Call of Duty: Black Ops – a Treyarch/Activision game

The Introduction
I would like to point out that before I got this game I read some other reviews for the game which left me rather annoyed not because they said the game was bad because they didn’t but simply they appeared to be written with some sort of agenda. One example of this was a reviewer criticising Black ops for being unimaginative claiming you will end up playing through “the usual linear procession of compact, well-signposted and highly-scripted levels” and that it was “relentless in its pursuit of giving players one highly charged action sequence after another”. Now I can’t help but think that what he is complaining about is comparable to criticising Ferrari for making another high end sports car when that’s what they're all about.

The point I’m trying to make is that Call of Duty: Black Ops does exactly what you would expect from any Call of Duty it has intense fast paced battles on linear maps that follow a linear and cinematic story and is broken up by elements that involve stealth and taking control of vehicles. And that is exactly the experience I want from any Call of Duty game.

The Usual Stuff
The game is set around the cold war and the story see’s you mainly playing as Alex Mason a member of the “SOG” and your first mission is to infiltrate Cuba prior to the Bay of Pigs invasion. The other character you play is CIA operative Jason Hudson and is Alex Mason’s handler throughout most of the game. The main story is quite engaging although the main plot twist that builds up towards the end does become obvious a little too early it is still entertaining and the style of presentation is an excellent change for a Call of Duty playing each mission as a memory rather than as the usual real time story with a briefing at the beginning of each mission.





The game has probably the best cinematic moments of any game I have ever played and is one of the most challenging Call of Duty games I have played on Veteran as the AI are crack shots and make good use of cover. Some of the lower difficulties are where this game does fall down though as the AI almost seem to stand around a bit too much as if they are just waiting for you to shoot them and that can make the campaign go very quickly. On the lower Difficulties expect the campaign to take about 5 to 7 hours however on the harder difficulties it should take a good player more than 15 hours. At the end of the campaign you will be treated to a game of Nazi zombie and you get to play as John F Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon and Robert Macnamara fighting waves of the undead Nazi hordes as they flood into the Pentagon.

The New Stuff
While the multiplayer hasn’t changed a great deal from Modern warfare 2 there doesn’t seem to have been many glitches and any that have come up have been fixed within a few hours. There are other new features in multiplayer as well like the new training ground where you and your friends can get some practise in against the AI and learn the maps before taking the fight online.





There is also a new currency system for buying weapons, attachments and getting your kit personalized. Even things like the red dot sight can itself be customized and you are now able to create your own logo which can be stamped on to your gun and you can also have your clan tag scratched into the side of your gun as well which other players will be able to see all this if they pick up your weapon. With the new currency comes new challenges called Contracts which you have to buy and the will pay out when you complete the objective which is usually time limited. And a new multiplayer game type has also been added thanks to the currency system called wager matches these games have a buy in and you have to come in the top 3 to get a share of the pot.





The Achievements
They are exactly what you would expect from any call of duty game ranging from completing a level on any difficulty and the complete the game on veteran difficulty. There is also a good range of achievements for doing certain thing during the campaign which vary from getting 3 kills with 1 bullet to getting through a section of a level without dying. The best thing about the achievements has to be the small number of multiplayer achievements which are mostly set around Nazi Zombies anyway and there are even 4 achievements you can get from the main menu.





The Summary
If you enjoy first person shooter games then this game is definitely worth a go it’s easily one of the best Call of Duty games to date. It feels very well put together and has brilliant voice acting from top actors such as Gary Oldman and Ed Harris which only helps to make Black Ops an immersive story even if it isn’t the most original. The achievements are well balanced and everyone should be able to get the 1000g on this with a little effort. Overall i would Highly recommend this game to anyone

The Score... 9/10

great review m8 this just backs up what i have already seen of the game it sounds and looks brilliant roll on christmas

Nice review mate

It's nice to see Treyarch finally step out of Infinity Ward's shadow. I've always found the criticism levelled at them pretty harsh as I've enjoyed their COD entries just as much as the others.

Excellent review mate. If I hadn't already made my mind up to not buy it and wasn't skint your review may well have persuaded me to buy it.
Keep up the good work

Great review matey.

As you say it does exactly what you expect a CoD game to do.

I haven't actually tried the multiplayer yet, cos i'm still addicted to Fable 3, but i have played through the whole single player campaign. And it is definately on a par with the likes of MW. One of the great things about spreading the missions across a wider timescale is it means a better variety of weaponry (the crossbow with exploding bolts is ace).

Completely agree mate, brilliant game

Sounds good, shame a copy never made its way to GSA towers

Will add to my xmas list