Call of Duty: Black Ops

[Ashaman Kovan]

Just rented it. About to put it in the Ol' PS3. See how it goes.

[Ashaman Kovan]

Well so far it's pretty cool. The campaign is way darker and stuff than in MW2 and the multiplayer seems a lot more involved too. They definitely decided to make you work for things a bit more this time around. When you unlock weapons you can't automatically use them now. You have to first purchase them with COD points that you get separate from the regular Exp. You also have to buy the attachments with COD points. The dogs are back! No insta win nuke thingy! So IMO overall it's pretty sweet and so far more fun than MW2 was. If you liked it in the first place.

[Ashaman Kovan]

Jkovan on PSN if anyone is playing. No headset though, sadly.

[Bizzie]

It's awesome. Been playing it whenever possible. Definately true about the campaign being darker, I haven't cleared it all the way though, just on the last level now. The multiplayer is great despite the lag the Treyarch seems to have patched into it in the most recent patch.

 

Add xBizzie for PS3, saying where I know you from, cus I wont accept if I randomer just adds me.

[OptimusPrime]

Black Ops is AWESOME! I play it on my housemates PS3, although I dont have access to it at the mo. But if we're exchanging gamertags my name is BORNAGAINH1TLER.

 

Theatre mode is brilliant. And DIVING! The best addition to Call of Duty IMO, you can get some really dramatic kills when you figure out how to use it properly and how long it takes you to be able to shoot again (which isnt long at all, diving can be an awesome move for both offensive and defensive) but once you figure it out and get some kills with it, check out the kill in Theatre mode after. Its hilarious!

 

Me and a friend were have a right laugh not long since, we had Claymores out and were running about trying to dive at people and plant Claymores at their feet. Its hard to do and we often ended up with bad kill-death ratios, but it makes for some good laughs. LOVE IT!

[Krakalakachkn]

Here's the review from Game Informer:

 

You can’t keep Black Ops out from under the microscope after the high-profile departure of the creative minds that drove the Call of Duty franchise at Infinity Ward earlier this year. Can Treyarch come through with a blockbuster hit in the vein of Modern Warfare, not just a by-the-numbers off-year title like the studio has churned out in the past? Yes and no, but Black Ops is the best game Treyarch has made, and a hell of a good time no matter how you slice it.

 

The series has always hung its single-player hat on creating spectacular moments that players remember for years. It didn’t matter if you couldn’t remember the name of the faceless Army Ranger you’re playing as, because oh my god they just dropped an EMP on the White House! Black Ops flips this equation around. The story is coherent, and the characters are more than cardboard cutouts. I wanted to keep playing to find out how the plot ends up, not just to see what crazy situation is around the next corner. On the other hand, as Black Ops makes gains in characterization and storytelling, it loses spectacle. Outside of the excellent prison break level, the “wow” moments fall flat. Even blowing up what appeared to be half of Vietnam with an attack chopper failed to elicit much of a response from me beyond making me swear at the controls. Far too much of the roughly seven-hour campaign is spent running through the same pop-and-shoot motions we’ve been doing for years. At least my companions were less interested in running directly into my line of fire this time. Be sure to stick around after the credits, though – the best bit of the game is hidden there.

 

The campaign puts players neck deep in the close-up brutality of combat. Limbs shatter disgustingly as bullets rip apart flesh and bone. Gore flies in all directions as combatants are popped like meat balloons by the vicious weaponry of the ‘60s. In one uncomfortable sequence, the player has to torture a restrained prisoner. This is an emphatically mature game (in the ESRB sense, anyway). Everyone should make their own judgment on what they are comfortable with, but Black Ops crossed my personal line in its bloody depictions of violence, particularly the torture sequence. I wasn’t able to compartmentalize it as enjoyable cartoon violence like I have with so many games over the years. Call me a wuss if you want, but the realistic gore is distasteful in the absence of a discussion of what should be a careful decision to employ lethal force. I realize that Treyarch isn’t trying to put on a morality play here, but Black Ops pushes the lines of good taste.

 

None of this carries over to online play, where the faster pace fosters a certain detachment from the violence. For my money, Treyarch has crafted the finest Call of Duty multiplayer game to date. The maps are fantastic and offer great variety in size, aesthetics, verticality, and paths. The core design is largely unchanged; it features the same modes, perks, and a similar arsenal to Modern Warfare. The action is as responsive, technically impressive, and engrossing as it has been since Infinity Ward pioneered it three years ago. However, Treyarch has made a ton of improvements in the margins. Unlocking new perks in the order you want rather than a pre-set sequence is just the start.

 

Wager matches exist parallel to the standard XP-based progression. These lethal six-player free-for-all matches are throwbacks to the old days of Quake deathmatches in a lot of ways. All of the game types (each of which has unusual rules that work exceptionally well, like forced weapon cycling or one-shot kills with extremely limited ammo) put a huge emphasis on each kill. This breeds an intensity I haven’t felt since playing free-for-all railgun-only Quake. The titular wagering of the in-game currency that you use to buy weapon attachments, perks, and emblem elements only adds to the tension. The only knock is that wager matches are by nature incredibly lag-sensitive. If you get stuck with a bad host or your connection is being Comcastic, get ready for some frustration.

 

Contracts are unlocked early on, and allow you to purchase a challenge that remains active for a certain amount of time while playing. A simple contract might ask you to knife a dude in the back, while a more expensive, higher-level one might call for a dozen headshots with a specific pistol. Succeed and you can triple (or better) your money; fail and those points are gone. Treyarch will regularly cycle the pool of contracts available for purchase, and you can only take a shot at any given one once in a specified time period (in the case of the contracts I tried, one real-life day). I have mixed feelings about the system. On the one hand, the new challenges spice up the gameplay and encourage players to try different tactics. That said, I’m going to blow a gasket when my team gets torn apart because half of our players are gunning for some dumb contract instead of trying to win the match. Did we learn nothing from the Halo 3 online achievement debacle?

