Back In Black

This week I’m talking about Call Of Duty: Black Ops, the 7^th title in the franchise.  This one has been developed by Treyarch, the team responsible for about half of the Call Of Duty titles.  It should also be noted that this is not part of the Modern War franchise, although it feels very similar. It also managed to sell a remarkable 5.6 million copies in the U.S & UK in 24 hrs. That’s a lot of happy CoD fans.

So onto the game. 

Black Ops is told through a series of flashbacks, as the main character Alex Mason (voiced by Avatar’s Sam Worthington) is interrogated by an unseen captor. From here you are flung head first into some of the most intense firefights of the cold war era.  Starting out in Cuba with an assassination attempt on Communist leader Fidel Castro, the story quickly sends you all around the world, blowing the crap out of stuff all the way.

How does it rate with Modern Warfare? 

Black ops was always going to be compared to its predecessor, so I may as well jump on this band wagon to.  Simply put, Black Ops could be the best FPS this year, and more than addresses concerns about Treyarch ability to produce a game on par with MW2. The story is compelling, dragging you along for the rollercoaster ride for thrills and kills.  The visuals are stunning….when you can pause to soak them in (some of the levels in the jungles of Vietnam look phenomenal).  There are plenty of intense shootouts, although there are some parts that are cripplingly difficult (especially on veteran).  And to top it off there are some truly inspired vehicle levels that give you a break from the running and ducking action of being on foot. For example, one level has you piloting a boat along a river shooting at Vietcong while the Rolling Stones Sympathy for the devil is blaring out of the speakers.  Awesome.

Multiplayer feels very similar to MW2, but in a good way.  The levels fell balanced and no load out seem to overpower others.  It uses a similar leveling system, but instead of complete challenges to unlock weapon addons, you earn money depending on how well you do, and can buy the addon’s you want.  The kill streaks rewards you earn are also more balanced, so gone are the match winning atomic bombs, replaced with a pack of wild dogs that roam the map looking for enemies to maul.  Also worth a try are the remote control cars with bombs attached.  Heaps of fun to use, and you can even get some pretty awesome kills with them.

You can also review the action using theater mode to watch any matches you’ve been part of. While this is cool for checking out how you played, it also adds the ability for developers to keep an eye on those who would exploit the game.  Cos everyone hates being killed by someone exploiting.

Black Ops is chock heavy with content, including some hidden stuff, and even a zombie killing mode which sees you fighting wave after wave of the risen dead, with some hilarious cameos.  

So how does it rate?

Game Play: 9/10.  Some of the levels, especially the later ones are a joy to play, even when you have just spent a good hour swearing at the TV while trying to make it to a new checkpoint.

Sound: 8/10. In general the sound is top notch; the only downside is occasionally Sam Worthington’s accent switches from American to his native Australian, which can be a bit off putting.

Graphics 9/10. Some of the set pieces are awe inspiring, but sometimes some of the character models look a little …odd.

Replay Value: 9/10. There is so much to do in this game, that you will still be playing it long after the single player campaign is completed.

Over All: 9/10. This could be a contender for game of the year.

Next Week: Kinect. Microsoft’s answer to motion control.