Call of Duty: Black Ops Review

Call of duty: Black Ops has been out for just over a week now.  In my last post, which can be read here, I gave a brief pre-launch preview as the buzz surrounding the game was getting increasingly louder.  The night of the release, a friend of mine brought his brand new copy over to show me the game.  Did I like it?  I think I did.  Yup. 

We jumped into a multiplayer match against bots, not online against real players, just so my buddy Matt could show me the gameplay and some of the maps.  First thing I noticed, and was thrilled about, was the sound.  I am a huge fan of big, loud explosions, heavy sounding weapons, popping grenades, etc.  I like loud.  I like big.  The sound sucked me in immediately.  The guns were loud and powerful; the explosions were indeed big sending a nice low rumble through my subwoofer.  I was very, very pleased.  A+ on the sound.  Next up, some gameplay – how was that? He handed me the controller and I started up.  I loved it!  We played another, and my positive comments increased while my negative skepticism regarding a Treyarch-created game decreased.  I enjoyed it so much that at lunch the next day, I traded in my copy of Halo Reach, paid the balance of 15 bucks, and had a copy of Black Ops.  One week later, I am officially a huge fan of the game.  If I had to sum it up, it plays more like Call of Duty 4 (awesome) with the killstreak/perk innovations of Mod Warfare 2 – in other words, a perfect blend!

 If you play games at all, no doubt you have at the very least seen other Call of Duty games, most recently Modern Warfare 1 and 2.  This game plays very similar to both, which is a good thing in my opinion.  I have been able to jump right in and enjoy it as the learning curve is not too difficult.  Sure there are differences, but the differences are not so drastic that you are a liability as a teammate.   So let me start with the Campaign, and then get to the good stuff. 

As of this moment, I am not very far in the campaign.  The multiplayer is too much fun.  What I can say about the campaign so far is that it has been enjoyable, exciting, brutal,  and plays like a good action film.  I have never seen an intro to a game like this before.  As soon as you select “campaign” from the menu, the game literally starts.  I mean right there.  As in, the selection “lobby” where you choose your options and gametypes is actually the setting for the beginning of the game.  And from there, you are Mason, voiced by Sam Worthington (Avatar) and his “I can only say certain words without my Australian accent coming through thickly” voice.  Mason is actually sitting in an

I speak Australian really well, even when trying to speak American...

 interrogation room, and this is how the game takes place.  He is telling a story, trying to remember what happened years before (similar to a Bourne movie), and you play out the character through Cuba, Vietnam, and beyond.  The setting is the Cold War.  Like I said, I am not very far, so I only know so much, but thus far it has been a good story, and quite fun to play through.  And very much rated “R”.  But enough about the campaign.  Let’s get to the good stuff!

Multiplayer – This is what keeps gamers playing a game for months, and even years after a release.  Black Ops uses the same sort of ranking, weapons unlocking, and kill streaks system as the previous Call of Duty games, which is extremely addictive.  There is always something to work on, a goal to try to accomplish.  Where Treyarch has shined is coming up with new ways to do this.  In past games, to get an ACOG scoped attached to your M16 assault rifle, you had to get 150 kills with that weapon.  At that point you are you are rewarded your ACOG scope, and then you move on to the next challenge with that weapon.  In Black Ops, there is a currency system in place.  So if you earn 2000 credits (bucks), instead of needing to get 150 kills with a weapon, just go buy your ACOG scope.  If you earn the credits, you can just buy your claymores, your flash grenades, your different kill streaks.  It is a great new feature. 

In addition, there are contracts, timed contracts that you can “Sign”, and then try to complete.  For example, last night I signed up for a Longshot contract, which required that I get two kills from long range within 25 minutes of gameplay.  If you don’t do it, you don’t get paid.  I did it, and was paid the agreed upon amount of money.  That is an easier one.  There are other ones that are more difficult, thus pay more (get 5 headshots without dying within 40 minutes of gameplay – very tough).   Wager matches are another huge addition.  These are matches with preset rules that you literally can bet your money against other players that you will finish in the top 3 of that match.  They are all free-for-all matches (every man for himself, no teams) and are a blast.  My favorites have been the Gun Game and Sharpshooter.  In Gun Game, you start with a pistol, and have to work your way through 20 different gun types to win.  When you get a kill with that weapon, you move to the next, and everyone progresses through the same weapons.  In the Sharpshooter gametype, where every 45 seconds your weapons cycles to something else, and everyone has the same weapon.  It is totally random, so you never know what you will get.  It is a blast, and it forces you to be decent with all weapons.   If you finish in the top three, you get paid.  If not, you lose your “entry fee”, or your bet, if you will. 

Lastly, you have to have good maps.  And so far, I really enjoy the maps.  Part of that is because they are all new, so that makes them all fresh and fun.   Even still, I really do like them.  There is a good mix of forest, nighttime, snow, urban, and industrial settings.  I love Jungle, which is exactly what it sounds like – running around in a jungle.  It reminds me of the Predator a bit minus aliens. 

You have the gameplay of a good Call of Duty shooter, the same addictive-goal-oriented ranking system to finish off goals for different weapons and such, new contracts to fulfill, new wager matches to bet credits on to make more money, all the classic gameplay modes, and brand new maps.  All this is thrown into the pot to boil up a darn good game, and one that (so far) has lived up to the hype.  That hype also made it the largest single entertainment release in the history of the cosmos with $360 million on its opening day.  Insane. 

In closing, I love this game.   The adjustments made to killstreaks not being as powerful, and not counting towards your streak total put more emphasis back on the player having to do get his or her own kills, and there seems to be more emphasis on trying to win (as opposed to who cares, I just want to get 80 kills in a game).  The graphics have gotten a knock, and while no, they are not as sharp as Mod Warfare 2 – a step back, if you will – they are still really, really good.  The campaign, so far, has been fun, and the multiplayer is everything advertised.  If you were skeptical about Treyarch putting out a good game, there is no need to be.  They have a good one here, and if you are on the fence about getting it, I say go for it.  That means you, Mark Ahlman!  Emoticon winking.   

Peace.

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