on the left page and four silhouettes before a clock on the right, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

The loading screen

A comic book open on Ludvig Maxis’s desk, from Richtofen laughing over the Kronorium to the four heroes before the clock of the factory.

The opening

Every game begins under the mainframe with the words “Near Breslau, Germany, October 28th, 1945”.

What changes from Der Riese

The setting

The map stays in the original story of the Ultimis crew, after Shi No Numa and before Kino der Toten, where The Giant of Black Ops III moved to a new universe. Its ending sends the crew on to Kino der Toten.

The look

Darker lighting and warmer colours, and no snow, unlike The Giant. Even the Max Ammo turns orange, and the ticking clock of the original is back.

The weapons

World at War and Call of Duty: WWII weapons instead of the Black Ops III arsenal, and Pack-a-Punch names of their own.

The quest

The Fly Trap of the original now opens a full main quest through the three teleporters, with cutscenes, flashbacks and a boss fight against Samantha Maxis.

The extras

The Ragnarok DG-5 in place of the Annihilator of The Giant, a Wunderfizz that sells the perks with no machine, Ethereal Razor and Timeslip of Black Ops 4 among them, upgraded grenades, Simian Bombs and three hidden songs.

These comparisons come from Tinhorn’s retrospective of October 2025. The map won Most Addictive Map and Best Tribute Map at the Custom Zombies Awards 2021, as its Workshop page shows.

Characters

The four heroes are the original crew of World at War, the Ultimis, as the Workshop screenshots show them.

Tank Dempsey holding a gun in the factory, Workshop screenshot, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

Tank Dempsey

The American Marine.

Nikolai Belinski in his ushanka holding a gun, Workshop screenshot, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

Nikolai Belinski

The Soviet soldier, in his ushanka.

Takeo Masaki holding a gun in front of the blue light of a machine, Workshop screenshot, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

Takeo Masaki

The Imperial Japanese officer.

E

Edward Richtofen

The Group 935 doctor, whose plan the map tells: the Workshop page calls the factory the place “where his master plan took shape”.

Samantha Maxis is the final boss. The recordings bring in Ryan Jackson, an officer voiced by PrestigeIsKey who reports on the Nova 6 project, and a radio of Doctor Monty; the flashbacks of the main quest show Ludvig Maxis and Richtofen in the factory.

Dempsey, Nikolai, Richtofen and Takeo seen from behind, walking into a bright light inside the factory, Workshop screenshot, Der Riese: Declassified, Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies

The crew

The four heroes walk into the light of the factory in a Workshop screenshot.

Enemies

Zombies

The undead of the factory. During the escort of the main quest, they all sprint.

Hellhounds

The dog rounds of Der Riese are back, with a Max Ammo from the last dog. The script of the dog rounds was reworked by ConvictioNDR, according to the Workshop credits. Samantha also summons them in the boss fight.

In the boss arena

Ice zombies, as the changelog of October 30, 2020 names them, which Tinhorn describes as the water elementals of Black Ops 4.

Samantha Maxis

The final boss of the main quest, shielded until her teddy bears are shot.

Perks

Every perk of the Black Ops version of Der Riese is on the map, and Der Wunderfizz adds the ones that have no machine.

Juggernog

Near the bridge above the Courtyard, going by Ayyden’s directions to a key card.

Quick Revive

By Teleporter Z-C.

Speed Cola

Ayyden places a Samantha doll on the railing above it, near the Der Riese sign.

Double Tap Root Beer

On the way to Teleporter Z-B.

Mule Kick

In the furnace room.

Der Wunderfizz

Modelled on the machine of Black Ops 4, where the snow melts on The Giant. It sells PhD Flopper, Stamin-Up, Deadshot Daiquiri, Electric Cherry, and Ethereal Razor and Timeslip from Black Ops 4.

The power, the teleporters, the Pack-a-Punch and every perk

Weapons

The arsenal is made of Second World War weapons from World at War and Call of Duty: WWII. The walls keep the classics of Der Riese, the Trench Gun of the Animal Testing Laboratory, the Thompson of the furnace room and the MP40 of Teleporter Z-A among them, and the Mystery Box adds the MG42, the PPSh-41, the Ray Gun and the rest.

Wunderwaffe DG-2

The lightning gun of the original, in the Mystery Box.

Wunderwaffe DG-Scharfschütze

The scoped Wunderwaffe of Tag der Toten, built from two halves found in the main quest.

Ragnarok DG-5

The gravity spikes, built from three parts.

Every weapon, its Pack-a-Punch name, the grenades and the Simian Bombs

Building the DG-Scharfschütze and the Ragnarok DG-5

Pack-a-Punch and the teleporters

As in the original, the power switch is in the Courtyard, and the Pack-a-Punch on the mainframe only opens once Teleporters Z-A, Z-B and Z-C are each linked to it, with 30 seconds to run back after activating each one.

Linking the teleporters, step by step

Easter egg

The main quest starts from the Fly Trap of the original and ends with a fight against Samantha. Its steps:

  1. Turn on the power, link the teleporters and Pack-a-Punch a weapon.
  2. Do the Fly Trap: shoot the red panel outside the map, then a teddy bear in a window, a teddy bear in a cage and a Monkey Bomb in the furnace.
  3. Overload Teleporters Z-B and Z-A, with the boilers and the electrical boxes, and bring back the two halves of the DG-Scharfschütze.
  4. Link the four lights of Teleporter Z-C with a Wunderwaffe and take the crystal.
  5. Escort the crystal through the factory and its lockdowns, up to the catwalk.
  6. Defeat Samantha.

The main quest, step by step

Secrets

Beauty of Annihilation

Three green jars play the song of the original.

Remember Forever

Four buttons and five Samantha dolls play the song and leave a Max Ammo.

I’m on Der Riese

Three books placed on a table near Teleporter Z-B, filled with souls.

Upgraded grenades and Simian Bombs

Red barrels behind the windows, and a Monkey Bomb in the furnace.

Film reels, radios and key cards

The story of Ryan Jackson, Doctor Monty and the soldiers of the factory.

The songs, the upgrades and the recordings

Trivia

  • TZ Ghosts posted a music video of Beauty of Annihilation (Director’s Cut) made in the map on August 3, 2020, then an announcement trailer, “Return”, on September 10 and a gameplay trailer on October 26, 2020.
  • Eric Maynard, the narrative lead, posted every radio and recording of the map with subtitles the day after its release.
  • The update of November 5, 2020 added a side Easter egg and gave every character dialogue throughout the quest.
  • The map files weigh about 8.7 GB on the Workshop.
  • Tinhorn counts it among the ten most subscribed custom maps of the Workshop. Its ending, which mirrors the opening of Kino der Toten, made players hope for a Kino der Toten: Declassified, which, as Tinhorn notes, had still not come five years later.