CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS

I was hesitant to run out and buy the newest game in the Call of Duty franchise: Black Ops. I wanted to wait for a week or two and see what people had to say about it first. I started reading reviews on different websites and it seemed to be getting (for the most part) positive feedback. Which came as a suprise to me given Treyarch's sub-par track record.

I wasn't a fan of World at War. Some of it had to do with production aspects but i think most of its failures were due to the games WWII era theme, which in my opinion is a dead horse that has been beat time and time again. Releasing after Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare (1) it just didn't seem like the best move. Part of what made MW1 so great (and revolutionary at the time) was the ability to customize your weapons with a variety of optics, ballistics, and camouflage that would suite the players liking and style of game play. Taking the genre back to WWII eliminated that possibility in order to stay true to that time period.

Black Ops is no Modern Warfare either, it takes place during a range of time periods, including WWII and the Vietnam War, which you have access to during a series of flashbacks. However, Treyarch does a surprisingly good job integrating modern technology in a believable fashion this time around.

The Cold War is an interesting period. Its a time of paranoia, when the communist threat, real or imagined, was everywhere including within your own ranks. It was a time for developing secret technology, spying, and betraying one another. I'm no military historian but I like to think of it this way: even if the technology made available to you in the game is a little ahead of its time, i think of it as being secret technology, maybe even in experimental stages, which is only used by special forces teams with the highest of security clearances.

The campaign story is well thought out and fun to play. Because it covers such a wide time period you have a wider variety of weapons at your fingertips. I have also found that ammo is not hard to come by so once i find a gun i like i can use it as long as i want and shoot as much as i want. the only complaint i have about the campaign is that it is so story driven i feel like i have to stop every 15 minutes for a short video clip or something.

Treyarch also brought back Nazi Zombies for this game with 3 unlockable maps. Its a game mode that involves you and three other players defending yourselves from wave after wave of zombies. as you kill zombies you earn money and can buy new weapons or open locked doors that grant you access to different parts of the map. Each wave gets worse as you play and you go until everyone on the team is dead. Its a fun mode if your just looking to hang out and you want something to shoot while your talking to your friends. Of course if your serious about it and your looking to set some records you will need a good team you can communicate with well.

There is also a bonus "Zombie Ops" arcade game that can be unlocked from the main menu screen, and can be played with 1 or multiple players. I have to say i really love this simple little game they came up with. Its another survival style game like Nazi Zombies but you pick up gems and powered up weapons (that give you a temporary boost) along the way to decimate the undead masses and earn the highest score. Its awesome.

I would say that the multiplayer i have the biggest problem with, but only in the sense that its the same old bullshit we are used to seeing from MW1 and MW2. The network sucks which means the lag is bad. if you like popping around a corner and getting shot in the face before you even see what happened, then this is the multiplayer experience for you. I think they upped the difficulty too. The weapons have a lot heavier recoil and the optics are small with bulky edges making them hard to see through. Also you are not able to throw grenades very far.

They also changed how you get new weapons coming up with a new money system. As you complete challenges and rank up you earn money and unlock certain weapons. but you then have to go buy that weapon before you are able to use it. it is the same with various attachments, perks, and camouflage, all coming at a price so you must choose which ones will help you the most. this addition i dont really mind that much. its a different approach and money doesnt seem all that hard to come buy.

Overall i liked the game. i didn't have high expectations going into it, but in the end i came out pleasantly surprised. I give it a 8/10