Modern Warfare 2 players are having a "blast" on Santa Seña Border Crossing, a new map that focuses on close combat with explosions on the US-Mexico border. While some professional gamers are confused by the map, where everyone is wiped out by explosions within the first minute, Santa Seña has been welcomed by many players with its straightforward layout and tense gimmick.

Santa Seña breaks away from the traditional three-lane structure of CoD map design to become a maze of abandoned sedans and jackknifed semi-trucks. Because of the dense traffic, a tremendous amount of exploding vehicles, more or less lined up in a straight line, each leaves a waist-high pile of scrap as cover. [Each vehicle explosion not only fatally damages anyone nearby, but also sends up a cloud of dust, quickly transforming Santa Seña from a minefield of minivans into a brutal bumper-to-bumper gunfight.

But not everyone is ecstatic: the FaZe clan at Esports org mocked the map on Twitter:

Also, COD's popular Twitter account TheGhostofHope placed the map at the bottom of its first day ranking (new tab). Pro player Muddawg wrote on Twitter (opens in new tab) that the map "doesn't give players any interesting options on where to go. An enthusiastic meteorologist also jumped in (opens in new tab) and called it "the worst multiplayer map ever released in any game."

In response to this criticism, players countered that series favorites such as Nuketown, Shipment, and Rust all deviated from the three-lane design format, with Reddit user CredDefensePost911 writing, "I really enjoy this map. The cars are a really fun mechanic in single life mode and in respawn mode they all blow up within a minute." User MurfMan11 continued that Santa Seña was "100% my favorite map I played last night."

Some of the more enthusiastic comments floated to the top of Modern Warfare 2's Reddit page:

The discussion surrounding Santa Seña highlights the divide between casual and hardcore player segments in their expectations of map design Many casual players welcome the dynamic and unpredictable chaos of explosive car versus car combat. So far, Santa Seña is an early PC Gamer favorite. Our own Morgan Park (opens in new tab) points out that Santa Seña has a unique flow compared to other launch maps, forcing players to slow down and engage in prolonged firefights. The explosive salvo at the beginning turns into a slower, more methodical pace, as players have limited means to flank and detonate cover where their opponents are hiding.

Ultimately, Santa Seña seems to have struck a chord with players who wanted a more unique and interactive map for Modern Warfare 2. Of the ten 6vs6 maps implemented at launch, several others fit the bill, including Crown Raceway, a boxy arena with an F1 race in progress, and Zarqwa Hydroelectric, an urban battlefield with undersea tunnels.