After what seems to be decades of waiting, Call of Duty: Black Ops is here and every gamer that doesn’t live in a cave can’t wait to get their hands on a copy. After the massive success of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2, the new addition to the series (this time by Treyarch) had a lot to live up to. In the following double barrel reviews I will look at both the multi and single player sides to the game.
The Call of Duty franchise bounces between time periods more than Marty McFly and this game is no exception. Black Ops is set in the 60s at the height of the Cold War and drops the player into life as a CIA Black Ops agent. Before the game even entered my console I found the concept refreshing and was looking forward to seeing how Treyarch tackled the change of pace.
Campaign
The campaign is obviously a massive feature of any game. However, the Call of Duty series has a fan base that lusts for the game’s multiplayer (with at least a third of players admitting to having never playing the campaign mode of other titles). As a result, I will try and keep this short and sweet.
The campaign is, in a word, great. Not fantastic but still great. Treyarch have stuck to the recurring theme of playing through the story through the eyes of different soldiers. This now also includes playing through “flashback levels” which incidentally involve the player tackling a past memory. I personally found them quite refreshing however there is a mixed opinion on how well they actually work within the game.
The voice acting is superb and the players find themselves truly starting to relate to the characters as the campaign progresses. However, whilst the sound in general of the campaign is good, it pales when compared to other recently released titles - including Modern Warfare 2. Although Treyarch do a great job of turning each firefight into a fast paced war zone, I didn’t find myself cranking up the surround sound as I did with the recent Medal of Honor.
The arsenal of guns, grenades and other weapons - including a new crossbow and ballistic knife are fantastic, and the familiar gunplay we have come to expect from the series is second to none.
The downsides of the campaign for me are two quite important aspects that I found to be completely disappointing. Number one is how the game looks and number two is the scripting of the story. The visuals are not the best looking in modern first person shooters and the game certainly resembles Treyarch’s previous title World at War. The scripting of the game is equally average, and I couldn’t help but feel I was being navigated from point to point in order to trigger the next cut scene. Many of which now involve live action videos that are indeed interesting, but only end up highlighting how bad the actual characters look.
If you were interested in only playing the campaign, would I recommend purchasing Black Ops? Yes I would. It is still very much enjoyable although it does admittedly have more shortcomings than previous games in the series.
Would you eventually trade it in for the next shiny title? Probably.
Score: 3/5
Multiplayer
Now for the juicy stuff.
I want to start off by saying there is a reason this review has come so late. For the first week of playing the game, I didn’t want a write a review. As a matter of fact I wanted to take my game to the police station and tell them I had been mugged. Matchmaking was terrible – so much so that finding a game with a decent connection was nothing short of impossible. In a massive contrast to previous Call of Duty titles, the sound was almost useless, resulting in enemies happily sprinting up behind you without you hearing a thing. Finally and possibly worst of all they had gimped my precious sniper rifles to a point where they are almost not worth using.
After those harsh words I would just like to point out that a week later I am half way through my second prestige and I have a new favourite game to play online. I take my hat off to Treyarch and commend them for making radical changes to the game within days. On the 18/11/2010 a patch was issued resulting in my Black Ops and I becoming friends again.
Matchmaking is good and although getting into a lobby in a party can be tough, there is now the option to play only with local players, which I personally LOVE. The sound has been improved to make better use of footsteps and planting bombs – which means my PX21 headset is now being put back to use.
To reiterate: the broken parts have been fixed (or at least the ones particularly winding me up) and let me tell you this is a refreshing and certainly welcomed addition to my CoD collection.
The game plays fantastically. The gunplay cannot be faulted and minus a couple of FPS issues (soon to be resolved) on PS3, the game plays as smoothly as the previous titles. The new arsenal of guns and weapons available to the player are more difficult use, and it is apparent from the first shots fired that the recoil/kick has been cranked up a notch. Three shots from a sub machine gun will no longer kill a player at the other side of the map, as you will probably miss them with two.
Throughout the series we have seen the introduction of perks. Perks are three categories of abilities the player can choose from, each with their own benefits. For example being able to move faster, reload faster or see hidden enemy equipment each with an addition bonus ability once unlocked. The changes in Black Ops include the removal of stopping power/ and juggernaught (bullet damage and extra health), which completely changes how the game plays. Previously it was rare to come across a player who wasn’t using either one of these perks, however this has essentially given players a lot more flexibility in how they play, in addition to leveling the playing field. Players are harder to kill and in turn - so are you. In Black Ops you will find yourself often escaping from firefights if you feel they are not going your way.
Following in the trend of Modern Warfare: 2, in Call of Duty: Black Ops you can customize your kill streak rewards. Kill streak rewards are rewarded to you for killing multiple enemies in succession without dying. These can range from spy planes, to attack dogs and helicopters. The fans of previous titles will be shocked to know that kill streaks no longer contribute to other kill streaks, and only your bullets/explosives can open your next reward. The logic behind this is to encourage players not to camp and let your rewards do the work… so far I haven’t found this to be the case but campers will be campers.
The maps are great however there are some issues with the spawns, but this seems to be a recurring theme with the series (and there are whispers about further patches to correct them). They range from jungles to snowy mountains and even a small 60s suburb. The developers said the maps included small, medium and large maps but I would think it is more accurate to say they range from small to medium’ish. Sub machine guns now play a larger part with assault rifles no longer being the definitive gun. Snipers will certainly feel hard done by, as there has been a distinct amount of focus on gimping or “nerfing” them.
I will have to cut an already lengthy review short, but to sum the game up I would certainly encourage people who were put off by the initial bugs to give it a second chance - it is fantastic. Racking up kills is a lot more rewarding and achieving your high kill streaks is a lot more of a challenge than previously. I would also encourage new players to pick up a copy and don’t panic! There is now a “Combat Training” mode that allows you to hone your skills against computer controlled bots, before fancying your chances online.
There are plenty of reasons to fall in love with Black Ops for both new players and returning fans. Refreshing new game-play, maps, perks and kill streak rewards coupled with the ability to record and edit your game-play with no extra hardware, make for a shooter and more importantly one of the best Call of Duty multiplayer experiences to date.
Score: 5/5
