Call of Duty Black Ops
Call of Duty Balck Ops. Should you buy it? A quick Google search will show that Call of Duty Black Ops is one of the leaders in video game sells in all time history, selling millions on the day of it’s release alone. But is it the game for you? Let’s dive in.
In Black Ops, you take control of a soldier named Alex Mason as he is interrogated by mysterious men with faces in shadow and distorted voices. Every level acts as a flashback as Alex recalls certain events from memory. This has been done many times in the past, I’d argue a bit too much, but Black Ops makes it work in a compelling and comprehensive way.
The single player in Black Ops suffers from what has become common knowledge when playing the Call of Duty Series. There aren’t any real changes in terms of the overall gameplay. Now, while that may be a valid complaint in the gamer’s side, you can’t but admit that, regardless, you’re still having tons of fun for hours and even days on end. As far as the single player, Call of Duty Black Ops isn’t what I expected at all. When I think of Black Ops, I think of covert, high-risk missions, usually eliminating military personal of interest, disrupting supplies, stealing or retrieving plans, assassination, and infiltration. I was thinking it would be like many of the levels in SOCOM Navy Seals or something. Get in, eliminate the few targets unawares, do what you’re there to do, and slip away into the night. Like REAL Black Ops. And I understand, Treyarch didn’t want to alienate the loyal fans who are used to all out open warfare beginning with the first Call of Duty game. Still, I can’t help but few a true covert operations game would have been a nice change a pace and would have been interested to see if it could have been pulled off. Maybe some day. The missions are packed with action, perhaps more than any Call of Duty I’ve ever played. And that includes MW 2 and 3. But this almost works against the game as constant explosions and people screaming bloody murder and destruction and chaos wherever you look begins to lose its affect if its always constant. What other Call of Duty games do well is balance the tempo a bit with intense action, then a moment to breathe, followed by intense action, and so on. Black Ops will hit you again and again with a constant bombardment of action and violence, and it may also be the most violent game in the series. Though what I say may sound like a complaint, I’m sure there are plenty of you who would prefer a shooting game like this over something covert. It’s just a matter of play style. Regardless, the constant mayhem of the single player is invigorating and will keep your heart racing throughout.
Call of Duty is known for its multiplayer, and increasingly more for it’s multiplayer than its single player over time. Similar to Battlefield. Only that’s a bad thing. Having a strong single player is what keeps Call of Duty in the game with Battlefield because it just can’t match anything Battlefield has in multiplayer. Yet. And it’s a shame to continue to see more of an emphasis on the multiplyer over the single player. Still, having said all that, the multiplayer is what it is. And it’s fantastic. If they were going to take a little away from the single player to give what they added to multiplayer, then even a gamer like me can’t complain too much. Black Ops sports new maps and weapons unavailable in previous games. The maps are diverse, engaging and challenging. In addition to the fun kill streaks that have been added, players will also contend with the new currency system. Okay, either you’ll hate it, or you’ll love it. It’s sort of a mixed back as you’re not necessarily leveling as you did before. You gain what are known as COD points as you rise up through the ranks, which is still leveling, I guess, but again, just not quite the same. As you gain COD points you spend them on the equipment you want such as what kind of gun you want to use all the way to the background of your callsign, the kill streaks you use, the face paint you wear, the modifications to your weapons, and so on. It’s pretty much all-encompassing. New players to the series might even prefer it as you can spend a fair amount from the beginning and choose what you want for a slightly more balanced game. In previous games, for some people, it was a little hard starting out as you had almost nothing and fought against players who had many levels on you with all kinds of perks and mods for their superior weapons.
Black Ops allows players to record their awesomeness in online gameplay. Tired of just telling your friends how you dominated the pervious night? Just show them. Record the matches and you can even snap photos and record from different angles and perspective. It’s very similar to what Halo offers and is a welcome addition to be sure. Check on youtube for some really bad (as in cool) footage or really humorous content. You’ll find a bit of everything. I’d say the most useful thing about it, to me at least, if being able to study the mistakes you made and keep what you’ve learned for the next match. You may notice you tend to die more in certain areas and the guys who usually kill you do it from over “there” or from “that angle” or “behind that cover with a sniper rifle”. That’s what I did and it improved my game. And you may as well as I’m sure I’m not the only one who used footage to improve my game. If football coaches can study their footage, so can you.
I wasn’t quite sure as to how I should categorize Combat Training and Zombie Horde Mode. I decided that they are kind of the same in their premise and so grouped them together in this review. For those who need a little extra practice and are tired of jerk tea baggn’ you every time you die online, you could practice a bit in the Combat Training mode against the computer. Simply set the difficulty you want and have at em. Though I will say, players are always smarted and more unpredictable in the flesh. If you really want to get better, don’t drag too long in the Combat Training and get back out there and take on real people online. And now Zombie Mode. It was a hit in Call of Duty World at War, and makes a triumphant return in Black Ops. You’ll face wave after wave of zombies and gain points as you shoot them down to unlock better weapons, ammo, equipment, and so on. Be sure to check out JFK, Nixon, and Castro for some extra laughs.
Black Ops suffers from it’s lack of innovative gameplay from game to game, and for all the action, the constant explosions and screaming can play against it as it loses the emotion impact. But the single player is still solid with various missions and an intriguing story, not to mention the addictive multiplayer and zombie horde mode. For the good far outweighing the bad, Call of Duty Black Ops earns a solid 9 out of 10. If you haven’t already, buy this game.