Map gimmicks add a nice touch to each map, and hazards are sometimes annoying, especially if you are vanquished by it. They provide extra attention to detail, for instance, Wall-Nut Hills because at the last point you have the Wall-Nuts rolling down the mountain which can instantly vanquish anyone is hit, which makes it harder for zombies to make it up to the mansion, although the plants can be vanquished as well if they attempt to spawn camp which is useful. Peachy District in Battle for Neighborville essentially did the same thing with the TV station except that the Wall Nuts no longer instantly vanquish plants and zombies hit by them, I'm not sure why this change was made.
I like the sandstorms in Sandy Sands too, however unfortunately I do not see it occur much either, although the sandstorms tend to occur at least once per match when playing Ops from my experience. Lots of maps have a fall hazard in some locations at the edge, resulting in some locations being semi dangerous if you place your garden or tombstone there in Ops. I know that Garden Warfare 1 had some notable gimmicks as well, such as Driftwood Shores having a Mega Flower at the last point in Turf Takeover which I have seen gameplay of.
Actually, it would be useful if every map had a hazard which would instantly vanquish any player, even if it is simply a bottomless pit or an occassional self activated trap of some sort. Occassionally in Ops the game will glitch and we will be unable to finish the wave, therefore being forced to leave the match entirely. I would rather just vanquish our whole team and then use a team retry than have to leave the entire match. I tried to jump off the map in Time Park when this happened, unfortunately this did not work though.