 

The fan-favorite Zombies mode returns as well, with players cooperating against the undead hordes on two vastly different maps. It works well enough, but Zombies is far down on my co-op FPS list. The objectives and strategies are so far removed from making intuitive sense that I can’t get into it, though segments of the community obviously feel differently. I do love the secret zombie-themed minigame – Geometry Wars with zombies, more or less – and its four-player online co-op, though.

 

I can’t wait to see what the community creates with the new theater. The ability to save matches, review them from any point of view, detach the camera for free-flying shots, edit clips together, and then share them as a movie all from within the game is incredible. This is a great learning tool as well, since you can see your accuracy chart on a paper doll as well as the heat map of deaths overlaid on the level.

 

It’s tough to hate on something as skillfully executed as Black Ops. Call of Duty remains the smoothest, most approachable first-person shooter out there, and I had a blast playing it. On the other hand, it’s disappointing that Treyarch’s much-hyped huge-budget entry in the franchise feels like Modern Warfare 2.5. Activision hasn’t Tony Hawked Call of Duty yet, though, and I’m happy to get a refined update. This year, anyway.

 

GI Rating:

9.00

 

Concept:

Remember Modern Warfare? Yeah, like that but in 1968.

 

Graphics:

Call of Duty remains at the top of the visual heap, not least because of the always-excellent framerate.

 

Sound:

Outstanding voice work brings the story to life.

 

Playability:

The control scheme hasn’t changed. This is still the gold standard for console FPS.

 

Entertainment:

This may be going through the series’ established motions, but that’s one dance I’m more than happy to repeat.

 

Replay:

High

[Krakalakachkn]

Me and a friend were have a right laugh not long since, we had Claymores out and were running about trying to dive at people and plant Claymores at their feet. Its hard to do and we often ended up with bad kill-death ratios, but it makes for some good laughs. LOVE IT!

 

That sounds like something I will be doing when I get my hands on a copy. Me and my friend love to make really unorthodox classes and see who can kill the most enemies using only claymores, C4, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, guys, feel free to add your gamertags and profiles to our Gamertags thread at the top of this board.

[LedZepMan]

LedZepMan825 on 360.

 

I friggin love this game. Especially the wager matches. They are so fun. Especially the gun game, where you cycle thru 20 different guns, and teh first person to get a kill with every gun wins, but if you get knifed, you get demoted one gun. Friggin epic.

[OptimusPrime]

Me and a friend were have a right laugh not long since, we had Claymores out and were running about trying to dive at people and plant Claymores at their feet. Its hard to do and we often ended up with bad kill-death ratios, but it makes for some good laughs. LOVE IT!

 

That sounds like something I will be doing when I get my hands on a copy. Me and my friend love to make really unorthodox classes and see who can kill the most enemies using only claymores, C4, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, guys, feel free to add your gamertags and profiles to our Gamertags thread at the top of this board.

 

KRAK! Whats crackalackin? Yeah I'll have a look and add myself. Currently staying at the mothers but I'll be back at home next week and my housemates just got Black Ops so I cant wait. If youre on PSN we'll have to have a game or six

[Emperor]

I like this game and am pretty good at it.

 

Camping is pretty bad. I mean people sitting in corners or looking over barrels and never moving from their spots. Insert this complaint into into FPS multiplayer

[Ashaman Kovan]

I'm about to go grab it again for another week I think. Here in a few minutes.

[Warder117]

I'm about to go grab it again for another week I think. Here in a few minutes.

 

Overall I like it! lol. And yes... the )_*(&!^%&*()!&*^ dogs are back -_- .... Anywhoo.... Great game, play almsot everyday with my freinds and my lil bro. Got it on Xbox and my gamertag is Warder117 :D

[OptimusPrime]

Anyone using the Black Ops forums at all?

[Krakalakachkn]

Nope! I did receive this for Christmas but I haven't opened it yet because I don't have internet to play it on. ARGH!

[OptimusPrime]

Famas, M16, Stakeout. More Stakeout.

 

Whats a better way to annoy your enemies than stealing their Chopper Gunner? Put Hardline Pro on and change it to something crap. Hahahahahaha

 

Im trying to get diving kills with all the unusual weapons and get the clips from Theatre Mode. Shame getting stuff from Theatre Mode is such a mess about. You should be able to have more than just six clips recorded at a time.

 

Id love to have video editing software so I could merge clips and put music and text on it and whatnot.

[Krakalakachkn]

I finally started playing and so far i'm really enjoying it. Yeah, camping is bad, but it always is. I like the maps a lot and I really like the ak47u. I've been playing a lot recently, so if anyone sees me online, feel free to join or send an invite.

[Krakalakachkn]

When Dan checked out the Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike map pack earlier this week, he didn't last very long in Ascension, the new Zombie mode map. If he would have survived a little longer, perhaps he could have started piecing together some of the strange hints that lead to unlocking a weird secret in the new map.

 

If you're interested in uncovering everything Ascension has to offer, I hope you're not a Zombie mode amateur. YouTube user NextGenTactics has posted an exhaustive 13-and-a-half-minute guide to deciphering the cryptic clues that tell a surprising story on this map. The most insane part? Even after all of that work, they still aren't sure they've found everything! Another video with potentially more secrets is supposedly in the works.

 

Anyone out there willing to put in the time to find all of this stuff? If not (or if you need some clues on where to start), check out the video below.